Alpinist

This disc compiles the first two vinyl-only releases from this German crusty, sludge-y, dark hardcore band onto one platter for easy consumption by those who have worn out their Tragedy and Union of Uranus albums. Here, "Rogen" takes the hysterically fast d-beat of the former and combines it with the mastery of tension of the latter, with excellent results. "Aidt" brings the mid-tempo crunch, while "Licht" is sludge taken to nightmarish places. It goes on and on ― those are just songs two, three and four, and there's an hour of this stuff, which is the only problem. I love bands like this as much as the next weirdo, but this is where we want quality over quantity. Here, the main problem isn't so much anything to worry about: it's quality and quantity. But digesting such a large quantity of such oppressive music is a bit much to ask. Still, a more succinct full-length for their proper stateside debut would be a wicked statement of intent, especially if they keep their intense production smarts and bloodlust for creating insanely heavy music with awesome dynamics (check out "Lærm" for the ultimate build-up and subsequent release).