3 out of 5

Label: Escape Artist

Produced by: Mike Hull (engineered by)

Wow, no way would I have figured this for the same band that would put out ‘Untitled’ a year later.  That disc, for it’s slightly off-putting Deftonesyness, made an impressive bid for just being straight-up abrasive at times, and that is something that crops up on ‘Beautiful Sounds,’ when ‘Aedificum’ barrels past the limitations of the tinny, shitty production via maxing out the mastering and probably trying to break your ear-drums in a rattling seconds long hum of sound.  I’ve taken my headphones out each time the record gets to that point.  No, I’m not promoting this as overly inventive or super cool, but the willingness to commit such aural violence is at least part of the group’s shtick.  This was tempered on ‘Untitled’ for some oddball (but appealing) electronic experimentation; ‘Beautiful Sounds’ has no such distractions, going straight for a hardcore punk sound with plenty of vocal cord shredding and instrument attacking.  And – again, though I like ‘Untitled’ – this bare bones approach is actually a good thing, highlighting the speed and fury of the band and making the nuances really stick out.  The first half of the disc is a put more pummeling than the latter half, which has a few more breakdowns, or attempts to change the pace, everything heaving and surging toward ‘South:htuos.’  This final track, a kitchen-sink barrage of noise, is another moment that helps to tie this album to the next one, but more importantly, it serves as a good wall against which the rest of the album can race toward and smash against.

‘Beautiful’ is pretty standard hardcore punk, albeit with piss-poor mixing.  However, by keeping things short and violent, the skill of the band and moments of uniqueness in the compositions become more apparent, and a move to try to kill ears by blaring the volume at one point is definitely an interesting move, without classifying it as good or bad…