4 out of 5

Label: Hydra Head Records

Produced by: The Austerity Program (recorded by)

The whole concept of The Austerity Program – guitars, bass, and a drum machine – seemed limited by design initially, but that only proves the limits of my own imagination. On the duo’s (+ machine) debut EP, the vocals were monotone, the drums set to permanent pummel, and the riffs all existed in a kind of samey low-end rumble. I eventually loved it, and would say I dug it upon release as well, but nonetheless: the band defined their sound to me at the outset, and I shruggingly assumed this is what two dudes and a drum machine playing hardcore music would sound like.

Had I been keeping track along the way – I wasn’t; shame on me – this would’ve been disproven with each subsequent release. Debut album Black Madonna definitely expanded on the EP’s sound, but the marching pace and forward momentum established there were the basis. With Beyond Calculation, the title feels indicative: AP begin to apply the drum machine in ways beyond “programming,” in the sense that it starts to feel like an active participant in the songs, furthermore allowing song construction to get much broader, though also arguably more focused. Here and there the hand is tipped and you can hear some limitations, but this really is a next generation version of the band.

Lyrically, guitarist / singer Justin Foley has always been obsessed with destruction in various forms, and I find my enjoyment of his lyrics – obviously subjective – depends on how specific his grievances get, preferring more open-ended gripes and narratives. The record opens with the more specific stuff (also, interestingly, the shortest songs on the album) and find the group operating in an on-all-the-time intensity; it’s sort of a risky way to start things off, unless the idea was to lure listeners in to the more patient tracks with an initial barrage. For me, it had, initially, the opposite effect: these songs work well on their own, but feel kind of rushed in sequence.

However, once past that, I’m rather immediately blown away: Song 33 (which namechecks the album title) is an epic, with world-destroying lyrics to match. The dynamics found here take full advantage of quiet-to-loud in the vocals, and the music, and start to push the way the drum machine can be used beyond as a metronome. This effect essentially stretches across the back half of the album, with penultimate Song 37 the peak, fully combining Foley’s storytelling with bigger, more frightening themes, and driving home a kind of techno-paranoia that somewhat runs throughout the listen, giving the album title’s even more relevance.

“Brutal” normally applies to AP; that’s the case here as well, but I think that term is as a consequence of the non-stop nature of the drum machine. By allowing for a bit more space in their compositions, our duo is able to push their formula even further along, giving the material emotional weight that maybe lessens the direct brutality, while upping the overall impact.