5 out of 5

Label: digital self-release

Produced by: Aryn Dalton

I can’t recall how I stumbled across Trieste, but I’m guessing that was operative: stumbled across.

They’re from Texas, home to a particular brew of dusty hardcore music I tend to adore – blending some of the malaise of Midwest hardcore with a bit of resignation; the human machine isn’t rotting, it’s just had its works gummed up – and they operate as a primarily instrumental act. And they’re a duo of guitar and drums. And they have a consistent – and consistently dreary (with a dash of “ain’t nature grand” damnation) visual sense for their album artwork. So yes please to all of that.

The gloomy surf rock thing can get a bit staid, though. Thankfully, on their first (bandcamp-available) recording, The Black Squall, the surf exists as a wave, rustling in the distant background; instead, waves of oppressive fuzz and reverb hover, looming over Jason Mullins’ and Aryn Dalton’s shoulders, as riffs are layered upon riffs upon riffs (a very 5ive-ish overload), old-school Pelican doom minimalism dominating on opener Dying Star Blues; Codeine slow-rolled heft is deployed on Haunted Heart; deathly ambience sinks us beneath the waves on Old Shock; and surf jangle is leveraged to wring out a panicked surge of breath on Shake the Devil – a fun-as-hell counterpoint. (Then we’re back to being resigned to our fate on Dead in the Water and the cavernous acoustics of Adrift…)

It’s death metal simmered to a fine point, sans screamy vocals, and waking up in the cave in which it was recorded with a hastily fitted pegleg.

‘Missed’s vocals and comparatively upbeat lilt seem out of place, but look here – it’s a bonus track, and a PJ Harvey cover at that: a fine, fitting choice.