Review Summary: They can take another three years to release a sub 30-minute album. I won't mind.
IDYLLS seem to feel very strongly about the progression in their music. Their debut in 2012, Farewell All Joy, was all killer and all filler. Most of the emphasis went towards obliterating the listener's ears with little of a real basis for all that chaos to stand on. Two years later, they released Prayers For Terrene. That put a stop to a lot of the problems arising in Farewell All Joy. There was rhythm, and it became a very memorable piece once the listener was able to digest it.
Their most recent album,
The Barn, is such an intense improvement on the fronts of both noise and rhythm. Clocking in at 32 minutes, their longest album so far, IDYLLS take the sonic turmoil of their previous releases and make it far more palatable. That is not to say this album is watered down in any way; it still sounds like it was made by an insane person. Yet the hooks, if you could call them that, across this entire album are somehow able to stick in your head as if they were a literal earworm.
Neuroqueering On Shift utilizes an edge of rebellion alongside an uproar of noise and obscured riffs in a way that allows for real memorability to shine. It is definitely uncommon for this much personality, especially one with this much of a punk attitude, to come through in a metal album.
In fact, I hesitate to even call this some form of metal. All the same instruments are used, and it is still meant to be loud and startling to say the least. The techniques are different, though. There are no comical screams or guttural moans. It is only real, tangible anger that comes through in these songs and their vocal performances. That is perceived through instances where an unquestionably human performance is revealed. At the end of
Maslows Dogs, the vocalist's voice cracks.
Choke Opportunity has the repeated phrase "I'm a good guy!" which isn't something a typical metal fan would hear in their music. The nine-minute behemoth that is
In The Barn has an emotionally stirring outburst of guitars, pummeling drums, and even a hint of a saxophone.
I don't think I even mentioned the saxophone on this album until now. If that doesn't set this album apart from anything else in the genre or encourage you to check it out, I don't know what will. It is genuinely difficult to efficiently explain how
The Barn is able to let itself stand out as a diamond in the rough. Despite that strenuous task of explaining how it is done, it is still obvious that it is done so well. IDYLLS have truly perfected the kind of metal that they have been hinting at for years. They could still be grouped in with the numerically-tinged riffs of groups like The Dillinger Escape Plan or even Converge, two of the most critically acclaimed hardcore groups to ever exist. So you have to trust me when I say that
The Barn is different from all of that. Any fan of metal music that sounds like it's about to kill you should definitely give this a try. Give it a few.
