Review Summary: Let nothing become nothing.
Primitive gives the listener a lot to digest in its short run-time: twelve songs comprised of unrelenting misanthropy drenched in earth-rattling noise. The Endless Blockade effortlessly transitions from swarms of grinding riffs and violent blast beats to oppressive sludge, usually within less than a minute, and do so without sounding disjointed. Scott Hull’s dense mix provides enough clarity to make this a good entry point for those looking to get acquainted with the genre, but make no mistake – this album is anything but accessible.
“Angra Mainyu” opens the album with sluggish, cavernous riffs trudging alongside murky feedback, only to be halted by “Irrationalism Uber Alles’” pounding chords and rapid-fire snare. “Raised by Wolves” continues the onslaught with a blitzkrieg of gravelly bass and fierce blast beats before descending into the static of “Perfection,” the album’s masterful noise-driven centerpiece. “The Stain” and “Path” feature the band’s chunkiest grooves carefully woven into a tapestry of grating electronics. “Do Not Resuscitate” brings the album to a crawling finish with a sludgy reprise of its opening, before unraveling its visitor in an unnerving cyclone of noise.
Primitive offers an overwhelming amount of material to digest in only twenty minutes. The Endless Blockade’s last album is an opus of grinding powerviolence fused with clamoring electronics. It is an unforgiving conclusion to their body of work, as the band goes out on their own terms with deadly disregard for anyone in their path. For those who successfully conquer the behemoth that is
Primitive, please do not resuscitate.
