City of Industry

City of Industry is a hardcore band with their toes in a lot of corners of the scene. False Flowers is the third full-length from the Seattle band and the press sheet says it’s for fans of artists as diverse as “Ceremony, Dystopia, His Hero Is Gone, Converge, [and] Pixies.” That seems about right. This is heavy, but with mixed tempos and emotion. The name forecasts gritty, world-worn imagery while the record begins with a piano+viola track that establishes an unpredictable tone directly in contrast with what you pictured based on the cover art. The atypical instrumentation disappears after the intro, but it maintains that unpredictable spirit throughout.

It reminds me a lot of mid ‘00s hardcore with its diverse approach that alternates between pummeling, furious and even slow-and-plundering. But the pacing and transitions are much smoother and satisfying than that era's spastic approach. Ossa Humiliata barks harsh, pained vocals. At times it explores a dead city, at others it rips through more personal emotions. The guitars crunch, stomp and wander, while the rhythm is more forceful and demanding. It blends crust’s rawness with the punch of hardcore. The vocals and guitar tell the story, while the rhythm section keeps it focused and forthright.

Personally, the faster songs appeal a little more. There’s even some brighter guitar work in “Cabbages and Kings,” which reinvigorates the record when it needs a fresh burst. What stands out about False Flowers is that it’s a really solid album from start to finish, and one without pacing problems. Generally speaking, hardcore is something of a 7” genre. Many of the bands who do it best get repetitive on longer releases. City of Industry, however, have built a bigger sound that stretches and bends – and sometimes even breaks and gets Scotch-taped back together. To be direct, it feels misleading to summarize this by genre because it has a lot more depth than that.

The 13-song record holds its own while also bringing everything I want from heavy music: raw emotion, pain, frustration, release and surprise -- without the bloat.

7.5 / 10 — Loren