Uniform

Uniform’s music is aggressive; it’s harsh, noisy, power electronics with smatterings of industrial, metallic hardcore and rumbling chords and overseeing it all is Michael Berdan’s voice – a voice that has lived through more than most can ever imagine and one that underpins their fourth full-length, Shame, as its narrator.

Shame is the study of the in between, the moments that are never spoken about that intersperse huge incidents and in the words of Berdan – “It focuses on the static state of an antihero as he mulls over his life in the interim between major events, just existing in the world.” Shame certainly doesn’t dwell in the quiet and is instead a journey of hard-hitting stations that leave you wondering just how apocalyptic the major event needs to be if this is the intermission.

Opening on “Delco,” Uniform immediately bring to the fore their power as guitars churn over agile drums and Berdan screams – “You are what you’ve done, you are what’s been done to you,” giving the impression that this antihero is moving further away from the status of protector and perhaps into a darkness that will be difficult to climb out of.

The painful feedback loops that colour “Life in Remission” add a touch of hypnotic wonder to the track and it becomes a lesson in holding on, being patient and waiting for the light to shine once again - struggle will not always be the way. This feeds into the bittersweet, melancholic opening of “Shame” which glimmers with sickly light just that little too far out of reach giving a glimpse of what could be before Berdan’s bellows shatter the peace.

Shame seems to be a record that plays with those feelings of despair, offering short moments of respite in the turmoil before turning it all back around and allowing you to sink into the grime that lines the dark, rain-soaked streets of the city. Album closer "I Am the Cancer" delves further into that idea with guitars that often glimmer with post-rock prettiness but which are hidden by fuzzy riffs and harsh shouts - beauty is hard to come by in Uniform's world but they know it's there, you just have to be very determined to find it.

8.0 / 10 — Cheryl