Clayman – Enter: Clayman
March 29th, 2024
Noise Rock / Experimental Punk
Geomorph Records
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Arisen from the fine-grained soil, Clayman has arrived to deliver unchained sonic terror to the masses from the depths of the Doom Room. This new trio featuring the rhythm bombast of Zilbatar, the electroshock agony of Oneric Moor, and the virulent riffage and turbulent vocals of Dead Eddie is the latest offering from a group of musicians in Montreal who are known for being both ridiculously prolific and unceasingly creative.
The band describes themselves as noise rock and punk and I think that’s an apt description as this EP blends both the frenetic chaos of noise rock with the raw aggression of hardcore punk. It’s neither one nor the other, but rests somewhere rather comfortably in between. In some ways it’s a bit progressive in terms of its experimentation and tendency to explore different facets of these subgenres. Songs like “Flavours of the Mind” transition from a steady, mid-tempo, to a slow-as-balls sludge breakdown before erupting into a chaotic scissor beat ending.
In a lot of ways this EP reminds me of Blister Sister, a band of which both Zilbatar and Dead Eddie were a part of before their untimely demise. You could look at this as the spiritual successor of that band as many of the riffs feel derived from that sort of progressive punk style that feels inspired by bands as disparate as both Off and Melt Banana. It’s simplistic but somehow manages to still be off-the-wall and bizarre, like I’m listening to the sonic equivalent of the frayed ends of a brain stem as it’s sucked through a pneumatic tube into the cargo bay of a hotboxed flying saucer.
This EP is no doubt rough and recorded raw. The production leaves a little to be desired, but it’s a first effort and I somehow get the sense that the band isn’t taking this project all that seriously. Still, the music is great. It’s creative, fun, upbeat, heavy and frenzied, just about everything I could ask for from a noise rock project. It’s a solid first effort but I look forward to hearing whatever Clayman comes up with next. Will we get a full album in the future? Only time shall tell.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
Great
Favourite Tracks:
“Carbonic Acid Trip”
“Flavours of the Mind”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 