ALBUM REVIEW: D1G1T4L_DR1FT – Thotcrime
The exciting thing about bands like THOTCRIME is that when they put something out, you know you’re in for a really good time. Their first record ønyøurcømputer was an exhilarating cybergrind experience that cut through all conventions. With their second full-length D1G1T4L_DR1FT the disregard for genre conventions goes even further, with all the aggressive joy of their previous work but with even more confidence.
The whole album rattles through at an incredible pace, with most songs running under two minutes and never reaching four. From the hardcore, djent-tinged This Isn’t Foundation, Now Give Me Your Skin Please? to final track I Couldn’t End Me, So I’d Like To See You Try, there’s so much to unpack within each song, it’s like looking at an assortment of pocket universes. Big issues, both personal and societal bounce through the lyrics. What’s most obvious about D1G1T4L_DR1FT is that THOTCRIME have as much to say in words as they do through their music. And boy, does their music say something.
There Will Come Soft Rains and Broken Rib are a brilliant introduction to the band’s full-throttle style, while others like Tweet This! are something closer to the GRIMES side of the cyber-infused sound. There are some tongue in cheek songs that will feel like blasé to some, but that’s the whole point. The chaos allows for the emotional heart, the pure, raging core of THOTCRIME to shine brightest, unbridled by the expectations of what they should sound like. They’ve never written the same song twice and it’s clear that there’s still plenty more in the bank for them to pen.
With 13 songs, D1G1T4L_DR1FT boasts a plenitude of guest artists, all of whom are the perfect addition to the overall experience of the record. 4V3R4G3_TU35D4Y.exe (ft Aki McCullough) is utterly insane; the addition of McCullough’s guttural vocals to the battering, unrelenting drums and run-on guitars is superb. The same can be said for MOTHERFUCKER UNLIMITED (ft Kate Davies), which has the same frothing, high-octane vigour as the band bounce off of Davies and the mocking tone of the whole track bristles like a mad hyena. Critical Codependence (ft diana starshine) plays with tempo and juxtaposition of light and harmonic against the absolute cacophony of blast beasts and rasping vocals. Wherever the collaboration sits, the results show such a joy within these musicians to just be creating, to be a voice with something to say, and to be saying it with likeminded people.
D1G1T4L_DR1FT isn’t a mindless run around; Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria blends into dissonant spoken word over drilling drums, and guitars that fuse into electronica, the energy carrying the grunge ethos, while the music in itself feels sour and acrid. Central Dogma is undoubtedly a more metallic track, but the exuberant part of THOTCRIME is that they have the choice to be utterly free-form in their style, temperament and structure. Trust://fall is a completely different beast. Moving between pop-punk but essentially more akin to the band’s more cybergrind style, there’s something beautiful under the blipping, glitching anger that’s itching to scream out under the very chantable melody.
With a set of songs that are thick with fervent, chaotic energy, D1G1T4L_DR1FT is an album of two parts; seething rage and exuberant delight. THOTCRIME have made a record that doesn’t play by any rules, but executes a tornado of metallic hardcore and cybergrind that’s a frenzied joy to listen to.
Rating: 8/10
D1G1T4L_DR1FT is set for release on October 28th via Prosthetic Records
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