ALBUM REVIEW: Recipes From The Bible – Irk

Having spent the last few years relentlessly making a racket on the live circuit, Leeds noise rockers IRK have finally sat themselves down long enough to record their debut effort Recipes From The Bible. Drawing inspiration from the ugliness of today’s society, you could be forgiven in thinking that the band are simply hell bent on making a load of noise. But their approach to a sound heavily duplicated since 70s is one that sits uncomfortably between genius and mindless chaos.

Comprised of only three members: drummer Matt Deamer, vocalist Jack Gordon and bassist Ed Snell, upon first listen it’s astonishing to think there’s no guitar here. Intense walls of distortion roar to life on the album’s opener I Bleed Horses, as Gordon screeches so intensely it’s a wonder he hasn’t blown out his vocal chords. Grounded by Kelly Bishop‘s (BEIGE PALACE) screams in Life Changing Porno (who delivers with such venom it feels like they’re trying to scratch someone’s eyes out in rage), Snell expertly weaves his bass through changing tempos that will make you want to spin kick your mate in the face one moment, before stopping to head-bang contently the next.

It would be far to easy to pigeonhole IRK in the same category as the new wave of punk bands like IDLES or to lump them in with American hardcore bands like EVERY TIME I DIE because while, yes, at times hackneyed vocals make way for croaking sludge, IRK have managed to find themselves in a completely unique space with Recipes From The Bible. It’s a space that was once coveted by bands like POLIO, who sadly disappeared into the ether, or given icon status to the one and only REFUSE. So while IRK still have a long way to go, the cynicism found in their lyrics while intelligently matched by their noise is something that doesn’t come around often.

In the middle section of the record, the band temporarily slow things down to make way for experimentation. On The Observatory and Insect Worship, mathier structures dominate their openings, seesawing between rhythms that stomp their way to a finish before racing ahead with dizzying speed. You’re My Germ takes things a step further with the introduction of a saxophone (offered from THE PHYSICS HOUSE BAND’s Miles Spilsbury), creating a whole new dynamic at this point you wouldn’t deem possible from IRK.

The Healer offers yet a whole other facet of the album, where Snell‘s bass now sounds as if his strings are about to fall off: its gross, dirty and gloriously dark that it’s an addictive listen. Rounding out the full thirty five minutes comes Pounds Per Square Inch, where for the final time Gordon has the listener hooked on every angry scream and yearning verse. The track rumbles to a slow finale that by the time it’s over you’ll be left with your jaw firmly hitting the floor.

It must be said, Recipes From The Bible is not for everyone, and certainly not for the faint-hearted. But for their first full offering, IRK have tapped into something here that feels like sonic anger. It’s intelligent, its loud, and it’s abrasive. Oh, and it’s brilliant.

Rating: 8/10

Recipes From The Bible is out now via self-release.

Like IRK on Facebook.