Beggar: Stopped Before You Start
Things are not easy for bands at the moment. There’s a big scary pandemic and as a result the gigging lifeblood of the alternative scene has ground to an unfortunate halt. With no end in sight for the moment as well, the situation is as dire as dire can be. For a band like BEGGAR, this has meant that the release of their exceptional debut Compelled to Repeat has been mired with muffled praise, as opposed to celebrated with the rapturous applause the record truly deserves.
Truly, if you haven’t taken a dive into the murky depths of this hardcore extreme sludge noise then you owe it to yourself to get stuck right in. BEGGAR have been around the block since forming in 2011, and having been together for so long, this debut oozes with confidence and band mastery, but as bassist and vocalist Charlie Davis says, there was a lot of ‘mental energy’ that went to waste in the build up to the release of the record thanks to the current world climate. “We were ready to dive into those release shows, and man we were so hungry for it,” Charlie explains, going on further to show just why the band were so hungry. Two band members work abroad, making band time tough to organise, so with a debut finally ready to go and a tour on the horizon, it becomes all the more gutting that this was taken away. “There was not just the excitement to do these shows, but we’re all close mates, so there was the excitement to just hang out and catch up, and have a beer.”
That final sentiment is perhaps the most felt between us all. The solidarity that gigs bring is something that is currently dearly missed, and with a live reputation that BEGGAR have, those shows are perhaps more needed now than ever before. The salt is further poured on when Charlie explains how there was a big pause between recording the album and touring the record so to allow Jake (guitars) to go and do field work, and it becomes clear that there is a lot of pent up energy that is yet to be released within the band. “We’re like a spring right now, there’s so much fucking energy there,” is how Charlie eloquently puts it. From the intensely fun writing and recording period to then having a grand release thwarted must be a kick in the bollocks that few can with stand, and yet Charlie is pretty uplifted by his overview on the situation, instead remaining thankful for himself and his bands mates to still have security that many of BEGGAR‘s contemporaries might not share.
Charlie’s outlook on the whole situation is surprisingly contrary to the suffocating extremity of Compelled to Repeat. The record is a thinking man’s approach towards dark and grindy sludge and being recorded in the cramped space of Bear Bites Horse Studios meant that the band got a tangible sense of the sheer noise they were creating. “To be in a studio space that small getting shake by massive cabinets is a hell of a sensation,” Charlie mentions. “The record in a lot of ways is about that claustrophobic sensation of being in confined environments. Whether it’s where you live in a full on urban environment where there’s people breathing down your neck, or whatever it is, it has that claustrophobic vibe so I think it works.”
There’s a level of thought that has gone into Compelled To Repeat that comes with taking your time with something. BEGGAR have been a band for going on nine years now, and with this being their first full length release, you can bet your arse that more thought, consideration, and care has been thrown at this record than most of the stuff that’s released. Charlie gets excited when the suggestion that BEGGAR’s music begs unpicking to find meanings beneath the surface, as he says “to sit there with the lyric sheet, and to unpick [music] like you would literature or something like that is something that I’ve always loved”. And this then dawns an in depth analysis of how much bands like PIG DESTROYER play influence in BEGGAR’s music thanks to the grind legends ability to write music that too begs a deeper insight than the explosive music might suggest.
Indeed, BEGGAR truly are music for those that take a little more substance with their style. In the same way NAPALM DEATH were able to sew intensely intelligent political thought into their violent audible assault, so do BEGGAR implement the crushing feeling of isolation and claustrophobia into their dissonant and impressive debut release. It is ironic that the band have wound up releasing a record with such themes during an actual worldwide period of isolation, but sometimes that is just the way it is. One thing is for sure though, that BEGGAR will likely become one of the most lively and exciting acts on the scene once they get their chance.
Compelled To Repeat is out now via APF Records.
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