EP REVIEW: The Worst Of Everything – BEKIND

The ensuing violent whiplash injury that comes directly after listening to BEKIND’s debut EP The Worst Of Everything is something to be enjoyed. Showing a tightness beyond their years, these purveyors of sonic insanity take you through an industrial hellscape of sound, going from relentless blast beats to crushingly low breakdown riffing with relative ease for maximum impact. The Chicago-based hardcore band have announced themselves on the scene with devastating efficiency. This record pulls no punches when highlighting the abhorrent human atrocities that plague the world, yet despite its chaotic tone and nihilistic tendencies, it carries a message of hope and optimism for our future cohabitation as a unified worldly society.

There is no shortage of audio based debauchery, as the EP is peppered with a plethora of industrial synthesis and discordant riffs to split your skull in two. BEKIND fit very much within the metallic hardcore resurgence, where eerie soundscapes elevate the harsh, downtempo riffs and chugging rhythms. Leaning strongly into their industrial influences, The Worst Of Everything is underpinned by an ever shifting sub bass presence, which along with the chromatic nature of the lead melodies, keeps you teetering on the edge of your seat.

re-spite is a prime example of synths grinding together and screeching in robotic terror alongside the slow pounding nature of beatdown riffs. Despite only being a blistering 15 minutes long The Worst Of Everything is a surprisingly experimental record in which BEKIND have managed to fit an inordinate amount of musical lunacy into short space of time. A prime example of this is the duelling saxophones on human incision that bring the EP to a close, an unlikely combination that has you put the song on repeat trying to decipher its madness.

Menacingly brutal and bewilderingly chaotic, The Worst Of Everything is as brisk as it is innovative. Colliding electronics and metallic hardcore together in the most nihilistic and savage way, it will leave you gasping for breath and in a state of confusion as you wonder what the hell just happened.

Rating: 8/10

The Worst Of Everything is set for release on October 14th via Ohmstead Collective.

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