Drawing their name from the technical term for the tree that produces the incredibly toxic substance strychnine, Portland, OR-based crust-mongers Nux Vomica have attempted to capture some of that poisonous potential in their third, self-titled full-length effort. While their sound has its origins in crust punk and death metal, Nux Vomica includes a wider range of influences, including the oppressive weightiness of sludge and the huge, looping, elliptical song structures perfected by Neurosis.
The three massive tracks that make up the record circle back on themselves and mutate, as though each were a snake attempting to swallow itself, turning inside out in the process. Moments of intense, metallic hardcore give way to longer, more flexible passages of instrumentation, giving the songs an ebb and flow, a build and release that makes these monumental tracks surprisingly easy to listen to, holding attention despite their length.
Closing song "Choked At The Roots" ends with an apocalyptic crescendo that acts as the release valve for all the tension that builds up over the record, a scorched earth tactic that leaves the listener at once spent and purified.
(Relapse)The three massive tracks that make up the record circle back on themselves and mutate, as though each were a snake attempting to swallow itself, turning inside out in the process. Moments of intense, metallic hardcore give way to longer, more flexible passages of instrumentation, giving the songs an ebb and flow, a build and release that makes these monumental tracks surprisingly easy to listen to, holding attention despite their length.
Closing song "Choked At The Roots" ends with an apocalyptic crescendo that acts as the release valve for all the tension that builds up over the record, a scorched earth tactic that leaves the listener at once spent and purified.