Coilguns - Stadia Rods

Coilguns are a three piece, anything goes grind cum hardcore band from Switzerland. This band have released two EPs and features the rhythm section from current Swiss luminaries The Ocean. Stadia Rods is a six track EP that was released, which was released in March of this year, by Edinburgh based label Dead Dead Dead Music.

Tracklist:-

1. Parkensine
2. Zoetropist
3. In The Limelights
4. Witness The Kern Arc
5. The Shuftan Process Part 1
2. The Shuftan Process Part 2

Parkensine starts with spoken word vocals and music that hits you from the off.

Then the screams of Louis kick in and add to the battering. The mixture of off kilter drums and a heavy guitar tone make for pretty a thunderous sound. The experimentation is obvious too, with different time signatures being used and musical influences rearing their heads throughout. There are also subtle blips of melody that can be heard in the mix. The cool riffs towards the end of Parkensine gives a sense of the creativeness of this band, and we're only on the first song!

Zoetropist is a different beast altogether, weighing in at less than two minutes in length. This is a short, sharp blast of heavy, dissonant hardcore. With speedy, bouncy drumming and a stop-start aesthetic. It's all over in the blink of an eye. In The Limelights is a slower song altogether. Fusing sludgy elements into the opening bars of the song, in a trance like effort. I hate to draw comparisons, but this does sound like Mastodon wrote it, thanks to the complex riffs that are interwoven with the bass judder and careering drum patterns.

The production also brings forth the chaotic sense of the music and it's creators, allowing the crashing of the cymbals and the thrashing of the guitars to become one entity at times. The second half of the EP is heralded in with some jarring, high-pitched feedback, before Coilguns lurch back into life. The mixture of instrumental refrains in between their original hardcore is demonstrated to great effect on Witness The Kern Arc.

So it's on to the final two songs on the record. The Shuftan Process Part 1 blasts along, with blistering riffs and those bitter screams pricking the airwaves. The Shuftan Process part 2 follows directly after but is a slower affair. The intro builds lots of atmosphere and is filled with interesting riffs that meander along under a swathe of feedback and sporadic drums. It's a hell of a journey and one that befits the end of what is an intricate and eye opening EP.

Check out Stadia Rods below, via Dead Dead Dead Music's bandcamp page:-

Coilguns can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coilguns and if you like what you read/heard above, you can purchase a rather awesome vinyl copy of the EP from Dead Dead Dead Music at http://www.deaddeaddeadmusic.bigcartel.com/.