Cloak - MMXIV

Tracklist:

1. Young

2. Throat Laceration

3. Gilded Heart

4. When The Bough Breaks

5. Clouds

6. Sleeping Under The Mist

7. Widow Womb

I've been staring at a screen for way too long this past week. To make matters worse, I've decided to start uploading my record collection onto Dead Format, which means even more time spent on my laptop. Still, the show must go on. I've been receiving more and more messages via the blog and one band that got in touch was hardcore band Cloak, from Arizona. They literally just asked me to have a listen to their new EP and dropped me their bandcamp link. I'm going a step further with this though, as I think they're worthy of more attention. As well as creating tremendous metallic hardcore and playing alongside bands like Enabler, Cloak also has a social conscience and a message. As far as I can tell, they've not even been a band for twelve months yet, so didn't waste any time in releasing their debut EP last September. 

You can line Cloak up alongside bands like Of Feather And Bone, as well as many of the early CoF Records roster (Esoteric Youth, Knifecrimes, Heksed etc). Their metallic, blackened hardcore is fantastic. EP opener Young begins with the most disorientating, feedback-addled barrage of riffs you’re likely to hear this year. They don’t stick staunchly to the hardcore blueprint though, as sludge creeps in and pushes the atmosphere into deeper depths. Cloak go from the slow bludgeon of Young to the up-tempo, PV-esque Throat Laceration with ease. Pumping MMXIV with some much needed pace. They go into full-on black metal attack mode on Gilded Heart, with raging shrieks and blasts from the off. There’s not a great deal of treble going on in the guitars, but that’s not what Cloak are about really. The lean towards lengthy instrumental passages in this song create a really claustrophobic feel. The deeper you get into MMXIV, the heavier and more harrowing it seems to get. When The Bough Breaks is three-minutes of abject chaos, condensed and left to rot. At times, this EP is raw and on Clouds, that statement is epitomised by the stop/start nature of the riffs and vocals in it’s first half. The second half settles into more of a groove, but it’s a deceiving one. The subtle echo effect or reverb that's used on the vocals during Clouds sounds as real as you’d like. I can definitely imagine how they must sound live, listening to this. The noise-laden Sleeping Under The Mist is reminiscent of “Rudiments of Mutilation” era Full Of Hell and it leads into the final slab of blackened hardcore, Widow Womb. They fit a lot into the song, which gives off the illusion that it’s a lot longer than it actually is. It’s bass heavy and even contains some small rock n roll vibes. As always, with music like this it’s better to listen to it yourself. Cloak are great if you like anger inducing heavy hardcore and they’re definitely heading for bigger things if they keep on like this. 

You can stream MMXIV and grab it as a name-you-price-download from Cloak's bandcamp page below:-

Keep up to date with future happenings via their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/cloakaz