Almost a full year before COVID-19 was even a blip on the global radar screen, the Croatian band Kevlar Bikini were exhorting people to stay at home. Or maybe this hardcore punk trio were just voicing their own social disengagement. The title of their new fourth album, OPT-OUTism, which was released on May 22nd by Geenger Records, seems to brandish a philosophy of self-isolation. One of the songs on the album, “Quench“, makes it explicit — and lest you think that track was crafted to be especially relevant in the current viral age, the song was written in February 2019.
“Quench” is the subject of the video we’re premiering today. And for those of our usual metalhead NCS visitors who might be feeling either perplexed or skeptical based on the band’s name, put aside any such misgivings and just give the music your attention.
Photo by Doringo
What you’ll first experience through the song is an amalgam of brooding, seething guitar, occasional skull-busting detonations, and a raw, gritty voice yelling, “We should get out less / We should get out less / Let’s stink up this sunless place.” After tuning up your head in that fashion, the band push into a bettering gallop laced with pulsing and swirling guitars and a pungent bass throb. Meanwhile, that voice brays “How can fire and thirst be quenched with this residue?! / I keep forgetting people are the worst / …and I should know cause I am people too….”
The music’s hammering and hard-punching beats continue to provoke a vibrant physical reaction, but the riffing becomes more manic, channeling a feeling of frantic desperation, a feeling underscored by bursts of insectile fretwork. But it also turns out that the melodies in the song have their own hooks, rivaling those of the potent rhythmic drive.
In the video (filmed by KB) a man is burying something or someone in a forest. Finished with his chore he makes his way home in the dead of night. What went into that forest grave? You’ll find out.
Just from this one track it’s obvious that these dudes know how to write a mean song that gets stuck in the head. If you like what you hear in “Quench“, we’ve made it easy for you to check out the rest of the album through the Bandcamp stream below the video. Vinyl, CD’s, and T-shirts are available now.
BUY/STREAM OPT-OUTism:
https://www.geengerrecords.com/
http://kevlarbikini.bigcartel.com
https://kevlarbikini.bandcamp.com
KEVLAR BIKINI:
http://kevlarbikini.com
http://www.facebook.com/kevlarbikinizg