Racebannon - Acid or Blood

The criminal underexposure of Racebannon was typified by the bedraggled crowd they pulled in for their show in Edinburgh last year, yet they relentlessly return with another fine LP of spastic noise and thundering riffs here. Translucent Lifeforce throws open the door to their seedy world with discordant sludge and a groove-soaked breakdown, while the unnerving Dadaistic vocals of lengthy track The Killer juxtapose with a killer dirty bass line and thrash-out chorus. The up-and-down schizophrenia of tracks like Vampyric Solution are deftly facilitated by the phenomenal percussion, but some of the more angular, noisecore passages are given more exposure than perhaps necessary. Still, Acid or Blood is highly accessible given the sheer number of big riffs coming thick and fast, with a no nonsense mosh always just around the corner. In any case, Racebannon are a band keeping their heads below the parapet and their creativity still soaring sky-high. (Jamie Borthwick)