New Junk Aesthetic

iTunes Review

Their fifth studio album finds this Buffalo, New York metalcore quintet sounding even harder, louder, tougher and sharper. After 30 seconds of howling and squealing guitar feedback, New Junk Aesthetic detonates with “Roman Holiday,” a mammoth opening song with gargantuan sludge-riffs, ham-fisted drumming, and frontman Keith Buckley destroying his vocal chords in the choruses where he screams, "Witches! Witches! Witches! Witches!” The band shifts gears on standout track “The Marvelous Slut,” a punch-throwing, punk-based, aural assault with heart attack rhythms that pound at breakneck speed and Buckley shrieking like his throat is going to explode. He connects with his inner hessian on “Wanderlust” this time singing the verses as though he’s been listening to a grip of early-‘70s stoner rock like Leafhound, Dust and Pentagram. The band’s vacuum-sealed tightness is best exemplified on “Organ Grinder,” an intricately arranged song with taut accuracy and guitar leads that are so mathematically complex that trying to nail it note-for-note on Guitar Hero could very well induce seizures.