BIRDS IN ROW "Gris Klein" 2022

POST HARD-CORE at its best ? One of the best current bands of the genre ? I don't care if you disagree 'cos that's what i feel when listening to BIRDS IN ROW' new album "Gris Klein", came out on Red Creek Recordings, CULT OF LUNA's Johannes Persson's label founded in 2020 ... two years after the amazing "We Already Lost The Word" album that showed BIRDS IN ROW at its peak - at last, we thought it... 'Cos "Gris Klein" is in my opinion their most personal & most succesful release to this day.. I'm just amazed to see/hear how the band can renew itself when the genre seems to be so narrow, we have here 43 minutes relentlessly dripping power, passion, rage, anger & frustration - drawing from punk, alternative, screamo, post-metal - for a real cathartic experience ! This album & that music HEAL - dealing with feelings of depression, frustration, anguish, it pushes for sure the listener to get rid of all this mental shits we all deal with - and I admit, it came out in a time of my life when i needed it so bad ! Certainly the reason why I was so receptive to this album... and still I am - 'cos this mix of sharp riffs, flayed vocals, disillusioned singing lines, these accelerations and these slower, melodic tempos, have the effect of a tornado that sweeps everything on its way, which purifies the mind, which empties you from any negativity to ultimately make you see the world in a better light ! This "Gris Klein" is more than just an album, it is an EXPERIENCE mixing the best of old-school Hard-Core (i think of bands like Fugazi/Hüsker Dü) - 90's alternative grunge/punk-rock (although musically different, I find here similarities with the broken/flayed/raw spirit of the genre) and what's BEST currently released in the nowadays post-hard-core scene ... With "Gris Klein", BIRDS IN ROW definitely show a clear intent to grow and progress and for me, they clearly impose that album as a reference of the genre... no more, no less.. Well-done guys !