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Following up a demo as raging as Lexicon's was is a tough thing to do for most but holy shit Devoid Of Light powerstomps that thing to radioactive dust! KJ's deathly anger/despair ridden vocals are some of the most intense in modern history. The USHC infused noise-crust riffs fit perfectly into a tensely driven percussion grenade of anxious drums and bleary, life-questioning rage. Do we need to say "explosive"? Because that is exactly what the hell it is.
Get fucked up, turn the fuzz to 11 and get as strong as humanly possible. Life can be a real piece of shit sometimes, let this be the soundtrack when it is.
Our take: Way back in 2018 Iron Lung Records released a demo tape by Seattle’s Lexicon. Now they’re back with their vinyl debut. That demo tape was already head and shoulders above most hardcore records I hear, so Lexicon needed little refinement. Still, things seem a little more unified on Devoid of Light, which sees the band locking into a sound that takes the dense and chaotic production values of noise-punk bands like D-Clone, Zyanose, and Lebenden Toten, and applies it to a more rhythmically intricate and punkier songwriting style. I wonder if you took all the distortion off this if it would sound like Amde Petersen’s Arme or something? It’s hard to say, especially with this full-bore assault blasting in your ears. Lexicon reminds me a lot of the Richmond band Spore I also wrote about this week, and as with Spore, the moments on Devoid of Life that hit the hardest for me are the loosest and most chaotic passages. Lexicon is so locked-in that when a track like “Parasite” or “Electric Shock” flies off the rails, it’s thrilling. Records like this are why we love Iron Lung… it’s raging, interesting, and exciting in all the right ways.
Get fucked up, turn the fuzz to 11 and get as strong as humanly possible. Life can be a real piece of shit sometimes, let this be the soundtrack when it is.
Our take: Way back in 2018 Iron Lung Records released a demo tape by Seattle’s Lexicon. Now they’re back with their vinyl debut. That demo tape was already head and shoulders above most hardcore records I hear, so Lexicon needed little refinement. Still, things seem a little more unified on Devoid of Light, which sees the band locking into a sound that takes the dense and chaotic production values of noise-punk bands like D-Clone, Zyanose, and Lebenden Toten, and applies it to a more rhythmically intricate and punkier songwriting style. I wonder if you took all the distortion off this if it would sound like Amde Petersen’s Arme or something? It’s hard to say, especially with this full-bore assault blasting in your ears. Lexicon reminds me a lot of the Richmond band Spore I also wrote about this week, and as with Spore, the moments on Devoid of Life that hit the hardest for me are the loosest and most chaotic passages. Lexicon is so locked-in that when a track like “Parasite” or “Electric Shock” flies off the rails, it’s thrilling. Records like this are why we love Iron Lung… it’s raging, interesting, and exciting in all the right ways.