COALESCE: OX

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Coalesce the enigmatic band that vanished ten years ago and have now returned to take their spiked baseball bat style of music to the cranium of an unsuspecting public. Coalesce aren’t so much a band as they are a force of nature. Complex rhythms, harsh guitars sections and coarse screaming vocals have forced Coalesce into being referred to as metalcore but that’s simply not what they are. Coalesce is a hardcore band or at least what could’ve been hardcore in one possible future.

If you look at the evolution of Hardcore you can see how Coalesce fits in that pantheon. From the hooky strumming of The Clash or The Buzzcocks to the harder edged punk of Black Flag and The Bad Brains to the metal influenced vibe of Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front Hardcore music was always evolving in a more aggressive way. Then something happened, it got pigeonholed in this tough guy, full on metal sound and the evolution of Hardcore ended. Bands like Coalesce, Deadguy The Refused and so on were left by the wayside to make room for chest thumping, basketball jersey wearing thugs who write some of the most boring music ever made.

Ox picks up right where Coalesce left off in terms of musical evolution. The band has kept growing even during their absence and the new music shows a more constructed chaos in the band’s sound. For instance the stop start gated riff of “Wild Ox Moan” keeps you completely off balance with its bizarre structure while the tune “The Villain We Won’t Deny” is a brutal and basic assault on the senses. Coalesce constantly challenge their audience and try to stretch the parameters of the music much the way Hardcore did before the great Tough Guy disease destroyed it.

Coalesce continue to experiment with weird acoustic bits and even some straight singing. Rather than resting on what they’ve done before or trying to slide into the metalcore slippers for ease and comfort Coalesce prefers to wallow in the deep black hell of the human soul. Just listen to the desperate emotions in the tune “The Purveyor Of Novelty And Nonscence” or the lunatic mental collapse that seems to be the sonic theme of “In My Wake, For My Own”. Coalesce understand that hardcore is not just about anger and rage but also sadness, disappointment and even a bit of the melancholy.

Ox is more than a great record it’s the return of a band that actually gave a damn. Coalesce was a group that understood hardcore and wanted to see it move forward and grow into something entirely new and exciting. I suppose after ten years of watching hacks try to claim their crown Coalesce had no choice but to make an album as superior as Ox. I’m hoping more bands take note for this record and that Hardcore, the true future of Hardcore, can be brought back from the brink.