Don’t let anyone tell you different, metal is fun—well, except for all the times when it isn’t. But even when it is fun, many metal genres have a hard time achieving the same kind of raw joviality that their cousins in the punk space can. Good ol’ heavy metal and thrash make a good play—they share roots after all. But when it comes to yelling playfully in a mix with less of a regard for tonality and more of a focus on blasting a message out with volume as a guide, punk’s got an edge that’s hard to match. Kambodsja knows this, and they play the game well, slowly manipulating their exact style over the course of the past couple decades. In this year of our Jorn 2023, they claim to stand Resilient. After seven years off the stage, though, does that hold?
Though these Norwegian goofballs took a recording break, they never really pulled the plug on causing an on-stage commotion. If you scour the net, you can watch and hear them tearing up stages in the time between.1 As early as 2019 you can even find Kambodsja testing iterations of what would become Resilient. Patient in craft, Kambodsja has been working from inception as a screamo outfit (“Carnivore Parasite” leans a little there still) to a more post-hardcore/metalcore-infected sludge (think early East of the Wall) to now a playful math-rock-kissed punk ensemble. What matters most of this is that Resilient comes loaded with booming, jagged bass lines (“Basement Prophet,” “Shade to the Sun”) and cut-rhythm shoutfests (“Black Canvas,” “Obstacles”) among all that’s new. Maybe all of that still sounds like the pits to you, but it’s a careful and calculated turn for any band to make.
What matters most of course is whether this new sound has legs of its own, and it most certainly does. When twangy riffs meet pounding tom pummels at soaring, sing-along choruses (“Basement Prophet,” “Mr. Hotshot”), Resilient hits hardest. Even songs that come across with poppy melodies that land somewhere between an elevated The Killers lick and a bouncy Minus the Bear noise rumble (“Idlemind,” “Mr. Hotshot”), Kambodsja finds a way back to a driving stance. To quell the minor gag of radio-reaching toothache, sometimes Kambodsja finds a smart stoner/sludge stride akin to the catchy crawl of Red Fang (“Any Place but Here,” “Obstacles”).
The diversity across Resilient hits overwhelmingly at first, and continues to pose a hurdle to easy replayability. No one song stands out as bad, but the order in which certain lengthier, experimental numbers pepper the run—like the meandering “Shade to Sun” that runs over its Birds in Row-leaning throttle with too much prog tension—can slow down the experience. Thankfully the forgiving and clear production job, at least, helps the snaking march “Die Hard 2” and prog-punk rager “Mr. Hotshot” shine, so the wait back to these more energetic numbers feels better and extra sticky. Again, the penultimate “Carnivore Parasite” proves a difficult and lengthy bump before the moodier and multifaceted “Obstacles,” but making the run from start to finish remains manageable.
Kambodsja is far from a household name, but they come to the stage as if everyone’s watching regardless. With the passion on display throughout Resilient, it’s hard to call this bountiful and bouncy punk outing anything less than good. Some of the slower and more experimental moments wander a little too long, but that’s a small price to pay for Kambodsja successfully continuing to nail a sound that remains many steps away from derivative. So if seven more years is what it takes to get another quality punk album in a field that doesn’t have as many names that call me these days, then I’ll gladly wait. Until then, I’ll stay Resilient.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Mas-Kina Recordings
Websites: kambodsja.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/kambodsja
Releases Worldwide: September 29th, 2023
