Oxx is a trio from Aarhus, Denmark, having released three full-lengths and an EP since 2012. In spite of easy recollections to mathy insanity, pigeonholing The Primordial Blues is unfair even to the act’s own discography, as the ominous sprawling of 2015 debut Bury the Ones We Love and Burn the Rest differs fundamentally to the frantic Dillinger-core of 2019’s The Skeleton Is Just A Coat Hanger; These Are The Black Strings That Make You Dance. Oxx recalls labels of metalcore, mathcore, noise rock, metallic hardcore, crust punk, and the prefix “avant.” However, the act has a sound all its own; The Primordial Blues is a stellar and unique mathy journey, let down only by its stiff production.
Very few mathcore or mathcore-adjacent records have a sound as round and warm as Oxx in The Primordial Blues, but it creates a unique flair. “The Coast” opens up in a welcoming way, off-kilter jazz piano chords growing into bouncy and brutal finger-tapping that snaps like a neck into Oxx’s breed of chaos. Labyrinthine compositions and beefy roars grace The Primordial Blues, with guitar work ranging from face-melting technicality (“The Fishing Village,” “The Flagellant”) to chugging sticky riffs and crust punk rhythms (“The Haruspex,” “The Hypostasis”) to lush sprawls (“The Song of the Rivers,” “The Lake and Everything Around It”), tied together by a common thread. While conjuring names as diverse as Converge, The Fall of Troy, early Daughters, and Knut, there is an undercurrent of melody that pervades each track. “The Fishing Village” and “The Lake and Everything Around It” embody this flow to a tee, arrhythmic chaotic riffs collapsing into ambivalent chord structures that serve as reliable motifs in spite of the abstract insanity. While the majority of the album serves as relentless pummeling of a start-stop assault of insane technicality and thick riffs, piano and a nearly post-rock tension emerge as both reprieve and calm before the storm: the placid polyrhythms of “The Lake and Everything Around It” serve as a warning to the morphing breakdown of “The Haruspex,” the jazzy lounge music of “The Flagellant” adds greater weight to the climactic closing beatdown, while the mammoth closer “The Primordial Blues” is a slow-burning and violin-laden meditation on devastation – a cinematic climax and resolution to the album.
The organicity of The Primordial Blues ensures that no track is a weak link, but Oxx’s labyrinthine compositions and swampy mix are incredibly difficult to discern without multiple intense listens and its breed of chaos offers little to grasp. Tracks in the back half like “The Flagellant” and “The Hypostasis” can fly by in a monotony in spite of containing some of the most complex portions of the album due to the length. It’s easy to get lost in the Blues when the guitars border sludge in their density and the drums only contain a relatively pathetic thud in comparison to the blaring quality of the other performances, rather than the commanding presence necessary for album intensity. This crowded sound works wonders for the living and breathing quality of the lumbering beast, but the drums, in particular, can feel dull and defanged when standing alone – such as the intro of “The Fishing Village.”
As ever, Oxx occupies an inaccessible and uniquely dense corner of the metalverse, a decidedly thick and moody execution of mathcore or chaotic hardcore or metalcore or whatever with an emphasis on solidarity and evocation – and just enough experimentation to keep listeners guessing. While its density is difficult to breach, you’ll find treasures abound, full of vast soundscapes and impressive musicianship. More than just a collection of songs, it’s a unified body, tied together by motifs and remarkably organic movement.1 The Primordial Blues is a collection of mysteries, whose secrets are worth unearthing with every spin.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nefarious Industries
Websites: oxxmusic.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/oxxmusic
Releases Worldwide: August 18th, 2023
