Review:'Castrovalva' 'You’re Not in Hell, You’re in Purgatory My Friend'
- Album: 'You’re Not in Hell, You’re in Purgatory My Friend'
- Label: 'Brew Records'
- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: '1st October 2012'
Our Rating:
There are two things that have come to define the Leeds sound in recent years, the first being heavy, loud guitars, the other being anything goes experimentalism and a shunning of the trappings of genre. Few bands effectively combine the two though, and certainly not to the extent that Castrovalva do. In this respect, they really do epitomise what’s going on in the city. But because their sound isn’t so much a hybrid as an incongruous collision, Castovalva stands as one of the most improbable acts to emerge from the bubbling melting pot of the Leeds scene. Picking up where their previous album, ‘We Are A Unit’, left off, Castrovalava, are back doing that crazy thing that only they can pull off without looking like utter dicks. More to the point, there are times they do look like dicks, but they don’t care, which makes them the apex of cool.
In case you’re unfamiliar with their schtick, Castrovalva look like a joke band, and the hip-hop stylings, whacky lyrics and pitch-shifted vocals are comedic, but the monster bass sound that’s so full the absence of a guitar in the mix is rarely noted, in conjunction with the frenetic drumming are utterly serious.
Musically, then, much of ‘You’re Not in Hell’ is a full-throttle hardcore album. A springy, fuzzed-out bass that duels with a waltz-time beat drives screamed vocals on ‘Dining With the Pope’, and live favourite ‘Donut’ is exemplary: rapidfire rapping, FX-fiddled vocals, prodigy-style synth sounds and balls-out metal drumming welded hard to a driving bass – all in the course of two and a half minutes.
But there are moments of compelling soulful pop – ‘I Am the Golden Widow’, for example – which reveal more depths to Castrovalva’s musicality and prove they’re more than a two-dimensional cartoon hardcore / rap act.
Still, there’s a lot to be said for the deranged qualities of helium-filled hardcore, and let’s face it, fun is important. Castrovalva should suck, but the fact it they’re utterly fucking brilliant. Surrender to the madness: purgatory, hell, it doesn’t matter, because it’s one hell of an album.
