Comity - The Journey Is Over Now

Well, I've been given the opportunity to review the latest record by Paris based extreme hardcore band Comity, by Enjoyment Records, who co-released the record with Throatruiner Records. This record was releases in December 2011, so is still fairly hot off the presses.

The Journey Is Over Now consists of four tracks not only as Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Part 1 begins with crunching feedback and harsh screams. It then kicks into the
chaotic hardcore that this band are known for. Chaos is definitely the word. There are
a lot of things going on throughout the opening sections of the songs. Off-kilter riffs, heavy, varied drumming and more passionate screams. The band use sporadic instrumental passages between screamed parts, so still possess a sense of melody throughout, thanks to
the clean riffs that punctuate the music. The production of the record is very clear, as it lets all the different instruments breathe, while using distortions and feedback to remind you that this is not a pop record.

There are some incredible ideas and sound within the music, including sliding, improvised guitar riffs, which sound like air-raid sirens and whispered vocal passages that give you a sense of tortured evil. Dual high and low pitched vocals add to the effect of slow evolving madness as the song crescendo's between walls of noise and beautifully picked guitar. The amount of ideas that are in this first track are more than the sum of most albums and show the progressive, forward thinking side of Comity.

Part 2 starts with another barrage of the senses. It's hard to imagine a band would write music so tortured and desolate, but make it work. It doesn't sound like it was just flung together and shows the experience and influence that Comity have picked up since their birth in 1996. More driving guitar and percussion moves things on, in an almost hypnotic manner, holding the listeners attention while trying to reduce them to a quivering wreck.
Don't get me wrong though, this isn't math-rock, it's more than that. It's hard to put any kind of tag to it, which is what Comity wanted to achieve. There are no boundaries to
confine it and it lurches back and forth with abandon, using their sense of melody to help bring some light to what is a dark record.

Part 3 is an instrumental track, which brings things down to a calmer level to ensure that you don't go completely insane. The noise level on this does slowly build up towards to the end of the song, but Comity keep things simpler, by sticking at the same tempo throughout, climaxing and falling away, leaving silence to herald in the final track.

Part 4 is just over 20 minutes in length, and the longest song on the album. Again Comity use an lengthy instrumental intro before lurching back into the chaotic hardcore they do so well. This song has a slightly slower pace to it, making it easier on the listener, but the ideas are still crammed in for good measure. The song goes through low growled vocals, murky feedback drenched quiet passages and more off kilter goodness. There are more stop-start moments, but that is due to extreme difference in direction and time signatures that Comity pass through in the song. Part 4 is more than a track, it's about four or five tracks split into passages. At about 14 minutes in, it goes quiet, only punctuated by solitary guitar picking before the whispered screams kick in alongside sporadic drumming. It then comes back to life for the last blast, leaving your jaw agape at what you've just heard and witnessed. The Mayans say that this year we will finally see the end of the world and if we do, this will it's soundtrack!

Here's their bandcamp page below, so you can listen to it for yourselves.



This is Comity's first release since April 2009, and brings them kicking and screaming into the fold again. This release will really challenge anyone who listens to it, so if you like really forward thinking, progressive hardcore, make sure you check this out and support the band.

You can check out Comity on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Comity.

Also, please visit the labels that released this records, Enjoyment records at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Enjoyment-Records and at http://www.enjoymentrecords.com and Throatruiner records at http://www.facebook.com/throatruiner and http://throatruinerrecords.tumblr.com/.