Starvist
Taker Mythology
Exigent Records
Street: 06.22
Starvist = Converge + Bone Dance
Just as their album art suggests, Starvist saw off rhino horns with Taker Mythology, a fresh gulp of contemporary hardcore. Drummer Chase Cluff is a technical beast in his own right as he seamlessly transitions from technical rolls on his snare and slides into a smooth 6/8 beat with fluffy ride taps in “You Just Don’t Fool Me Twice.” Cluff propels the band into “Cash Cow,” where I still find myself astonished that this band is only a three-piece. Guitarist Matt Wiley seems to multiply his guitar tones with tight intervals, Tyson Clegg exhibits apt technical precision with deep, sonorous bass lines with saber-tooth tiger roars. The climax of the album at track five, “All You Can Eat,” exhibits Starvist’s knack for creating sonic whirlwinds with dissonant guitar work and Cluff’s apt time-signature switches. This local album is a must-have—moreso because Davide Mancini’s album art is brutal.