Anyone with even the slightest grip on hallmarks of the post-hardcore scene can’t fail to instantly recognise them on the second album by Luxembourg’s Mutiny On The Bounty. The frantic, schizophrenic prog guitar wig-outs perfected by The Fall Of Troy permeate Trials, and the impressionistic, finger-jabbing vocal style of At The Drive-In’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala is evoked consistently in drummer/vocalist Sasha Schmitz’s spittle-spraying, apoplectic ranting.
But if you’re going to take inspiration, take it from the best, and Mutiny On The Bounty have certainly done that. When not carbon-copying their heroes, they create moments that hint at their own personality.
The Long Loud Silence is a glitchy, drama-soaked instrumental proving they’re as comfy in the realm of post-rock as in the more emotionally fraught tradition of post-hardcore bloodletting, although lyrics like ’We are our own parasite’ on Statues anchor us firmly in horror-at-the-world angst.
The bedroom production job may be appalling and at odds with the shouty ambition here, but those who love a little punk rock attitude in their prog will find these Trials anything but hard work.
