Adrenochrome, ‘Buzz or Howl Sessions.’
We’re posting our favorite Bay Area albums of 2018 every weekday through Dec. 14. Check here to see who else made the list.
Oaklandâs Adrenonchrome is a modern-day post-punk supergroup comprised of members from local bands such as False Figure, Ãtzi, and Cruz de Navajas. Their debut album, Buzz and Howl Sessions (Near Dark Records), is a six-track deathrock explosion clocking in at under 17 minutes. The rapid-fire EP is both a sharp shock to the system and a magickal mystery tour of the sacred and arcane.
With Brianne Hanshawâs fierce drums as a driving force, Alex Rivasâ looming bass lines anchor the project and Andres Ruizâ pinwheeling guitar riffs launch it into the stratosphere. Adrenochrome draws influence from decades of gothic gloom. You might hear traces of old Bauhaus in the bass line one moment and Christian Death in the guitar the next. Adrenochromeâs lead vocalist (and founder of Near Dark Records), Gina Marie, maintains a gravely howl mixed low, lending the music a rough-edged texture.Â
Lyrically, the songs hew closely to the somber themes favored by the still-strong darkwave and dark punk scene embedded in Oakland. With the downcast “shadows of a forgotten time” in “Foolâs Paradise” and the frenetic struggle against mind control in “Shattered Frames,” Adrenochromeâs explorations give voice to the rage and frustration of the nonconformist class, without devolving too deeply into the outright maudlin.
A recurring theme (if themes can be said to recur in a 16-minute album!) is that of magick, which, like deathrock, has been enjoying something of an East Bay revival. Two songs, “Celebration” and “Burn Away,” can be received as transmissions from this realm. Co-written with Akiko Sampsonâco-founder of Ãtzi, Gina Marieâs other bandâboth unambiguously describe states of ritual and revelation. Each embrace the forces outside of us that contribute to the power withinâa power that pushes us to bravely face the future without abandoning the past.
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