Album Review: A Place To Bury Strangers - Worship

Replacing bassist Jonathon Smith with Dion Lunadon (of The D4 fame), the new-look A Place To Bury Strangers have washed out the killing floor that was their 2009 Exploding Head record, replaced it with their own weapons of mass destruction, and deliver Worship, a record as abrasive as previous releases yet offering a stronger sense of melody than previously thought possible.

The band hasn't foregone the noise however – far from it. This is likely to be one of the loudest records released this year. You Are The One starts like a gothic pop tune, opting for a brooding atmosphere and creeping bass before all hell breaks loose, Ackerman's hushed vocals proving to be a menacing counterpoint to the sonic maelstrom. In fact his vocals prove to be an effective weapon in itself – when he murmurs “either way I choose/the choice is wrong”, the torment and gnashing of teeth are palpable. The pounding bass and industrial guitar distortion remain well and truly at the forefront of their sound – Mind Control threatens to blow up the speakers, just so that Revenge can finish off the job – but there is nuance here, like the moody, reverb-drenched Fear, the noirish sweetness of And I'm Up or the shimmering wall of guitar and incessant motorik drumming on Dissolved. The space allowed on the cavernous, Cure-baiting Slide helps to intensify the claustrophobia on tracks like Leaving Tomorrow, ensuring that any relief from the onslaught is fleeting.

Worship is a record that takes in so many genres – shoegaze, krautrock, industrial noise, grindcore, garage rock – and melds them into a fierce mosaic of unrelenting aggression, confidence and surprising accessibility. An assured return.