“Songs of Discontinuity” is the final full-length album by Murder In The Red Barn, a band formed in the late nineties by the members of prominent post-hardcore acts such as Tintoretto, Credentials, The Paper Chase, Hero Of A Thousand Fights, etc. Twenty years forward, Chicago-based record label Dipterid Records decided to give this epic math-rock masterpiece a vinyl reissue that it deserves. The vinyl looks divine, proving that Dipterid Records invests all its time and effort into everything it publishes. As soon as you grab this magnificent album, you’ll notice Alex Beals’ futuristic artworks, decorating the front, back, and inlay of the high-quality gatefold sleeve while Michael Welch was solely responsible for layout design. Together, they’ve created a visual concept that immediately forces you to put a needle on this record. Originally recorded and produced by John Congleton in 2003, the master reels were recovered, restored, and mastered by Carl Saff in 2023, so you’ll enjoy an improved sound where all the vocals, notes, and beats pervade from all the possible sides.
“Songs of Discontinuity” commences with “Vivion,” a perfect introductory piece that vividly showcases what Murder In The Red Barn is about. You’ll hear how this clever band incorporated all the finest properties of math rock, post-hardcore, and emo into a fine piece of sonic artistry. The semi-distorted guitars shape the profoundly intricate ambiance where the calmness and aggression collide in a very distinctive way. In the meantime, the vocals build tension around those instrumentations, commanding the attention and further engaging the listener into the entire sonic equation. The rhythm subtly lurks around, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while the intricate rhythmic patterns add a touch of complexity. You’ll notice how the song becomes even more complex with every new segment. The same goes for “To Chew And Spit Out,” “The Thirteenth Vair,” and “Maul Politor,” but each composition delivers its unique ambiance where Murder In The Red Barn shines even brighter with their brilliant ideas and exceptional musicianship. This band seamlessly glides over calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal moments and hysteric, chaotic, complex, heavy, aggressive, and powerful segments where the screams and shouts build a colossal wall of sound alongside magnificent instrumentations.
At some moments, you’ll notice how the band flirts with some of the finest qualities borrowed from the nineties noise rock scene. “Verago Of Veras” and “Regiments Into Body Parts” are some of the finest examples of these experimentations with several music styles. The guitars sound tight, sharp, chunky, and jangly, but they still carry enough distortion to create more than necessary tension. This sound works like a charm for these songs. Also, it seems like these songs have even more intricate instrumentations included along the way. Both tracks resonate with many brilliant ideas distilled into expertly arranged and flawlessly performed riffs, chord progressions, low-ends, and rhythmic sequences. At some points, you’ll notice how Murder In The Red Barn navigates through their sonic universe with such precision and finesse. However, these wise musicians also thought about mentioned tension and chaos, so math-core and post-hardcore qualities are still present in the mix.
Track like “It Was Us…” showcases traditional late nineties and early noughties math-rock and math-core sound, with a catchy, hypnotic, addictive, memorable ambiance that gradually develops from the tastefully assembled guitar interplays. In the meantime, the rhythm section supports these sonic maneuvers by delivering dynamic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The equally complex, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines immensely support all these orchestrations while binding everything together. Also, it’s good to mention that the hysteric, emotive, sincere vocal performance makes this track even more chaotic and pleasing to the ears. After the two-minute interlude, Murder In The Red Barn closes this math-rock masterpiece with “Story Song,” another marvelous composition where the band showcases its ambient post-rock side. It serves more like an outro, but it carries a repetitious, almost industrial sound, decorated with arpeggiated chord progressions, delicate basslines, and excellent drumming. It’s such a perfect closure of this marvelous material.
Murder In The Red Barn succeded in creating such a fresh and unique sound by merging fundamental elements of math-rock, math-core, post-hardcore, noise rock, and emo. “Songs of Discontinuity” is one of the best albums you’ll hear in this obscure genre, mainly because it showcases all the brilliance and musicianship of these skilled musicians. They poured heart, soul, knowledge, and experience into these tracks, proving that experimentations with time signatures, harmonies, melodies, and vocal articulations know no boundaries. You should go straight to the Dipterid Records Bandcamp page and order this gem if you’re into flawlessly assembled and expertly performed math-rock music.
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