Makazoruki – On The Wire CD (Geenger Records)

Particular recordings are sounding fresh, even nearly a decade after their initial release. The groups who’re brilliant enough to write, record, produce and release music that will become timeless are rare nowadays. Luckily, some bands eventually contain a formula to preserve the vitality of their music as the years are passing by. Makazoruki is unquestionably one of those groups who possess those skills, and their second full-length album named On The Wire is proof that music can sound timeless. The history of the group is unique as well. Makazoruki started when four childhood friends found refuge in Netherlands, after leaving the war-torn hometown of Zenica, Bosnia. The group released two full-lengths and two extended plays, such as self-titled CD, Analogue Breakfast CD EP, On The Wire CD, and Pornografija CD EP. I found On The Wire by digging through Geenger Records, so there’s no better occasion than this to write a couple of lines about this masterpiece.

On The Wire by Makazoruki is probably one of the best full-length recordings released by Geenger Records in the past. For those familiar with the activities of this prolific Croatian label, that is not an easy task to achieve because they have released an impressive amount of tremendous recordings so far. Makazoruki let it all out with this release. There are mixed emotions involved in their lyrics and music, so On The Wire contains everything you ever needed from a band. You’ll notice melancholy, desperation, anger, frustration, and many other emotional states throughout the entire album, but the group doesn’t stop there. Their sound follows these emotional states with generous servings of pure aggression, energy, dynamics, rawness, and crunchiness. Still, Makazoruki has a perfect sense of balance, so you may notice some much calmer, soothing, relaxing moments pervading here and there.

Makazoruki nurtures quite a unique post-punk sound, rarely heard on the music scene nowadays. Instead of following some traditional rules of the post-punk scene, Makazoruki avoids overly reverby, echoic, delayed atmosphere and aims directly to deliver raw sound as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a decent amount of the beforementioned effect lurking around, but Makazoruki deals with it in an entirely different manner. The band aims for pure aggression, backed by sharp chord progressions and energetic drumming performance. However, their sound reveals more than meets the eye. Besides the sheer dominance of post-punk, you may notice more than occasional explorations into a perfectly executed noise rock sound. Perhaps the art-punk scene influenced the band a little bit, but involvements of this genre are minor comparing to post-punk and noise rock. On The Wire showcases how post-punk and noise rock are always a perfect match, but this material resonates with more sense than many recordings presented by contemporaries. The group let it all out during these recording sessions, and their energy cannot pass unnoticeably. Head over to Geenger Records for more information about streaming or ordering this post-punk masterpiece.