Bleep

black midi return to yet again surpass all expectations and preconceptions with their sophomore album Cavalcade. As if Schlagenheim wasn’t already a sure-fire hit record of slack-virtuosic math-experimental-post-whatever defying genre brackets, South London stalwarts of the ‘New Weird’ find new ways to showcase their musical chops with Cavalcade. Approached with a completely new approach, recording studio and producer than their improvisation-based debut, the fray of discordant guitars, mumble-sung storytelling and maniacally unpredictable drumming comes fitted with a flurry of brass and strings, resulting in a tangled knot of sound which answers the question: what would Slint sound like if John Zorn led their arrangements?

The other answer is: certainly like nothing you’ve heard before, which is an especially incredible feat for this esteemed group of Brit School alumni. Opening barnstormer ‘John L’ sets a chaotic tone of screeching violins and brown-noise guitars, its lyrics crushed and squeezed into verse-like form by Geordie Greep. Each pause and breakdown is a reminder that black midi are fascinated with beauty as they are the macabre. The timbre of ‘Slow’ and ‘Diamond Stuff’ verges on the ambient slow-burn of a Low epic, as ‘Marlene Dietrich’ disarms with Greep’s uncharacteristically crooning torch-song vocal style.

A year that no one could have predicted followed their lauded debut album, now with a completely new outlook on recording - black midi prove their resilience and sheer talent. Possibly one of the greatest ever.