Bush – Razorblade Suitcase

No. 4 – Bush – Razorblade Suitcase - 4.5/5
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Produced by notable noise rocker Steve Albini (Big Black), this second offering from post-grungers Bush is raw, bloody and brutal. With an atmosphere thick enough to warrant sludge comparisons, and a tone often reminding me of doom, this is a phenomenal album which seems to be overlooked time and time again.

The drums lay most of the framework, and are fairly basic without feeling too bland or underdeveloped. The bass unfortunately doesn’t play as prominent a role as I’d often like, but this isn’t where the focus of their music is directed. The guitars are raw, and produced in such a minimal way, giving it a live edge to it. The riffs display a variety of tones, from the deep, simplistic, making good use of repetition to reflect the grinding repetition in life, the soft and cleaner ‘calm before the storm’ style, and the downright twisted, and screeching and messy side. They aren’t intended to produce something catchy, they emphasise the theme of the song by their very nature, discontinuous deep and grinding, slow and depressive, cynical, cruel and twisted and they aren’t even the best part of this line-up.

In the same way, the vocals are often repetitive, retaining a raw honesty, a grim and bloody take on realistic situations, and has perfected that grunge drawl, displaying the emotions and depressive doom-like tone, whilst retaining a level of clarity, a balance the best vocalists in the genre can rarely accomplish. And he hasn’t just laid his emotions on this album, it sounds like he has ripped out his still beating heart and put it on display, the occasional use of violin doing more than just adding diversity, succeeding in enhancing this overwhelming presence presented by the vocalist.

This album is raw enough that only few bands beyond the raw black metal can compare. It displays emotions fully encompassing, rich and vivid as they grind away. The no frills bizarre guitar work providing a twisted and evil tone, the crashing of the drums as they thunder away, this isn’t just another grunge clone. It makes the likes of Nirvana look like Bee Gee’s by comparison.

Highlights: Insect Kin, Cold Contagious, Mouth

By T. Bawden