to eleven

Elephantine  came out in 2004 so it’s not exactly new news, but I’ve been listening to it a lot lately and it’s a record more people should really know about. Akimbo are a long-running Seattle band that walks the blurry line between metal and hardcore and are rarely anything but pummeling (the band blog is called Live To Crush for chrissakes). They’ve been recording and touring relentlessly since 1998, putting out records on any label that will have them (currently, Neurosis’ Neurot label). While the band’s identity revolves around bassist/throat shredder Jon Weisnewski and monster drummer Nat Damm, the revolving cast of guitar players has pushed Akimbo from metal-tinged hardcore to metal-tinged proggy psychedelia. Elephantine falls squarely in the middle of their catalog and, for my money, is the best thing they’ve done.

On this record, guitarist Jared Burke Eglington imbues Akimbo with a noise-rock sensibility akin to The Jesus Lizard, allowing his lines to breathe and twist around Weisnewski’s steam roller bass. The band slows down from time to time and makes the occasional nod to classic rock icons like Zeppelin and Sabbath but, really, this is a punk-rock record from start to finish. Relentlessly punishing, it’s a record that feels somehow unhinged and yet meticulously constructed at the same time.

Elephantine is an immensely satisfying record. It’s endlessly inventive, mixing math-rock jerkiness, hardcore propulsion, classic-rock catchiness, and 90s noise-rock sinewy dynamics, often within the space of a single song. The largely unintelligible lyrics are delivered in an ascending hardcore scream and seem to toy with mythological imagery. The song titles hint at the fact that Weisnewski isn’t crawling up metal’s D&D ass though — witness: “Bane of Ancient Whales,” “Vassal Of The Phallus Crown,” and the truly awesomely titled ”I’m A Fucking Ice Giant.”

Everything Akimbo does is worth checking out, but Elephantine is a high point. RIYL: DC Hardcore, Jesus Lizard, Botch, Melvins. Listen: Delilah and Harpoon.

— Russell Emerson Hall