Hailing from Kent and boasting a sound that is both brutally precise and wildly unhinged, Graphic Nature’s new EP ‘new skin’ is the perfect introduction to what they’re about. If you’ve never heard of the band before, prepare yourself – this isn’t an EP for the faint of heart.
If you can, imagine a world in which Code Orange and Loathe joined forces and leaned a little harder into their nu-metal influences. That’s sort of what this sounds like – vicious, low-tuned, unrelenting music that has the potential to set all your nerve endings on fire. With material like this, they aren’t knocking at your door and asking you if you’d be interested in having a listen, they’re blowing it to smithereens, trashing your house and forcing you to pay attention. You won’t be too mad about it though – these four tracks go HARD.
EP opener ‘chokehold’ kicks things off boldly, wasting no time to introduce their combination of low-end power and furious pace with frightening intensity. Marry that with seriously pissed-off vocals, and their brand of chaos becomes a crystal clear image, and it’s one you’ll find difficult to take your eyes off of. ‘drain’ effortlessly holds that gaze, keeping their feet firmly on the throttle with meaty riffs and barbarous drum-work, hurtling towards a truly feral outro.
‘601’ is a short and sharp statement of intent, with a few subtle nods to Slipknot classic ‘Eyeless’ in the drum and bass samples, and jarring atmospheric dissonance. It plays a similar role in the EP too, coming in hot and designed to cause chaos and havoc, which is exactly what it does. The closing number and title track has a few similarities with the EP’s opener but delivers an entirely different punch, progressing from frustrated unpredictability into monolithic, overwhelming chugs that could level a building.
Overall, this is a solid piece of work. The only issue with this is that it’s too short, clocking in at around 10 minutes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You get to the end of ‘new skin’ and you’re left wanting more, and that’s exactly how you should feel after listening to an EP. You get to know exactly what the band are about – the anger, the crushing heaviness, the alluring, riotous instability – and they’ve got you, hook, line and sinker.
‘new skin’ is one of the most consistently punishing EP’s to have come out of the UK in recent years. It has that ever strived after “I can picture this being played live” quality to it, and the adrenaline that fills you with is priceless. You go to shows for a release and an escape, so when a record can provide that for you it’s a gigantic glowing sign that you should probably pay attention to the band that made it. When a bigger collection of Graphic Nature music comes, you can expect to see us eagerly and excitedly awaiting its arrival. Now, I should get to fixing that door…
DAVE STEWART