Siege Fire The Devastating Cost LP
Now this is a convenient assignment: SIEGE FIRE’s first album The Devastating Cost (a reference to contemporary shipping prices in the States, I believe) might end up in my Top Ten of 2024. If they send me a bribe, they definitely will be in it. This noisy bunch comes from Portland and was originally a studio-only project from Mike (who also lends his talent to the rather great GENOGEIST and DECOMP), having released a tape in 2021 before morphing into a proper band by which you can be deafened with the help of people from LÖCKHEED and NYX DIVISION. The drummer on this LP is on absolute fire, and to be honest, he really has to be, since the main influence behind SIEGE FIRE is the mighty FRAMTID, a band known for its crazy and intense drumming remarkable for its variations, sick drum rolls, and punishing bollocking power. The Portland unit clearly borrows from this rhythmic tradition that goes back to GLOOM, and their heavy reliance on distortion certainly confirms that they shoot for the crasher crust stars. I would locate them somewhere between FRAMTID and D-CLONE with a modern crazy noise-punk twist in their use of fuzz (not unlike the Melbourne scene, notably), and very much in tune with contemporary bands like PHYSIQUE, HORRENDOUS 3D, or KINETIC ORBITAL STRIKE. In such a noisy and brutal subgenre, it can be difficult to maintain the listener’s engaging attention, and I think SIEGE FIRE manages to achieve that for the length of an LP thanks to some welcome mid-paced scorchers showing some sort of reflexivity from the band in terms of songwriting. Another good one on Black Water, from a place that never ceases to amaze.