Backengrillen : Backengrillen
I hold the apparently heterodox view that the two Refused reunion records, Freedom and War Music, were good records. Sure, they didn’t follow the experimentalist and progressive impulse that The Shape of Punk to Come, a shockingly prophetic album, had sketched out for the group. Both did, however, fuse the metallic hardcore of Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent with a rock aesthetic that I found appealing, if not precisely revelatory. Still, even as much as I liked those albums, I was not precisely heartbroken to hear they were hanging up the belt again. I was, however, intrigued by their announcement of the full lineup continuing on under a new name and direction following that final show.
Backengrillen, the group born of those ashes, is what The Shape of Punk to Come promised us all those years ago. The underground has already mined those influences, from ISIS adding dub and krautrock to heavy metal and hardcore or the broader acceptance of the heavy underground scene toward free jazz and death metal as foundational elements. Still, hearing the same people who made the hard rock-adjacent War Music suddenly busting out wailing longform sax solos against very Jah Wobble basswork and a drummer who either believes they are in Can or Obituary is a thrill. The album is five lengthy cuts, borrowing the progressive structuralism of Shape and opening it up wide much the same way that Aaron Turner’s work in SUMAC blew open the structuralism of ISIS before it. The balance of elements shifts piece to piece; here, a shouted vocal lays a constancy of sound that improvised solos can play against, while there a krauty motorik beat lets the bassist play rhythm games while, oh I forgot, the harsh noise guy can offer blasts of searing white noise across the proceedings.
Naming pieces on the record for highlights feels self-defeating. The clearly improvisational nature of these recordings means I highly doubt any live performance would be focused on much more than starting with the same head before breaking into group improvisation, and the press matter for this re-debut already promises a second record in progress that seems like it may be more structured and deliberate. What’s more exciting to me than precise moments is the fluidity of the group interplay and the range of their sonic elements, from the driving watery bass of early post-punk to extreme metal and avant-funk drumming to all your harsh noise hits, married to vocals that are as unhinged as any in the lineage of Can ought be.
That we get to see both evolutionary lines of Shape as of the release of this record is the real gift as far as I see it. That seminal record intended to break open mainstream punk to avant-garde sonic elements, an endeavor that the more hip of mainstream-adjacent groups took up handily. But now we see the hand reaching the other way, an attempt to bring people with them to the world of heavy, experimental, progressive and avant-garde music. The wonderful shores of avant-prog with our native saints This Heat and Samla Mammas Manna admit many comers and those of punk persuasion often make the most rapid devotees of the style, being unafraid of rule breaking as they are. Backengrillen is a thrilling record and one that will answer more of its own questions as the group continues and lets their evolving work speak for itself. As for now, we are handed an auspicious beginning.
Label: Svart
Year: 2025
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