Been getting into this Texas band's brand of frantic blackened hardcore more and more, largely through all of their killer cassette titles that Broken Limbs has been issuing over the past couple of years or so. I first heard 'em way back on that ripping split with blackened noise-doom mutants Venowl, but here we're finally getting a full length from the group, a reissue of a super-limited CDR they self-released years ago and which only made it out to a handful of ears. And Stagnant Perceptions is even better than the stuff I've heard up to this point, delivering eleven short, punchy tracks of blistering, despairing hardcore that seems to draw equally from the more miserable fringes of black metal, the harsher edge of 90's emo, and a big dose of filthy, stench-filled grindcrust. Don't get spooked by the "E" word, though. Where I'm hearing that element is in Garry Brents's use of jangling, dissonant guitar chords and brief breaks where the band's furious blackened thrashpunk suddenly swerves into stretches of muted, almost solemn melody while singer Chris Francis shreds his larynx over top of it all, moments that are reminiscent of harder-edged stuff like Pg.99 and Saetia, if that gives you some indication. These guys whip up a killer sound here, and the recording quality is the best yet from 'em, powerful and punchy and huge, especially considering that you're listening to just a two-piece band.

     There's some great, technical guitar work in these songs in addition to hauntingly tremulous melodies that are woven throughout the album, appearing alongside abrupt bursts of absolutely savage blackened grindcore (which are aided by guitar and vocal contributions from Dorian Rainwater from Noisear / Phobia). And some of those guitar parts also bring an almost “mathy” quality to certain parts of Stagnant Perceptions, further distinguishing the band's sound.

Definitely not just another Trap Them / Young And In The Way clone, Cara Neir deliver their own distinctive strain of black metal-influenced hardcore, possessed with a frantic, frayed-at-the-edges energy and that strange, subtle progginess (which is especially apparent in the rhythm section), along with a couple of moments where the band suddenly swells into awestruck beauty and majestic melody that can be reminiscent of the likes of Fall Of Efrafa and Agalloch, all of which come together to really set it apart from the hordes of other bands that have been working within this general realm over the past decade or so. Not to mention, the songs themselves are pretty goddamn catchy. This is definitely a band that fans of stuff like Young And In The Way and that "blackened hardcore" aesthetic should be checking out, but expect something quite different.

Limited to one hundred copies.