Dissect : Anatomy of Aberration
Dissect
Anatomy of Aberration
Anatomy of Aberration is the debut EP release by the local metallic hardcore outfit known as Dissect – an upstart hardcore five-piece featuring members from Saints Amongst Sinners and Spiral. Reprising two of the band’s first singles; “Inquietude” and “Execration”, Anatomy of Aberration provides a rounded boost to the rest of Dissect’s discography, and a refreshing and innovative addition to Lion City Hardcore that features a wide range of influences within the various subgenres of hardcore, metalcore, and those outside such as ambient and shoegaze.
Presenting their sound as “Math-metal blended heavy experimental hardcore”, the band’s blend of extreme metal and hardcore punk more than justifies their self-labelling, considering the quintet’s innovative use of odd-time signatures, effects and influences from various eras of hardcore. Despite having formed quite recently in 2019, Dissect made their mark on the regional hardcore scene by playing for the globally renowned Knocked Loose in 2020. Anatomy of Aberration is the crux of the group’s hard work and steady momentum as a band, adding a set of highly memorable and innovatively composed tracks to the band’s discography
Choosing to not limit itself to a single subgenre or sets of hardcore trends, Anatomy of Aberration’s riffage takes pleasure in featuring the high-octave dissonance of 90s metalcore acts like Norma Jean and Zao, while its meatier breakdowns take inspirations from both numerous 90s beatdown acts and modern eras of hardcore. But within this lineage, Dissect set themselves apart with inventive and frequent use of effects, employing chorus, delay, and most notably whammy pedals, interchangeably on many of the record’s tracks. Their experimental approach to pedals contrast with much of hardcore’s more bare-bones approach to tone sculpting and songwriting, and is also invocative of new-age hardcore groups such as seeyouspacecowboy, Sanction and Vein, the latter of whom Dissect have covered extensively during their live performances.
Yet despite the album’s diverse stylistic roots, the band’s musical choices on Anatomy of Aberration are well calculated and effective. The riffs are a given: he the “mathier” moments ear piercing and dissonant, while its beatdown sections punch meaty and full of weight. Chilling ambient sections are heard on the opening section of “Execration”, while effective samples of supplement the record’s overall feeling of despair and eeriness, be it “Rapture”’s use of sonar pulses and radio frequencies as musical elements, the modulated gurgled screams heard before the final breakdown in “The Apostate” or the sample taken from The Shining on “Inquietude”. Despite most tracks being heavy, punchy and dissonant (ensuring plenty of high-energy flurries of rage in the pit), melodic riffs reminiscent of mid 2000s post-hardcore choruses are emerge throughout the album, adding flavour and diversity to the record’s numerous dynamic changes. The final section of “Trauma Strain (The Rift of the Abyssal Soul)” even features the use of clean vocals, invoking a sense of melancholy to the track and making it an excellent conclusion to the EP.
Impeccable mixing and production by Kai Wen and Sonicwerkz does wonders to bring out the EP’s musical elements, enhancing the brutal and raw energy of its riffs and experimental samples, while also balanced out with clean modern-metal production stylings.
Dissect themselves describe the EP as “a way to express extreme emotional distress through slashing and hammering style of experimental hardcore”. Through its lyrical images of war, weaponry, murder and the underworld, the band manages to conjure graphic narratives of depressive episodes and visceral self- destruction, metaphors that describe the band’s own struggle with self-hatred and isolation. As a result, the release’s lyrical process of this release is both a cathartic and expressive one, providing comfort not only its writers but also to listeners in similar situations. An innovative new release and a fine addition to the circles of Lion City Hardcore, Anatomy of Aberration effectively blends the beatdown of heavy hardcore with the challenging technicalities of math-metal. The EP set a great example for how future hardcore bands in the scene can write well-written songs with dynamic song structures and creatively unique musical elements
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