The Locust

The always entertaining, consistently challenging and ever changing (the line-up, that is) noisemakers are back and on another label, no less. Taking a brief pit stop to show that they didn’t lose it by signing to Epitaph, San Diego’s masters of the spastic are back with a sort of concept EP. Fashioned after the traditional symphonies of Beethoven and co., Safety Second, Body Last is a two-track, ten-minute explosion that threatens to be their most accessible work to date. And the threat is real. Spread across the first piece are five movements that flow unlike the typical Locust record does, with rapid fire transitions that weave and bob between droning ambience and bursts of hardcore fits. Track two does something similar but packs more of a punch before it recedes into an almost non-existent frequency hum. Of course, you have to prep yourself for the inevitable onslaught of punishing riffs and Justin Pearson’ homicidal screech, but the anticipation each time is worth the shock. Locust fans should be proud of this interesting and controlled use of space.