Decahedron

With the news of Decahedron’s recent break-up on my mind, it’s impossible not to feel like the band’s efforts were wasted ones. Decahedron’s last creative gasp shows that the band were still evolving and getting better right to the bitter end. Over Jason Hamacher’s rumbling drums and Jake Brown’s roiling bass, singer Shelby Cinca wails, howls and snarls his way through five of six tracks and creates an unholy assault of driving yet parenthetical guitar squalls that bow to neither the hardcore nor indie genres in favour of the band forging its own niche between the two. The effect is mesmerising; like Mission of Burma before them, Decahedron make tense, aggressive music that floats and shimmers as if inflated with helium and never seems quite touchable. It’s a shame that we won’t hear more from them because, if 2005 is any indication, Decahedron were on the cusp of breaking out before they disbanded.