KEN Mode

If tertiary 2008 effort Mennonite revealed noisy metalli-rockers KEN Mode to be growing comfortable blazing their unique swath, Venerable turns that unbeaten path into a four-lane highway. The trio then put the hammer down and barrel forward with a menacing grin. Further innovating upon their caduceus staff of hardcore and metal, they are entirely unafraid of milking minute aspects for intensified results. Injecting pregnant pauses and ambient lulls into their Shallow, North Dakota-meets-Kittens viciousness, a dichotomous ride of continually detonating hardcore and savage metal is offset by minor artistic reprieves, ensuring Venerable doesn't incorporate influences so much as such round them up and mutilate them into a fresh entity. The best possible source of capturing such overdriven rage, Kurt Ballou (Converge, Torche) reins in these caged animals just enough to commit them to tape without altering their intellectually-driven fury on a track such as "The Irate Jumbuck," languid instrumental "Flight of the Echo Hawk" or aptly titled barnburner "The Ugliest Happy You've Ever Seen." Still as emotionally charged as ever, yet clearly more confident in letting those sentiments out patiently, sometimes over the course of eight minutes, Venerable once again finds KEN Mode successfully reaching for new heights while still keeping their feet firmly planted in their apocalyptic roots.