Kevlar - Agitators of the Mind.

 

Kevlar – Agitators of the Mind – CD/Download – 2021 – Unrest Productions - UNPRDCD16

https://kampfunrest.bandcamp.com/music  

https://vonsechsundachtzig.bandcamp.com/album/permission-to-die

https://www.facebook.com/Kevlar-128124803932189

https://soundcloud.com/kevlar-unit

The duo Kevlar have been around since 2010, Agitators of the mind is their 5^th release and their 4^th album since 2017s New Fears New Fights. I have properly never heard Kevlar before this, but they do have a stellar reputation in the UK where they are based.

The sound is immediately massive as big, controlled drones with infected distortion and whistling feedback all weave into each other to make complexed sound textures. The use of noise is precise with each shift in sound moving the hostile feelings radiated as vocals are shouted over it the top of Go Forth. There is a favoured use of pulsating noise throughout the album, that creates a menacing throb - the vocal works to deliver the attack on each track, sometimes the sharper noises aid in this. Tracks vary between 4 and 6 minutes, they are all concise and straight to the point.

There is a female vocal or sample combined with the male vocal on Mind Agitators that really delivers, the track is agitated and panicked. The doubled or echoed vocal on Mirrored rages as dragging electronics and synth prodding create haunted passages – there are nasty bits of Death Industrial tinkering that breathe menace over the vented sermons. Moral Ferment vomits death over the listener as ugly electronics drown the vocal to a gargled rant. The electronics fart over distant sirens and at this point the album really is at war with itself as the vocal gains clarity.

Promised land has a bigger synth sound, that conjures big landscapes and distorted vocal, the vocal resharpens and blunts itself continuously – the pulsation on this one is exact and lethal. Rope builds on this for sound, the throb of Kevlar’s sound is restrained and the distortion and warped electronics take the lead here – the vocal is expertly buried within it. The use of electronic is at its best and busiest here as the control is eased off a little.

Kevlar uses power Electronics to a high standard through sheer disciplined, precise use of sound and how the vocal is used. It encompasses these methods to deliver threatening, tense works that never let go or explode – they just radiate bad vibes, anxiety and menace. There is no shock or pointless extremity, each track is straight to the point with no filler or fat. I am glad I heard this album; it is an excellent piece work.

Coventry Soul - 2021,