Copenhagen-based experimental noise/post-punk outfit Taxidermy — Osvald Reinhold (vocals, guitar), Toke Brejning Frederiksen (guitar), Joachim Lorch-Schierning (bass) and Johan Knutz Haavik (drums) — have quickly established a sound that draws from math rock, No Wave, post-hardcore and emo among a list of others.
Thematically, the Danish quartet’s work sees them exploring the unease and disquiet of contemporary existence through delving into the cryptic and disorientating, the claustrophobic and the surreal. Crafting material anchored around unpredictable arrangements, raw and visceral textures, broad dynamic range and intense emotional delivery, the members of the Copenhagen-based outfit actively challenges the listener to confront the discomfort of the unknown.
Last year’s Coin EP featured two singles I wrote about on this site:
- “Rot,” a slow-burning bit of noisy post-punk that evokes the narrator’s sanity fraying at its edges with the song being built around an arrangement of intricate layers of dissonant guitars, swirling feedback and a propulsive rhythm section serving as an uneasy and stormy bed for Reinhold’s desperate wailing. Seemingly channelling Disappears/FACS, Radiohead and The Smile, “Rot” not only captures a narrator who’s drowning in their own vacillating and self-flagellating doubt and hatred, but one who does so in a world that’s mad and cruel to him, as he is to himself.
- “Today” an uneasy and intense slab of post punk-meets noise rock that seemingly pairs angular and fragmented Entertainment-era Gang of Four-like groove with the sort of feedback-driven skronk and squeal reminiscent of Nirvana and Sonic Youth with frenetic and propulsive drumming. Reinhold’s desperately wailing vocal floats uneasy over the hypnotic, machine-like arrangement, seeming to rage against a brutal and unceasingly mad world.
“Impending” is the first single from the Danish outfit’s forthcoming EP Let Go. And while further cementing the act’s reputation for crafting brooding post-punk, the song sees the band subtly expanding upon their sound, with the song featuring alternating ethereal and atmospheric verses with the sort of scorching power chord-driven hooks and choruses that would make Steve Albini proud.
The band’s Osvald Reinhold describes the song as “a moment of clarity; a detached, fleeting overview of the limited nature of existence, on the brink of being overtaken once more by oblivion and habitual repetition.”