"Visceral, unsettling rock for the elite" Pitchfork
"Icy, post-punk vibes... dark surprises in store." The Fly
After the success of their early material, BEASTMILK are now streaming the first material from their long-awaited debut album, "Climax". Premiered by Pitchfork, "Love In A Cold World" is available to stream via their label Svart Records now.
The Finnish post-punk troupe highly anticipated debut album poignantly combines haunting clean vocals, darkly shimmering melodies, and a throbbing rhythmic pulse to create an atmospheric yet energetic journey into post-punk's past, present, and definitely its future. Set for international release on December 2nd on CD, LP and digital formats via SVART, this will be many people's introduction to a band who have what it takes to stick around.
Evoking the anxious jangle of Jesus & Marcy Chain, an angrier Echo & The Bunnymen, a medicated Killing Joke, the lyrical animosity of PiL and even a lush layering of Bahaus's Peter Murphy - all this, and vastly more, describes the immediately memorable 3D darkness of BEASTMILK.
Born in 2010 during a nuclear winter in Helsinki, Finland, the void-mothers of BEASTMILK kick out an irradiated dust of what they appropriately dub "apocalyptic post-punk." Their debut demo, White Stains On Black Tape, sold out quickly and earned the attention of Darkthrone's Fenriz, who made it one of his favorites of 2010. Metal Hammer Germany soon wrote that "Beastmilk sounds like the secret recording from a psychedelic mass, located stylistically between Roky Erickson, early Misfits, and The Devil's Blood."
BEASTMILK quickly gained the recognition of Finnish label SVART RECORDS and inked a deal to reissue the demo on wax along with their next release, both on 7" vinyl, they played their first show with local old-school legends (and noted band influences) Nolla Nolla Nolla and Radiopuhelimet, followed by plenty of live shows both in Finland and abroad, culminating with an exclusive show at the Metal Magick festival in Denmark. In June 2013, they flew out to Boston, USA to record at GodCity Studio with the legendary Kurt Ballou (Converge), who produced their debut full-length album,Climax; the members of Converge found BEASTMILK online, loved them, and ordered both their 7"s, with Ballou soon offering to produce their debut album at his world-famous studio.
The result is Climax, an album of dark, driving anthems - from the widescreen immediacy of the opener, "Death Reflects Us", to the pitch-black pop suss of "Genocidal Crush" and "Fear Your Mind", to the irresistible "You Are Now Under Our Control", the greatest compliment you can give the record is its sheer consistency - it doesn't let up on its quality throughout. A mix of dynamics and styles never painted any lighter than black, the album is one that will unite fans of punk, indie-rock and metal sub-genres alike.