Cortez
Initial

My God, my first review on DeBaser.it… What a thrill… I don't know where to start…

The Cortez, a Belgian trio without a bass.

They are part of the scene called Chaoscore. The albums considered the cornerstones of this movement are "Jane Doe" by the well-known Converge and "Shaping The Random" by the lesser-known Shora. Bands from the Americas like The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Expectorated Sequence, and Tower Of Rome are part of this scene; there are also Italian bands like The Infarto… Scheisse!! and Antithesis. I should clarify that this classification is not of my own creation but was given by industry insiders. I don't know who exactly these insiders are, but don't take it out on me if you're against classifications. Closing this somewhat unnecessary introductory parenthesis, let's move on to the CD in question.

“Initial” is composed of ten tracks, with very varied lengths, ranging from seventeen seconds to eleven minutes. The opening track, despite the short duration that might suggest an instrumental intro, is actually a small sonic massacre, where an unclear guitar line, a rhythm difficult to pin down, and a scream voice (which I find very beautiful) provide us with a brief moment of annihilation. The stage is immediately taken over by “Mine De Rien”. The piece unfolds over almost five minutes, filled with time changes and riffs. The guitar at times recalls sound flows dear to emoviolence, other times engaging in noise-core-style stoppages (see Knut). The drumming is beautifully crooked, the rhythms are sometimes hard to follow, but they perfectly complement the guitar oddities, aided by psychotic screams repeated to exhaustion. A great piece. The next track is a transitional one, leaving you indifferent, as if it weren't there at all, and without realizing it, you reach “Prompt”, which at the end of the listen will turn out to be the best moment of the album. In almost eleven minutes, crystal-clear references to Converge (Jane Doe), shamelessly inspired parts by Neurosis (The Eye Of Every Storm), and Knut’s “Challenger” build a majestic and almost moving lament of suffering, just like in the title track of “Jane Doe”. A true masterpiece.

The album then fully develops within these coordinates, where the chaotic matrix alternates flawlessly with the hypnotic tempos typical of the more evolved noise-core, with the fractured rhythms of metalcore and with melancholic arpeggios, creating pieces of various lengths that are truly engaging. An important record if you want to understand the latest extreme evolutions of post-hardcore.