Negative 13 return with Recover What You Can, a six-track record that solidifies their ability to push beyond genre confines while staying undeniably heavy. Scheduled for release on January 25, 2025, the album offers a unique fusion of doom, sludge, and post-punk by expertly balancing crushing riffs with moments of eerie calm.
The album opens with “The Desolate,” a foreboding instrumental that sets the tone with fuzz-drenched guitars that lays the groundwork for the ominous “Casket Trail.” Weighty grooves dominate the track with the band moving seamlessly between pummeling doom rhythms and brief respites.
“The Vulture Circles” is an explosive track packed with dissonance, frenetic pacing, and scorching breakdowns. Negative 13 shifts gears effortlessly by building a climactic crescendo that brims with urgency and raw aggression. The album’s turning point, “Horizon Divides,” introduces a heavy dose of post-punk influence. Its hypnotic atmosphere is underscored by airy synths and clean guitar work that adds a surprising dream-like quality amidst the record’s unrelenting heaviness.
The nearly nine-minute “Devil In Your Head” unleashes chaos with its signature mix of groove and experimental grit. Lurching between moments of dissonant quiet and jarring intensity, the track showcases the band’s fearless approach to songwriting. It’s an auditory assault that demands attention. Closing out the album, the title track “Recover What You Can” is the thunderous finale with gritty guitars and relentless percussion that drive the band’s genre-spanning sound to a climactic conclusion.
Produced by Matt Very, Recover What You Can captures the essence of Negative 13: unpredictable, unrelenting, and creatively untethered. With its masterful blend of sludge, doom, and post-punk, this album cements Negative 13’s place as a force in modern heavy music.
Artwork Chris Smith
