In a word, ferocious. Coalesce's first full length Give Them Rope is a thrashing mad surge of ambitious punk music, the self-proclaimed "quantum physics of hardcore". Too grounded and unromantic to be truly metal, too mature and demanding to be truly hardcore, Coalesce are inhabiting a world their own making. And this sucker almost bleeds.

What is immediately striking about this album are the incredibly labyrinthine song structures. Strangely, the constructs themselves are rather simple, but the sheer amount, and speed, and precision with which they're carried out establishes this band as somewhat of an anomly. It isn't metalcore or manic like Deadguy or Cave In, and it definitely isn't death metal; it's just a relentless barrage of powerchords enforced with a fresh energy that appears to be absent in much of what is considered hardcore these days. In "Still It Sells", for example, there are some bizarre, almost backward sounding passages, but generally this is shuddering, intense music that will simply wear down the uninitiated to a nub.

The lyrics are decidedly right-wingish in nature, complete with some swipes at liberalism, but are quite erudite and vivid nonetheless. Though speculative on my part, given the straight-faced references to "faith", "god" and "the flesh" and lyrics like "Darwin gave you the science to use bigotry and come off scholarly" (umm whatever guys: last time I checked racism was scientifically indefensible), Coalesce are tilting the balance to Fundamentalism, or at the very least political conservatism. In fact, "Have Patience" seems to touch on the evils of evolution. Hey wait, aren't these guys from Kansas? Nevermind.

As I see it, there are perhaps two ways of listening to Coalesce. One, the aesthetic part of my brain can appreciate vocalist Sean Ingram on his knees, screaming into the mike, surrounded by a small audience, in a pool of his own sweat with capillaries bursting and blood welling up in his eyeballs. If you're a believer in the psychological theory of catharsis than you'll be wanting this CD to ease the burden of own miserable life. But then the formal part of my brain shifts into gear and wonders: are any songs actually in here? If you're not paying attention, this CD simply tunnels into a thick, grey, impenetrable miasma of guitar-riffs, tempo shifts and the dry-throated storm that is Ingram. The prognosis is good however: Start with "Did It Pay the Rent", "Cut To Length", "I Took a Year" and assimilate slowly. Like current labelmates Soilent Green's Sewn Mouth Secrets, Give Them Rope is a challenge to circumvent. Sure, a lot of great music operates on this principle, but most simply aren't this punishing. Have patience.

Review by Lee Steadham

Review date: 08/2000

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