“Rip my flesh out of my chest and lay me down.“
Newcomers Knife Bride are everyone’s teenage dream of forming a band come true. Vocalist Mollie Buckley and Lauren Wise (synths and vocals) are cousins, and the other members came on board whilst they were all studying music in Brighton. Having all previously been in other bands, they joined forces and decided to start making music they loved as opposed to music they felt would be popular to the masses.
This decision has proved to be an excellent one. They have already supported WARGASM (UK) on their Explicit tour as well as having made an appearance at Download Festival and are set to play at Burn It Down next month. In addition to this they also worked alongside Loki Films (Architects, Thy Art Is Murder and Underoath) during the production of their music video for single Fang Dummy. The release of their EP Don’t Dream Too Much has quadrupled down on the supporting evidence of that decision being the correct one.
“smother (make me suffer)” opens with screeching synth samples, rapidly setting the mood. Buckley quickly establishes her prowess as a vocalist here with rich tones to her voice and a gorgeous range. It’s very evocative of the vocals of Vukovi’s Janine Shilstone and I’m sure I will not be the only one to make that comparison. Craig Glynn provides a driving bass line which filters into a filthy groove during the chorus, whilst remaining percussion led. The samples and additional vocals from Wise are used effectively and don’t take away from the track. Therefore, they aren’t abrasive in the way they often can be when they aren’t used in a sympathetic manner. Using them to add gradient in the way that Wise does here is masterful.
A flurry of double kicks and big rolling riffs from Sean Millsopp get “sacrifice/surrender” off the ground, alongside a heavily down-tuned riff from Sean Windle. The construction of this track is admirable. The verses are melodic and sparse of percussion and bass, but expansive with atmospheric synth soundscapes, giving space for Buckley to further explore her range before reversing format. In doing so, space is thusly created for the musicianship to hit full force within the breaks surrounding the chorus, supported by screams. The respect between members and for what each one of them brings to the fray is clearly demonstrated within the record.
“permanent s m i l e” is likely the most accessible track of the three, with clear clean vocals throughout the majority, whilst containing a stank-face inducing breakdown in the latter third. It’s also lyrically potent, and likely divisive, with stanzas such as ‘I needed some guts so I opened you up’. I must give them acknowledgement for being able to make such unashamed statements, without it feeling gratuitous, as the arrangement is so plainly excellent. There are more than a few bands out there who cannot pull off such abrasive lyricism without it seeming simply lazy or ‘grasping’.
As they are self-described as ‘slut-metal’ it is understandable that the bass and drums are musically the focus of this record. However, I feel an opportunity is missed for the guitar to support the melodies to a greater extent in the softer moments (such as those in “sacrifice/suffer“) and that would be my greatest (and possibly only) criticism of this record. That said this is a very small snapshot of what Knife Bride are capable of so that is perhaps not the ‘fairest’ observation at this point in their career. The production is clean, slick and honestly, to say a band have found their sound within two years of forming may seem somewhat ridiculous, but I will stand by it. With strong comparisons to Poppy and Vukovi, I highly recommend giving Knife Bride a listen and a chance, I have no doubt that they will be ones to watch over the coming year, this is just the beginning.
8/10
don’t dream too much is out August 25th via self-release.