I had been excited to have my ears on this release since the time Vishal Rai (guitarist, Jugaa) announced his band is working on a split with New York based Nepali hardcore group Sangharsha. Well, I had been a fan of both these bands – Jugaa for their uncoventional hardcore sound, rawness, superheavy riffs, sick live shows and badassery of the members, and Sangharsha for their catchiness (esp. the demo), that had put me in serious consideration of giving hardcore a second chance (I didn’t have clearer picture of hardcore before that and which I connected to metalcore, more or less, which I always loved to bash).
The first half is Sangharsha’s. It opens with their cover of Integrity’s “Vocal Test”. Then comes their two crushing originals, “Insaniyaat” and “Ekata”. Well, the band doesn’t seem to get stuck with one particular style over and over their releases. This had already been presented through the giant turn of their sound from modern hardcore sounding demo to the more powerviolence/sludge/hardcore in their one-song EP in such a short span of time. And again, this time as well they have presented themselves a bit differently. More sludge/doom incorporations with the dirty distortions and heavier the tracks get. Hence they’re tending to move towards a sound they could call entirely their own. Slow to mid tempo most of the times, the riffs are quite enjoyable. But alongside, they did somewhat disappoint me because I was so enjoying their older approach to hardcore, i.e. of the demo, but killer tracks these are, nonethless.
The second half is Jugaa. I have always loved Jugaa’s sound – they tend to merge everything metal, punk, grind and hardcore, procreating a unique sound. I also loved them because of Ranav’s vocals, which were growls and not screams, the ones which every generic metalcore act in the scene employ nowadays. Through this album, Jugaa too have shifted their sound, i.e. to a darker direction. While elements of doom, grindcore and sludge could also be observed, the typical Jugaa vibe is well observed through Vishal Rai’s vile riffs, which have always been nothing less than super-heavy. This time around, Ranav utilizes more of his high-pitched screams instead of his trademark growls found in his previous works with Jugaa, Cruentus or Maya. The riffs, as said never fail to impress – the groovy segments, the neat breakdowns and all. But the best part comes in the opener of “Vultures Will Feed”, which sets me feel like slamming a face everytime it plays. “Come the Winter” is said to have some connection with “Game of Thrones” but fuck… I don’t know what it’s all about, so I rest the case. The record ends with Jugaa’s cover of “Birth is Pain”, originally by Ringworm.
The production is what sets it a notch down to me, as I love the sound of everything these bands did before this. But anyway, balls-bursting hardcore/sludge will sum it up, the best to come out of our putrid land (and Amerika) as of late. HxCx!
8.5/10
Download The Sickness That Never Sleeps :
[Reviewed by Samyam Shrestha, originally posted in his blog.]