EP Review: Bodyweb – train_wreck_simulation

a wild blend of influences and styles, but Bodyweb perform it all with such conviction that it works perfectly, culminating in a body of work that feels as though it’s a legendary lost record

Author’s note: This record is treated as an EP for the purposes of this review, based on size, but the band’s language around this record is ambiguous – perhaps a mini-album? Regardless, it’s worth a listen, happy reading! – Ryan 

Support acts are an essential part of the concert experience, and anybody who tells you otherwise is lying. Certainly, you might catch a couple of duds, but you may also discover a few cool musicians, and sometimes, you may end up enjoying them just as much as the headline act.

Static Dress will be returning to the UK for a headline run of dates hot off the release of their ‘Redux’ version of their fantastic debut album, Rogue Carpet Disaster. Recently it was announced that both World Of Pleasure and Bodyweb would be joining them, and whilst World Of Pleasure are increasingly popular in the hardcore scene, Bodyweb are a name that has flown under the radar until now.

Frankly however, it’s hard to see that being the case for too much longer. Earlier this year the band dropped their debut release, ‘train_wreck_simulation’, and if the sheer quality of the material here is anything to go by, those opening sets will blow the roof off of the venues. Bodyweb are a band with no sonic limits.

Nu-metal vocal flows collide with early 00’s metalcore chugging, whilst fuzzy grunge tinged melodies merge with hardcore punk aggression. It’s a wild blend of influences and styles, but Bodyweb perform it all with such conviction that it works perfectly, culminating in a body of work that feels as though it’s a legendary lost record that has resurfaced from the 90’s.

‘judas’ and ‘synthetic’ pack some particularly evocative melodies, before exploding into hardcore fury that might have you spin kicking your grandma. ‘incest’ is an aggressive beast from the get go, really hammering home the record’s core concept of living in a repeated loop of destructive circumstances with its raw and disconcerting lyricism. ‘fall in love (again)’ rounds out the EP on a gloomy, acoustic-lead  note, with the stripped back coated in a gentle fuzz reminiscent of a crackling radio; it’s an unsettlingly quiet track to end such a heavy EP on, but one that perfectly encapsulates the brutal emotive weight that it carries.

Visceral yet vulnerable, beautiful yet brutal, ‘train_wreck_simulation’ is an EP that exposes the listener to the impact of cycles of generational trauma, whilst showing a light that permeates that shattered psyche; a record of intense musical catharsis told with vivid creativity. In a scene that is full of fresh new talent, Bodyweb are making it clear that they are already ones to watch closely.

RATING: 81/100 – Very Good

For Fans Of: Static Dress, Loathe, Hellbound, Sunflo’er

Physical copies of the record are available here.

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify // Bandcamp