The Hunted is a dark, genre-blurring album from Cleveland-based duo Arms & Armour, merging doom, industrial, post-punk, and electronic elements into a sound that can shift from crushing guitar weight to more atmospheric passages. Consisting of Lauren Voss and John Panza, the duo has spent 15 years developing this approach independently, recording the album in their studio housed within a 140-year-old former drill bit factory.
“Star” opens the album with dynamic flair, moving from old-timey samples into a murky, ominous ambience. A steady percussive presence follows this opening, as do grimy doses of distorted guitar. “You’re lost in the stars, wide open eyes wide,” Voss’ magnetic lead emerges thereafter, complemented throughout by a mixture of haunting whirring effects and delectably dark guitar maneuvers. The ensuing “Terror by Night” delights as well, expanding from initial rhythmic swooshes into an immersive interplay of soulful vocal entrancement, atmospheric keys, and intoxicating rhythms.
Another standout, “Chafe (Breaking Our Hands)” navigates sporadic pushes of frantic rhythms amidst a simmering industrial resonance, assembling into a series of memorable structures, from Voss’ exhilaratingly sharp delivery to the free-flowing arrays of guitars and droning effects. “The justice is done, we’re just undone,” the lyrics declare during an especially striking moment. The Hunted is a stylish achievement of an album from Arms & Armour, capable of both enjoyably uneasy atmospheric explorations and guttural, menacing rock allure.
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We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
