KNUT

Band: KNUT

Genres: Punk / Rock / Post-Rock / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Sludge / Hardcore / Thrash / Doom
Related artists: Impure Wilhelmina, Macadam Pale Horses, Prejudice-GVA, Mumakil, Nostromo, Bliscappen Van Maria, Nebra, Vuyvr, Ananda, Finger Print, Jasemine and L'Invention de Morel.
Country: SWITZERLAND
Years Active: 1994-2010
Song: "Fallujah"
Album: "Terraformer"
Year: 2005
Label(s): Self Released / Hydra Head Records / Snuff Records / Ronald Reagan Records / Chrome Saint Magnus / Bone Tone Records / Vicious Circle / Molaire Industries / Mosh Bart Industries / Division Records / Double H Noise Industries / Conspiracy Records
This post's artist is from the October 2014 Mix. This is track #5.
You can download the October Mix#10 right here or get the new November Mix#11 here.
For fans of: Botch, Iscariote, Bleeding Kansas, Isis, Shoto, Zozobra, (old) Cave In, Engineer, Achilles, AmenRa, Trainwreck, Hexis, The End, Mare, Rorcal, Converge, Swarm Of The Lotus, Ken Mode, Tigershark, Perth Express, Llynch, Anodyne, Canyons, Officer Jones And His Patrol Car Problems, Pelican, Mutoid Man, The Minor Times, White Zombie and Intronaut.

How the fuck do you say this name, anyways? "Kay-noot?" said my friend. "nut" says my wife. I don't fucking know. I do know that KNUT played a riveting and sonically overbearing style of math-metal/hardcore. If you liked Botch (how could you not?), wanted a faster and more technical Isis or are in need of more Shoto-heavy mayhem, look no further. ....

The self titled EP 'Knut' is a very acidic listen. If metal/hardcore could eat through chest armour (Hicks, I'm looking in your direction) then this is the album for you. I would call this "noise laden". I don't care for the sound as much on this, as it sounds like a scratchy/muffled and early Converge.

The 'Challenger' album is much of the same with caustic metallic screaming with a heavy emphasis on hardcore. Still, songs like "Ice Will", "Repressed" and my favourite track "Bite the Bullet" are all fantastic.

'Terraformer' is the album that boasted the production the band needed and comes across more like Mare and Botch on speed. This full length captures what I thought KNUT was capable of and then some. The band expertly mixes their Botch influence with their Neurosis/Isis love and create a myriad of songs, structures and sounds. They confidently shy away from conventional structures, for the most part, and delve into mostly instrumental romps followed by long, expansive meanderings with way more vocals than I would have expected after hearing so little on the amazing shorter/faster songs, such as "Seattle" with a Cave In/Mutoid Man-esque thrash riff, "Genoa" blasts through with sludgy, Tigershark-esque riffing and "Fallujah" has a pummeling beginning that turns into a palm-mute fan's dream before exploding with the only vocals in the entire song - a howling scream, at 1:24. They do have some more basic songs, such as "Wyriwys" which could be mistaken for Swarm Of The Lotus and Iscariote pretty much any day of the week, as well as "Kyoto" which barrels through the speakers like an expertly trained army attacking, screaming, hacking and downright disemboweling the listener's ears before a lulling outro. Oh, and I love the cover art.

It's no wonder that 'Wonder', the band's final studio output and subsequent full length, isn't far off from 'Terraformer' territory. It has that massive, mathy, sludgy thrash/hardcore/metal feel to it but the songs don't grab me the way the aforementioned LP do. I'm nitpicking though, because this is a great album as well, with the standout tracks being "Suckers", "Calamity", "Fast Forward Bastard" and "Lemmings".

Grab the partial discography I've posted, as I need to complete my collection, as well.

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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the about half of the band's complete discography in mp3 form.

1994 - Knut 7"

1996 - Ishma split 7"

1997 - Leftovers cdLP

1998 - Bastardiser cd/12"LP (download here)
1998 - Tantrum split 7"

1999 - Ordeal 7"

2000 - Botch / Ananda split 10"

2001 - Untitled cdEP (download here)

2002 - Challenger cd/12"LP (download here)

2005 - Terraformer cd/12"LP (download here)

2006 - Alter cdLP

2010 - Wonder cd/12"LP (download here)

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(2005) KNUT - "Fallujah" (from 'Terraformer')

(2005) KNUT - "Seattle" (from 'Terraformer')

(2005) KNUT - "Genoa" (from 'Terraformer')

(2001) KNUT - "You Deserve Me" (from 'Untitled EP')

(2002) KNUT - "Bite the Bullet" (from 'Challenger')

(2010) KNUT - "Calamity" (from 'Wonder')

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KNUT Dave's selected semi-discography mp3 download

 (download here)

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