Divider – At Twilight / 2006 Shock Value / 6 Tracks / http://www.dividerandconquer.com / http://www.shockvaluerecords.com / Reviewed 19 July 2006

Divider plays that type of hardcore that blends older guitar work from all of the metal discs that they liked as a kid with the type of indiscernible screaming that only fans of noise can appreciate. This is thus a transitory act, one that does not have a home in the typical genres of thrash, metal, hardcore, or noise. However, it uses bits from each of the styles to create an EP that is furious while still being musicially apt. The most interesting things in a track like “Jqp” has to be the drumming, which move beyond the simple double-bass to something much more. However, it is “At Twilight” that the band shines most. The guitar actually moves from being grind-core oriented into a musical, almost progressive metal type of sound. This move is enough to give me an entirely new opinion about the act. It is not as if the music that Divider plays will ever be on anything but Headbanger’s Ball and the local college radio metal show, but this should not keep individuals from picking up “At Twilight”.

The disc is full of complex melodies that may take a classically trained musician to figure out, but there is a lot of material present on this disc that even the newest listeners of hardcore can dig. Divider may not have a name for themselves yet, but a full disc of material that is of the same caliber will bring the band into the same circles as acts like The Locust and Job for a Cowboy. This is not the blinding thrash of acts like Agoraphobic Nosebleeed, but rather something slightly slower that will allow individuals to break things apart and construct them into something that they can understand. Divider works together so that they are not just individuals trying to top each other with the absolute sickest riff or drum hit; they are an act who want to succeed on their own merit. The disc is about fifteen minutes long but feels much shorter; the band throws through their six tracks in seemingly no time at all. When the band can cut together fifteen to eighteen tracks and not fall into the trap of repetitive music, Divider will have made it in their scene. Divider plays a brand of music a number of other acts do more or less successfully, but does it at a level that few acts can constantly achieve.

Top Tracks: Jqp

Rating: 6.0/10

[JMcQ]