When a new album by New York post-hardcore giants Glassjaw was (mistakenly) briefly listed as a pre-order on Amazon, a beautiful surprise for fans was sadly spoiled. It had been 15 long years since 2002’s Worship and Tribute, one of only two studio albums, and their absence had only heightened the mystique and speculation around this beloved band. In that time, entire sub-genres of rock have exploded and faded away, but it appears that time has not lessened the power and impact of Glassjaw themselves. Material Control is a brutal, bruising and blistering return to the world.

There is no time to take a breath as opener ‘new white extremity’ crashes over the listener, straight in with its sledgehammer guitar and vocalist Daryl Palumbo’s roar seeming stronger than ever before. Like vines wrapped around a mighty plant root, Justin Beck’s guitar and Billy Rymer’s drums (taking a vacation from duties with The Dillinger Escape Plan) seem perpetually entwined around a stunning piece of work on bass (Beck again). Throughout all of Material Control, the bass is not there to merely underpin the rest of the music – but is instead high in the mix, vibrant and free to twist into musical shapes of its own. Fittingly, Palumbo has described the album in interviews as a record that, “Finally sounds like the band we heard in our heads”.

Whereas their previous albums were always heavy, this carries an added intensity – only heightened by having each track crash into each other, picking up immediately where the previous one left off. It has a disorientating and breathless effect, until acclimatised at least. Palumbo’s lyrics are at times hard to interpret, but there is certainly a darkness running through them. “There’s a cancer in the water, there’s a knife in my lover” he intones on ‘citizen’, while ‘pompeii’ talks of: “Dust to dust, man to maker” amidst its talk of scorched earth – which is exactly how the first half of the album feels, blasting through the speakers like a nuclear blast in a Michael Bay movie. Perhaps the only thing more exhilarating than the ferocity and power of the opening tracks is the thought and anticipation of how it will transfer to the live stage.

Glassjaw are far from a one-trick band, firstly ‘strange hours’ and then ‘bastille day’ prove this. The former mixes dub elements in with a heavy bass pulse threading through Palumbo’s haunting vocals. It sits fascinatingly alongside ‘bastille day’, a heavily Indian-influenced and largely percussive-only instrumental, performed by long-time friend Ariel Telford. It is stunning in its audacity, and the pair of tracks work superbly – not jarring with their infinitely heavier neighbours in the slightest.

As Material Control progresses, it loses none of its intensity, though, perhaps the back end of the album is not quite as impactful as the first half. Throughout it all though, the explosive drumming from Rymer is ferocious and punishing, while Beck’s dual assault on guitar and bass is relentless. It is certainly not an easy listen, even with a running time of less than 37 minutes. However, it is a deeply rewarding album for those who give it the time and effort it demands and deserves, unwrapping more surprises with each play. After waiting 15 years for this, what’s the rush anyway? As ‘cut and run’ finishes in a manner that seems to run straight back into the album’s beginning, the thought of spinning it over and giving it one more blast will be all too tempting.

Jamie Macmillan

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