Frontierer - Unloved

Unloved is Frontierer’s sophomore release after their full length debut in 2015,Orange Mathematics, and the demo that preceded it in 2013, both helped to shaped their relentless, crazed, Car Bomb-esque mathcore sound. Unlovedfinds the band more confident in what they’re doing with each song chaotic, yet more directional that what characterized Orange Mathematics. and bringing more to the table in terms of musical ideas, flair, and surprises, like the emotive alternative strumming and spoken word intro on “Heartless 101”. But for the most part, the band stick to the violent, glitchy metalcore that they’ve been working on, and with pretty good results. While they don’t manage quire yet to nail the same sense of groove within the madness they execute as the aforementioned Car Bomb or The Dillinger Escape Plan, they do hit the right spots frequently on the album, like the dizzying introductory track (which is a full song), the semi-djenty and fully punchy “Bombgnasher” and “Electric Gag”, and the roller coaster ride that is “Designer Chemtrails”. And like they did on their debut, Frontierer go for the long haul on this album, for nearly a full hour of unrestricted, unforgiving, rapid fire mathcore bludgeoning. The album can begin to sound and feel like a ceaseless mesh due to the continuous barrage of harsh, screamed vocals, wildly wailing guitars, and erratically syncopated bass and drum hits. Nevertheless, conscious and repeated listens will pull back the many layers of Unloved and reveal how much there is to enjoy. Frontierer still have some compositional kinks to work out if they do indeed seek to fill the niche The Dillinger Escape Plan left open. They’ll have to do more to build around a tasty riff or infectious groove to take their place, but what they’re doing now is excellent in its mission of merciless mathcore battery, and it has me looking forward to what Frontierer will do in the future.