Sometimes the "smarter" varieties of hardcore can feel like clearinghouses for insecure and emotionally shriveled people. You know who I am talking about. Dudes whose only goal in life is to impress strangers with the knowledge that they've been listening to Hundreth since When Will We Surrender, or how they once worked a merch table for their brother's band at a show that The Locust also happened to play at back in the '00s. Indonesian group Cloudburst are entirely outside of this clout game, and all of us are better off for it. This band exists purely because of vocalist Okta's love of bands like Botch and Norma Jean. He had the desire to play a similar style of music with his friends, and that's the long and short of it. Well, not entirely. Cloudburst is not only a passion project but a killer example of metalcore that does an exceptional job of balancing the gritty with the melodic. What you get from this scenario is a compact and highly effective detonation of skronky, razorwire guitars, concussive grooves, and a battering hail of punishing percussion, all tended to and goaded forward by Okta's air-raid siren-like shrieks. Their EP Corridor of Chaos is true to its name while feeling intensely personal and powerfully candid. Through the fray, Okta often lifts his voice as an oasis in the sonic tempest conjured by the cohort of his bandmates to talk directly to the listener, delivering his message in a clear and unambiguous way- sometimes in the form of a semi-rap, other times with a hint of Madball-esque wounded huff, but always with the intention of being understood- seeking power through connection. There is nothing foggy about Corridor of Chaos- its merits are as clear as day.
