Album Review: Asbest – Driven (Czar Of Bullets/A Tree In A Field Records)

Asbest is a trio from Basel, Switzerland. Utilising differing styles; post punk, noise rock and shoegaze are the cornerstones of this release. This melange is an angry to desperate reaction to the general events of our time, but it also reflects Trachsel‘s personal experiences as a trans-woman in a cis- and heteronormative society.

Their debut album, Driven will be released on September 28th 2018 through Czar Of Bullets in cooperation with A Tree In A Field Records.

Everyone has something to say and many have a platform to say it but most don’t use it well enough to get their message across. Asbest are not one of those.

Across 8 tracks, this trio of noise makers touch upon the changing world we live in. The events that are defining generations and divisions that are growing deeper and deeper.

Through a combination of eerie, shoegaze rock and fuzzy metal riffs Asbest stand tall on their platform demanding every bit of your attention. The mix of shouted vocals alongside ear-splitting screeches of the title track. The trippy rhythm of the haunting Deceit and the warping bass lines of Means of Reproduction. The latter is one of the most unusual tracks you’re likely to hear this year.

I Need a Spacesuit to Leave My Home gives some reprieve with a short melodious affair before things go back to the shoegaze sound with the excellent Chain Reaction and Pillar.

Need more? Then They Kill and Persona Non Grata deliver. The former a short, more rhythmic and heavier track while the latter is as complex as Asbest can possibly get. The terrified screams that ring out over melody at the start leads into chunky bass lines and Asbest’s signature vocal style ensuring this isn’t an album that will be easily forgotten.

Asbest – Driven Full Track Listing:

1. Driven
2. Deceit
3. Means of Reproduction
4. I Need a Spacesuit to Leave My Home
5. Chain Reaction
6. Pillar
7. They Kill
8. Persona Non Grata

You can listen to They Kill now via Bandcamp as well as streaming services. Find out more/keep up to date with news of the release by checking out Asbest’s Facebook Page and Instagram.