The Fires Courting The Sea marks a return for manic mathcore trio Maths. Their first release in around four years, this short sharp shock of an EP weighs in at under ten minutes in length, but don’t let it’s brevity fool you. It still has a lot of ideas, and a shedload of bite, pound for pound.
Things kick off in typical Maths style with ‘Child Wandering Along The Thames’s instant drop into jagged, stabbing riffs and clattering drums. There’s some multi-layering on the rabid screaming vocals as well as the clearer, cleaner tones, and although the track lapses into a more ‘controlled’ section for a brief moment of respite, there’s a sense of mania and desperation that surrounds many of the songs here.
The title track continues in this kind of mold; frantic riffing spurred on by snare and cymbal heavy drums that build to a blistering crescendo. ‘Last Night Silhouette’ begins in a different way, a more restrained melody that is pretty good, but has you waiting to see when it’ll turn and bite. When it does, the hardcore drum patterns and staccato guitar work will have you thinking the trio just recorded them throwing all their instruments down the stairs.
The next two tracks, ‘The Water Is The Colour Of The Sky’ and ‘Laughter Stirs The Canyon’ showcase the boys penchant for the ‘epic’, with both extending their scope by expanding in layers towards their conclusions. There’s some interesting dynamic interplay, with electronic sounds in ‘The Water …’ and a weird gurgling vocal break in ‘Laughter Stirs…’. ‘Outside The Window’ wraps things up with a simpler, somber, meandering guitar line that lets the listener catch their breath after a frantic ride.
Although only short, this EP has a wealth of ideas packed in. Sometimes this works to its detriment, as it sounds like Maths have tried to cram every riff idea they’ve had over their hiatus into each track, but then this has always been their style to a degree. It marks a return to form, perhaps not to the furious heights of their 2013 split with Throats, but definitely promising. The only real issue here is the production – even at higher volumes the subtleties of the guitar and bass are lost in a mire of vocals and drums, with even the latter being subsumed on occasion.
Still, a serviceable effort indeed. Maths + New EP = Listen.
