Winnipeg trio KEN Mode have never made any qualms about their noise rock pedigree – even as the majority of their career have seen the band subsume those noise influences in service of their other major point of origin, post-hardcore, rather than the other way around – but at no point in their career have the band made any overt nods to the 1990's on the level of their newest excursion, Success.
The most jarring change comes in the form of Jesse Matthewson's vocals, here completely stripped of any metal or sludge veneer at all in favor of a snide bark that evokes Jesus Lizard and Big Black rather than any metal influences, past or present (indeed, Success is a very 'Chicago' record). Matthewson's guitar riffs along at a largely subdued clip in service of Skot Hamilton's classic noise rock bass tone, an instrumental bias that reaches full fruition on "Blessed", which features no guitar at all, just wave after wave of controlled bass chaos.
In spite of the uniformity of playing style, there is a measure of variety to be found here: while "Failing at Fun Since 1981" has a straightforward punk vibe, album finale "Dead Actors" reflects the extended, free form songcraft of Drive Like Jehu with a sophisticated, Thurston Moore-reminiscent style of riffing. Matthewson's vocals on the faster, early tracks like "Blessed" and "These Tight Jeans" wed the cheeky sneer of Jello Biafra with the throaty wail of David Yow (Scratch Acid/Jesus Lizard).
The sheer bravery of approach can't really be overstated, as KEN Mode are splitting their own fan base in the most challenging way possible: for fans of the old school noise rock sound, the band may not even be on their radar at all, while for acolytes of their contemporary material Success is likely to prove just not quite heavy enough. But Success wasn't made to be a crowd pleaser… if anything, metal fans would probably have broader tastes in music to begin with if more of their favorite bands did more than pay lip service to genres that may not always have a built in crossover appeal.
Success could have easily accomplished the same goal by simply going the cover album route instead, but there's something just that much more admirable about KEN Mode taking the extra time to pen songs in the same vein that makes Success a formidable work of art and not just a token effigy. It would probably be kind of odd if the band continued in this exact vein for the eventual follow up, but as a calculated retracing of steps backward through their own evolution it very well ought to provide a sort of alternate reality version of that evolution going forward.
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