Band:	Doodseskader
Album:	Year Two
Style:	Nu metal, Post-metal, Atmospheric sludge metal
Release date:	March 2024

01. Pastel Prison
02. The Sheer Horror Of The Human Condition
03. Innocence (An Offering)
04. Bone Pipe
05. Peine
06. Future Perfect (A Promise)
07. Secrets Make Lonely
08. I Ask With My Mouth, I'll Take With My Fist
09. People Have Poisoned My Mind To A Point Where I Can No Longer Function


Of all the things to be merged with post-metal, I never expected... industrial hip-hop?

When I first stumbled upon Doodseskader's profile, I saw them tagged as post-metal and atmospheric sludge metal, saw that one of the two members is also a member of Amenra and Predatory Void, and figured it's a pretty predictable listen for whenever I'd get to it in my keeping up with releases listening schedule for that week. Later I get a message from fellow writer and post-metal aficionado musclassia recommending me this album because it's closer to a more metallic industrial hip-hop. Unexpected, but that's a pretty fitting description, even if it doesn't completely encapsulate what Dudesexadder do.

Industrial hip-hop might only be tangentially close to metal, from how Godflesh's Justin Broadrick credits his use of the drum machine to being inspired by Erik B & Rakim and Public Enemy, to us adding Death Grips as an April Fools joke (ironic considering the date I'm adding this review) and keeping them on because they fit, to how metal aesthetics and sounds made their way into acts like Backxwash, Bones, Ghostemane, or $uicideboy$. Dudesexadder sound more like the just aforementioned than Death Grips, and to be honest I'm not even sure how much of it actually is hip-hop or just a more distilled form of the nu metal influence that industrial hip-hop has. Sure, some flows, some drumming patterns lean towards hip-hop, but it's more spice than main ingredient.

And alongside nu metal, I feel like metalcore, the kind that's a bit more modern, informs the way Year Two applies that hip-hop sense of edge (and, if you're not vibing with it, of cringe as well), and in how some of the explosions of heaviness feel closer to a metalcore/deathcore breakdown than something from a post-metal song. Post-metal and sludge metal still have some presence, not really a primary one, but especially the way the bass fills the soundscape is very specific to post-metal bands, so a lot of what makes Year Two interesting is hearing such a strange combination of sounds from musicians (one of them at least) that have a post-metal background and how that still seeps into the sound. That also goes for the moments that lean closer to cleaner and more atmospheric alt metal, that somehow manage to blend the atmosphere of alt metal, industrial electronica, and post-metal.

Year Two is quite a difficult listen mostly because of what ingredients go into the meal. You're not exactly sure if you're supposed to enjoy pineapple in your kebab, just the sheer thought of it is kinda cringe inducing. And even when you're eating your mind goes "wrong!", but also somehow it works better than you thought it should. Maybe I'll order one more.