by Dan Goldin (@paintingwithdan)
There are “hardcore” bands that want to be part of the mainstream lexicon and there are hardcore bands that prefer manic depravity, their sound violent and unwelcoming, sordid and erosive. Havana Syndrome reside in that world of depravity, spewing their damaged punk from the gutters of Buffalo with a penchant for frantic filth and feral tenacity. With a pair of EPs released last year, the time has come for their self-titled full length debut, a record determined to lay waist to an already wasted future. Due out October 2nd via the great and certifiably depraved Swimming Faith Records (Science Man, Ismatic Guru, Wesley & The Boys), Havana Syndrome is as unglued as it is rotten, a record that matches its bile and bite with a reckless fractured skull kind of charm.
While the project’s early releases were the bulldozing solo work of Lucas Kaleta, Havana Syndrome has expanded to a quartet, the implications of which feel like an implosion at close range. Their album is permeated in dirt, the sound of basement crust informed by low ceilings, walls that sweat, and ear-drum bursting levels of toxicity. Which is all to say, Havana Syndrome is doing everything right, nailing the sound of causitc abandon as they peel between laser focused synths, earthquaking drums, guitars that shred (with their own demented mutated boogie), and the fried bark of Kaleta’s harsh but bugged out vocals. With a foul odored intensity that should appeal to fans of Lumpy And The Dumpers, Leather Towel, and Research Reactor Corp, Havana Syndrome blast through a litany of sick riffs and sci-fi sediment while staying cosmically planted in the sewer. Dread, paranoia, and societal decay rarely sound this fun. Everything sounds gross. Everything sounds as though it could corrode at any minute. Everything sounds primal and ultimately, everything sounds brilliant.