ninehertz

A couple of years back I headed down to a gig a new bar in Sheffield, converted from an old microbrewery in one of the quickly gentrifying old industrial areas of the city. Powerdrill were on first or second, a band I was unfamiliar with. Their set blew me away, one of those gig moments you remember longer than most, where surprise turns to genuine visceral thrill.

Then they went quiet – I heard of issues and line-up changes but little in the way of activity, until now. Betterment signals their return, only seven minutes long but a welcome resumption of their powerviolence chaos regardless.

There are five tracks, all of which fly past in a blur of elbows and riffs, the title track the only one to pass two minutes and that primarily due to the meditation sample that begins and then threads in and out of the whole release. The pace is relentlessly on the attack, moving from a Nails style terrifying density to somehow even faster, purer powerviolence mania.

There’s one moment I felt like I could feel the drums tap insistently against my temples, as the guitars ride on one hell of a groove on Underpass. This is the effect and power of Powerdrill, music that feels like it is coming at you all the time. It is good to have them back.