Album review: RILE – Pessimist

The debut LP from Salt Lake City extremists RILE unfolds with all the doomed gravity of being pulled into a black hole. Brilliantly so. The band, originally started back in 2012 as a side-project for Cult Leader bassist Sam Richards to expunge the darkest sounds from his subconscious, always had their eyes on the darker side of life. As these six tracks play out, though, it’s evident that decade-long gestation has been used to distil their mania and misery to its potent purest essence.

"Pessimist is about the defeat we feel," Sam explains, "as we struggle to stay creative and authentic to ourselves in a world we’re losing…" Time wasted. Creativity running dry. Frustration at the futility of giving everything to spark a little light into this apathetic world. If it’s easy to draw sonic comparisons to other bands within the world of high-minded metalcore – Trap Them, Botch, Converge (whose legendary guitarist Kurt Ballou oversaw Pessimist’s mix at God City studios) – the thing that sets RILE apart is their truly bleak evocation of artistic existence in 2023.

There is real extremity to be found here. The chaotic six-strings and clattering drums of Dead End opens the album with an atmosphere of breathless panic, while the title track drops curtain with a sense of unhinged acceptance in a hail of bludgeoning instruments and unsettling dissonance.

But it’s the moments of contrast that make the record’s arc really pop. Climb Out is built around mind-bending drum beats and stomach-churning confusion. Stone Tapes finds hopelessness in its twangy lines and clean singing. Half Love wraps throat-ripping despair around almost Mastodon-like Southern prog swagger.

Ultimately, it’s proof that pain is more keenly felt in three dimensions delivered by musicians who’ve given years to drawing these jagged shapes from the depths of their souls.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Converge, Pupil Slicer, Trap Them

Pessimist is released on October 27 via Church Road