Parch - S/T

Music provides a massive range of emotional release for people. We listen to music to lift our spirits, to laugh, to cry. We vent our rage through music. We commiserate through it, we connect with it. And sometimes, we get crushed by it.

There are few feelings comparable to that of standing at a show and feeling the notes physically hit you as they vibrate through the air. This is noise rock we’re talking—music so loud even the amps are screaming, spitting sound so big it drowns out thought and emotion, wholly dominating your existence for a half hour.

Translating this experience to record is a very difficult matter for lots of noise-driven acts, but on their new self-titled EP, New Jersey’s Parch has no trouble capturing the enormity of their sound. The pounding drums nearly overload my speakers, the cymbals toppling over the booming kick and sharp snare. The guitars screech with fuzz and furor, thrashing chords challenging the overdriven bass in a race to the finish. The vocals are raw and raving, each syllable scraped off the throat and strained through a scratchy filter before it reaches the mic.

The sound of Parch is vicious and deliciously chaotic, everything I could ask for and more. “The Teeth” and “Pet Cemetery” both race along at hectic tempos, riding blast beats to their catastrophic end without breaking the one-minute mark. Yet on “Harsh Soil,” Parch take their time, stomping along like they’re on a drunken funeral march. Even the opening track “Barren Land” features hissing feedback and distorted vocal clips over a guitar melody that is somehow simultaneously gorgeous and gross.

Rampant with raw energy and attitude, Parch is a record without pretense—a pile of songs soaked in static and led by honest passion. Though this is undeniably a noisy record, the energy is infectious and fun, the disaffected shouting of the vocals as sincere as they are scary. But there is no shortage of darkness either—both “Knee Deep in Devils” and the closer “Mount Misery” create a disturbing atmosphere of fury and fear the likes of which most bands only dream of approaching. 

Creating an album that captures the bedlam and volume of a live show is no simple feat; doing justice to the songs in such a context is a far taller order. Yet with their self-titled EP, Parch show themselves to be clearly up to the task. Their short collection of raucous tunes are packed with ruthless riffs, ferocious vocals, and a whole lotta heavy. Parch is a record that has had me locked in for weeks now, and I have no doubt it’ll do the same to you.

My Top Track: "Harsh Soil"

You can find more from Parch, including your own copy of their S/T, on their Bandcamp page.