The first collaboration between
Uniform and
the Body, 2018's
Mental Wounds Not Healing was so successful (and so brief, at 27 minutes) that it seemed inevitable that the two duos would team up again before long.
Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back appeared a year later, and the release is just as powerful and boundary-crushing as its predecessor.
Michael Berdan's punkish snarl and
Chip King's demented shrieking perfectly complement each other as the four musicians construct a flaming junkyard heap of distorted rhythms and deconstructed riffs, all expressing deep nihilism and disgust for humanity. Elements of dark synth pop and Southern rap creep into the musical brew -- the musicians find much common ground between the various configurations of blown-out drum machines and icy, ominous melodies. Doomy goth synths slowly emerge out of the explosive drum pounding of "Not Good Enough," while "Vacancy" is more storming and anthemic. The alarming "Patron Saint of Regret" is an easy highlight, beginning with a shouted warning over dissolved metal guitars, then switching to booming trap beats and ghostly vocals by
Kennedy Ashlyn of
SRSQ. "Penance" is a sort of bizarro club anthem, with melted new wave keyboards adding a slight bit of sugar to the slamming drums and harrowing screams. "Day of Atonement" revolves around a queasy, molasses-slow rap sample, acknowledging the influence of Dirty South trailblazers
Three 6 Mafia and
DJ Screw. Saving the grimmest for last, "Waiting for the End of the World" features a sample of the infamous doomsday cult leader
Elizabeth Clare Prophet laid over a dark ambient drone, and "Contempt" opens with an extremely vitriolic, misanthropic rant.
Uniform and
the Body are both fascinating and terrifying on their own, and their creative superpowers only multiply when they're together.