Kosmograd - Kosmograd

By Natalie Zina Walschots. This self-titled EP is the first solid musical artefact from Toronto, ON-based post-punk/rock/metal/hardcore whatsits Kosmograd. Formed in the winter of 2009, Kosmograd released three individual digital demo tracks

By Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published by Exclaim.


This self-titled EP is the first solid musical artefact from Toronto, ON-based post-punk/rock/metal/hardcore whatsits Kosmograd. Formed in the winter of 2009, Kosmograd released three individual digital demo tracks throughout 2010 (which were also re-released as a tape via Delicate Artifacts). This EP, however, is their first effort towards a cohesive collection. The result is a raw, textural album that the ear learns through touch as much as cerebral analysis. The guitar's crunch gives way to softness, the drums crackle and melt, while the bass slowly congeals.

The songs are composed as scientific experiments through the states of matter. "The Weather of the Hangman" stretches and aches, folded and folding back on itself like liquid metal. "Cheeseburger Picnic" percolates delicately, bubbling and fuzzy as the sound sublimates. And "Velossakaykin" straight up boils. Kosmograd's minimal vocals give the release an anchor, keeping the poetic progression of the album direct, aggressive and above all, human. But, generally, Kosmograd is content to drift off into orbit and stretch time, ambient and exploratory, unconcerned with gravity.