Review: The Paper Chase

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The Paper Chase
“Hide the Kitchen Knives”
(Beatville)

Texas’ The Paper Chase truly believes in their songs and delivers them with such conviction and intensity as to make the “Hide the Kitchen Knives” a majestic opus. There is something ominous and mysterious in these songs, often malevolent and violence is delivered. A lot of this has to do with the simple but heavily drummed rhythms and the strained vocals that or often accented simultaneously or answered with similar alarmed delivery by other members of the band at different audio levels. These approaches give a noticeable vertical architecture of sonic hierarchy from the slugged bottom end to the piercing main vocals. Just when the guitars are about the get really into the front of the music, a deep, resounding horn section (is that a baritone sax?) shows up to keep the depth perception identifiable in this calculated, fearsome album of developed aggro. Cryptic sound bites add to the sinister atmosphere of this most menacing of heavy music.