Sleep Well by Persher

Have you ever been listening to sludge metal or hardcore punk and thought to yourself, “you know what this sound needs? More distortion!” Now you’re thinking like the Berlin experimental band Persher, who’s new record Sleep Well takes this advice extremely seriously. Composed of a supercut of the catchiest and heaviest riffs to emerge from lengthy improvised guitar and bass recordings, this record perfectly synthesizes digital pattern-based sequencing with the sort of groove and grit that can only come from analog instrumentation. To help compact these disparate cuts into a single sound, everything on the track falls into the waiting arms of overwhelming distortion, at times turning the guitar and bass sounds into a sound more akin to a jet engine. However, despite running up against this immense brick wall of distortion, the elements here sound impressively crisp and clear, each instrument making its own distinct mark on each musical moment. As a result, the music feels emotionally intense without becoming distant, resembling the absolute limits of the levels of angst that we can reasonably relate to.