Diploid (Australia) - I AM YOURS. AND I AM HERE AGAIN. (2021)

Degradation and collapse, from the individual level to the societal, pervades the music of Diploid. Active for over 10 years, the band has explored these topics via lyrical themes such as mental health and suicidality, serial murders and mass shootings, genocide, and war. Set as backdrop to these explorations is a hybrid of musical styles incorporating grindcore, hardcore, noise and other extreme music subgenres.

Recorded during a 100-day lockdown resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I AM YOURS. AND I AM HERE AGAIN., the band's third album and second in two years following 2019's Glorify, is the most direct sonic impression of its chosen subject matter yet. Claustrophobic, lurching, explosive, alienating. A listen through the album leaves one feeling akin to its minimalist cover art: an upturned figure engulfed in a sea of blackness.

Tracks like "Empathy", "God's Injunction" and "There Was Nothing to Drag Out" showcase the band's take on straight-ahead grindcore, and "Disease Carrier", "Scorched Earth" and "Failure to Deradicalise" intermingle that style with stomping hardcore. Taken on their own they're great, and they're some of my favorite moments on the album. Diploid can bang out skillful grinders all day, but those aren't what lends this album its unique character.

Atmospheric moments of trudging, doomy hardcore, noise, electronics and voice samples blend to mirror the bleakness of the album's recording circumstances and subject matter. Opener "Falling" is a plodding, minimal tone piece with scream-spoke vocals and the most discernible lyrics on the album. Closing trio "Relapsing Exhaustion", "Incomplete Skyline" and "Active Shooter" abandon speedy punk altogether, favoring looping electronics, echo effects, beats and the occasional eruption of sludge.

At this point in their discography, I consider every new Diploid LP a must-listen upon release. This album matches 2019's excellent Glorify in being a nuanced, thematically resonant piece that demands the listener's full attention. While not a breezy listen, it's an engrossing, rewarding one, and one of the best releases of 2021.

I AM YOURS. AND I AM HERE AGAIN. is available digitally and on vinyl via Diploid's Bandcamp.