As far as I can see we’ve been kind to you guys with deep & easy listening music for the last weeks, although me and golem would love to feature some extreme stuff like grindcore, I don’t think most of our audience would be into it so that remains a highly improbable fantasia for now. California’s Upsilon Acrux may not be as intense as grindcore bands in tempo and noise, but it’s complex oddtimed riffage and polyrhythmic drumming (and silly album names?) is quite correctly labeled as “brutal prog“.

Upsilon Acrux, the supposedly occult name given to them by a Crowley loving friend, is heavy on riffs and time changes making complex and challenging music with the best influences : progressive & kraut & death metal & free jazz! Trust me you can’t go wrong with those influences and some practice. And by that I mean non-stop practice till death! (although the band doesn’t, because apparently they’re fast learners.)

These guys should be a treat to watch because they can actually play these stuff live and it’s not some recording trick, precisely that’s how they ended on Cuneiform, after label boss Steve Feigenbaum watched their live performance on youtube. I’m sure that most people who’s floored with the recent pseudoprog electronic album by Battles wouldn’t check out Upsilon Acrux because it’s not hyped enough by the media; but if you’re tired of the hegemony of 4/4 in extreme rock music and you’re mathy enough to like complex time signatures, abrupt stops and riff changes every 15 seconds and you actually want to hear them composed into a coherent song with some melody if you’ve been a good boy/girl (strictly no vocals though!), this album would be one of the highest points for you in 2007. For fans of extreme beauty like Orthrelm, Marnie Stern, Nels Cline, The Flying Luttenbachers, Hella, Ruins and old Candiria etc. and should I mention they’ve performed with Anal Cunt last year. Wooo! way to go boys!

The video that got them the Cuneiform deal

Upsilon Acrux – Touched by God (Inappropriately)
Upsilon Acrux – Who’s Running Shit (Son of Destiny’s Child)