Knifing Around – “Vivisect”

Vivisect is the kind of album that makes you want to move even when the subject matter is genuinely bleak. That’s a hard thing to pull off, and Knifing Around pull it off repeatedly across the record. The Richmond band has always had a talent for wrapping uncomfortable ideas inside music you can actually dance to, and this is the most focused version of that instinct they’ve put to tape.

My favorite tracks are “Go Alone”, “The Colossal”, “Broken Glass”, and “I’ll Stick Beside You”. The industrial grit here is real. These aren’t soft edges dressed up in tough-sounding production, and the grooves are coiled, a little menacing, and built to hit physically. At the same time, the synth work is almost architectural in the way it holds everything together. You get this interesting tension where the record feels both relentless and carefully arranged, like each track has a specific job to do and knows exactly how to do it.

The band is chasing something bigger this time on the lyric side. There’s politics in here, personal collapse, cultural anxiety, and running through all of it is a dark, dry wit that keeps the whole thing from caving under its own weight. I find this kind of record rare. The brooding-but-danceable combination usually tips one way or the other, and Vivisect stays upright the whole time. It’s the band’s sharpest, most confident work yet, and I keep going back to it. If you haven’t heard their earlier releases, now is a great time to dig in.

Go follow them on Instagram too; they’re the kind of act worth keeping tabs on. Are you already familiar with Knifing Around, or is this your first introduction to them?