Whether or not you grow to love this band as much as I do, one thing you can’t criticise them for is a lack of ambition. Germany’s The Hirsch Effekt manage to cram more ideas, time signatures, styles and notes into one song than most bands manage across a whole album.

The opening guitar parts of ‘LIFNEJ’ bring The Fall of Troy to mind, a comparison that’s compounded by the pulsating drums and jagged rhythms. As the song progresses, it becomes darker, moodier and almost doom-like before transitioning into an alt-rock chorus with a melody that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Arcane Roots track. Mixing all of these elements together should result in a confusing mess, but The Hirsch Effekt balance everything perfectly to create an exciting journey of sound.

The vocals, sung in the band’s native German language, add another layer of authenticity to a band who already sound like they’re emptying their brains onto record without any concern for filtering. Expect more of this genius on the band’s upcoming record ‘Eskapist’, which is out on August 18th through Longbranch.