Not Of

Hypocritic Oath // No List Records

Not Of’s sophomore album should come with a Surgeon General advisory that reads “Do not listen if pregnant or suffering from a heart condition.” This Toronto two piece plays a ferocious brand of noise rock that can switch between catchy and abrasive. Their latest effort entitled Hypocritic Oath is a thrill ride that will get your pulse racing with powerhouse drums serving as the backbone for feedback and crunchy guitar riffs. They have sonically grown in leaps and bounds since their debut album Pique was released in 2015. The song craft is more challenging, but the biggest improvement comes with a new found patience that slows the album and gives the listener room to breathe. There is more going on within the layers of fuzz and feedback than one would expect, so the slower moments offer slight reprieve for the mind. Their pedal to the metal urgency still makes up most of the album but it’s the downtempo sludgy track called “The Goat” that steals the show. Highlighting Not Of’s new side, the song moves between a quiet spoken word verse and a screaming blitzkrieg assault chorus. Having taken three years to release this record, it was easy to expect songwriting growth from Not Of, but one could never predict their sound would become so immense and so vital. 

LP available here, limited to 300 copies. See what it looks like on the Cups N Cakes Vinyl Unveil.