By Grant Kelly, Reviews Editor

[Warp; 2024]

Rating: 6/10

Zach Hill and Lucas Abela are two certifiable madmen in the world of experimental music, with Hill famous for his animalistic drumming in bands such as Death Grips and Hella (among many others), and Abela notorious for his live performances in which he manipulates shards of broken glass connected to contact microphones with his mouth. Both have been known to play to the point of physical injury. Both are also more than willing to tear down conventions in whichever style of music they happen to be working in. 

Their newest collaborative single, “Combat Boxes,” is sure to be entirely unapproachable by most, but those that stick around will find a thrilling display of energy and artistic chemistry. 

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Pressing play on “Combat Boxes” is like jumping straight into an ice bath. After a split second of some soft, glitching textures, listeners are thrust into a series of growling, erratic industrial beats, loosely guided by Zach Hill’s typical frantic drumming. The song is also fairly characteristic of Lucas Abela’s style, in that it’s comprised of a plethora of alien, difficult-to-place electronic sounds, which ebb and flow in density in accordance with the track’s wild dynamic progression. 

The most immediately appealing sections of the song are those in which Hill’s drumming settles into various grooves, providing moments of respite amongst the eruptions of intricately-textured noise. These moments are at once a reward for the listener’s commitment and a cruel trick leading you into a false sense of familiarity. It’s all in good fun though; if you’re familiar with any of their prior work, you’re probably in on the bit anyway. 

However, I’d be lying if I said I was fully able to comprehend this song just yet. Not only is it abrasive, but the sound design is so dense and rapidly-shifting that you could replay it dozens of times and find a new rhythm or detail to focus on each time. It also seems like it could benefit from more context, and considering it’s listed as the third track on the upcoming album, I have faith that it will feel a bit more cohesive between additional, similar tracks. 

Still, I’m excited by what the duo have presented here, and it’s encouraging to see that they each still have a strong creative drive after decades making music. “Combat Boxes” and more can be found on Hill and Abela’s full collaborative album, Bag of Max Bag of Cass, which releases October 31 via Warp Records.