Asbestos Worker are an angry, self-loathing, noise rock trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota who make quite a racket on their sophomore release, The Seperation, which comes courtesy of Learning Curve Records (one of the finest purveyors of noise rock going). This is music filled to the brim with the frustrations of everyday life. You can hear it in every note they play, and you can especially hear it in the vocals of guitarist and vocalist, Josh Stever, whose gritty bellowing bears a certain similarity to the vocals of Killdozer’s (noise rock legends, look them up), Michael Gerald.
But, this isn’t just standard, boiler-plate noise rock. Asbestos Worker draw upon punk and doom to make their particular form of noise hit harder. It’s no surprise that a few of the members spent some time in a metal band before forming this one in 2019.
The album opens with the driving noise rock of “Accountability” before settling into straight up pummel mode for “Equal Or Greater Reaction.” This is where the doomier side of their sound is first heard on the record. This riffier approach continues on “Fear Is The Little Death.” “Public Spaces” picks up the pace a bit, belying a shift toward punk, while Stever bellows about his hatred of humankind and even touches on social anxiety and the stress it causes him. It’s a very powerful song.
“Road Rage” is a mid-paced track with a pretty self-explanatory title. “This Is Hell,” which is the longest song on the album at 4:55, is a descent into the grimmest doomy noise rock. Sound-wise, it’s quite heavy. The lyrics which touch on how horrible life can be at times, makes it even harder. The album ends with the self-loathing screed of “You’re Not Just Good Enough.” If you think Stever is talking about you, he is, but he is also talking about himself. The hatred is both pointed outward and inward.
The Seperation is a harrowing and heavy dose of noise rock. So, if you want something that deals with real life subjects in an unflinching manner, then this is the album for you. This will help deal with the grind of daily life, so it doesn’t grind you down as much. We’re talking a catharsis of the highest order. Get it.
Buy The Seperation here.
