PAINT IT BLACK’s New Lexicon was not easy to produce, but it’s gritty, thunderous and ugly—just the way hardcore punk should be.

New Lexicon marks PAINT IT BLACK’s first recording with new drummer Jared Shavelson (Hope Conspiracy, None More Black) and boasts guest vocals from Jeff Pezatti (Naked Raygun). Still, many of the best surprises occur behind the scenes.

Rather than straining to re-create “lo-fi” in a studio, New Lexicon rings in an aggressive clarity from engineer J. Robbins’ (Modern Life is War, Against Me!). With a thick low-end up front (think Bad Brains’ Roir sessions), New Lexicon says that aggression doesn’t have to be found only in thick guitars.

From here, the album was passed on to co-producer Oktopus of the indie hip hop group Dalek. Here, the existing sounds of feedback, bass booms and cymbal crashes were twisted into haunting ambient interludes and serpentine waves trailing behind the buzz saw riffs.

With little debate, this is Paint It Black’s finest hour …or, half-hour, anyway, with 15 songs clocking in at a dizzying 30 minutes, 26 seconds.

LP available from Rivalry Records.

Past Tense, Future Perfect