‘Bend body into office chair, contort into cubicle, Bite tongue though I want to shout, Trapped but no Houdini, I can’t get out’ (Repetitive Stress)

In an era when everything can feel transitory, somewhat fleeting, the eight-year gap between the debut album, No Solution, of Oslo’s Problems and this, their follow-up EP, seems almost reassuring.  What is equally reassuring is that Beg For Release rather vividly demonstrates that anger does not mellow with the passing of time.  The roared opening to the utterly unhinged title track – ‘Spoiler alert: you are going to die!’ – leaves little room for doubt.

The seven tracks are fuelled by a baleful malevolence as harsh, at times, almost blown out guitars and a fiercely frenetic rhythm section unleash an uncompromising battery.  Eruptions of blistering speed feed into swirling breakdowns, the frenzied climax to Wanna Watch hitting the mark with a particular ferocity.  The feral vocals seethe with nihilistic fury as they explore the dehumanising frustrations of modern life, a rage most vividly animated on the  rampant opener Repetitive Stress and absolutely bludgeoning closer Absence Of Choice (‘The problem with the survival of the fittest, Is the face beneath my feet’).