EYES - Congratulations

EYES’s “Congratulations,” released in March of 2023, feels like it begins in media res—a confrontational, descending riff abruptly starts with no build up—like turning on the news to see a helicopter stalling out and free falling into a whirlwind of blades and smoke. The tumbling terror hits maximum velocity, paradoxically ratcheting up the tension and stakes with such a steady, intentional hand that it achieves a chaotic equilibrium. Welcome to the next thirty minutes of your life where calm is unknown but comfort is found in the catharsis of demonic, raw-throated vocals, air-raid riffs, and heart-attack drums.

Hailing from Copenhagen, the quintet of EYES presents one genre-torturing song after the other—stretching metalcore on the rack to its breaking point and into elements extreme and experimental. Atmospheres evoking black metal hiked up to a mosquito’s pitch, cascading and danceable punk grooves, and the volatile calculus of math rock are all present in this explosive, unstable formula that activates the listener’s anxiety in the best possible way.

“Congratulations” is composed of songs that feel more like violent vignettes than polished works—and that’s a good thing. The medium of stilted, cut off, uncanny, unfinished emotional outbursts is the message—mirroring the cycle of rage in response to what can be the unending misery of monotonous modern life. Sometimes all we can do is skirt between the zeniths of energy—sidle, head down, until you hit the gym next, skulk through life between shows, etc. “Congratulations” presents the wax and wane of resistance without the withering—an auditory version of the filmclips Alex is forced to view in A Clockwork Orange. EYES holds our ears captive, splitting eardrums wide open to receive their abrasive onslaught. By “Value,” the album’s high-octane midpoint, you’ll have fully succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome and converted to this cynical, sonic anti-gospel.

Riddled with cock-eyed hooks, chain-saw toothed vocals, and grooves dialed to a maniacal amplitude, “Congratulations” is also catchy as all hell. This music needles under the skin and pumps you straight full of adrenaline. As abruptly as it started, though, the album ends, leaving the listener off-kilter—a feeling like that familiar, full-brain buzz after the concert when you stood too close to the amps. The riffs play on in your head and all you want is one more song but the venue has a strict curfew.

I can only hope these guys make it over to the States for a tour as they must put on an all-out show of frantic hijinks and furious shredding. In the meantime, this exquisitely produced record will have to suffice. Wear a shirt you can tear off, turn up the volume, and throw off the restraints and accost everyone who isn’t willing to dance along.

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