Slowly Buildings Weapons, Sydney-based blackened hardcore and indie metal four-piece, has returned after a decade to release its latest, and perhaps greatest material to date, ‘Sunbirds,’ on the Art As Catharsis label. ‘Sunbirds’ is comprised of ten experimental tracks which, while not exactly genre-shattering, are unapologetically genre-defying. At one moment as violent and chaotic as a raging storm and at another as calm and darkly beautiful as a city at three o’ clock in the morning, and touching on pretty much everything in between throughout, the songs on ‘Sunbirds’ fearlessly explore brutal, yet striking sonic soundscapes. With dirty, punishing guitars, mad drums, and throat-blistering screams that occasionally give way to considerable tonal shifts which embrace slower tempos, more atmospheric sounds, and cleaner vocals, Slowly Building Weapons crafts songs that drastically change from one to the other, but without seeming like a different band altogether. Slowly Building Weapons is always unmistakably Slowly Building Weapons.

‘Sunbirds’ was written over the course of two years with most of the band members residing in Sydney, Australia, save for vocalist Nick Bowman who contributed from Omihachiman, Japan. This record is the band’s first since its 2007 release of ‘Nausicaa.’ And if ‘Nausicaa’ revealed an interestingly experimental heavy band with promise, ‘Sunbirds’ proves them an undeniably innovative outfit with an awesome musical vision.

Standouts on ‘Sunbirds’ include “Throne,” “Lyre Birds,” “Sunforest,” “Editing the Desert,” and “Horses.”

‘Sunbirds’ by Slowly Building Weapons is available in vinyl and digital formats from Art As Catharsis.