Asbest Seethes Against Society’s Perpetual Cycle of Self-Consumption on “Autodigestion”

When “Autodigestion” begins one might expect a more straightforward, noisy post-punk song from Asbest with the repeated guitar figure and the menacing bass. But when the vocals come in with Robyn Trachsel sounding a bit like Will Shatter in terms of desperation and on the verge of breaking through in some random emotional direction from the internal pressure and Judith Breitinger carrying an ethereal melody alongside it giving the song a quality both visceral and otherworldly. Jonas Häne’s drumming seems to cascade down, accenting the dire pronouncements with a tribal conviction. When the song ends abruptly it’s like a faucet has been turned off to the caustic tones and depiction of a civilization consuming itself, giving greater weight to the metaphor in the lyric “We are trapped in the body of a snake” that opens the and closes the vocal section like the endless cycle of the Ouroboros but casting it like a never ending cycle of disappointment, oppression and low key self-destruction. But in expressing such pain and sorrow at this state of affairs one hears a will to break the pattern. Listen to “Autodigestion” on YouTube and follow the Swiss post-punk band Asbest at the links provided.