It’s been twelve long years since the last Senser album, 2013’s To The Capsules. Much has changed in that time. Within the band, Kerstin Haigh has made a welcome return to the fold (having been briefly replaced by Erika Footman); while outside, the world has become increasingly polarised, laying strong foundations for the band – whose intelligent and articulate lyrics have provided strength to their fans over the years – to return.
The band didn’t so much announce their return as scream it from the rooftops, with lead single Ryot Pump providing an incendiary call to arms that asks the listener to “find the strength to rise” in the face of an increasingly vocal right wing. Deftly written, it holds a mirror up to the fractured state of nations once believed to offer an end to history (via the rise of the liberal democracy), effectively evoking the increasing paranoia and othering that lies at the heart of extreme capitalist societies. That track both opens the disc and sets the stage for a tightly plotted and powerful record that not only finds Senser back at their fiery best, but which also sees them expanding their sonic palette to deliver one of their finest works to date.
Having firmly re-established themselves on the opening track, Senser kick into stuttering hip-hop with Optimus, a hard-hitting track with a brilliant, melodic chorus at its core – the latter making good use of Heitham’s increasingly confident vocals, thanks in part to his excellent work with Lodestar. It’s followed by the fiery Old World, which not only offers a monumental riff, but also one of Kerstin’s best vocals, as she deftly shifts between heartbreak and rage. It builds to a savage final riff from Guitarist Nick Michaelson that stands as one of the heaviest moments in Senser’s career, the sense of rage at the current state of things palpable as the track reaches its climax.
Harder-edged hip-hop returns on Full Body Rebellion, a propulsive anthem powered by a wonderful, writhing guitar riff and topped with Kerstin’s ethereal vocals. More surprising is End Of Days. No longer a hyperbolic phrase in today’s febrile times, the band treat it not as a call to arms, but as a heartbroken anthem for the damned, and the result is one of the most arrestingly beautiful pieces of music they have ever created.
Opening the second half of the album, Already Dead wrongfoots the listener as it opens with a charged, melodic riff, only to devolve into a series of shuddering, paranoid riffs underpinning a darkly cynical lyric from Heitham that captures the social-media-powered resignation and confusion of the era. With Kerstin providing a ferocious counterpoint, concluding that “this is not OK”, it’s a track that finds the band dismissing grey areas and tearing away the comforting mask of apathy as they go. As if galvanised by their own polemic, Senser tear into the epic Bleak Division – a track that combines the bristling rage of Stacked with the production work of Andrew Weatherall.
Eerie ambient paves the way for Air Loom, a rather lovely piece of music that makes good use of Kerstin’s vocal range, harking back to the massively underrated Asylum in the process. It’s followed by Black Wings, a subtle, understated track that strips away the guitars to allow Heitham’s powerful vocals the necessary space to shine. Nick has his license restored, however, on the thrashing Harbinger, a frenetic blast that nevertheless retains a vital sense of melody at its heart. One of the album’s heaviest moments, it offers one last clearing away of the deadwood before the sample-laden Carrier Wave rounds the album out on a calmer note, With both Kerstin and Heitham demonstrating their strengths as singers over a trip-hop infused backing, it’s a lovely track, as refreshing as the sunrise, that leaves the listener with a sense of hope for all that the preceding tracks have explored the darker impulses of humanity. A truly beautiful piece of music, only slightly let down by a too-aggressive fade at its conclusion, it’s a mini-masterpiece showcasing a very different side to the band.
With the world more polarised than ever, bands such as Senser are essential- not because they give voice to division, but because they seek to unify through the power of music. While there is rage to be found on Sonic Dissidence – how could there not be – there is also a lingering sense of hope, and it is this that makes the album so special. It is comparatively easy to rage into the void – as any number of populists have found in the past decade – but to find hope in seeming hopelessness requires an effort few seem willing to make.
Sonic Dissidence, therefore, emerges as a powerful journey, from the visceral fury of Ryot Pump to the gorgeous Carrier Wave, the band exploring a rich seam of sonic and thematic elements that few bands would be brave enough to tackle. Intelligent, exciting and often surprisingly beautiful, Sonic Dissidence is a very special album and a welcome return from Senser. 9.5/10
