Album Review: In Covert – Bleak Machinery (Dune Altar)

Los Angeles-based post-punk-and-metal-infused noise rock band In Covert will release their debut album, ‘Bleak Machinery’, on May 9th, 2025, via Dune Altar.

An unsettling introduction (Blood Moon Rises (Intro)) sets up the feeling that this album is going to be an abrasive experience that keeps you guessing. Delivering expansive industrialised sounds blended with the chaos of noise rock and the enigmatic aspects of post punk. It’s a combination (amongst other genre infusions) that shouldn’t work, but In Covert have a stylised way to showcase it all in gripping fashion.

Case in point, the raucous sound of Blood Moon, a messy track that has a rawness that gives it a punk flavour yet proves to be quite addictive. It’s an early showcase of In Covert’s maddening creativity, and an early showcase of some of what makes this band so interesting.

With moodier vibes, albeit warped by bursts of vibrant intensity, Nowhere to Turn keeps the listener on their toes. Followed by the aptly titled industrial might of Shivers Down the Spine, one of the record’s gloomiest sounding tracks. It’s also one of the album’s best as it has a ‘retro’ feel that makes it almost danceable. Something matched by the more chill sound of Night Captivity, In Covert at their most melodic and mellow. It’s another likable listen, and quite welcome following the 48-seconds of intolerable noise that is Whereas The Truth is Out There.

You won’t love everything that In Covert produce here, but you will love a lot of it, and at least be taken in by the ones that aren’t necessarily to your personal taste. That’s how I found the album, and I really enjoyed the peaks and valleys of it all. A lot of the enjoyment of this album comes from its variety and how well it flows, even with its shifts in sound and style.

Perhaps there is no better series of tracks that showcases this variety then what comes in the latter half of the record. There’s a heavier rock feel, albeit wrapped by their noise-infused ways, with Dead Weight. Whereas its tempo is slower and more methodical, almost sludgy in tone, Darkfields has punk spirit and plenty of energy, and the two short snippet tracks; Gates of He// and Ominous Dreams are equally intense, but from two very different angles. One, abrasive, the other, haunting.

Death Embers is the penultimate track, but with a finale feel simply because of the starry melody and overall lavish combination of heavy sounds. Even the vocals have an almost desperate feel to them. It’s only around three-minutes long, but its impact is immense. Which does means Cemetery Nights does inevitably pale by comparison, even though it’s a hefty slab of filthy groove and noisy intensity, so more than enjoyable in its own way.

It, like everything on this album, is unique, and that’s testament to In Covert’s impressive creativity here. They’ve delivered an imposing record with layers of exciting and interesting music, liable to impress just about everyone who hears it.

In Covert – Bleak Machinery Track Listing:

1. Blood Moon Rises (Intro)
2. Blood Moon
3. Nowhere to Turn
4. Shivers Down the Spine
5. The Truth Is Out There
6. Night Captivity
7. Dead Weight
8. Gates of He//
9. Darkfields
10. Ominous Dreams
11. Death Embers
12. Cemetery Nights

Links

LinkTree | Bandcamp | Instagram | Dune Altar