The new Harlots album shines like a polished pearl atop a mountain of shit. In a genre glutted with mediocre Converge and Pig Destroyer impressions, breakdown-overloaded astructural deathcore, and boring Neur-Isis look-alikes, Harlots have managed to put out a record that is inspired, interesting, and unique.

Though Betrayer does clearly draw from the schools of thought listed above, it is not subservient to them. When the album gets brutal (which happens early and often,) some riffs may be reminiscent of something you might hear coming from Scott Hull or Kurt Ballou’s guitar, but only if you separate them entirely from their context. Even though some riffs on this album may seem derivative when looked at note by note, the way they’re played, the way the guitar tone sounds, and the way that they fit with the rest of the music is original yet coherent. The squeals, speed, and brutality on this record are unlike anything else being put out. The sound is like Car Bomb meeting Today is the Day meeting Agoraphobic Nosebleed.

The truly exceptional moment on this record is the fourth track, the nine-minute “Dried Up Goliathan.” Drawing from sludge and post-rock influences, the track is the absolute best that I’ve heard from the post-metal school in the past few years. With effective builds, crushing climaxes, and tastefully executed clean vocals, it doesn’t get any better. Even if you’re not into the skullcrushing violence that takes up most of this record, you’ve got to take a listen, at least just to this track.

This album may not be groundbreaking; but it does post-metal amazingly well, and with a coherent identity. And god damn if that isn’t good enough for me.