Pourbon’s self-titled debut release hovers around the oppressive, nocturnal gloom of their guitar tones, which, unlike many chaotic hardcore bands, are muffled and sludgy rather than crunching and jagged. Opening track “Entreé” delivers pretty much the exact opposite of the promise its title implies, because the solitary guitar meanderings leave you starving and raving for more by the end. Thankfully, Pourbon delivers, and the remainder of the album embarks into the punishing combination of pounding, low-end heavy drums; vocals that jump between disconcerting growls, anger-filled screams, and desperate spoken interludes; and, as mentioned previously, the pervasive darkness that seeps from every strike of the guitar strings. There’s plenty of thudding rhythms and high-pitched screeches, but Pourbon doesn’t shy away from adopting a more eclectic palette, and many of the driving blast beat sections are accompanied by tremolo guitar and howled vocals and approach something not at all far from black metal. Clocking in at around twenty minutes, the first proclamation from Pourbon provides a satisfying range of hardcore chaos, from the suffocating brilliance of the “Regular Sheikh” trilogy to the filthy groove of “Lector System Failure.”