REVIEW: IRK - The Seeing House

All good things take time, and Leeds natives IRK - self described as Leeds' normalest weirdos - know that better than anyone. It took five years for their debut album to see the light of day, crashing onto the scene in 2018 in a sonic boom of djent-style grooves and guttural wails. Now, the trio have summoned another unsettling storm of chaos into being. The Seeing House is unrelenting, bizarre and frantic; a ten-track-long possession of sinister kinetic energy finally being exorcised after seven years of bouncing around in J.S. GORDON’s vocal chords, ED SNELL’s bass guitar and MATTHEW DEAMER’s drum kit.

And, like any good possession, it’s impossible to leave this album without feeling changed in some way, for better or worse.

IRK’s particular blend of noisy math-rock dominates the sound of the album – which is lucky, as the tracks that lean heavily into this blend come out sounding the most polished and effective. Idiot Plot is a shining example of this, opening the album with crashing cymbals and shape-shifting time signatures throughout. GORDON’s vocals are jarring and whiny in all the right ways, at times reminiscent of LEATHERMOUTH vocalist FRANK IERO, and when his low vocal-fry is deployed, of KORN’s JOHNATHAN DAVIS.

Whilst the jarring moments on the album are the most exciting, the groove-laden offerings bring just as much to the table. The Great Wasp Of Reluctance demonstrates this perfectly, balancing staccato riffs in the chorus with a hypnotising bassline peppered elsewhere throughout. It’s an expertly orchestrated nightmare, which sets up the 79-second follow up of Abraxas Casino to detonate the proverbial bomb.

These highs only serve to make the lows feel more disappointing, however. In amongst all of the excitement lay some of The Seeing House’s more progressive explorations. Eating All Of The Apple feels much longer than the 4:45 of its runtime, the droning bassline and lack of texture throughout making it trudge along at a snail’s pace. To a lesser extent, Lifetime Achievement Award suffers in a similar way; the track builds into a terrifying collection of siren sounds and screams, but it’s hard not to wish for more of the biting snappiness of the more math-core led tracks.

The main exception to this is album closer Wedding, Berlin. Opening with a clanky bass riff and repeating vocal lines about teeth, the creepiness works alongside the progressive nature of the repetitive patterns instead of against it, seemingly in an attempt to convince you that you’re losing your mind. According to an Instagram post by Nefarious Industries, the record label behind The Seeing House, drummer DEAMER explains that they added rhythms played on “giant sheets of metal, stacks of broken cymbals and even a metal beer keg”. It’s strange and unsettling, but that’s where IRK seems to shine the most.

The Seeing House is what any experimental artist should aim for their creation to be; shocking, bizarre and endlessly creative. IRK have created something that is unmistakably them, whilst still seeing a progression in the ideas and sounds that could be found on their previous work. Whether you enjoy the work of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MESHUGGAH, or the Saw movies, you’ve come to the right place. Press play, and prepare to get spooked.

Score: 9/10

The Seeing House will be released on September 26th 2025 via Nefarious Industries.

Words: Ellen Lovell

Photos: IRK