THE MARK OF CAIN: Ill at Ease

Produced by Henry Rollins

Released: 1995

It's rare that an album comes complete with such an appropriate title. Ill at Ease is a disturbing album of bleak bitterness and despair, a twisted and unforgiving insight into tortured minds and black-scarred souls. I once played this at high volume at a young man who had just learned he was being cuckolded and he told me it made him feel better because not even he felt as embittered and lonely as the characters in these songs.

By the mid-1990s The Mark of Cain had already racked up more than ten years as a band, grinding out a strict, militaristic form of hardcore built on impeccably tight rhythms and the snarling, unsung vocals of John Scott. Their reputation as a formidable musical unit was esteemed in punk circles but their first few recordings were virtually unknown outside of the underground. When Steve Albini lent a hand to their "Incoming" EP, however, this would soon change.

Ill at Ease was The Mark of Cain's first album for the rooArt label, and with Henry Rollins as producer it came with one of the alternative music's scenes biggest names attached. The band's blend of US-style hardcore aggression and British post-punk influence like Joy Division and Gang of Four already gave them a sound similar to that of Rollins' own band and a lot of Scott's lyrical themes were also quite alike so the match-up was nearly perfect. All of The Mark of Cain's albums are nothing short of excellent, but this one remains the pinnacle.

The staccato opening salvos of "Interloper" give immediate notice that what is to come is not about to be pleasant, but The Mark of Cain is not about pleasantries. Each of the band's tracks are stark portraits of a loner's existence, heavily draped in military metaphors. John Scott's bitter worldview is a harsh, Neitzschean universe of exhausting discipline and contempt for weakness, dominated by broken relationships and betrayals. The group's music perfectly embodies the cold, clinical and calculating outlook of the subjects of their songs. Pummelling beats and aggressive guitars leave little room for breath and less for remorse. Riffs are bludgeoning, machine-like slabs that punish like heavy blows and ring like a swinging blade. Underpinning them are Kim Scott's throbbing, pulsating bass lines and these are further accentuated here by Aaron Hewitt's taut, tireless, snare-heavy time-keeping. John Scott's vocals rarely deviate from a snarling rage that in tracks like "Interloper" and "You Let Me Down" come close to a psychotic fury. Rollins' production further emphasises the tone with a minimalistic approach that strips away every emotion except anger and despair.

Ill at Ease is a dark and unforgiving masterpiece, a harrowing glimpse into a tormented psyche that is both uncomfortable to listen to and almost impossible to turn off.

1. Interloper


2. Hindsight


3. First Time


4. Remember Me


5. Point Man


6. You Let Me Down


7. Tell Me


8. Contender


9. LMA

Rating: 90%