KEN Mode pushed their record more aggressively than virtually any other heavy band this year (with maybe one exception … more on that later). They spent just a few months of 2013 not touring, which befits a band whose name comes from a Hank Rollins quip about Black Flag’s “kill everything now” approach to the road. Entrench is worthy of their efforts; it’s all hard edges and cockeyed pivots. KEN Mode have been working in this vein for several albums now, but still, every new song by them feels like a nasty static shock. –Doug [LISTEN]