Disembowelment

Here's the deal with An Albatross: they're out to melt your face—and that's only after they've rearranged your guts and dismantled your spine. Yes, the fearsome Philadelphia sextet is all about extremes, but the surprise lies in exactly how and with what they assault us. Screaming we're ready for, but who knew keyboards could be such disruptive tools? And since when is post-hardcore scarier than its antecedent?

Since 2003, I suppose—that's when An Albatross' We Are the Laser Viking EP, the follow-up to 2001's obscure but accurately titled Eat Lightning, Shit Thunder, was unleashed upon the world. Like something out of a Cronenberg film, the band's searing revision of punk at first seems alien and threatening, but if you can survive a single sitting, you begin to feel all the stronger and more evolved for it.

Now back in the States after a European tour, the band is still road testing the songs—if you can even call them songs—that comprise their second proper album, due next month on Ace-Fu. Until then, their Glass House show should provide any and all gluttons for punishment with plenty to feast on.

An Albatross at the Glass House, 200 W. Second St., Pomona; www.theglasshouse.us. Wed., 7:30 p.m. $10. All ages.

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