The Northern Indiana/Southwestern Michigan music scene is an interesting beast. While my hometown of South Bend is the de facto center of it, we’re close enough to other cities that bands that are born out of towns within an hour drive from us end up cutting their teeth in Chicago or Indianapolis or Grand Rapids instead.

Sometimes, this leads me to discoveries of local(ish) bands that I didn’t even realize were somewhat local to me (see also: Lume, Locktender, Cloakroom).

Earlier this year, I had the similar realization (or reminder, rather) that the mathy, heavy post-hardcore outfit Native were also localish (from Michigan City, but played mostly in Chicagoland).

It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise—after all, Native is fronted by Bobby Markos, the bassist of the aforementioned Cloakroom. And while his rumbling, heavy bass strings are a through line between the two bands, that’s about where the comparison ends.

There is none of the zen and lethargy that informs the doomy space rock of Markos’ current project. Instead, this record is frenetic and spastic. The drums race along, keeping pace with angular guitar taps and asymmetrical bass crunches, Markos’ gruff voice shouting above the starts and stops.

While I usually pull out highlights, this record feels almost too complete to separate it into chunks. It is meant to be heard as a whole, riding the rises and falls of the dynamics from one track to the next as the band shifts from moody atmospheric sections to frantic math-breakdowns. As singular as their voice is, there are moments that call to mind Frodus, a heavier version of Castavet, and a really chaotic version of Slint.

It’s only 28 minutes long, but those 28 minutes are expertly paced, packing in as clear a statement as most bands make in twice the time.

And while it’s easy to mourn the end of this project (assumedly in the wake of Cloakroom’s explosive success), Orthodox feels a like a self-sufficient statement. So much is packed into this short LP that it’s difficult to imagine another album that hits the same buttons in such a satisfying way. However, if they kept it up, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where they don’t become a household name among the acolytes of heavy, mathy rock and roll. I mean, this record was released through Sargent House, after all.

Not bad for a little local(ish) band.