The fusion of genres is an art form. Reliant entirely on the inventiveness of music journalists and fans with too much time on their hands, genre fusion is a wordsmith’s orgiastic feast. With no moderation and very few rules, words are created that help sum up the various changes in the nuances of music. The official name for this fusion of two words is portmanteau.

For our purposes, we’ll use one such portmanteau to describe ferocious Alaskan group 36 Crazyfists: metalcore.

The band’s first release on Ferret Music and fifth album overall, The Tide and Its Takers is a courageous record to follow up the critically-acclaimed Rest Inside the Flames from 2006.

With metalcore as the halfway house between metal and hardcore punk music, it’s easy to see how 36 Crazyfists live up to their billing. Screaming and yelling is bolstered by unusually saccharine melodies throughout The Tide and Its Takers, making the album a near-schizophrenic stew of styles.

Vocalist Brock Lindow leads the way and cuts a lethal swath of devastation through songs like “Clear the Coast.” “When we fall from grace, we must rise from the dead,” he shouts in defiance over frantic guitars and vocal accompaniment from Adam Jackson of Ohio rockers Twelve Tribes.

Mick Whitney’s bass and Thomas Noonan’s drums provide an efficacious underpinning, but it’s Steve Holt – Arrested Development fans? – who serves as the cement for the band. His guitar rips through outstanding riffs and solid support segments with meticulousness, serving as the ideal companion to Lindow. Holt also provides some backing vocals.

The Tide and Its Takers really displays the band’s range. Explosive riffs give way to Lindow’s multiple personalities and Noonan’s stellar drums beat a pattern across the Alaskan wilderness, making this a record that will surely shatter some windows and break some ground.

The utter viciousness of tracks like “The All Night Lights” and “Vast and Vague” paint the guys as a cruel and unruly assembly of metalcore seekers of reality, unpacking absolute brutal exactness with scrupulous attention to detail. Whether it’s Noonan’s relentless drums, Whitney’s solid bass, or Holt’s sick guitar, 36 Crazyfists will beat your stereo into submission.

Taken as a whole, this is a well-played and well-produced album. The Tide and Its Takers is a solid look at a talented and seasoned metalcore band whose fearless approach has made them trustworthy players on the scene.