Photo by Daniel Bergeron

Karate are that seminally underrated band who — if you were lucky to experience them the first time around in the late ’90s and early Aughts — helped you transition your listening habits from nascent emo rock into something indie-tangent, but also not entirely, as the Allston band’s sound was an unboxable cacophony built around music theory that formed the outlines of what we now know as slowcore, but also veered into post-rock and experimental free jazz. A new found interest in the sounds of that era has made for good reason for the post-emo trio to return, and akin to their Baystate peers in Drop Nineteens, they’re doing it properly by releasing their first new album in 20 years when Make It Fit arrives for a peak New England autumn. “Silence, Sound”, the album’s closer and one of two early previews, is a reminder of yesterday’s path, but also where Karate are today, weather-worn and all the more tired by life. “Bound by weed / Racing, pacing, fortified / Lost, found / Silence, sound / I know who I serve.” Even so, there’s a veteran quality in their slow, humble rumble that’s satisfied in slow-wielding guitar churns and mathematical rhythms only they control.

Karate’s Make It Fit will be released October 28th on Numero Group.