Finally listened to this for the first time. IN A NUTSHELL: This might actually be my number 1 favorite album with screaming in it. Definitely one of the most ambitious noise/noise-adjacent albums ever, and to my ears, it is very good.
Usually I can’t stand that sort of orcish death metal guttural yelling – it invariably sounds cheesy to my ears, no matter how much I try. But Prurient’s genius move here is that he deploys it purposefully. This album gave me the rare chance to hear the yelling from a different perspective. Maybe even the perspective I’ve been WAITING for this whole time.
Dominick’s screaming is not just Whitehouse-style confrontational rants, rather, it’s the sound of anguish. And the reason why I know this is because of the countless other musical elements at play: sonically, this album has many CONTRASTS. Easily one of the most dynamic and intentional noise albums I’ve ever encountered.
I love the clean synth pads and arpeggios, I love the acoustic toms and cymbal in the opening track. I love the acoustic guitar that shows up every once in a while – a nice palate cleanser. And yet, it doesn’t distract from the glitchy harsh noise. Rather, it underscores it.
Someone might accuse this album of being “easy” or a “noobish” introduction to industrial/power electronics/harsh noise, but I may disagree. There is a clear emotional thread here. The harsh noise isn’t merely the cloth from which this album is cut, instead, it is a tool that is intentionally used to great effect.
Some tracks might be a LITTLE long, but overall this was a successful attempt at a double-album. Quite compelling.
GRADE: A-