(09.22.05) There are, in my book, two types of rhythmic noise: (1) noise that
might have some rhythm buried under all the eardrum-shredding static
and (2) rhythm that is built from noisy instrumentation — industrial
machinery, spastic plastic, eructating radio transmitters and
biochemical neural pulses. Pneumatic Detach returns to Hive Records (they were Hive’s first non-compilation release) with the furiously
anthemic [Vis·Cer·A], a record of the second style that
keeps the rhythms bone-crushingly fierce without resorting to
over-saturation of the noise and distortion. It is a finesse crusher,
a beat-down that travels up and down your musculoskeletal system like
tiny jackhammers, bludgeoning each cluster of sinew and each bridge of
bone.
“Moment of Comprehension” pounds you Tarmvred-style, and each hammer
impact rattles all the way up through your molars. A melody whistles
and cavorts behind the curtain of drums but there’s no real point in
trying to reach for it. Every bone in your hand will be shattered by
the relentless beat of the banging pistons as you try to breach that
curtain. A spectral voice whispers a warning about witches at the
beginning of “Embers,” a brief respite from the distorted beats,
before another assault is launched upon your jellied bones. Pneumatic
Detach wants to hit you hard; there’s no dodging the bruising fists of
fury. “Domination (short mix)” is like being spun in the TsF-18
Centrifuge at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center while
Disney-built Animatronics of old Russian astronauts pelt the
controlled cabin with steel marbles. “Separator” comes at you from so
many directions that you can’t hope to stop the beats from getting
past your cheap defenses (all your base will belong to
Pneumatic Detach!).
It-Clings provides the spoken word piece for “Mindless Brutal
Apparatus,” the only real misstep on the album (taking the whole
viscera of Jessica Hosman’s cover image to a brutal level of immediacy
that isn’t really necessary). Fortunately, the final track is a remix
offered by 02 (Mike Wells of Gridlock) that encapsulates all the
glitter and buzz of Trace-era Gridlock into the thunder of
Pneumatic Detach’s sonic storm front. From blistering start to
atmospheric end, [Vis·Cer·A] delivers a crunching
series of body blows that makes me happy to be hurting. Pneumatic
Detach knocks what ails you right out of your system. This is a
fierce contender for distorted beat catharsis experience of the year.
[Vis·Cer·A] is out now on Hive.
