Chang Terhune takes on three heavyweight extended players featuring a smattering of rugged beats and sheer darkness by Fret (Mick Harris), JK Flesh (Justin K. Broadrick), and Primary Node courtesy of L.I.E.S., Inner Surface Music, and Acroplane.
Fret :: Silent Neighbour EP (L.I.E.S. / Long Island Electrical Systems)
Around these parts we have many gods with many names. One of these gods is Mick Harris who has played with Napalm Death (Hallowed be thy name!) and made music as Scorn (Praise be unto him!) and the lesser known Quoit. A shadowy silence fell over the land like a pall when he announced he was retiring and laying the Scorn moniker to rest. Many a night and day were saved and soothed by the sounds of Harris manipulating samples and beats as Scorn. Then there was heard in the distance a great cry as if trumpeted by a thousand grimy angels that Mick Harris was back and making music under the new moniker of Fret. And it was good. Fret is a less hip-hop, doom-hop oriented affair than Scorn, and has more in common with the industrial and metallic sounds of Quoit. “Closed Syndicate” opens with a salvo of distorted kick drums, echoing banding samples and deep bass roar and thuds. It reminds one of what it might sound like a Skrillex fever dream after too much NyQuil. “List Is Full” starts off with raspy kicks and a fast tempo, reminding the listener something wicked is a-coming this way. It develops into a dark, droning rhumba of the dead, with off-kilter sequences and snaking, pulsing synth lines. “Same Pegs” reminds one of Autechre or Richard H. Kirk’s Electronic Eye moniker with its rhythms and atmospheres though it bears its own sensibilities and style. “Silent Neighbour” comes in hard upon entry like a shoulder through a flimsy door; beats, rhythms and atmosphere collide and congeal into an unholy and powerful alliance to make the track drive pulse and thud along. If Fret is to be the new voice of this god then so be it. For it shall be a fiery voice of power and noise and may even convince a toe to tap. Long live Mick Harris!
JK Flesh :: Wasplike EP (Inner Surface Music)
Justin Broadrick is back with Wasplike another JK Flesh EP and it’s yet another beat blasting noisy journey through a stark landscape of jagged edges and forbidden shadows. Wasplike could almost be mistaken for something by The Chemical Brothers except for a keen use of minimal sequences and deft handling of frequencies on the bass. It drives like a hotrod on the pavement as it outruns a volcanic flood of lava and destruction. “Mindprison” drives in with wispy beats than soon give way to heavy, throbbing kick drums and the shudder of monstrous bass. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Scorn—Broadrick’s former bandmate Mick Harris’ retired doom-hop moniker (as if I need to tell an Igloo reader that)—but carries its own water with the rest of JK Flesh’ works. “New Build Estate” thumps us into shape with an atonal arpeggio and simple kick and hi-hat beat as it drives into the depths with a feverish, insectile pattern at the top. “Dark Horse” is stripped down, bassy and majestic as it rounds out the extended player with the closest thing to a groove and melody you’re likely to get from JK Flesh. All in all this is an excellent addition to the JK Flesh output and shows a master continuing to develop and grow into his work.
Primary Node :: Aeolipile EP (Acroplane)
Primary Node’s Aeolipile EP comes on strong with its first track “Wrangling Seagulls” as a kick drum pins down the wafting, wavering synth lines over a squelching double-bass note groove. Thr track slowly erodes into a swirling but agreeable mass. “Heron’s Ball” carries a heavy beat into the light with simple drums, evolving into a frenetic technoid rhythmic workout. “LBK MLS” continues the rhythmic workout with a bass heavy, atmospheric vibe where the background matters as much as the foreground, like a shouting match between two flocks of metal birds. “Obstruct Distortion” bangs in with old-school soca rhythms turned inside out and flayed, reggaeton for the recently undead where synths swarm and flutter overhead under a sky the color of a TV tuned to a dead channel. “TimeRave Zero” opens with a warped sample of a man rambling about what time is but the beats and synths that arrive soon after move you to a realm where time isn’t easily defined as the hypnotic beats and rhythms move in out and through you. A good solid deviation into a dark, foreboding place where beats and monsters collide, shimmer and shake. The album also includes strong remixes by Swarm Intelligence and Dead Sound.
