An emphasis on heavy, heavy beats supporting deep, shuddering bass and dark atmospherics. With the drums playing such a heavy role in these songs one could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Scorn release from a bygone year.
An emphasis on heavy, heavy beats supporting deep, shuddering bass and dark atmospherics
OCOSI’s 373AHELL could almost be subtitled Return Of The BoomBap II with its emphasis on heavy, heavy beats supporting deep, shuddering bass and dark atmospherics. With the drums playing such a heavy role in these songs one could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Scorn release from a bygone year. Add to it the presence of Scorn mainstays (bass and still more bass, atonal sounds and atmospherics) the influence is more than passing.
Tracks like “This Year’s Hex,” “Inescapable” and “Sand” throb, bang and shudder through a dank underpass of sound hitting all the neurons responsible for conjuring an image of a deal gone bad in a futuristic cyberpunk scenario. Of special note is the attention paid to the atmospherics and sound design aspects of the songs which is where OCOSI really stands out. “Deathwave” goads one into an anxious mood with the sound of metal moths beating their wings against sodium street-lamps while the distant boom and groan of industrial machinery echo into the dark foggy background. “Delinquents” creates a brooding, tense atmosphere of almost claustrophobic mid-range drones and deeply reverb damped percussion floating like oil on the dank waters surrounding a disused wharf at midnight. The album closer and title track could well be the soundtrack to a migraine with the throbbing rush of blood pumping through veins and eerie, wheezing tones drifting in the air above. Lazy drones and distorted samples waft in and out of auditory range like suppressed memories.
All in all the album is a solid addition to the fine and imposing roster of Ohm Resistance releases and is a welcomed return for the duo of Paul Molyneux and Simon Smerdon after almost 20 years.
373HELL is available on Ohm Resistance. [Bandcamp]
