(04.??.07) This is the second album by Terminal 11 released in the beginning of 2007, the other is called Additions To Arsenal, on Phthalo, a label that I appreciate much but I have some issues finding their records; it’s easier to track down if you’re in the States, though.
Fractured Sunshine sounds even faster and complex than usual, to say it in a word –it’s more and more dense. It’s simply unbelievable how many sound snippets T11 can pack in a single second of a track; take for example “Hawaiian Sniper’s Eye,” it’s not that fast, the tempo is an average break, but it’s impossible to keep count of the myriad of percussions rolling and rattling all over the tune, scattering the melodic bits like puzzle pieces swept away from a table. I needed some time to get into this intricate disc, because my mind tried to focus and decipher the musical meaning of this twisted architecture; actually it’s better to give some listens trying to get the catchy parts, and then a few more appreciating every single chiseled detail. One track that helps in getting the spirit of the latest Terminal 11 production is “Mariachi Timebomb:” your ears easily follow either the electrified bassline or the happy guitar, but there are also layers of strings, fractured chants and a persisting tinnitus trying to distract your attention; “Tilde’s Revenge” is more on a jazzy tip, with an incredibly weird ending based on a straight beat and balalaika (or something akin) riffs. “Filtered Soul Exposed” mixes liquid glitches and western tones, before entering a bird themed ending in four parts: “The Bird’s Concrete Nosedive” announces something more obscure, that fully evolves in “The Bird’s Poisoned Bathwater”, with its subdued beat and gargling vocal mess. “The Bird’s Midair Heartstroke” (poor birdie..) slows even more and it’s full of melancholic vocal samples by Coppe’ and finally “The Bird’s Snapshot Lifespan” is the longest episode of all, and aptly surrounds this bird opus with dark chords and detuned bells. A somewhat sad and unsettling farewell that makes this the most imperscrutable Terminal 11 album so far, light years distant from the noisy breakcore blasts of Speed Modified, even if I think here you can find literally more drum hits per minute than in any other record around, be it Dev/Null, Venetian Snares and maybe even Xanopticon.
Fractured Sunshine is out now on Hymen.
