The time is 08:03. All is quiet in the house of MTUK. Luci has just awoken from her slumber after a restless night and descends upon the living room, makes herself a cuppa and settles down to read about the morning’s affairs. The sun is even shining for a change and all is looking bright. That is, until she hits play on the stereo and before long she is reduced to a twitching wreck, eyes glazed over as she rocks back and forth, paper now strewn across the table. She gets to her feet, paces anxiously across the floor like a mother awaiting news of her lost child…before taking a running leap through the window; glass shattering as her head hits the tarmac just as a bus is passing by. Splat!
Well I got a bit carried away there, but in all truthfulness this album could have even the most level-headed of us contemplating suicide by the ¼ way mark. Is that a bad thing? Hmm, well I’m not sure but this is certainly not one I would play with guests around, for fear of getting sued. Split only into three parts; so titled parts one, two and three for simplicity, this drone-doom offering simply comes off as one long…no, looooong, 50 minute track that feels more like two hours. This Swedish lot began life with a more listenable sound closer to that of Neurosis and Swans before undergoing some line up changes. They have actually been making noise for well over a decade and have also released a split EP with Cult Of Luna in their earlier days. What is quite interesting from looking at their back catalogue is that all five albums appear to be untitled (surely that must get confusing!)
From the opening bar, you know you are in for a hellish journey into the utmost pits of despair with no moment of let up unless you choose to escape to the bathroom to relieve your bowels. To be quite frank, this is a tuneless, ungodly racket that is surely designed to put both nerves and patience through their paces and if that was their aim (which I’m sure it was) then job done! This is piled high with distortion and lo-fi rumbling that comes at you from all angles. Chords are struck when you least expect it, which is perhaps the most unsettling about all of this as it never allows one to get drawn into a particular melody or progression and really has you on your toes the whole time.
This is about as far from easy listening as you can get and it isn’t going to hold mass appeal; one thing is to anyone who tells me the likes of My Dying Bride and Anathema are depressing, try this on for size and it will make Aaron Stainthorpe’s gloom seem nauseatingly happy in comparison. The moment you hit play till the moment it stops, you’ll feel trapped within a claustrophobic tunnel of pure blackness with not a single glimmer of light or hope. Hellish and rather distressing sounds ricochet within the droning intensity, building up suspense between the main racket. I think by now I’ve built up a fairly accurate picture of what you can expect from this and if you enjoy the music of Sunn0))) then this is definitely for you. Now, where’s my switchblade?
Uh oh. Time for my medication methinks.
http://www.myspace.com/switchblade
http://www.Switchblade.se
http://www.myspace.com/tnorec
