Blimey this sounds like it was recorded on speed in some Finsbury Park squat shortly before the responsible parties took some ketamine and sluggishly attempted playing it on stage at The George Robey. However despite the DIY crawling straight out a squat recording sound (don’t you sometimes miss that) this is actually a French project with members listed simply as Ivan Sicik and Machine, one gets the feeling that machine maybe the drummer, is just that, a machine! Just to add authenticity, the three track demo arrived with another disc wrapped in newspaper.
An Ummon is simply described by wiki as a Buddhist Monk and philosopher in case you were wondering and although this is not going to take you off on a voyage of transcendental meditation it is not without merit once you get past the recording methods. ‘Lost Found Lost’ comes at us with a heavy bass groove and a drum sound thudding far too high in the mix, guitars and vocals come into play, the latter distorted with effects and sounding like they have taken influence from a post industrial outfit. It is a pretty hectic and discordant racket and the instruments meander all over the place as though they are all taking different paths and colliding with each other when they run out of space and are forced together like in some primitive 80s’ video game. It’s a bit of a head-stew and deranged and one wonders if everything is co-ordinated or simply the work of someone not quite sure what they are doing. I suspect the former and that Ummon are trying to fuck with our heads. ‘Retreat’ itself wears its heart much more firmly on its sleeve. With the echoing clean vocals I am really reminded of Godflesh here and looking at the groups home page can see that they have also covered ‘Tiny Tears’ in the past. However the music is still chaotic and seasick and goes quite well with the cover of the actual demo, a nightmarish melange of uncoordinated shapes and textures. Last track ‘Children Of Boredom (ha) reminds again of Godflesh but I cannot get away from that crazed squat band like 2000DS as well, it really is beginning to sound like 4 individuals each on different drugs rather than one on perhaps a cocktail of all four! It certainly isn’t boring and at 16 minutes long it leaves you feeling dizzy and disorientated.
Ummon is an experimental artist designed for those who like experimenting, being it in sound, art or even drugs. It certainly isn’t for everyone but if you want to warp your head and wrap it round this madness, check out the link below.
http://www.myspace.com/ummonism
Pete Woods
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