Civilian - Unclean
If you have even the faintest love for crude noise, industrial and/or power electronics, Civilian may be something of a pinnacle within the current scene. That is in no way a hyperbole. If you are the breed of "artsy cunt", you know the type, those who like Noise for the sake of being "weird" I think you will be scared away. If you are one of those fans like myself who judge the sounds on their own merit and enjoy the originality, brutality and creativity of Power Electronics than I am sure you will like it. What is being generated in these 3 tracks is the evolution of many great traditional formulas. A recorded document of assaults, bare bones assaults of heavy electronic primitiveness.
Each track is very unique, be that as it may you can still understand that each track is by the same group/individual because of his unique style which takes you on a trip across the globe where at times you may think that this must be straight out of Finland, or Italy circa 1985 and at other times it is wholly American. Huge patches of junk metal abuse and grating static crunch melt together. The first track has sparse vocals that seem to be submerged in a sea of effects so, like many Noise artists, the vocals here are used as an instrument rather than a clear message. All of these sounds change directions quick enough as to not dry you out (but the changes aren't so quick as to be laughable or "cut-up" shit). Not too many other groups can pull this off just right, only a few units that come to mind immediately are Mania, Coma Detox (namely the latest output from Filth & Violence) and some Bizarre Uproar material. Imagine this co-existing with the same style of sound of the devolving and crumbling masterpieces evoked by Mauthausen Orchestra. Side B starts out with a track titled "New York Sodomy" and it features some type of soft elevator music loop buried deep in the background as mounds of hiss and distortion drenched crackling junk play tangle themselves up together. The final strike has a backbone made up of collapsing, crashing rummage and scrap metal as chunks of thin static snaps into thicker rumbling Noise. Out of all 3 track this one if the least violent but it stands out as one of my personal favorites due to the basically undiluted spoken vocals and crawling old-school atmosphere. When you think all is said and done a quick little "outro" of completely unaffected and lucid classical music filled with dreamy pianos and droning pads makes you wonder what the fuck just happened. I don't know what the intention was here but it only last but a minute and oddly settles the burning intensity of the past 3 tracks.
Aesthetics, as seen above, meet the usual TF/PE "requirements"; black and white, simple and direct - "Death is Certain Life is not." I beg Civilian to release a full length in the near future as I see this project getting larger than their contemporaries.
If you have even the faintest love for crude noise, industrial and/or power electronics, Civilian may be something of a pinnacle within the current scene. That is in no way a hyperbole. If you are the breed of "artsy cunt", you know the type, those who like Noise for the sake of being "weird" I think you will be scared away. If you are one of those fans like myself who judge the sounds on their own merit and enjoy the originality, brutality and creativity of Power Electronics than I am sure you will like it. What is being generated in these 3 tracks is the evolution of many great traditional formulas. A recorded document of assaults, bare bones assaults of heavy electronic primitiveness.
Each track is very unique, be that as it may you can still understand that each track is by the same group/individual because of his unique style which takes you on a trip across the globe where at times you may think that this must be straight out of Finland, or Italy circa 1985 and at other times it is wholly American. Huge patches of junk metal abuse and grating static crunch melt together. The first track has sparse vocals that seem to be submerged in a sea of effects so, like many Noise artists, the vocals here are used as an instrument rather than a clear message. All of these sounds change directions quick enough as to not dry you out (but the changes aren't so quick as to be laughable or "cut-up" shit). Not too many other groups can pull this off just right, only a few units that come to mind immediately are Mania, Coma Detox (namely the latest output from Filth & Violence) and some Bizarre Uproar material. Imagine this co-existing with the same style of sound of the devolving and crumbling masterpieces evoked by Mauthausen Orchestra. Side B starts out with a track titled "New York Sodomy" and it features some type of soft elevator music loop buried deep in the background as mounds of hiss and distortion drenched crackling junk play tangle themselves up together. The final strike has a backbone made up of collapsing, crashing rummage and scrap metal as chunks of thin static snaps into thicker rumbling Noise. Out of all 3 track this one if the least violent but it stands out as one of my personal favorites due to the basically undiluted spoken vocals and crawling old-school atmosphere. When you think all is said and done a quick little "outro" of completely unaffected and lucid classical music filled with dreamy pianos and droning pads makes you wonder what the fuck just happened. I don't know what the intention was here but it only last but a minute and oddly settles the burning intensity of the past 3 tracks.
Aesthetics, as seen above, meet the usual TF/PE "requirements"; black and white, simple and direct - "Death is Certain Life is not." I beg Civilian to release a full length in the near future as I see this project getting larger than their contemporaries.
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