Review: Pogrom - Multicultural Degeneration

Pogrom - Multicultural Degeneration 

"Multicultural Degeneration" seems to be PGRM at his most involved, most dynamic and resolute. Different sounds scatter about making this quite a patchwork of primal Power Electronics. You get tracks that are entirely acoustic, uneffected junk metal abuse and others that are heavy yet composed basement electronics, all of it assembled competently. There is plenty of other Power Electronics that came out in the following months that has been large and composed but I think you will find little that is as dramatic and adept. Too much shit these days and PGRM stands out through the smell of it all.

The first track, "White Barbarian", dives right in with some constantly blasting chaos as patterns of mangled junk can be heard smashing about, straining itself almost rhythmicaly, below. This track captures the dramatic weight of both Power Electronics and the subject matter he is showcasing. Nothing to be taken lightly. Then we are handed over to "Hung" which begins with some dragging metal and hammering sounds before it is interuppted by a heavy draft of electronic din. This track establishes an atmosphere that is clearly-defined even though this material is obviously experimental and damaged. These two tracks introduced what the rest of this tape is going to be like, the foundation is laid and the pattern will be followed. From here on we are lead through various strains and approaches, all of it masterful in its own right. A track like "Power Of Might" stands out on any album, electronics sublimated to a deep dissemination of muttering static and bass pulsations. "White Cunts" is another stand out piece. The groundwork is very simple, a rich reverberant thickness constructed around flanged, wet vocals with a welcome subtlety that bring to mind the mid-80's. The you have the two final tracks, "End" which finishes off the junk/metal abuse tracks and "Racism As A Weapon Against Degeneration" with the sounds of waves of fluttering, broken machinery and angry vocals shouting atop it. 

Playing this album through from beginning to end is not a chore like many of the albums I am asked to review and never end up reviewing because of that fact, but rather this tape is a pleasure. All the effort that an artist puts into an album, constructing pieces of Noise and electronic dirges, will always eventually give way to the disorder and oppresion that swirls hazardously under any attempt to introduce control and order over noise. You forget this. And it seems like this may have a longer shelf life than most.