Monday, July 25, 2016

KAYO DOT - Plastic House On Base Of Sky

Revisiting the uncharted 

This review opens with a title that some of the more perceptive readers would deem absurd and some of the more radical ones, stupid. And yet, the very existence of postmodernism is dependent on how good we are at reshaping the old into the new. Making it as refreshing and intriguing as it was when it first came into being. More important still, is the ability of postmodern art to go beyond this premise, set itself in a world of its own and exist there on its own terms. And who else would I ever believe capable of creating an entire world for their music to exist in, if not Toby Driver. Ever since Choirs of the Eye (and for some, early maudlin of the Well), Toby's musical identity has been shining through layers of inspiration and styles he has explored. None of what he did has ever seemed either derivative, calculated or entirely spontaneous and the fact I don't really understand how or why he does what he does made me wonder - is it part of the fun? Yes, it actually is a big chunk of it - admiring someone's brilliance while being blinded by it.

It's obvious that Toby has decided to create more focused, more compact albums after Hubardo, arguably the most diverse and, without a doubt, the longest album in his career. Unlike pre-Hubardo records, both Coffins on Io and Plastic House on Base of Sky feature a somewhat vintage sound. Strongly inspired by Susumu Hirasawa and by the 80s icons, with the most prominent being David Bowie, Joy Division, Brian Ferry, Vangelis and the whole era of progressive rock and electronica, Toby does what he does best - he dislocates all elements from their hinges, makes them his own, unique - they are doors to his plastic house. It's especially true on the new record where the border between organic and synthetic became completely blurred. As radical as ever, Kayo Dot takes no prisoners despite leaving their extreme rock roots behind. Plastic House on Base of Sky is a playground for electronic polyphony, unrelenting, rhythmically complex and intense but as usual, a profound feeling of purpose grows stronger with every subsequent spin. This is one of those records that interact with the listener on the most personal level possible, mostly because the artistic process itself knew no compromise. That's why reviewing Kayo Dot albums is so daunting - the band doesn't try to prove anything to anyone. Toby seems to be lost in a maelstrom of creativity and despite fiercely pushing the envelope, he never loses track of what makes Kayo Dot music so engaging: the unrefined, frantically honest emotional charge put into it.

The latest Kayo Dot release catches Toby Driver drifting further and further away from his extreme rock roots, deep into the unknown where the old merges with the new to become something, somewhere. To be honest, it has never mattered to me if it's metal or not. Despite being extreme in a general sense, Kayo Dot was never meant to appeal to metal fans or fans of any other specific genre. I honestly don't know who is this music addressed to, and I doubt it is actually addressed to anyone in particular. All I can say is that you should approach the album with an open mind and forget what you know about art-rock, jazz, progressive electronica or synth-pop. Plastic House on Base of Sky is neither of those things. It is more.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

CANNIBAL CORPSE - Kill

Killer stuff!

I have had a long, complicated but, all in all, romantic relationship with this album. Not being a die-hard Cannibal Corpse fan, I have never listened throughout their entire output so I don't feel entitled to decide if Kill is or isn't the best album by the notorious veterans of brutal death metal. All I can say is that, after many years of my music taste oscillation and existential crescendos (whatever that means), it ended up being my favorite album by them.

It might have been the case with releases like The Bleeding, but Kill is a rare case of a brutal death album that keeps my attention riveted past the first two tracks. A common problem with many brutal death metal releases is the lack of variation that leads to the chicken pâté syndrome - the first sandwich is delicious, but by the end you feel a little sick. Now, the thing is Kill isn't even that varied. What makes it engaging is that, even if uniform, the songwriting and the clean-yet-organic sound production are both solid throughout. In some ways it's the quintessential modern brutal death metal album. Pleasantly familiar and straightforward structure-wise, it elevates the quality of the bulk of its content with mindbogglingly groovy breaks ("Murder Worship"), passages of technical brutality ("Five Nails Through the Neck") and, most of all, spot-on rhythm variations ("Necrosadistic Warning"). In other words, instead of kicking your ass all the time, it unexpectedly slams your head into a wall, breaks your nose, pulls your eyes out and hits you in the stomach. It basically makes you suffer. Sadly the songwriting gets more generic towards the end of the record and that's actually my only - although serious - problem with the album.

All that being said, Kill's biggest selling point is what made every other Cannibal Corpse album before it so successful. It's genuinely brutal and it doesn't try to prove anything else besides its unwavering devotion to what makes brutal death metal enjoyable - gore, groove and grit. In other words, if Kill were a slasher movie, it would be a good slasher movie. If not for the more generic songwriting in the second half, it would have been a great one.