Well I knew that nobody was likely to choose to do this one when it went out on the reviews list, I was kind of pleased really too as it was destined for me and I was well aware that this was going to be a complete and utter headfuck of an album. The main reason for this is due to the involvement of the rather deranged Svein Egil Hatlevik. Starting out in avant metal territories with the likes of DHG and the legendary Fleurety, Svein more recently moved into the harsh electronics arena and was last seen by myself supporting Ulver as Zweiss, with his head stuck down a toilet and screaming into it on stage (I shit you not)! Joining him in this artistic creation we have Camille Giraudeau of Dreams Of The Drowned and Smohalla and Aymeric Thomas from Pryapisme. Between them they make a glorious and utterly deranged racket using all sorts of instruments including various keyboards and strange electronic devices, clarinet, saxophone and it honestly is not impossible that there is a kitchen sink in there somewhere too.
Track titles are as expected obtuse (pretentious if you will) and the first of these ‘Algae’ spreads like a violent green death from the speakers literally taking over everything it touches. This is a maddening quagmire of noise with an almost drill and bass approach as far as speed is concerned. There are unhinged yells then strange down tools as a scientist kind of taps away at things like a xylophone. Bang, we fly back in with a Cardiacs like craziness and an underlying symphonic bombast that could have escaped from Emperor’s Anthems. By now 99% of those who decided to give this a listen for curiosities sake will have defenestrated themselves (window being open or not) and the rest of us are grooving down to this utter gonzoid insanity. Explaining it really is a task and a half.
There are all manners of strange sounds going down here, listening to it on speakers is a complete trip but doing so in public is certainly not advisable especially if you are in one of those places with lax gun laws. You will at times feel like you have been dropped in an ultraviolent cartoon or a game and start mowing down people indiscriminately. A sci-fi Goblinesque (ala Contamination) sound is behind ‘Of Salt And Water’ at first before it rages away with screaming electronically enhanced demonic vocals and a speed that is more BPM’s than anyone could hazard a guess at. It does slow to simply fast at times but there is always complete and utter chaos behind what you are hearing. An amazing shimmering part that sounds like it has come from an epic 50s blockbuster soundtrack comes in and it goes a little Pattonesque on us, my head is close to doing a Scanners, there is actually what sounds like a song here of course un-normality is about to be un-restored! With ‘Castles’ (there’s a kind of at the seaside feel to the titles) blazing away at gabba like levels the harsh electronic noises are attempting to blow my amp and speakers. There are underlying melodies amongst it which would not be out of place on something that Devin T would possibly have been behind at his most deranged peak of creativity.
It’s not the longest of albums running at around 40 minutes and tracks are equally as recklessly thrown together running anything from just under 3 to over 10 minutes suggesting there really is very little in the way of structure about all this. ‘Concrete’ the shortest is all about nutty avant jazz like Zorn clad sax madness with a good dose of beat poetry heroin consumption no doubt chasing it along. ‘Axolotl’ the longest is just nuts, throwing random noises into a concrete mixer and putting it on fast spin and churning them all in together and seeing what comes out. Not sure what it all has to do with Salamanders but by now I think we are all beyond making sense of it all. With huge pulses now almost sounding like the stereo is trying to electrocute me we hit a space laden part of the trip which has all manner of vocals coming out and then just to make it stranger a cat chase mouse sounding cartoon part. WTF is going on!!!???
Arriving at final track ‘From The Breaking Neck To Infinity’ many a hardy soul by now are likely to be a gibbering wreck in the corner, all vacant expression and drool. Well I think you have got the picture by now and I am going off to listen to this before the guys with the straightjackets turn up.
Noise never has it been so ghastly and so glorious!
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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