Last album by the beastly Blitzkriek Baby ‘Porcus Norvegicus’ literally chilled me to the (ham) bone. This was cold industrial, martial music for a world on the brink of collapse and it was horrifying in tone and execution. Needless to say I both grabbed this as soon as I saw the download review link come in and wondered what new hell this listening experience was going to have in store for me. The project is a collaboration between artist, designer & musician Kim Sølve (Adversum, Swarms, K100), Anders B (Babyflesh, Mind & Flesh), Bjeima (Yurei, Virus) and the mysterious Mr B (the B may well stand for bacon). They describe themselves as a pig shaped tumour and even that doesn’t go close to describing the horror that lurks beneath their sound. Thematically this is even more hideous as this release tackles the spread of children and their position within warfare. There is no innocence here it is snatched away with a ball being replaced by a gun as these baby killing machines are thrust upon the battlefield. It’s no work of fiction in the slightest either. It should be pointed out that although this is classed as an E.P. it is a full album’s length essentially. Some of the tracks were released before on compilations, one is a reworking but essentially they all tie in as far as narrative is concerned and this works perfectly as a cohesive whole.
The title track is creepy as hell as it starts in brooding mechanical fashion, clanking and winding away on a slow industrialised workout. Then the commanding vocals come in, clean and militant as they recount the dreadful story behind the subject matter spitting out words like ‘baby faced death machine’ in a cold clinical and non judgemental fashion. The chorus has other voices join in and shocks as the melody is so catchy as it is marched out like a tiny soldier off to meet their own personal hell without any chance of survival. Vocals are really, really descriptive and it is as though you are listening to the very poetry of death itself. They are muted around a minimalistic soundscape on ‘Loop’ which monotonously does as described making you work to hear what is being said and then feeling somewhat guilty for doing so. Like a professor talking to a class, a calm lesson is delivered on ‘The Swine Supremacy.’ We are in a world where greed and profit are all that is important, if warfare, genocide, sex tourism and other ‘cunt-hole enterprises’ are the result, who is going to complain? Liquidation of the weak is nothing that is going to have those in their ivory towers battering an eyelid. We do get a respite from the harsh language but who needs it when you have a song title as lucid as ‘Those They Could Not Fuck, They Kill?’ A slow repetitive bouncing drum beat and eerie synth lines are the sounds of this particular torture chamber.
You may need a break before going into the second half (this will get a vinyl release). In much the same way as a film like ‘Philosophy Of A Knife’ is divided into two you may feel you need a breather. However that will leave you missing the full effect in one fell swoop and it’s not something I would advise as we move into ‘Half Pig Half Man’ with its strange grating, mechanical tones and robotically brainwashing vocals of fantastical Nazi like experimentation of man and beast. It gets even more ugh with the nursery rhyme innocence of ‘Broken Child.’ The clashing, crashing noise accompanying the lilting vocals is a very evident ‘monster in the room.’ Moving into chilling dark ambience ‘Incinerator Symphony Number 1’ is another grim tableaux accentuated by title needing little else. The clockwork sounds of a reworked ‘Children In Uniform ‘MMXIII’ with strident vocals hits and brings you out of one furnace and into another. It strides along goose-stepping with a Whitehousian, Throbbing Gristle feel about it, one that is very much in the zone of sticking the listener in the death-house. The album is only about 40 minutes it may feel much more for some but it finally concludes with ‘Your Happy Place,’ which naturally is anything but taking up the final part of the story along with retro synth pop peels and bouncy snare beats.
This is incredibly dark art, the musical equivalent of pushing yourself through a death trip and one that could leave you feeling fractured when you emerge from the other side. It’s completely compelling too as it was an instant album for me and one I felt I got to grips with immediately and had no need for so many repeated listens for the sake of reviewing. Approach with caution and with a cold calculated presence of mind as after all were we not asked by director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, Who Can Kill A Child?
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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