From Zagreb, Croatia, come Nokti (Eng.: nails, as in fingernails, and biting), presenting their debut Cockschmerzen – six rather short tracks of anxiety-driven, unease-filled noise rock, adding up to about 15 minutes of playtime.
Starting with the oil-on-canvas cover art, depicting a disfigured, up-side-down, almost unrecognizable face, this has experimentation and avant-garde written all over it. If that is not your kind of thing, you can stop reading right here. If, however, you like unusual soundscapes, read on. The pun in the album title on the German word “Kopfschmerzen” might be of a somewhat pubescent kind, but the music, thankfully, is not.
While Nokti obviously want to avoid conventional rhythms and structures, Cockschmerzen is not an entirely alien listening experience. Most of the tracks lean to the industrial spectrum. The synth work sometimes adds a touch of psychedelia, the sonic equivalent of a drug-induces haze. A saxophone contributes some jazzy experimentation here and there, as do the drums. The vocals are highly distorted and the lyrics most of the time incomprehensible. The overall atmosphere evoked is one of oppressive angst, hysteria and paranoia.
The release’s most memorable track is Gestatten Sie, because it contains more melody and structure due to vocals and lyrics than the other tracks. The overly dramatic vocal performance on Gestatten Sie calls Balkan folk music to mind, adds some local colour and is a good fit for the music.
Judging from the material available online and the number of people involved in producing it, Nokti are more of an art collective than a band. A video/visual material has been produced for each of the six tracks separately, each of an entirely different, equally intriguing character.
I like the video for Igrice (games) and Gestatten Sie best and would suggest you check them out. They serve as amplifiers for the music and evoke peculiar sensations and feelings – from heebie-jeebies to disgust to empathy and sadness.
While Cockschmerzen will hardly appeal to or find a broad audience, it is evident that a lot of time, thought and energy were invested here. Nokti are an intelligent, thought-provoking project and might be on to something.
(7/10 Slavica)
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