The misery of Western big city life can be observed in many towns all over the Western world, but statistics are nowhere more damning than for the Scottish metropolis of Glasgow. Due to the Glasgow Effect, a rather neutral term summarizing various negative factors, residents of some neighborhoods in the city have a much lower life expectancy than other UK citizens, lower also than people living in the whole of the European Union. In some parts of town, the life expectancy is even lower than the average in India and Pakistan, countries without comparable infrastructure, like access to clean drinking water and free health care. How is that possible? Although numerous studies have already been conducted, science isn’t entirely sure. Many aspects work together, the problem is complex and multifaceted, but one thing is for certain: surroundings, especially housing, do play a role. Avant-garde metal project Ashenspire from Glasgow will tell you exactly how, probably from their own experience. Hostile Architecture, the band’s second full-length album, employs the dissonance of black metal and combines it with music from numerous other genres to describe the monotone, oppressive atmosphere and socially destructive nature of cheap, large-scale housing projects and the many phenomena accompanying it.
Hostile Architecture features eight compositions with titles like The Law of Asbestos, Béton Brut and Plattenbau Persephone Praxis that represent musical equivalents of downward spirals. Metal, jazz, theater music, religious music and a few folk tunes have been fused into a noir, avant-garde sound mixture that is edgy and anxious, simultaneously disillusioned and angry, but that also contains moments of uneasy, melancholic beauty and exhausted, quiet respite. The instrumentation, besides guitars, drums and bass, includes saxophone, violin and piano which serve to distinguish the output from that of similarly themed black metal projects.
While the music absolutely deserves attention all by itself, what primarily sets Hostile Architecture apart from related output are the sprechgesang vocals and the lyrics. Often of a poetic, dramatic character they frequently create the impression of attending a theater performance, a play, or hearing a monologue performed. Below is an example of the lyrics taken from the album’s first song, The Law of Asbestos, which thematizes the fact that the working class, should they lose their job and thus their income, are always only three months away from being homeless:
Always three months to the gutter. Never three months to the peak.
Another day to grind your fingers for the simple right to eat.
Always three months to the gutter. Never three months to the crown.
Another deep breath of asbestos in a godforsaken town.
Always three months to the gutter. Never three months to the top.
Another set of fucking homeless spikes outside another empty shop.
Always three months to the gutter. Never three months to ascend.
This is not a house of amateurs. This is done with full intent
Hostile Architecture, besides being a piece of music and a piece of literature, is also a political statement. In the case of the quote above the political content is concentrated in the last line, where the precarious situation is characterized as not accidental but intentionally created.
Because of the unusual character of music, singing, lyrics and because of the political content, instead of comparing Hostile Architecture to the output of other bands, I would rather draw a connection to the plays of German leftist playwright Bertolt Brecht and the music composed for their staging. However, one musical connection stands out and is most evident, and that is a saxophone performance inspired by Colin Stetson where the instrument is used to convey feelings and an emotional span rather than melodies.
Hostile Architecture is a demanding but rewarding and multi-facetted listen, designed not to entertain, but to wake up. The album offers content for many hours to unpack and ponder about, content for many run-throughs. The album is also an excellent example of what underground music should be. It is authentic in that it is closely connected to its locale and the problems of the poor and downtrodden, but the subject it focuses on is of a nature that people living in similar circumstances all over the continent can relate to. Very good.
(8/10 Slavica)
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