Sunday 9 February 2014

Parallel Evolution - Black Sheep Screaming

Ever wanted to know what Eraserhead: The Musical would sound like? According to Black Sheep Screaming and their latest offering it's a combination of Atari Teenage Riot discordant breakdowns, Navicon Torture Technologies blasted soundscapes, a couple hundred assorted movie soundbites, and some moments of utterly catchy EBM that put Suicide Commando and CombiChrist to shame. All of which could very easily be a mess, and in some places it very intentionally is, but somehow manages to work together into an almost enjoyable listening experience. And I say "almost" as the album is so perfectly choppy, and often honestly creepy, that it never gives you enough time to settle down and feel comfortable about what is going on. This is not something you would just put on the stereo and have as background music, this is a 13 slices of art that demand you pay attention to what is going on (even if you won't understand half of it).

Clearly something this distinct or intense isn't going to be for everyone, and I can happily imagine that a lot of people will find it far to noise-filled and intentionally confrontational . The extensive use of samples also means that some listeners will end up playing 'Spot the soundbite' rather than actually digging the music. It's also utterly un-dancable, even though there are several sections which are good, solid industrial-dance music which could have made classic club-tracks if left to be a little duller. But this is industrial music as free-jazz so should be listened to in such a manner, and whilst many are not going to like it because of its inaccessibility those who 'get it' are going to absolutely love it.

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