ANTIchildLEAGUE - Infect Your Gut, Infect Your Thoughts.

ANTIchildLEAGUE – Infect Your Gut Infect Your Thoughts. 2018. Cassette. Bacteria Field. Bacteria Field 061.

 Track Listing.

A1. Infect Your Gut.

A2. Breath in Breath Out.

A3. Infect Your Thoughts.

A4. Resilience.

B1. Spineless Class War.

B2. Your Truth Won’t Make Me Free.

B3. Human Symbolism.

B4. Resilience (Baby Rats Mix).

I discovered the work of ANTIchildLEAGUE years ago via a blog. By then the project had done a demo, batch of singles and it’s first CD album. I’ve been a fan ever since and done a round up of the whole discography here there and everywhere. I liked the first demo a lot, the singles were great, and the album showed a lot of development. The eventual trilogy of albums was strong: The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost.

What’s followed over the last three years is even better -a batch of Cassettes – Holy Spirit, Bruises and Bites (split w Cronaca Nera) a split with The Rita and this album Infect Your Gut, Infect Your Thoughts. Throughout these recordings, the project has begun to mutate and form into something a lot nastier. It is as if a label says “Hi Gaya we want to release a cassette of your work, can you do something for us?” and Gaya says “Oh, cassette, brilliant, I’ll go even more apeshit than I do on CD, make my vocals into raw noise and I can really lose my shit big time!”

That’s exactly what’s happened, one of the angriest, most tortured, torturous ACL releases yet. It has traditional industrial elements that serve as the base for the horrid vocals and noise to kick in. The use of noise as urgency is stronger and more alarming throughout the album. There are times when the tracks seem to go on too long, however this technique makes the repetition and noise more punishing as if forcing the work to do its work better – making it work harder until it is exhausted and finally ready to die. There are bits of spoken more coherent dialogue, but it’s the abstraction of voice where the voice is strongest. You can hear ACL straining at its limits as a project across Infect; this adds manic tension.

There was recently a gig in New York, what was it like? Was it as good as this? Seeing acts like this is so hard and rare in the UK, it’s like a release when you do. Performances or Shows become urgent, explosive actions – violent acting out. If it doesn’t work to this effect, it tends to serve as an excuse to go home early. That’s what makes Power Electronics so taboo here in the UK, so underground and still unique. So, part of this review is a call to action.

Along with Hellworm and The RITA split this is the strongest ACL work to date.

Choppy Noodles 2018.