In Search of Death - III – Death Continues Records – DCRCD007 – CD – Belgium – 2015.
10 Untitled Tracks.
I feel lucky to have seen In Search of Death play live at Henoeuma
Malediction in 2015, I was impressed with what I’d seen, Xavier H (aka In
Search of Death) gave a good performance that set the bar high as the start of a
stylistically mixed line-up that night. The performance used huge arching noises
and samples to build a large, atmospheric sphere of noise. Some recent reviews that
I had done of a former Death Continues-Artist Nekrofellatio led to contact with
Death Continues and boss Xavier H who gave me to the chance to obtain files of
his project’s album III and hear them. I liked what I’d previously seen all
those years ago and was keen to do a review of III.
III was originally recorded in 2003 and it was finally
released 12 years later in 2015. There is a new track called Anapath on the
recent Death Continues compilation – Certified Dead. For review purposes, this
album will be broken down track by track.
Untitled 1. Slow ambient, desolate, ominous build up.
Untitled 2. Ruthless, looped Industrial repetition forms a
rhythm. Sampled dialogue eventually overlays this.
Untitled 3. Familiar ambient soundscapes establish
themselves as synth noises begin to murmur
in the background. Metal bashing non-rhythms shatter the flow of things to provide
an aggressive lead. Stuttered electronics rise and fall throughout the work
until paralleled by distant melody; maybe a memory that is fading.
Untitled 4. Whippy sweeping sounds form a base for rude blasts
of distortion. A whistled tune and repeated vocal sample build a four-source
passage of sound.
Untitled 5. Noise explosions and gun fire become a rhythmic
wall of war. I found myself being drawn into the background sounds of this
sonic explosion. It becomes more unified as it progresses until it begins to break
down.
Untitled 6. Further repetition cut into by waves of
distortion. This builds into an urgent slamming rhythm.
Untitled 7. An impressive, militaristic sense of drama,
scope and ceremony. Awesome use of overlaid synthesizers too. Vocal samples
force the track to become a ritual.
Untitled 8 – Clattering loops, waves of distortion, samples enter
to an build intense, anxious urgent track.
Untitled 9 – Suspenseful keys and drum beats wind things
down to slow pace as waves of distortion maintain the edge. Repetition remains.
Untitled 10. Nauseous loops as Armageddon returns.
The album favours aggressive repetition on most tracks and it will often work different sourced sounds around this. It wasn’t as ‘Death
Industrial’ as I thought it may be, it was a lot more varied in sound. It is ruthless
and angry in its’ constant repetition. There are some clever uses of melody, entwined
into the sampled rhythms. The album varies itself by allowing tracks to either
function as narratives or sources that play off each other or to gradually blend
sources together to form a new whole sound. There is also a strong, mixed palette
of sound sources used throughout: method is the key that ties things together. This
is a collection of solid ideas and a massive push towards a realisation of the
self through punishing sound.
My review echoes that of Kate MacDonald’s Heathen Harvest review of this album in
that I do want to hear more and see where this project goes. This portfolio of
ideas points towards many possibilities, I question if I have missed any obvious
pointers to that direction? Either way, a strong debut album.
Choppy Noodles 2018.
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