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Wednesday, 12 June 2019

FRAG - Controlled Coma.


FRAG – Controlled Coma – Cassette – Cruel Nature Records – CN107 – 2018



As my interest in FRAG was caught when Āh Burroughs contacted me via the blogs secret, well-hidden underground messaging system and I heard Disease Vector, I was immediately taken by their sound. I believe that Controlled Coma is the earlier 1994 FRAG recordings.

The sound on controlled coma is immediately bigger and more aggressive in its repetition pulling the attention through sudden shifts in that repetition, which jolts the listener back to the original sound throughout tracks. It’s different again and Disease Vector is a progression on this through stripping back. Sometimes it is the background noises that tease and command attention as the foreground sounds remain stuck in their own grove. The work is relentlessly nightmarish using drones, churning synths and rumbling noise that meditates and focusses upon itself. It is like the raw beginnings of FRAG, there are traces and traits of what would later come on Disease Vector, but this is the nastier older brother to that album. This is all good, it still doesn’t sound like anything else that I have heard - strong, mature work, great album and I recommend it.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

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