S.T.A.B. Electronics - Funerals.

 

S.T.A.B. Electronics – Funerals – Old Europa Café – CD – 2023 – OECD 337.

https://www.oldeuropacafe.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556830742937

        1.    Birthdread.

        2.    The Howl.

        3.    She Fucking Died (In Memoriam JS).

        4.    A Poxing.

        5.    The Death of Sex.

        6.    All Things Bright (Snowtown).

        7.    I Stand Alone.

        8.    Violence Begets Violence.

        9.    The Wisdom of the Grave.

        10. Grief.

A baby cries, this is the introduction to Birthdread. rumbling electronics and ranting soon become the core of the track, Keith Finnan never stops reminding us that “We Scream!”, he doesn’t stop for the entire track. For the first time in years a repetition as good as the start of Enemy of Pigs ‘Mother, mother please, mother, mother, please’ or the death tirade that began Day of the Male.

Muffled sound samples play out until an impressive display of synthesisers and distorted rage laden vocals becomes ‘The Howl.’  This uses something common to the Dalek power vocal technique but makes it original by heightening the treble of the vocal to such levels so that it becomes too sharp to accurately decipher. The electronics warble in accordance to the vocal, heightening the confusion of the sound. The muffled voice sample returns to its report after the death of the sonics.

Descending, depressive electronics back a bleak vocal rant of ‘She’s Fucking Dead’ -is this a lost love, a relative? The vocal repeats ‘She’s Fucking Dead’ until it becomes emotion made into a weapon to batter the listener into submission. I swear I can hear grieving in the background. This track is horrible, pure grief made into noise.

‘A Poxing’ impresses us away from grieving with big electronics, the drones, samples and vocals kick the shit out of each other, warbled vocals rant with a terrifying urgency and we are pulled back into the horror of She’s Fucking Dead. It is here that I am aware I am in a position similar to that of Martin Sheen’s character Captain Benjamin in Apocalypse Now being dragged down the river through the deepest recesses of Colonel Kurtz’s mind, I have no choice but to follow this journey to its end. The death synths impress the fuck out of me here, they are unbelievably huge, so drag me down that river.

Horns go off, sampled voices argue and the vocal shouts it’s head off, I feel as if I am properly in the middle of things now. Stuck in an argument deciding who to go off at, fuck you all I am ready, let’s fucking go for it. Let me finish my drink so I can break my glass ready for whatever comes next. This is ‘The Death of Sex,’ samples cry, the vocal roars, the horns sound like a traffic jam building up towards road rage.

Pulsing distant beats go off, boom, boom, boom, boom. Raving, ranting and electronics arrive, sampled dialogue plays simultaneously – that and the vocal battle for prominence of All Things Bright (Snowtown). The urgency isn’t in the vocals, but is totally manipulated through the electronics, they sound like old electronics, a bit Moog like, but they are in charge, bigger, divebombing drones cut in and kill the Moog until the vocal is left to do its’ work with the sample, the electronics come back once this has all been sorted out.

A dramatic intro lets us know ‘I Stand Alone’, the electronics throb, repeat and allow the sermon to begin. The vocal seems laced with more spite here than on other tracks to express the isolation. Technical question here, is this the stance of any listener of this level of Power Electronics? I have been playing this in my car on the way to work for months, my own deaf levels of isolation never stop, words and actions stab me in the face daily, am I completely fucked? Technically that makes this the soundtrack to the listeners life. I stand alone raises too many questions upon questions in my head, so fuck off S.T.A.B. The repetitive electronics and their tonal fuckery are amazing at least, the track’s die off is gradual and painful.

The urgency continues with samples in ‘Violence Begets Violence,’ the vocal reports, the electronics and the rhythmic beating noise are anxiety made into sound. The depth of the synths radiates an ambitiousness akin to a lot of Cold Spring artists like Colossloth and Satori and that of Control, but the vocal is a ranting death sound that radiates pure hatred. The ‘War Is Good’ chant is greatness akin to that of Hydra.

Mournful Synths and prayers spin together, beautiful, distorted, whirling electronics to form a black vortex of funeral sound – this is ‘The Wisdom of the Grave’. The vocal goes off, shouts and spits at the death of life. This is very bleak, but the best electronics are saved until last, perhaps the best of the project’s career, ‘Grief’ uses overridden organ noises and warped vocals. Whatever this is, it works.

My only suggestion is sometimes the project should let the electronics do all of the work, vocals aren’t always needed due to the clarity and strength of the samples and noise on here. I say this as I always thought of S.T.A.B. as an effective PE/Death Industrial project, but this release does demonstrate a clearly intelligent, effective and subtle use of electronics. Funerals is potentially the starting point to a new era of S.T.A.B. Electronics. Good work within this genre needs solid thought behind it to be remotely effective and the sharpness here is all in the fine details. Better be this good in Manchester next month, welcome to the now of Death Industrial. Excellent.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.