Musique Machine on BLOODYMINDED

https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_template.php?id=7289

Bloodyminded - Self Titled [Bloodlust! - 2019] Chicago based Bloodyminded is a fairly unique project within the wider noise scene, and in particular, Power (Heavy) electronics / Death Industrial sub-genre. As these genres are often one-man affairs, & Bloodyminded is made up of six members, each of whom is already quite famous in the world of experimental music. Perhaps this is the only PE group in the world with such a large line-up. Undoubtedly, the most famous member of the project is its founder and leader - Mark Zolotroff, a veteran of Power Electronics / Noise scenes. Back in 1984, his first project, Intrinsic Action, became quite famous in certain music circles. He is also the founder of the label BloodLust!, on which almost all Bloodyminded albums were released. It does not make sense to mention all the projects and achievements of Mark Solotroff, since today we are talking about the PE-band Bloodyminded, which was formed in 1995 after the completion of the Intrinsic Action. At the moment, the discography of Bloodyminded has eighteen mini-albums and singles, as well as six full-length albums. In 2019, after a rather long break of six years, Bloodyminded released a new, self-titled full-length album. Traditionally, the album is released on the Mark Solotroff's label - BloodLust !. The album is released in two physical formats - CD and double vinyl LP. All this, as well as the digital version of the album, is available for ordering on the label’s website or on the band’s Bandcamp page. The album cover is a black and white image of the facade of an industrial building, factory or multi-story car park, made in perspective upwards. The image does not contain any halftones and is made in stamp style. Upstairs, on a black stripe, Bloodyminded is written in plain white bold font. Since the album is self-titled, this name can be attributed both to the project and to the album. Despite its extreme simplicity, I liked the cover for both its directness and brutality. Perhaps it is not very suitable for a style like PE and is more suitable for something more industrial. But, nevertheless, it has its own style and charm. The album, with a total duration of just under forty-three minutes, consists of thirteen tracks of different lengths - from one and a half minutes to five and a half minutes. The musical part of the album is a monolithic sound canvas. This is such a solid and indivisible work that I don’t dare to single out any particular track. In all the tracks, a single compositional feature is present - the base is a monotonous, sometimes slightly rhythmic, analog synthesizer sound line, around this the band build other elements. Each track features a different secondary element -  going from grinding, almost electric discharges to the monotonous electronic drone. Around this, we hear various sounds, noises, and effects supporting the main structure. Sometimes it becomes like Harsh Noise; sometimes it is like Drone Ambient. There is almost no development in the compositions, to some extent, they are static, but in all the tracks there is something resembling an introduction and ending. But, the main role is played by vocals. These are present most of the time, and quite often from the beginning to the end of each composition. This is a slightly distorted male voice, with very clear, almost like an actor, diction. This vocal is not flashy like most PE vocalists do, but Mark Solotroff reads the text in a raised voice. You can hear his pent-up rage, anger, and pain. In some parts of the composition, Mark's vocals are supported by the voices of the other members of the band, which creates a special effect. The combination of vocals and musical/noise parts creates the feeling that this album is a theatrical performance with a rather extreme and experimental soundtrack. Surprisingly, it is the vocals that create the effect of immersion in the overall sound. While listening, I often caught myself thinking that I didn’t want it to ever end. I am a rather capricious listener. There are many PE projects that I like, but I haven’t been satisfied with a single album. It seems that Bloodyminded is the very thing that I would like to hear in the genre of Power Electronics. No doubt I'm impressed. So, we have a very strong and solid album, sure there’s not much in the shape of innovative ideas- however, what you get here is best of the PE genre tunneled together to create this great album. Sergey Pakhomov

Musique Machine on Locrian "Territories"

It is nice to see that reviews are still coming in. Here is a new one from Music Machine:


The built environment seems central to Locrian’s ‘Territories’. Track titles talk of geographical positions such as ‘Between Barrows, a ‘Ring Road’ and a ‘Columnless Arcade’, while ‘Procession of Ancestral Brutalism’ refers to the functional/industrial architectural movement of the mid-Twentieth Century. But the sound made by Chicago’s André Foisy and Terence Hannum seems to describe the decay of such structures as opposed to their construction. The monochromatic improvised interplay of Hannum’s analogue synths and organ with Foisy’s guitar feedback and fretwork has seen them aligned with the often dystopian-sided genres of noise and drone. But with ‘Territories’ they open up their sound with a selected guest list of collaborators that sees them slip in and out of their discomfort zone.

Mainly culled from improvised sessions, the album seems to have been prepared for vinyl, whose two sides enjoy three tracks a piece, each culminating in a black metal climax featuring Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd on guitar. This immediately recognisable genre sound, full of tinny and tensely strummed axe work, wraith-like vox plus alternating pummel and plod percussion, contrasts strongly with the outlandish experimentation that precedes each act’s finale.

Side one opens with ‘Inverted Ruins’ whose dilapidation is depicted through a repetitve, delayed and dirty bass riff, reminiscent of early TG, pitted against distorted layers from a grainy amp with winding feedback so shrill it seems designed to attract stray dogs. It feels like a meditation on abandoned houses, where injured vocals, buried in the noisy rubble, complain of the failure of traditions that has lead society to decline. But here, Locrian’s spiralling pessimism is held together by the strong rhythms of drummer Andrew Scherer (Velnias), somehow channelling the duo’s depression into an acceptance of fate.
‘Between Barrows’ continues the solemnity as a ritual of crashing cymbals punctuates a slow melodic passage of deep extended organ tones underneath the saddest of sax solos by Bruce Lamont (Yakuza). Again, a vivid sense of grieving is kept dignified through an elegant, tempered accompaniment. So, while not unenjoyable in its own right, a segueing into black metal’s more predictable ingredients disturbs the first side’s otherwise powerful atmosphere.

And the same happens on side two, but not before Territories’ bleakest track, ‘Ring Road’, winds its way around bursts and squeals, aided by power electronic stalwart Mark Solotroff (Bloodyminded), encountering what sounds like a momentous avalanche all but obscuring a feral guitar on the way. While ‘Antediluvian Territory’ seeks to calm things down with a Floyd-ian delayed guitar and warm bass, the final track builds a wall of guitars for four minutes or so before heading into a powerful but standard black metal form.

‘Territories’ shows how working in collaboration can both enhance and detract from Locrian’s wildly experimental, unpredictable inclinations. But while the sequencing of the tracks seemed spell-breaking at the end of each side, most tracks taken individually are truly spell-binding, possessing a rich, resolute display of the evocative power of the sound of decay.

Russell Cuzner