| CD REVIEW Gnaw |
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Band : Gnaw Hum, looks like I’ve still got to come across the first release on this label which would even slightly disappoint me! Indeed, over the years the label have become experts at Experimental music, and I’m quite convinced that none of the releases which have been my greatest pleasure to review over the last two years failed to make my year-lists! And with Gnaw the label isn’t about to get a dent in their perfect track list! Admittingly, the members of Gnaw ain’t some of the lesser known people in the business: Alan Dubin is formerly of Khanate and Old; James Sykes used to play with Burning Witch and also has Thorrs Hammer and Atavist on his curriculum; Carter Thornton comes from the wacked out Enos Slaughter (among others); and Jun Mizumachi used to be active with cult ‘80s New York based Industrial act Ikeyard. Additionally, there’s also Brian Beatrice (who’s already won an Emmy Award for his work in the field of sound design and mixing) behind the recording/ mix console! Gnaw was formed by Dubin in 2006, who thought it would be a great idea to get together with some of his befriended and respected collegues (all of whom have different musical backgrounds), and see what would come out of it! As the bio mentions (and people having come across some of my Conspiracy release reviews should know by now that I hold the descriptions in the label’s biographies very high in my esteem), “…This Face is the culmination of over a year of sound experimentation. It’s a genre-destroying journey that almost defies description. Sykes is a percussive madman blasting out anything from tribal beats to ultra slow tom killings. Mizumachi is a renowned sound designer for film and TV and is a master of electronics including synths, factory noise, metal bashing and other craziness. Thornton is a craft musician whom actually makes his own instruments. He played guitar, bass, piano, and some unnamed home-made ‘things’. Additionally, Thornton supplied field recordings and arranged many of the songs. Dubin rounds out the group with his gut-wrenching vocals, noise and arrangements…,” and in Dubin’s own words when asked to tell what Gnaw sounds like, “I’ve been finding it extremely difficult to describe the Gnaw sound, since it varies so greatly. Most of the tracks have an underlaying coldness to them. Lots of factory/ industrial fuzz, machinery bashing. Some of the tracks are structured, some without a beat. We have a track that uses falling rocks as percussion, some songs are harsh fucked Metal, some are electronic. It’s really all over the place in a good way that never gets boring (to us at least). There is of course lots of vile screaming along with the whispers, invocations, etc…” Well, that tells a lot, and leaves an equal amount of things in the dark…which is definitely whence the band got its ideas to make the 9 tracks on the album! The “best” way to describe the it all would be that it is an experimental palate combining elements of Ambient, Electronic music, Industrial, and Black Metal into a whole which sees each element come through in a variety of percentage against the sum of all elements, depending on the momentary mood! Expect the guys to go all-out at moments with Dubin screaming at the top of his haunted/ tortured voice, then change to a much calmer mood with him whispering, or lamenting his lyrics, topics which cover all things bad! To get an earful of Gnaw’s sonic experiments (and in essence it’s really something to be experienced at first hand, in stead of being talked about), surf to (www.)myspace.com/gnaw666, where excerpts of three of the songs are posted! With Sykes living in Memphis, and the rest in New York, it might be understandable that the band is was initially only a studio project...but even during the recordings there had already been talks about how the band would go about reproducing their music in a live environment. They agreed that a lot of it would have to be reproduced electronically, quite a bit even pre-recorded…for instance, some of the vocals are layered, but there’s only one singer…and then there’s Thornton’s variety of self-made instruments which are frequently used simultaneously…but the guys also agreed that it would certainly a challenge to try it! Sounds exciting to find out what the band eventually make of it, don’t you think so? As to when and where the band might start live appearances, no news has been let out yet! Positive for vinyl junkies, is the fact that the album will also be released in their favourite music carrier medium…negative is the fact that at least two songs will be missing (the CD is 49:31, the LP 38:14, and the lóngest track is 8:46)!!! Ach well, I’ll got for the vinyl anyway…and anyday at that too!!! 98/100 Tony. |