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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Paal Nilssen-Love/Lasse Marhaug/Massimo Pupillo - You're Next (Bocian Records, 2012) ****


What we see - On a field of carcasses, bones and (what I assume are) kilometres of viscera we see hanged and tortured corpses (how did they die?) and a romantic as much extreme cannibalistic hug between two undead characters. We are in a pretty eerie forest.

What we read - Massimo Pupillo plays “low end bowel chainsaw” Paal Nilssen-Love plays “battery of total limb annihilation” and Lasse Marhaug takes care of “electronic torture devices”.  The track-list of the two sides of the LP is as follows:

First Offense
  A1. Sloppy Necrophiliac Cunnilingus
  A2. Rope for the Undead
  A3. Vomit Buffet

Second Coming
  B1. Rib Cage of Rotting Brain Mush
  B2. Feast on Infected Pus
  B3. Forest of Grotesque Copulation

What we fear - Will my ears bleed?

What we hear - The album is really less noisy than it would be reasonable to expect after all the aforementioned references to the dark, industrial and death metal context. Sure, the sound is vicious, buried under the mantles of distortion and feedback provided by Marhaug’s equipment, but still the inner nature of the jazz heritage is strong and perceivable in the structures and in the development of the composition that the combo deploys. The subdivision in different tracks is obviously ironic and fictitious. This is a long and coherent live act of improvised music. Nilssen-Love is at his best, switching at ease from background feverish cymbal carpets to massive crescendos.  But the cherry on top here is Massimo Pupillo, free to run alongside the fretboard of his bass with tons of distorted chords, fragmented and syncopated phrasings, waves of noise and notes sustained so long that they seem to transfigure in orotund engines running. Two remarkable moments: the bass solo at the beginning of side B together with the moment when the drums breaks in for an explosive interplay and the almost prog-rock gallop growing in the middle of the same side. Marhaug is there to open all the circuits of his devices and to embroider sci-fi lullabies in the warp of his mates.

What we learn - Sometimes ago Stef used the definition “Doom Jazz” reviewing an album by the Italian trio Zu - maybe not by chance Pupillo is featured also in this group. I think the same tag fits also to this album.  Maybe dirty, but still clearly jazz!

Listen some and buy the ghoulish and enjoyable object from the label.


9 comments:

Martin Schray said...

When I saw the cover I thought they got involved with Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman (which could have been an interesting project). I will definitely give the album another try because first I was a bit deterred from the sample on the website and the cover as well. Especially what you regard as jazz aspects sounds interesting.

Paolo said...

True Martin, I should have said that the sample on the website is too short and unrepresentetive. It's a weird choice. The entire work has definitely many other aspects than just that aggresive whistle!

Anonymous said...

pretty disgusting song names. AVOID!!

mcd said...

song names remind me of the band carcass.
http://www.earache.com/catalogue/mosh042.php

together with napalm death, which martin mentioned in a recent review, they were one of my favorite band during the late 80's.

we called the music grindcore, i think and it was pretty extreme.

will definitely check both albums, thanks for bringing them up

Anonymous said...

great album with a lot of nice references to free jazz but also more free-form but always very listenable.

Martin Schray said...

Interesting approach, Anonymous, to avoid music because of the names of the tracks.
And yes, mcd, Carcass is definitely the band that should be mentioned here. It is grindcore and it was extreme. They are worth a re-listening.

AGM said...

No, I'm not going to make a musical judgment based on the track titles, but I will make a social comment. Isn't it hard enough to maintain the sanctity and dignity of life these days, without gratuitous indulgence in vicious and degraded offerings like this album? Either PNL and pals are indulging in the worst kind of juvenile "humor," or they have actually truly lost their way in a pathological world view. I've met PNL numerous times, and enjoyed the interaction but I must say, I have lost some respect for him because of this misguided project. The group owes us an apology.

Paolo said...

AGM, every personal opinion is respectable. But references here are clearly just a joke - and it seems you're doing the same speaking of "sanctity in life" (isn'it it?). I wouldn't demand an apology to PNL but just to play more and more in any conceivable way comes in his mind, without any genres restriction, as he actually does... or we can ask him to use the old dear parental advisory banner on the cover of his next similar project?

Anonymous said...

wow. some people need to work very hard on their sense of humour!