Release Info:
Artist : Climax Denial
Album : Dehumanizing Environments
Genre : Noise
Label : Malignant Records
Catnum : TUMORCD88
Source : CDDA
URL : http://www.discogs.com/Climax-Denial-Dehumanizing-Environments/relea
Mode Info:
Tracks : 4
Time : 00:46:42
Size : 90.43 MB
Encode : LAME 32bits version 3.98.4 (http://www.mp3dev.org/) -V0
Quality : 258kbps 44100Hz Joint Stereo
Tracklist:
1. The Womb As Vestibule 12:58
2. Fingering Dead Ashes As Evidence 9:27
3. Environments For Paranoid Necrotic Masturbation 13:46
4. Morning Following Dried Blood 10:31
46:42 (min)
Much of Milwaukee artist Climax DenialÆs previous work has drawn heavily from
that fetish tinged sleaze aesthetic that has been prevalent in the genre since
its inception decades ago. However, divorced of all that, Dehumanizing
Environments is a complex, varied work that emphasizes both disorder and
structure, coming together in a nuanced, diverse approach that results in a
high water mark for aggressive electronic music.
Climax DenialÆs harsh predilections are never far away on Dehumanizing
Environments, of course. Distortion, belligerent analog electronics and a
sense of unpleasant darkness pervades through all four of these pieces. Those
features do not define the record though, which is exactly why it is so
commendable. "The Womb as Vestibule" may open the album with a deep rumble and
a synth passage with all the subtlety of a buzzsaw, yet significant depth lurks
around the harshness. Icy tones pass through with a sense of melody, and
through the harshness there lies open passages and an overall song-like
approach of structure and composition.
The following "Fingering Dead Ashes as Evidence" may have a more crude title,
but the music is the opposite. Combining rumbling low end and less abrasive
mid-range passages of electronics, melodic sweeps drift in an out over the
noisier moments. CD continues expanding and evolving the sound, blending
beautiful tones with ugly noise, building to a heavier, denser conclusion. The
lighter synths that introduce "Morning Following Dried Blood" make for a bit of
a false start, as harsher passages are added. Between the overall dark and
dour mood and violent, stuttering electronics, the piece is an unsettling, yet
extremely captivating.
The penultimate piece, "Environments for Paranoid Necrotic Masturbation",
besides sounding like a Carcass b-side, is the already strong album's high
point. Glassy, vibrating drones set the stage, along with an extremely loud
bass-heavy passage that is physically intense, testing the limits of any good
subwoofer. Vocals appear for the first (and only, as best as I can tell) time
on the album, and rather than the expected violent and processed screaming it
is instead calm and spoken. While the effects render the actual words nearly
impossible to decipher, it is that calmness that makes them all the more
disturbing. This small snippet of humanity, lurking behind and orchestrating
all the bleakness and darkness that surrounds the album, makes it all the more
terrifying.
Given the paraphilliac subject matter and sense of pervading malignance
throughout Dehumanizing Environments, the more open moments conjure a greater
sense sense of impending doom or tension than any sort of peaceful release.
But rather than being an album of rote distortion and canned violence, CD
crafts a more diverse approach and actually composes, rather than just blurting
out guitar pedal blasts of noise. This unexpected depth, coupled with the
unsettling overall mood, comes together as an exceptionally strong record.