C.C.C.C (S&M porn-star Mayuko Hino and her husband Hiroshi Hasegawa) have lost none of the power that drove them to the top of the Japanoise scene. Great humungous slabs of thick guitar sludge and nerve-shattering feedback, neuron-shredding keyboard abuse and Hino’s shrieking and screaming all compacted into a single forty-three minute track, and all played with joyous abandon.
This project is supposed to be a hybrid of industrial and rhythmic noise after 2005. It however seems to me much closer to EBM, dark electronic, gothic clubbing music, vaguely industrial hybrids.
Although C/A/T is part of industrial genre’s numerous descendants, it’s rather closer to dancy darkened music than industrial stricto sensu: the rhythmic/power noise side mostly remains discrete, rare and in the background.
Genre: Industrial / Rhythmic-Power Noise / EBM / Clubbing Music
The ever growing catalogue from Crunch pod brings the vigorous C/A/T which is none other than Ben Arp the master behind the label’s foundation. C/A/T is well known in the Electro, EBM circles for their harsh style developed in the aesthetics of rhythmic noise and ambience and the further additions of classic munching EBM.
After a series of travels over South America Erik Kessel, an American sound sculptor and visual artist resided in New York and the main character behind Caaldruun received a special inspiration to create the album we have here called “Cloudface Mountainhead”.
However, IYB feels somewhat over-produced for a start. Instruments and vocals feel a little restricted. Over-production has created a deflated,smothered sound. I got a distinctive impression that the musicianship of Frank Booth, Killer Bob, and Marcelos Santos
is of a high level,and breadth of experience emerges from their playing. Yet,strangely, there never seem to be occasions on this album where music is played with real authority and conviction-at least to my ears. Overall, I didn't come away feeling “convinced” of anything.
As is the usual for Cadaverous Condition, the artwork is interesting and perplexing at the same time. Filled with images of nostalgiac landscapes and barren, lonely grave yards/stones, the artwork paints a picture of dark folk beliefs and lore. The art has always been my favorite aspect of Cadaverous Conditions releases and this is no exception. There is always at least on image that confuses the hell out of me though and for this one it is the inlay. The image is black and white and of a man using his robe to catch what appear to be crosses raining from the heavens. Perhaps there is a folklore story behind this image but I really just can't understand the meaning behind it.
But Cadaverous Condition is not strictly Old School Death Metal, oh no. They have a finely mixed array of folk music within their depths. In fact, their last release was a split 10" EP with neo-folk band Changes. Having very poetic lyrics by Death Metal standards and folky acoustic songs with gutteral growls, such as is heard on "Destroy your Life" make Cadaverous Condition very interesting indeed.
The three, they call them ‘noise’ but I beg to differ there, sound sculptures are meant to reflect the malevolence and neurosis of dreams, as interpreted through definitions of genocide, torture, and our present apocalypse. Didn’t know we were going through one myself. And those bloody dreams get everywhere…and its getting all intellectual and way over my head once more. The result of all this tampering with the various contributed tracks is a recording that is part dark ambient, part tribal / ritual and part noise.
I can say that the music and production are both a ton better than most black metal that you'll hear in other labels. This album ranks right up there in quality with the likes of fellow French BM'ers Drakkar Productions and Aura Mystique. And that's saying something coming from me considering those are my two favorite labels. The guitar tone is crystal fucking clear, not a scrap of fuzz to be found. The bass carried the melodics flawlessly without ever droning out the background and the drums are either incredibly fakes drum samples or very well done recorded live drums, and I'd honestly aim for the latter.
Limited to a strict 150 copies, Reap the Atrocity is a rare Canadian gem. The filth thing absolutely writhes in its own putrid blasphemous nature as well; a black CD-R with black print, black computer printed booklet with black pages in a black pouch, with a mostly black press sheet included. Acrimonia must have spent as much on ink as he would have spent getting this thing actually pressed.
