PRURIENT - Palm Tree Corpse by Hydra Head Records
Prurient
New York City, New York, USA
Bermuda Drain (Hydra Head, 2011)
http://hospitalproductions.net/
RIYL: Genghis Tron, Xinlisupreme, Xiu Xiu
Every Prurient release I'd heard prior to this album was harsh, aggressive, dissonant, deeply in the red noise. Earlier this year I found out that the man behind Prurient, Dominic Fernow, had joined Cold Cave for their newest incarnation as boring synth goth rockers, and I was puzzled as to how someone known for such destructive noise could find a home in a very middle-of-the-road leather and sunglasses group. Add those two facts together, and somehow this very bizarre and schizophrenic newest Prurient album makes sense. Bermuda Drain sounds very much like the budget, equipment, and some of the melodicism of Cold Cave crossed with Prurient's deeply fucked up sonic assault. The tracks here are split between Fernow narrating disturbing and sometimes grotesquely sexual images over unsettling keyboard washes (the lyrics make the name Prurient seem all the more fitting), and more upbeat and rocking tracks that could almost pass for The Faint if it weren't for Fernow screaming his guts out over them. It sounds a lot like if Xiu Xiu were way more aggressive, and also obsessed with 80s synth horror soundtracks, or like if Genghis Tron were less metal but way more disturbing. Personally, I have a pretty low threshold for ear bleeding experimental noise, so this direction is way more interesting and a step up in my opinion. It is still a very bold and uneven album, and I wouldn't call it an unqualified success- but it is still one of the more interesting and original albums I've heard recently, and I'd say one of the better albums this year.
hey bud i am digging this, i think i said this in another post but i think it's much better than his merzbowish business, also i wanted to write a comment on someone's review because it feels as if people forgot to comment on shit
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