Brenner’s most recent release finds him combining a discordant web of vocals, guitars, keyboards, and field recordings while also bringing in a host of guests which include Benjamin Levitt (Megalophobe, Gridfailure-live), Jeff Wilson (Chrome Waves, Deeper Graves, Contrition), Dan Emery (Thetan), Lane Oliver (Yatsu), Liz Ciavarella-Brenner, Isaac Campbell, Steve Truglio, and Joe D’iaci. This is a free download through Bandcamp and is a great introduction to his work as here we find him working on themes of suspense and horror which are dramatic and powerful. At times it is more melodic than we might normally expect from him, while at others it is twisted and macabre with some of the field recordings adding even more stress due to a “real” sound being placed against the experimentation, emphasising both even more.
On “Somnambulance Disorientation”, there is an underlying gruffness which adds a real sense of foreboding which is only exaggerated by the repeated glockenspiel, and the way the music swells is deep and incredibly powerful. By using so many other sonic experimenters (including his wife, the wonderful Liz), he has extended the palette while the use of field recordings has also taken this into new areas. This is one of the broadest releases from him yet, moving away from dystopian nightmares into something even more chilling and full of suspense. The cat on “The Watcher” is truly disturbing, even though the birds sound sweet.
His music is not for the fainthearted or those who want their sounds to be easily digestible and like all the rest of the manufactured (add expletive here) which is mostly played on the radio but is for those who want to delve deep into the underground and hear what is happening at the very edge. This is one of his best releases yet, and a fine, free, introduction to the very strange and anarchic world of Gridfailure.
Rating: 9/10
