If it wasn’t for the fact that I have being reviewing David Brenner for years, and know he is genuinely a really nice guy who worries about cleaning his yard like any other American, I would honestly imagine him inhabiting a lab somewhere in a haunted mansion in the middle of nowhere, wearing a white coat splattered with the blood of the victims of his experimentations. And if that is not enough, he somehow manages to bring others into his frightening cult, so they can join in the “fun”. This is the fourth instalment in a series where David says he is being less confrontational and focuses on atmospheres, taking inspiration from classic horror.
I actually think that in many ways this is more challenging than his “normal” output (the word “normal” is contained within speech marks as there is nothing remotely normal about what he produces) with the field recordings somehow making this dark and frightening world so much more real. Have you seen the cover? The music sounds just like that, but more horrific as he takes Can, Art Zoyd, white noise and anything else his twisted mind can think of and releases it as “music”. David experiments with tones created with acoustic-electric guitar, bass, keys/synths, pedals/effects, field recordings, minimalist vocals, and more, while handling the primary recordings, all mixing, photography, design, and cover art, and took platinum jazz/rock recording artist Mac Gollehon (Onyx, Blondie, Duran Duran, David Bowie, Gridfailure-live), Leila Abdul-Rauf (Vastum, Ionophore), Dan Emery (Thetan), Benjamin Levitt (Megalophobe, Gridfailure-live), Natasha Padilla, and Rob Levitt over to the dark side and somehow also brainwashed his poor wife Liz to be involved. Is there no level to which he won’t stoop?
Okay, by now I know David and Liz are laughing at this review and lapping it up, but there is a whole load of seriousness here in that Gridfailure are taking music to the very extremes of what can be considered as such, yet every time I come across a new release, I am excited and look forward to hearing it. I’ve been told I have reviewed more Gridfailure albums than anyone else, and I am certainly not going to stop yet, and there is something about this which makes me feel it is his best to date. Is it the twisted music which comes into the background, or the field recordings, or the way I feel classic horror scenes are playing out in my ears? All I know is that if you are as warped as I am, and as twisted as he is, then this is indispensable.
Rating: 9/10
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