Here we have the latest in Dave Brenner’s five-album concept series and given I reviewed the last one back in 2020 it has been a while coming (although there have of course been numerous others by Gridfailure in intervening years). The first three albums span the unravelling of society (which to the outsider looks to be getting worse in America by the hour), oblivious to the ongoing Anthropocene in which we’re immersed. In turn they prophesize the post-apocalyptic terrors to be told on the impending closing chapters of the album series, ‘Teeth Collection’ and ‘Drought Stick’.
As with the last album in this series, Dave provides primary vocals and an array of guitars, bass, drums/percussion, keyboards, synth, violin, theremin, field recordings, and other instruments/tactics, and has also brought in a myriad of other musicians including additional lyrics, vocals, and guitar from Steve Austin (Today Is The Day) on five of its fifteen songs plus performances by Leila Abdul-Rauf (Vastum, Ionophore), Mac Gollehon (David Bowie, Duran Duran, Onyx, Blondie, Chic, Héctor Lavoe), Benjamin Levitt (Megalophobe, Gridfailure-live), Richard Muller (Giant Spider, Gridfailure-live), Greg Meisenberg (A Fucking Elephant, Dead Register, Gridfailure-live), Lane Oliver (Yatsu, Diminishing), Jeff Wilson (Chrome Waves, Deeper Graves), Christopher Henry (Fuck Your Birthday, Humans Etcetera), Graham Scala (US Christmas, Interstitia, Bleach Everything), Dan Emery (Thetan), BJ Allen (Zero Trust), Clayton Bartholomew (Mountaineer), No One (T.O.M.B., Dreadlords), Morgan Evans (Walking Bombs), Hazard (Hasard, Les Chants Du Hasard), Pranjal Tiwari (Cardinal Wyrm, S.C.R.A.M.), Jared Stimpfl (Secret Cutter, Orphan Donor), Natan Vee (Cardinal Wyrm, Fyrhtu), Mike Giuliano (Big Happy), Josh Thorne (Cadaver Industry), Alex Haber, Rosa Henriquez, Pete Tsakiris, Isaac Campbell, and Rob Levitt.
Whereas many of Dave’s albums are combined in such a manner that individual instrumentation is somewhat hard to distinguish, here we often find ourselves trying to work out why trumpets can be so clear in this part of the arrangement while something hellish is happening over there. The result being something which really does feel like a world falling to pieces, with two realities clashing to produce a world in which it feels like there is a battle going on and what is going to eventuate? I often wonder what world we are leaving for our children and grandchildren, and musically this sounds so much like the battle for America, where there are two diametrically opposed groups of people, and the blackness is taking control as people become zombies and follow the cult leader whatever he says or does.
I have been reviewing Gridfailure for years, and find the older I get the more important I feel the releases are, as there is no pretence that the world we live in is pretty and everything is going to be okay, but instead portends to what is happening and what will happen, and are we really okay with that? This is a long album at 77 minutes long, and is something which needs to be listened to on headphones while contemplating the state of the world and what can we do about it? The pleasantness contained within makes the cacophony so much more strident, the clarity of sound makes the distortion much more real, and is there hidden beauty within? Or will the darkness take over and rule all.
Dave is a really nice guy, honest, but yet again he is bringing the side of us to the fore which none of us want to admit is there, and by keeping our heads in the sand maybe it will all go away. It won’t, and while the heads are buried the rest of the body can easily be attacked and we have no idea who is doing it, or do we? This is powerful stuff.
Rating: 9/10
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