The more I listen to David Brenner’s work with Gridfailure, the more I understand what he is attempting to achieve, and hence find myself enjoying his “music” even more. I have put that inside quotation marks, as while I would argue vociferously that this is indeed music, I can imagine many sticking with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of music as “vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion”. This album does none of this, as what we have here are sounds which have been captured and placed together in a way as to elicit a response, incredibly atmospheric, and to my ears incredibly compelling.
This is not music for the faint-hearted, as it makes Art Zoyd seem positively joyous and uplifting and Can music for the masses, and is so far out in left field that is meeting itself coming the other way. David states that this is “an atmospheric album created for the harvest season, this album transitions the auras of nocturnal nature, apparitional screams, and supreme paranoia, into a place where no otherworldly forces will save you.” It is the soundtrack to every scary movie you have ever watched, every spooky house you have dared visit in the dead of night, and every graveyard when the moon is covered by the clouds. There is menace in every note, a feeling of dread and potential harm to anyone who dares be present.
Gridfailure have recently been playing live gigs, and they must be something to behold – I wonder how many people stay to the end or have to leave by the sheer terror being cast about them. Yet another essential release.
Rating: 8/10
Track list:
- Crimson Eyes At Dusk
- From Portals
- Diminishing Realism
- A Void Within The Congregation
- Veiled Presence
- Watch Faith Not Save You
- Disposing Of The Remains
- The Lights Go Out
