I am offered more music to review each week than would be humanly possible for a single individual to get through, so I tend to make decisions really quickly on what to take and what not to take. Depending on how much I have outstanding I may not even properly read the email. When I was offered the latest release from Diminishing, I read it properly, decided to take it, but also realised there was an earlier release from 2023 as well, but would the link provided in the email from back then still work? The short answer is yes, which is why I am now reviewing an album sent to me and released three years ago.
Formed in early 2019 by Gridfailure creator Dave Brenner and Yatsu guitarist Lane Oliver, Diminishing is a tense, emotionally devastating project that paints in shades of industrial, dark ambient, drone metal, and harsh noise, and while I confess to not knowing the band Yatsu I am very well versed in Gridfailure and this is a logical extension of what Dave has been achieving in that space. We still get all the post-apocalyptic black and white cinematography I have always felt from Gridfailure, along with the bleakness and despair, but the use of guitar (which often feels improvised over the top) is driving it even further into a nihilistic scenario where all hope is lost, gone forever. Highly experimental, there are even some vocals here and there, and it is almost as if Gridfailure, Burzum and Nine Inch Nails beat up Can in a dark alley and somehow spawned something dark and unpleasant.
This is music which will drive away the light no matter what time of day it is listened to, a horror movie for the ears which is immensely powerful and all-consuming. It takes the energy out of the room and replaces it with dread for the future and what the world is becoming where all that matters is strength and hate, and joy is crushed. This could be used as a sonic weapon, and consequently I love it. Play it loudly on headphones at your own risk, this is your health warning.
Rating: 9/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/diminishingnoise
https://anticorpmusic.com/