I don’t know if there’s been a definitive lapse in the amount of disturbing non-metal music being released over the last couple of years, but I know back around 2010, I was all about wallowing to new additions to the Miasmah catalog (for instance), with the lights in my apartment turned off and attempts at human interaction met with literal hisses. Such attempts included text messaging, deliveries from UPS, and the mere presence of my living room lamp over in the corner, which I deliberately attired with a coat and dress shoes just so that I could hiss at it. Have you tried indiscriminately hissing at things/people? There’s a reason why most (if not all) snakes hiss, and it only partially has to do with deterring would-be aggressors; the other part, because it’s enjoyable as fuck.
Anyhow, for 2012, there were but two albums on the dark end of the music spectrum that really caught my ear: the first was the Kreng box set Works for Abattoir Fermé 2007 - 2011, and the other was Impossible Symmetry from London-based sound artist Luke Younger a.k.a. Helm. Listening to the latter’s seamless incorporation of electroacoustic elements brought a welcome freshness… that made me want to weep and curl into a ball for its duration. I thank my relative emotional stability for keeping me upright.
Following up on that absolute (and absolutely ominous) achievement, Helm has new EP Silencer due out September 10 on PAN and Younger’s own Alter label. Four tracks long, you can count on an eerily disarming combination of aged, repeating rhythms and hypnotic drones. Certainly an artist to keep tabs on, in my opinion.
Silencer tracklisting:
01. Silencer
02. Mirrored Palms
03. Bergamo
04. The Haze
• Helm: https://www.facebook.com/hhelmm
• PAN: http://www.pan-act.com
• Alter: http://alterstock.blogspot.com
More about: Helm
