Excess flesh? Excess everything. That’s what being scared is all about. Gorging on both ends of the spectrum until you’re practically immobile from over-stimulation. Ride the high of “I Don’t Race (Lunchtime Remix)” through to its nightmarish climax on “Kitchen Gladiators” and “Bathtime.” Horror is the kind of thing Jonathan Snipes specializes in. Pinch yourself for every time you remarked that Snipes’s work in the noisy rap group clipping. would fit well in an emotionally scarring scene involving chains or a completely soiled bathroom. Snipes has worked on films such as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Trial Run. He mixes noise, electronica, and video game music into his design work, and has an uncanny knack for choosing hair-raising samples.
Much of the vocal sounds on his Excess Flesh soundtrack — mangled and stretched beyond recognition in some places — come from the two lead actresses, who spend a lot of time bonding together over the course of the film. Ima be real, I’m not really a horror movie kind of guy. I’m more the kind of guy who casually listens to a horror movie soundtrack on his way to class. Or when I’m sitting in my room in the dark, gnashing my teeth on some fibrous jerky smothered in honey between two strawberry Pop Tarts, feeling that crunch reverberate through my teeth as I tear in. Feel me? I hope so, because I’m starting to worry that’s actually a little creepier. But this flick passes the Bechdel test, has sex, drugs, copious amounts of disgustingly delicious food, dirty dorm room shenanigans (although I’m sure many have seen worse) — an excellent reflection of the fragile college student psyche, all in all. Snipes does an excellent job of raising the temperature of the room with his soundscapes, and as a standalone work, this album shreds its own gnarly wave of harsh noise.
Pre-sale for a limited-edition CD is currently up on Deathbomb Arc.