I remember a few years back Wolf Eyes was really popular in underground heavy music circles and on this board. ‘Burned Mind’ is a classic record and I see has made some people’s favorites list.
But recently the band doesn’t seem to be getting that same level of attention. I am one of the people who find about them through this board but have been following them avidly ever since.
I can see why the talking stopped. Many people who got into ‘Burned Mind’ went and scoured their catalog for as many releases as possible only to realize the band has absolutely no quality control and constantly releases turds in between the “proper” albums (which I would classify as ‘s/t’, ‘Dread’, ‘Dead Hills’, ‘Burned Mind’, ‘Slicer’, ‘Human Animal’, and now this new one ‘Always Wrong’)
I think the other reason is that ‘Human Animal’, while strong as a follow up to ‘Burned Mind’, does not match the excellence of the latter. I attribute this mostly to the departure of Aaron Dilloway and the more subdued sound.
This new release ‘Always Wrong’ has largely restored my faith in the band and prompted me to try and renew some discussion. It is raw, urgent, immediate and angry. The drum machine which had come to define part of the band’s sound (and which I loved) has been replaced by live junk drums which I think I might love even more.
Take a listen to 2 new songs from ‘Always Wrong’ here:
Well they were dropped from Sub Pop (apparently Noise isn’t trendy anymore? lol) and are now on Dominick Fernow aka Prurient’s label Hospital Productions. That could be why you never heard about it.
I’m assuming you guys have heard ‘Human Animal’, the other disc they did for Sub Pop?
Yes, and I completely agree with you regarding “Human Animal”. Its a great album (particularly when they start the pounding such as on the title track) but not as good as “Burned Mind”. Well, “Burned Mind” sort of came out of nowhere and blew my mind so perhaps I’m just being a bit sentimental here.
I also totally love the album they did with Anthony Braxton. “Black Vomit” with a saxophone - nuff said!
I need to get this as soon as it hits the stores here.
To those interested, Aaron Dilloway, former Wolf Eyes member, recently put out a solo lp called Rotting Nepal which is very much worth checking out - if minmalist noise is your thing. I’m spinning it as I type this.
“Rotting Nepal” was originally released as a CD-R four years ago. I think there were only 63 copies. I have one. It was re-released on vinyl in 2006.
Anyway, I haven’t heard the new album yet, I’m thinking about waiting for the vinyl. Bummed I missed them last month, but I’ve seen them 5 times already, once when Dilloway was still in the band. Rad stuff.
Meh Wolf Eyes have the ability to entrance me though, while von Schirach is more just an annoying seizure with no sense of flow or composition. Maybe I need to listen to more of his stuff…
Otto is an acquired taste for sure. I’ve seen him live twice and his antics are somewhat humorous, he’s like the Blowfly of glitch music. voidhead, I like him best when he attempts actual songs and not just the blurry of stream-of-consciousness sounds. That all tends to sound the same after awhile. I tend to like Venetian Snares more.
Looks like I’m in the minority. I can’t get enough of Otto, picked up all the releases, and look forward to the next show (played the Knitting Factory in Hollywood a few months back, ran into Cevin key, had a blast).