I’ve decided to start doing off topic reviews of bands in the general industrial vicinity.
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‘Slicer’ starts off with Aaron Dillaway talking about something…sounds like political spoken word …except his voice is processed and fragmented so its hard to decipher what he’s really saying. This track just seemed overindulgent to me…just pointless experimentation, and it’s the only track with vocals on the disk. (2/10)
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This is where ‘Slicer’ really kicks off in my mind. A regular glitchy sound provides the stark beat while the Wolf Eyes dudes tamper with their home made gadgets and play some eerie, fuzzed out horns. It creates a wierd soundscape type vibe that sometimes sounds like birds in a jungle… (5/10)
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This track seems to be a reverse of the second one; it adds more percussion where the other was lacking but removes most of the other instruments. A stark drum machine pounds repetitively with minimal noisey accompinent. The drum machine beats on this album are more clean and precise than on efforts like ‘Dread’ and ‘Dead Hills’ and this track is a prime example. Overall a minimal feel with no particular emotion. (4/10)
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Starts out with the piercing, eerie horns that Wolf Eyes have mastered and slowly builds with some very cool sonic experimentation. The drum machine is used as well, adding some nice percussion to the bizarre mix. Sounds like a more focused merging of the previous two tracks. (6.5/10)
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Another very experimental dirge. Again, tons of awesome sounds from the wierd homemade instruments. A keyboard sounds a few ominous notes from somewhere deep in the mix, giving this a track definite sinister feel. The drum machine is used again, along with awesome bleepy noises. This is definitely my favorite track of the album, as it really generates a dark, trippy soundscape and remains interesting over repeated listens. (8/10)
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A pent up explosion of wierdness that sounds like a squealing amp as it is tortured to death by the sonic butchers that are Wolf Eyes. Interesting. More creepy horns round the track off, but I wish it was a little longer, since it only clocks in at around 2 minutes. (6/10)
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Utterly annoying…the sound of a guitar that has been distorted to death sitting in front of an amp. I love experimentation, but like Track 1, this one just seemed pointless. Where I can deal with Track 1, however, this track just gives me a headache and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This is the kind of shit that causes people to write Wolf Eyes off as mindless noise(1/10)
Overall, ‘Slicer’ focuses on the more experimental side of Wolf Eyes and lacks the sheer brutality and focus of other realeases i.e. ‘Burned Mind’ and ‘Dead Hills’. It’s still creepy in a minimalistic, bleepy/fuzzy kind of way, and its emphasis on peculiar sonic noises makes for some good background music.
It’s not as engaging as some of their more well known material, however, so I’d recommend it more to a serious fan than a casual listener…or a fan of Black Dice and other noise that isn’t as harsh and aggressive as Wolf Eyes.
OVERALL RATING: 6/10