So far, all of the reviews I've done have been favourable so I thought it was about time to write one that is less so.
I don't know anything about Scorn but I got hold of the Yozza EP after being recommended it by a friend. I have to say that I really am not impressed with it at all. I first saw the artwork and was excited as it looked very cool, just my taste in art.
However, my excitement soon ended when I listened to it. I suppose the artwork is a good representation of the music; cold, dark, industrial, bleak. These are usually qualities I like in music but not so much with Scorn. I'm not even sure what kind of music it is. There is an element of dub in it, although very minimally so.
The focus is the beats. The first track starts with some live(ish) sounding drums that set the tone for the rest of the track. They're distorted and compressed and smashed. There are vague basslines that come and go, the sound of them definitely dubstep, as well as shimmering pads and melodies that just float around.
The EP just goes on like this really. It never seems to drop and there is always the distorted sound on the drums, obviously intentional to add grit and darkness to the music. The whole thing just lacks any kind of focus though.
I suppose this is slightly unfair. If you were completely off your face then you might enjoy this but I find it boring, it doesn't go anywhere, the drums aren't particularly imaginative, and the bass is too subtle.
It reminds me a little of some of Muslimgauze's tracks, and even very early Aphex Twin, the rough and experimental edge creating something you probably haven't heard before. But with this I don't necessarily want to hear it again.
13 comments:
nice musis
Nice blog! Followed :D
epic song!
too hc for me
Cool cover but a little to random for my taste, kinda like musical vomit.
I like it, nice kind of music
Cool music
nice one, followed!
Just the cover alone makes me want to, check them out.
great song :D
nice, reminds some early works by speedy j
I liked that quite a lot. Get back to posting!
For anyone that doesn't know, Scorn is the long-running project of Mick Harris, formerly the drummer of grindcore pioneers Napalm Death. Early Scorn was actually a full band that consisted of Harris and Nik Bullen, the former bassist of Napalm Death. Their early stuff began as dub-influenced experimental rock/industrial metal similar to Godflesh (yet another post-Napalm Death project, started by former N.D. guitarist Justin Broadrick who also played guitar on Scorn's first album as well, giving it the same lineup as Side A of N.D.'s debut album Scum), then they transitioned into more abstract electronica influenced material somewhat similar to the darker works of trip-hop stalwarts like Portishead, Tricky, and Massive Attack, but with much less crossover appeal. By 1995, Scorn was strictly an instrumental solo project with Harris as the only remaining member. All the albums since then have featured a claustrophobic, minimalistic sound influenced by hip-hop, dub, and industrial music, long pre-dating dubstep, though despite Harris' claims of hating the dubstep scene, his more recent works from 2006 onward have some suspiciously dubstep-sounding basslines and drum syncopation.
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