Gripping.
No, really. Gripping. White knuckles territory. Shear fucking terror.
OR.........
The recent EP by Oh Mental Hospitals is one of the first of a string of fresh releases from Peter Wright and his collaborations, and appropriately also one of the first to be released on Wright’s new label, Distant Bombs. Wow, it is an approach from a new angle, for sure. Definitely a departure from Wright’s usual dronescapes. Contributors Rustle Covini, Mikel Goodwin, and David Khan have all added their own elements to the formula and have created an urgently rockin’, noise-ridden, sludgingly jammin’ behemoth. This monster sprang to life after many years of different projects with these New Zealand natives. The core objective and sound of O.M.H. in Wright’s own words: “Playing a seemingly unstructured noise rock jam but placing some structure in there that creates a surprising, unexpected effect. And I wanted to tie it all together with repetitive rhythms because it's something that I haven't really tried with my music. There's still the drone element in place, but there's a more melodic repeating drum and bass foundation, and other textures ladled on top of that. So I outlined those basic ideas to the guys and we just jammed with it from there, and as I say it's been fun so far, and has sort of evolved into a self-contained beast that I'm barely in control of” (Read more of Wright’s interview under the features from September 8, 2009).
Okay, enough of the history behind this spectacular release, let’s move on to the warning label that this ear candy should carry. This has the best of both worlds: ear-melting, eyeball-popping, ball-crushing explosions of drum-crazed riffs and noise with brain-gelling, head-bobbing, chill-inducing repetitive guitar drones. All five tracks re-live the live jamming sessions recorded earlier this year. I hope I am privileged to catch a live show sometime. I can only imagine how freaking raw it would be. Closest comparison might be Heavy Winged.
This CDR was super limited and unfortunately all sold out. But before you burst out into tears, take comfort in the forthcoming second edition! You’ll definitely want to hop right on that and get yours, before it’s gone for good. It’s understandable if you missed the first edition, but you honestly don’t have an excuse for missing the second that’ll be available shortly.
Dave Miller |
www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/
released September 1, 2009
Recordings made live to disc by Mikel Goodwin January-July 2009.
Rustle Covini: Drum noise
Mikel Goodwin: Bass noise
David Khan: Synth noise, Voice
Peter Wright: Guitar noise, Voice
Distant Bombs 382