Naevus

Less Than Queer
The Devil
Don't Boil (Version One)

KnifeLadder

Retina (Last Grasp Edit)
Oblivion (Anti Valium Remix)
Faultline (Anti Valium Remix)

John Murphy is a legend amongst fans of…cough, cough…Industrial Music. He’s played in so many seminal bands that helped to shape the music that we all love today that there isn’t enough space in this review to mention them all. Godlike and a sexy beast, in the correct lighting, the last recording featuring him I had the pleasure to hear was the amazing Lost Dominion Lost CD which I implore you to seek out. Here he’s appearing with his KnifeLadder project in a split release with Naevus on the Portuguese label Terra-Fria contributing three tracks each to this CD.

Naevus play very much in the vein of Blood Axis / Death in June and their three songs here are a joy to behold. Simple song structures created by acoustic / electric guitar, accordion, and drums act as the backdrop to the cleverly crafted words being sung / spoken. Any group to mention ‘neeps & tatties’ in a song will always curry favour with a Scottish reviewer so they receive a smartie point extra from me. I kept coming back to the three songs by Naevus to just experience the clever wordplay by them which is the highest compliment I can pay them.

KnifeLadder on the other hand is the chalk to the cheese of Naevus. A riot of blistering percussion (cheers John) and fucked up churning electronic clatter and shouted / distorted / whispered vocals kicked the music of Naevus squarely in the knackersack. This is a hurricane unleashed fury of noise that takes no prisoners. The storm after the calm if you like. The music mashes you into submission forcing you to be swept along a tidal wave of sonic endurance. Lovely stuff.

Surprisingly the two different styles of group on the CD works exceedingly well counter balancing each other perfectly, which I suppose was the whole idea in the first place. A bit of quiet reflection. A bit of spazz freak shit. Give it a whirl if you’re a fan of either type of music. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with what the other has to offer.

ANM