Eastern cemetery, 15th sector
Cremation of contagious flesh
Hurricane pneumonia
Compound #19
Sub ipsum funus

After having the pleasure…and it was a pleasure believe me…of reviewing the Velehentor "Boeing: There And Back Again" release [read here] I was overjoyed…an understatement…to receive this cassette release, extremely limited to only 96 copies, and couldn’t wait to play it. But wait I’ve had to. See paragraph one of the Narrowmind vs. Sudanstrain review [read here] for the sad sack reason. Luckily for me those really nice people at Abgurd have supplied a CDR review copy… so it was with the greatest anticipation that I started to play it….

The worst Xmas I ever had was when instead of receiving a spanking BMX bike (which I believed I would get) I got a ‘My Little Pony’ instead. Distraught doesn’t cover half of it. Betrayed by those I professed love to. How could they? Now those feelings came flooding back mirrored by this release. Abject fucking misery…that was my initial reaction to "Sepsis 022". …only compounded by the brilliance that was "Boeing: There And Back Again". Kicked in the teeth once again. Let down by those I trusted. Then I remembered how my parents had patiently explained to me that I couldn’t have a BMX bike because I didn’t have any legs. So I gave that ‘My Little Pony’ another chance. I named her ‘Twinkle’…she had a gorgeous pink mane and a body covered in glittery stars…and she ended up being my best friend through a lot of hard times. Nothing else for it. "Sepsis 022" spun once more…

Recorded live in April 2004 "Sepsis 022" commemorates the 25th anniversary of the anthrax outburst in Sverdlovsk city Russia. A serious subject…so not exactly a great bundle of laughs to be found musically here. Subjecting the listener to five tracks of relentless white extreme electronic noise Velehentor ramps the force of the music to the max inflicting a nauseous mixture that borders on the sadistic. Feel the pain. Live the pain. Love the pain. ‘Metal Machine Music’ is easy listening by comparison. Yet getting over the initial shock of the thunderous cacophony, and I’m damned if I can find a better suited word, the pound, pound, pounding on the senses abates and the music takes on a drone like quality…albeit one dragged kicking and screaming from the depths of Hell itself. "Sepsis 022" is totally deranged and demented music that sends a thousand volts flying into the head…frying the brain…in a frazzled frenzied attack to the nervous system. Utterly unremittin g in its assault on the senses it leaves the body shaking and dripping in sweat long after its finished. Aural chaos simplified and beautiful. Misery made sweet.

It would have been the easy option to listen to this once and bin it out of hand. Only by replaying it can the inner depths be fully revealed and appreciated. As such it stands as a testimony to the musician and his art and as an example of how power electronics, although much maligned, has so much to offer if given the right opportunity to involve and invoke the senses. Not the easiest of recordings on the ear but pretty much damn essential all the same.

ANM

***Please note we no longer accept MC's for review! [ED]