Fire in the Head "Solace Through Psychosis" CD
[RRRecords]
This is my first exposure to this relatively new noise project who already has quite a few releases under his belt, and included herein are eight tracks of fairly crispy distorted noise - with "Succumb" kicking things off in representative form with a thin, glitchy wisp of distortion over a thicker low-end rumble for about four minutes. Then it's "Mantra", unloading just over four minutes of straight up, no nonsense harsh noise with the repeating sample, "The only good human is a dead human," over and over throughout. "Kannon Invocation" sort of falls in between the two, still aggressive, but more atmospheric in some sort of abstract, subdued manner, and that really works for me; while "It Didn't Have to Be This Way" brings in some menacing distorted spoken vocals over a similarly atmospheric throb of raw, stripped down distortion. I'll point out that the lyrics are actually pretty solid in that they're suggestive, but not your usual violent bullshit, there's actually more going on that that. "Nursery Crime" introduces distorted musical elements over some similarly distorted percussion, and I have to say that I don't care for this piece at all. It's annoying and sounds pretty weak compared to the other material, so it really doesn't gel with the overall vibe of this recording. A real shame since it's actually the longest track!? Thankfully, if nothing else, "Three Reasons" brings back the fierce fits of feedback and grinding low-end overdrive with another sample, this time stating, "He kills for sport," repeatedly throughout. "Killing Frost" is similar to the opener in its use of sparseness to provide more breathing room between thicker and thinner textures while also reaching a more atmospheric undercurrent; similarly to "Because I Have To", which closes out on a similar, yet muddier note with a couple of sounds that could be distorted bass notes or something like that, as well as distant vocals shouting the song title (thus referencing the earlier content in "It Didn't Have to Be This Way"). Interestingly the sound quality shifts over the course of the disc from a rugged sort of angle to layers that are brighter and crisper, which actually strikes a pretty good balance. I think there's a little work to be done there in one direction or another, but I do like that middleground approach and the way certain textures interact as a result. The CD-R comes in a black slipcase with xeroxes on orange/yellow paper pasted over the top, so you have to cut it open to get the disc out. The emblematic imagery on the outer sleeve is actually fairly nice, while inside are a couple of inserts and a sticker with the band logo on it. The overall look is a little more rugged than it might need to be, but it works out in the end and there are some curious visuals to look at (I don't care for the illustration on the insert, though). I'm not blown away here, but there are a couple of damn solid tracks on this that that could've made for a really nice 7". I think that the way the samples are integrated feels somewhat forced and unnecessary, and I don't find that they add to the material at all, but the vocals are pretty cool, as are some of the tracks that blend abrasive distortion with just the right hints of added ambience. It seems a little hard to gauge this project based on one release, but I'll be interested to see how things unfold from here on out. (6/10)
Running time - 34:41, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Kannon Invocation, It Didn't Have to Be This Way, Killing Frost]
Fire in the Head - http://www.collectivexxiii.com/fireinthehead/

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