L'Acephale - Stahlhartes Gehause
June 30 2009 at 11:17:40 PM
“Hard Steel Casing” sounds like pillow-talk to me, but I’m told it has sociological relevance. I’m told lots of things these days. I don’t have to be told the songs on this full-length have appeared elsewhere, perhaps in wildly different forms. At least I know I’ve heard them before and they sounded very gawdamn unlike this record.
What does it take to sink a program? Aesthetics are salt on some folks’ scrambled eggs; a little or even a lot doesn’t garnish too much notice. But this is Lysol huffin’ in confined spaces: Drum & Fife; strings; chanting; indigenous music(s) and field recordings, opera samples, etc – all poured like ancient molasses over a disturbing collision of early Marduk and Hate Forest. Four tracks here – the shortest of which lasting over 16 minutes. Couple that with cover-art that appears jettisoned from Seldon Hunt’s colon, and we’re in unfriendly territory.
The gypsies howling beneath, between, and behind all four tracks can do nothing except make me think of Lon Chaney, Jr. I assume that is not the desired effect.
The Book of Lies 7” shows L’Acephale works best with small canvas scraps. This record tells me they may still be eating at the kiddie table, but they’re actively scheming some modern day
Children of the Corn; the adults will soon be working for them, or at least quoting freely from Max Weber. Why so serious, Oregon?
[Stewart Voegtlin]
L’Acephale
Stahlhartes Gehäuse
2009
Parasitic Records
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