New Reviews of Clint Listing- In the Minds of Madness on Fluttery Records
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REVIEWS
A Closer Listen / Richard Allen
Post-industrial soundscapes are not the most accessible productions, and In the Minds of Madness is not easy listening. The cover simultaneously evokes Joan of Arc, the Salem Witch Trials, and the Apocalypse, and the sounds inside make a fitting match.
Over the past two years, scene stalwart Clint Listing has been collaborating with artists in the dark ambient and post-industrial realms, polishing – or perhaps more accurately, sandpapering this release for general consumption. As expected, eight different collaborators means mixed results, but when the album’s on, it’s really on.
Case in point: opening track “The Dawn of Sorrow”, a collaboration with Stephan Petrus of Murderous Visions. This dark, unrepentant drone is a solid wall of sound backed by martial drums, the bastard love child of Raison D’Etre and The Protagonist. If this were the only track on the album, it would still be worth a spin. Listening is like being trapped in a sandstorm with a plague of locusts and a rain of blood. ”Under the Frozen Moon of Tomorrow”, a pairing with John Stillings of Steel Hook Prosthesis, spits waves of noise and desolate electronics into a vat of acid churn. And “Riders of the Final Dawn”, recorded with industrial band Terrorfakt’s DJ Hell Raver, attacks the sound field with harsh distortions and static that sounds like it was fed through static – the refried beans of sonic production. Sudden, unpredictable blasts keep the listener off guard and pleasantly nervous.
Not to slight the other artists involved – each has a distinct appeal. But a series of team-ups amounts to a compilation of sorts, and in such arenas, there are bound to be winners and losers, especially in a field that encourages brutality. The tracks that relent, show mercy, or repeat patterns are shown no mercy themselves. Once the listener has the taste for blood, it must be satisfied. Any sign of weakness, any hesitation, any gentility, and the emperor’s thumb goes down. But for Listing and his efforts, the thumb goes up; fans of extreme music will find much to enjoy here.
Against The Odds / Chris Antonoff
Dark, brooding soundscapes, waves of sonic terror and cold, machinery chants are some of the distinctive features of Clint Listing's latest offering. Clint Listing creates music as a solo artist in post industrial landscape mix elements of noise, ambient, drone and avant-garde sounds. He has been producing music for twenty-three years. In The Minds Of Madness is a collaboration with some of the favorite artists he has performed with on tour, live events or just impressed him. Projects like Terrorfakt, Dream into Dust, Steel Hook Prostheses, Murderous Visions, Encomiast & Lopeholt. This album spans many genres of the post industrial and experimental landscapes from harsh noise, electronica to post-rock.
Sea Of Tranquility / Simon Bray
The appeal of this record will definitely be pretty select consisting of nine drone artists including Clint Listing himself. According to his biography, "Clint Listing creates music as a solo artist in post-industrial landscape mix elements of noise, ambient, drone and avant sounds." It would be true to suggest that In the Minds of Madness does what it says on the tin.
This isn't popular music in any sense of the phrase. It's somewhat experimental focussing on noise rather than melody but when it works as on "Love is Pain" or on the near thirteen minute "Peace Breeds War" it's quite powerful stuff which transports the listener to a different time and space. Equally at times one kind of hopes for some respite from the relentless drone, however, if that is your bag you should enjoy this album a great deal but it is not for the casual listener.
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