A Pornohelmut is? A) Protective headgear to shield against accidental friendly fire in the bukkake pit? B) Virtual reality headgear designed to de-juice the genital area? C) The extreme experimental Texan musical work of Neil Barrett? Well it’s probably all 3 but for the sake of propriety we are just going to stick with C) and talk about the former BLK OPS and The Dead See musical mentalist and his new album Bang Lord on Atypeek music. This is my first encounter of the artist who has apparently caught the attention of and shared the stage with everyone from Melt Banana to Mastodon as well as holding private parties at hipster Mad Max festival Burning Man. No doubt he has caused a few meltdowns in the process. Take a look at the video below just to get an idea of what a headfuck he creates both musically and visually but be warned seizures are a distinct possibility. This 7-tracker is unfortunately only 20 minutes in length but honestly that may well be the safest way to encounter things in the 1st instance, any more may well be a bit too much for the old grey matter to take and result in brain explosions.
As you can no doubt guess this is not that easy to pigeonhole but experimental electronic music is the bass frequency here and there is some metal components to be found especially on ‘Mother Duster’ which starts with drone and an unmistakable sample of Charlie Manson giving one of his speeches before it descends into chaotic grind ala The Locust and early Today Is The Day. Naturally with this in mind it comes as no surprise to discover James Plotkin was involved behind the mastering controls. Standard bangers of heads should be warned that the rest of the material here is far more abstract and indeed I could throw comparisons out to the likes of Zan Lyons as much as anything else. ‘Astroglide’ which starts things is crazed computer speak descending into programmed drum beats and jazzy distorted lunacy with tortured screams over the top. Lovers of loonies like Igorrr may find common ground here and I think that it would be completely acceptable to class this as ‘musical terrorism’ as much as anything else. The hefty percussion and jarring noise of ‘Bell Ring’ could also remind of the experimental nature of Scorn and this although futuristic does take back a bit to the early 90’s and I could totally see Napalm Death giving Pornohelmet a support slot to really rile up their fans before obliterating the stage.
There’s looped break beats, drum and bass, old computer game sonics and pretty much everything including a probable kitchen sink thrown into the chaotic maelstrom as we continue. Its music for broken down robots with distemper, abandoning servile posts and turning on their creators. Moments of trance seep in such as ‘Wizard Sleeve leaving you dazed like a deer caught in headlights and closer ‘Black Magick Dope Sack’ apart from sounding like a title of a deranged Lucifer Valentine film closes things with a manic intensity that reminds of the errant futuristic twin of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark ahead of its time Dazzleships put through a blender. Complete with porno sample at literal climax I enjoyed this lot but take absolutely no responsibility if you decide to check it out and find yourself feeling a little on the queasy side. One thing is for sure at least you can’t accuse this of not being different!
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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