I really, really hope that deep space/alien-themed power electronics becomes a trend.
Bondage and sexual violence has become a cliche, vaporwave was naught but a dot on the map, but the deep blackness of space, now that has potential. What's more frightening, more uncomfortable, than the unforgiving, ethereal blackness of deep space, an expanse in which we cannot live but is creeping just outside the thin, crumbling shell of our atmosphere.
Scab Addict, an exceedingly prolific noisegrind/power electronics outfit from Ithaca, have done their best to capture this kind of dread and, for the most part, they've succeeded.
These tracks are all very short, most of them clocking in at just over a minute, but they're so rhythmic and layered that they never quite feel that short. It's clear that there was some thought put into the noise presented here.
The first track, Space Born/Earth Buried is a jittery, stop/start piece with what sounds like screamed vocals buried deep in the mix, though that could just be a particularly human-sounding pedal.
There is a certain alien quality to tracks three and four, a kind of sharp, flanger synthesizer effect. It conjures images of abduction and probing, cold, totally unfamiliar physical spaces and medical examination.
The fourth track, Space Born/ Earth Buried Pt. 2, is a highlight, a fast-moving, rythmic track with some horrified vocals. Waves of static engulf the rhythm.
This album lacks some, well, oomph in the recordings, but, being a demo, that's kind of expected.
I'd like to see this demo splinter off into its own band. The themes and ideas displayed here have lots of potential. They deserve a full album.
And, to anyone reading this who has a power electronics/noise project, start thinking about space. It is, indeed, the place.
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