Genocide Organ-Archive IV Review+Stream

Genocide Organ are legends for a reason.

With their long-form, wildly experimental take on industrial music, they've carved a niche for themselves as both a creator of a genre, Death-Industrial, and for being providers of some of the wittiest, and most misunderstood, political commentary since Jello-Biafra.

So, it goes without saying that any day that Genocide Organ puts out music is a good day.

With their Archive series, Genocide Organ has been releasing unreleased material on 10" records. Archive IV continues this concept, presenting three tracks recorded in the early 90s. 

Genocide Organ stands out to me as the kings of harsh industrial for two reasons. One, they clearly have some ability as composers. Although their music is infected with immense, harsh, swelling noise and glitching and samples, the heart of it beats with some very pretty, minimalist compositions. Two, their choice of sampling, and the way they place their samples, is thought-provoking and often quite funny. 

These qualities are highlighted on this release, partly because it's short length. At three tracks, it's a short experience, but because each track contains everything I like about this group it's not something I mind. 

The centerpiece of this album is a fourteen-minute track called The Lesson: selected-dislective-lectured-a paradise for the sublocotenent. It's a mouthful of a title and a mouthful of a track. It begins with rythmic, pulsating noise and militaristic samples, slides into a dancey middle section, before collapsing back into samples and harsh noise. The track conjures images of a boy-composer using post-apocalyptic, bombed-out industrial wreckage to make symphonies, perhaps while hiding underground. 

The subsequent tracks are much shorter. The second, called The Lesson: lection for a riot, begins with the military samples that tipify Genocide Organ's sound. They're more frantic than they were on the last track. They blend well with the marching beat present throughout the track. They do a good job of conjuring a totalitarian fear. 

Surprisingly, the album ends on a very musical note. Nix-On, besides being one of the less obtuse references in a Genocide Organ, is a song that wouldn't be out of place on a Cold Cave or Lust For Youth album. It shows off the ability of the Genocide Organ creator's to actually write a tune. Sure, it's a tune dipped in feedback and screeching samples, but it's something you can hum.

I was always a casual fan of the group, but this Archive series makes me want to pay more attention. I think that Genocide Organ full-lengths might have been a little bit too thick and foreboding for me to really sink my teeth into, but these 10" are short enough for me to love and, if newer material reflects Nix-On, something that I can put on regular rotation. A great listen.