Striborg- "This Suffocating Existence" Review

Striborg, at its core, is meditation music. Melody and dynamics are forever pushed to the side in favor of pure atmosphere, creating a wall of sound designed to put listeners in a state.

The importance in Striborg's recorded material, the newest being This Suffocating Existence, lies not in its sound at all, but the effect it has on its listeners psyche. Because of this, I refuse to talk about the sounds themselves. That would be doing the band a disservice.

Instead, I will surmise, in one sentence, the spiritual effect This Suffocating Existence had on me during its run time.

Realizing Your Bones Will Soon Be At Home Among Dirt and Wood.

Here Is What You Should Listen To This Week

Self explanatory. 

4. Ad Nauseum/Funeral Parlor/Waves Crashing Piano Chords/MPHIAT/Contraktor

A fast-paced five way split between 5 very crucial acts of the modern avant-garde. Ad Nauseum is crunching, vaguely-martial power electronics with excellent vocals. Funeral Parlor offers haunting minor-key synth riffing. WCPC is more of the same potent microphone/amplifier perversion. MPHIAT is delightfully blackened, while Contraktor takes on static wall noise. 

Ad Nauseum, Funeral Parlor, and WCPC are the highlights of this split, but MPHIAT and Contraktor both bring some excellent sound.

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3. Limbs Bin/Sidetracked- Split

Two of the finest acts in modern fast music sharing a tape. Not much more you can ask for.

Sidetracked's side is excellent. They experiment with a kind of song cycle, a singular drone interspersed with powerviolence minitracks. It's refreshing. 

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2. Spectre Eyes- Spectre Eyes

Spectre Eyes play minimalist, no-wave tinged Post-Rock in the vein of Swans or late-period Talk Talk.

The production is excellent, with a surprisingly clean guitar taking center stage.

Only for rainy days.

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1. The Giant Worm- Castings

This is a bit of an odd one out.

The Giant Worm is firmly indebted to the old school of avant-garde, the Beat Poets, The Fluxus, etc.

Castings is an album of improvisational spoken word set to improvisational music yet, somehow, it sounds cohesive and intentional.

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