Glaukom Synod - Uczulony

ARTIST: Glaukom Synod

ALBUM: Uczulony

LABEL: Hydra Records

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 5-11-07

Gabriel S., the artist behind French noise project Glaukom Synod, uses a small home studio and limited technology to create music far more brutal and extreme than most five-member metal bands could accomplish. Starting off with harsh industrial noise and brutal bellows on "One Step To Heaven" and "The Hypocritical Anonymous (Emptiness Pride)," this CD eventually progresses from pure noise into a more metal-inspired, though no less abrasive, series of loops, grinding sounds, and low-end feedback. "Transluminescence to the Cube" loops bursts of death metal guitar over high-speed industrial beats, and "Dawn of the Miserable," a remix of fellow French project Abyssal Suffering, sprinkles chopped up guitars and gurgled vocals over random breakbeats. While the heaviness is repeated more or less throughout, Glaukom Synod's themes range from creepy but concrete brutality, as on the sped-up whimpers of "The Spirit Of The Well (100 Years)," to pure noisy abstraction, as on the frantic electronic snippets of "Perplexity" or motors and clicks of "Rewind the Spiral." It's hardly dance music, but fans of the more electronic end of extreme music will appreciate the occasional nods to straightforward rhythm; "La Traitement De Grace," in fact, is almost funky, though the processed screams serve to remind you not to get carried away by the booty-shaking beats. This album is anything but dance music; it's dark and abrasive enough, in fact, that after hearing it, you may never want to dance again. For fans of the roughest edges of the noise and metal underground, though, Glaukom Synod's blend of grindcore and industrial is sweet as candy (metaphorically speaking, of course). Have a taste, if you've got the nerve.

For more information about this artist, visit https://glaukomsynod.site.voila.fr/.