Review Summary: Mothers And Daughters - You Need It
Brighter Death Now is the power electronics project of Roger Karmanik, founder of infamous Swedish record label Cold Meat Industry. He has been releasing material on and off since the late 80's, carving a niche for BDN as one of the biggest names in the noise scene all whilst pioneering the death industrial subgenre acts such as Genocide Organ, MZ.412 and Navicon Torture Technologies have made their bread and butter at one time or another. For the uninitiated, this tag is attributed where there are pensive qualities to the music that lend more towards something of a dense, atmospheric sound often featuring distorted vocals, but this line with traditional power electronics is never clear and it can be a confusing mess.
In any case, the music of Brighter Death Now is nothing short of terrifying and Karmanik's 2000 release
Obsessis is a perfect example of the sonic assault the man is capable of.
Intercourse - Now Is The Time begins the album with an incomprehensible barrage of noise frequencies, a vicious concoction that sets things off on a difficult note. It isn't until
Hipp Hipp Hurray - I Will Kill You Today that the true strengths of the project start to become apparent however, with rhythmic noise loops and tortured vocals following a well defined hypnotic, intricate pattern.
You Got Sperm On Your Jacket - I Know 'Cause It's Mine,
In Circles - Psycho Circles and
Mothers And Daughters - You Need It are similarly abrasive exercises in palatable aural destruction, but it is the subtle, intense nature of
A B C D - Learn A Lesson,
Obsessis - For Me and
I Can't Get No Sadistfaction - Oh, How I Try that steal the show. Dwelling more in the realms of dark ambient, these are much more introspective and subdued in nature than anything else on offer here and as a result, are simply captivating.
Obsessis is a superb power electronics release, one that will surely please fans of noise music looking for something abrasive and harsh but restrained enough to breathe a little. Karmanik's flirtations with dark ambient, death industrial, and whatever myriad of subgenres you want to label his work as are well defined enough to be distinctive, and in a genre where it is easy for an artists body of work to get lost in a sea of mediocrity Brighter Death Now is up there leading the pack.
