Freitag, 6. September 2013

REVIEW: BIZARRE UPROAR - PERVERSE BIZARRE HUMILIATION (Noise, 2013)





Even after almost 20 years of existence, Bizarre Uproar is more alive and active than ever before. Shortly after the release of the “Putrid Live Activities” 4-tape box, the artist’s own label “Filth and Violence” treats its noise-fanatic followers to a limited tape version of “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation”, BU’s newest studio album, soon to be released on CD via Freak Animal Records. In its early stages, the project of “Filth and Violence” founder and owner Pasi Markkula played pretty straightforward harsh noise with its own identity. After years of ultra-violent scrapmetal abuse, Bizarre Uproar started to sort of re-invent itself. With landmark works like “Purification”, “Musta Rotta EP”, “Viha & Kiima” and the last full-length “Rape Africa”, the project gained an unmistakable style, marvelously aided by the artworks (i.e. themes) and Pasi’s distinctive vocals. Bizarre Uproar is not only one of the most prolific projects hailing from the “noise El Dorado” Finland, it is also one of the most extreme and perverse ones.





Extreme and perverse are terms, which many may have used to describe the videoclip to the track “Kusi Paska Veri“, taken from “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation“ (editor’s note: this video can’t be directly linked due to its pornographic nature. It is very easy to find on the label’s homepage, though). It shows Pasi wearing a latex mask lying on the floor masturbating. After a few moments, a woman appears, squats over him and defecates onto his chest. She picks parts of her waste up and slowly feeds it to Pasi. In seemingly endless scenes we see him gobbling up the excrement and licking his lips, obviously in a state of total bliss. The inlay cover, which is professionally printed by the way (very unusual for the label), shows a black and white collage of his shit-smeared face and also the track list seems to focus on the self-shot scat video, which was released shortly before the album came out. 



 

The first track “Female Excrement” starts off with extensive sounds taken from a scat session (at least, that’s what it sounds like)accompanied by static, high-frequency sounds, which always have a certain presence, despite the loud talking and gagging. After some running time, I notice that this is not the intro to the track, but the track itself. After the dialogue and the sounds (from the session) end, so do the sounds in the background. Maybe, “Female Excrement” could be seen as more of an intro than a real track, however, it grants access to “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation” in a very interesting way.



This is followed by the track “Bliss”, which also starts out very slowly, presenting static sounds accompanied by odd drumbeats. Although this sound is a bit unusual for Bizarre Uproar, the vocals have remained the same. On “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation” they sound sicker than ever before, sometimes even cruel, but still with a feeling of torment behind them. After a short waiting period, some darker, more aggressive frequencies, reminding of classics like “Musta Rotta”, are discreetly introduced. With every second, they build up tension and become stronger together, reminding of the preceding album “Rape Africa”. However, the approach and the end result are certainly way different. The more distorted and noisy the track gets, the more effective it turns out to be and after a while, as it unfolds all of its power, I start to realize how “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation” is supposed to work.








“Kusi Paska Veri”, the track to which the aforementioned video was released, pursues the virtues established by “Bliss”. The track slowly starts off with piercing and hard sounds, standing in complete harmony and creating a great atmosphere of degeneration. The vocals sound even more extreme and harsh than they did before and are now in the main focus even more. During the first half of this long track, extremely hard sounding, echoing percussion elements are introduced, noticeably contributing to the overall harshness. “Kusi Paska Veri” doesn’t build up, it maintains a level of total sickness and slow hardness, without losing itself in total chaos. The last minutes merely consist of the metallic sounding and droning percussive elements. This may become a little tiring after some time, but somehow it suits the album perfectly due to the aggression it conveys. Be that as it may, the first half of the track is clearly superior to the end.




However, the last track of the album entitled “Bizarre Domination” takes a fully different course. Rythmically beaten drums accompany a filthy sounding bass guitar, playing a pretty straightforward melody. One could possibly classify the beginning as noise-rock, almost contradicting the preceding tracks. After some rocky minutes an ultra-distorted, mean sounding synthesizer sets in and Pasi’s vocals, just as distorted as the synth sounds, relive the viciousness known from Bizarre Uproar’s old days. The second half of “Bizarre Domination” is most surely the most the most chaotic and aggressive material that “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation” has to offer. Short, but very intense and harsh. A worthy closing track!



All in all “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation“ is a very distinct and round piece of noise. The sounds are mostly high-pitched, drawn-out and succeed in creating a very intense atmosphere, although this can oftentimes be ascribed to a deliberately conjured up feeling of monotony. Pasi’s vocals redefine “sickness”, but are not as aggressive as they were on previous recordings. The latter wouldn’t have suited the concept, though. Like many times before, Markkula explores new territories with Bizarre Uproar, but still keeps some trademark qualities alive. “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation” is surely not easily accessible, but all the more interesting. In my opinion, a great listening experience! 


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