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FRYKTELIG STØY “Incandescent”
FRYKTELIG STØY “Incandescent”
By Dr. Abner Mality
FRYKTELIG STØY means “horrible noise” in Norwegian. Whether it lives up to that description is a matter of individual taste, but I’ve heard sounds much more hideous than this...especially from acts on the band’s own label, I, Voidhanger. That doesn’t mean “Incandescent” is an easy listen. It’s about as cheerful as sleet on a gray November day.
It is basically a one woman project, the creation of Em Støy, who is definitely using the record to work out some issues. I would describe FRYKTELIG STØY as a kind of depressing black metal doom with an organic feel. The doom is not the crushing, city-levelling kind, but more of a bleak, dour mood that soaks into everything. Em’s vocals are pained even when they are in “normal” mode. It sounds like she’s trying to channel all the tragedies of womanhood into her voice, whether it’s screams, moans or Bjork-like crystal cleans. This is a very atypical release for I, Voidhanger. The songs are relatively short and straightforward, although there is a grim kind of twist that FRYKTELIG STØY reserves for itself alone.
It opens with an unholy roaring blast on “Black Swan”, a ferocious black metal song that gradually slows into a doleful trudge. “Be Cursed” is weird in the extreme...kind of like a stripped down, doomy DEATHSPELL OMEGA with witch’s whispers, creepy bass and spider-like guitar chords. From this point on, the doomier, slower material begins to dominate. “The Ocean” has a tortured, jangly sound mixing doom and black metal. Weirdness and sorrow grows on tracks like “Guide” and “Birthing”, where you can almost make comparisons to SWANS and GODFLESH. The tunes are not complex but are very uneasy listening.
This little patch of sunshine ends with “Helix” and “Manifest”, both of which are longer (but not unbearably so) tracks. When “Incandescent” concludes, you will feel like you’ve walked a muddy road in freezing rain with a woman whose children have just died. It creates a mood, that’s for sure.
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