Plastic Boner Band - The Way of All Flesh [Power Silence]

Not really sure what to make of this project's chosen moniker. It doesn't sound "plastic" or like a "band" and, well, putting "boner" in there is just silly. The music is not though.

The Way of All Flesh is out for blood from the get go; the first of four untitled tracks unleashes an in your face, prickly static swarm, like someone let the angry hive loose underneath yr beekeepers mask. There's plenty of crushing rumbles in there too. The track attacks from all sides really. The feel of the record is vehemently bleak. Imagine an iron maiden (the torture device) crammed with a thousand sewing needles. You haven't got a shot in hell to catch your breath. The only "relief" you might find is when the hi-end harshness dies out for a couple seconds. Calling this "noise" is the fucking truth. There's not so much as a hint of melody here; all malice all the time. The second track lingers in limbo, droning in a mid-rangy sphere still with all the brittle fizz intact. The track will send you back to all the nightmares you've ever had in the dentist chair. A choir of tiny drills, chipping away a flurry of enamel. You finally get a chance to let the blood pressure mellow out with the next track. I've got a bit of a head cold as I'm reviewing this and man this bit of peace is much appreciated. A pulsing synth tone enters and exits in a cycle while a gust of wind blows. More loops creep in ever so patiently. Moving from the extreme minimalism of the first half into the slightly more, though still sparsely, populated second half, what sounds like a crusty locked groove grinds endlessly against quivering, barely-there drones. A hypnotic little rhythm develops almost making me forget the record's anguished first 20 minutes. The final track brings back the bristling noise but also manages to retain traces of the groove that was established in the previous track. The piece stomps forward with an irreverent melody. The signals are still steeped in saturation but this track has a trace of humanity to it. The modest melody struggles forward against the blizzard, sometimes just trying to hold its ground. It's the little engine that could for the noise set. Locking in with what could viably be an impending meltdown alarm, the track begins to hypnotize until shifting the gears, slowing the loop down a little. Nearing the halfway point the beat briefly cuts through the feedback fog. In spite of the still oppressive presence of unstoppable white, black, pink, green (etc.) noise this track comes off as slightly friendlier as there are flashes of melody, rhythms and general warbliness as opposed to the gridlocked brain attack of the first two. There is more of an evolution to the piece. And I always find squirrelier noise freak outs to be a warmer and more fuzzy experience than having a static warhead slowly crammed down my ear canal.

Despite the noticeably more "pleasant" second half, the first two tracks are a relentless, heavy duty ear cleaning; you like it or you don't. The tracks could probably put the scare in anyone, the question is will you embrace the fear?

The disc is apparently a CDr but everything about it (shrink wrap included) seems pro-pressed so good work there.