Mourmansk150 - Live Action [Toxic Industries - 2010]Taken from a series of live recordings from the Noise Destruction Syndrome Tour, this limited edition cassette consists of 9 tracks from the French three-piece Mourmansk150, who started blasting out their blistering, misanthropic, anarcho-nihilist music in the late 1990's. This is fabulous noise from the screeching pit of despair, and could be variously described as Power Electronics, Harsh Noise, Ambient Drone or Death Industrial. Influences or similar noise outfits would be the Undisputed Gods of Industrial Noise: Throbbing Gristle, plus Whitehouse, Con-Dom and Broken Flag, to name but a few. Mourmansk150's avowed leftist intention is to negate the nefarious inequities of our so called 'civilisation' and its soul-draining conformist/capitalist programme of debasement and depersonalisation, by fighting back with a flaming cauldron of hateful lyrics, distressed, tormented vocals, and confrontational, grinding noise-violence. This they achieve with flying colours (of black noise). There are some brilliant tracks here - it's a very satisfying experiment with the outer limits of electronic noise-melodies. I won't try to dissect each track, as its all of a piece, and could easily be digested as one whole concept album, even though these are - presumably - all taken from separate tracks and live performances from the aforementioned tour. However, this supreme noise cataclysm is constructed from a mixture of degraded electronic samples, extended drones, tape-loops, feedback static, lurching, half-dead rhythms, and aggressive, screaming vocals. There is morose, skewed beauty here, in many forms. Mourmansk150 come from a distorted space of drone-destruction, where birth-death mind-orgasms are catapulted from the fire and ice of an insane, violent dimension. They are throwing brain-bullets of pain, anger and disgust back at the grotesque menagerie of humanities psychotic manifestations. They are purveyors of Twisted Noise of Dissent. If you are pissed off with our somnambulant, X-Factor-guzzling, mainstream, media-led society, or the vile evils perpetrated against us by our so-called 'leaders' and their greedy government-corporations, then shove this tape into your stereo, lock the doors and freak the fuck out! I assure you - you will feel a lot better afterwards. In the immortal words of Howard Beale (from the superb film Network - 1976, Sidney Lumet) "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!". James DC
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