Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Christopher Ropes - The Operating Theatre(book) [Dynatox Ministries - 2015]

The Operating Theatre is the first book of poetry from New Jersey based Christopher Ropes. Mr Ropes will be most known to long time M[m] readers as the mind behind Nighttime In The Abyss, which blends together disturbing spoken word, blacked noise, power electronics, black metal, and dark ambience into a distinctive & highly troubling sonic strew.

The 68  page book appeared in 2015 on Dynatox Ministries- the publishing company of Bizarro writer Jordan Krall. The book comes in the form of a perfectly bound paperback, with a ltd edition of 25 copies coming with a CDR of occult noise from Mr Ropes- sadly this edition is now sold out, but the standard edition is still available.

The book takes in twenty five poems altogether, and these last between less than a page to over fourteen pages. And the often tortured  & intense poems subject range moves from occult obsessions, sleazy & troubled life’s, perverse & violent outpourings, and psychiatrically troubled musings.

Mr Ropes prose are straight to the point, yet often intense in their brutal descriptive-ness. Sure the lack of sonic backing does lessen slightly the impact of Mr Ropes spiel, but his written words still simmer with a highly troubled & at times disturbed mind set. He pulls you in with his words, then batters you with their brutal & unsettling power. This is not poetry for relaxation or contemplation, this is poetry to unsettle & rage at ones own sanity.

The CDR that came with the ltd edition featured a single  excusive Nighttime In The Abyss track, and  it’s entitled “The Tatters Of The King”. This thirty four minute work is a dense & brain worming affair that brings together unwell ambience, buzzing drones, slurred ritual clashers ‘n’ swirls , stretched & melted vocal noises, and troubled  whispers. I guess it’s not as searing noise bound as some of the projects work, been more of layer detailed affair that pulls you in with it’s subtle yet disturbing shifts.  The whole track nicely fits the mood of the book, and works as an effective soundtrack to Mr Rope’s words.

Certainly if you enjoy Mr Ropes sonic work this is a must have item, but beyond that fans of intense, and highly troubled prose will find much here to satisfy their needs here too. As I said early the ltd edition version is sadly long out of print, but the standard edition can still be ordered direct from Dynatox Ministries here

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Christopher Ropes - The Operatin...
The Operating Theatre is the first book of poetry from New Jersey based Christopher Ropes. Mr Ropes will be most known to long time M[m] readers as the mind ...
290324   Piranha - Piranha(DVD)
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom