Godlesstate - Godlesstate [Hagshadow - 2016]Here we have the debut album from Patrick Leagas new project Godlesstate, and it’s dark, dense, and layered journey into electronica, noise, modern industrial music, and creative genre blending. Leagas started off his sonic life as a key member of the fledgling Death In June, going onto form respected post industrial/ electroincia/ experimental project 6comm in 1986- in the last year or so he officially announced their would be no more 6comm…with Godlesstate being his new sonic outlet. I guess if you are familiar with 6 Comm’s blend of Coil like dark electronics, ethnic percussion/ dense rhythmic matter, melodic touches, clever sound source manipulation and splattering of avant-garde twists and turns- you will be semi-prepared for what Leagas does with Godlesstate. But really the project is a lot, lot dark, denser & often less set song based. With 6 Comm there was mostly a fairly formal song setting in place, and of course you had Leagas often prominent vocals which came across as a blend of Jonh Balance, Scott Walker and Marc Almond….for the most part these are not present here. This album takes in 11 tracks in all, and a runtime of sixty five mintues. And though the tracks here were written & recorded between 2014 & 2016, there is a really disctict sonic identity running through-out most of this albums run time- and it’s a very dark, mis-shapeled, often sour, and off-kilter vibe. Pretty much all of the tracks here are thick, unpredictable, and strange blends of electrionic percussion, brooding & suffocating horn ‘n’ synth layers, shifting ethnic percussive & elements, droning-to- sinister vocals, discordant piano bangs & horn bays, & all manner of unsettling sonic flotsam & jetsam- all stirred together to create a truly nightmarish, horror-filled & often disorientating experience. The feeling of dark disorientation & off-kilter-ness really pervades the whole release, it’s only in the last two or three tracks where the sound returns to a slightly more harmonic, lighter, and formal song like feel…though I have a feeling this is very much deliberate, as the last three tracks are separated from the previous eight on the track listing by a rune like line on the back of the CD track listing. All in all Godlesstate is a fearful, troubling, and dense record that will take you time & effort to navigate, unlock & come-to-terms with. If you where a fan of 6comm & Leagas other work, this certainly worthy of your time…just don’t expect a easy-ride, or a re-hash of his past endeavours…as Godlesstate is a very darker & different beast. Roger Batty
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