release date: Feb. 26, 2021
format: digital (2 x File, FLAC - SBR267digital)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Blanck Mass
label: Sacred Bones - nationality: England, UK
5th studio album by one-man project Blanck Mass follows 1½ years after Animated Violence Mild (Aug. 2019) (the album is released on bandcamp).
Compared to all other albums credited Blanck Mass this one is of another construct, so to say. All other previous albums contain various different compositions - most of which are of 'normal' running times going from 2 to 10 minutes, however, this contains two tracks only that basically are one composition split in two to fit traditional vinyl releases. "Phase I" has a running time just above 21 minutes and the "Phase II" a running time just below 20 minutes, but when played as digital files it's clear they appear seamless parts of the same composition - the digital album comes with a third 'bonus track': "Starstuff (Single edit)", which in essence is an edited outtake of the first part of "Phase I".
Musically, this has turned out as more complex, with greater variation, which implies both ambient moments, and bits of almost extreme white noise - and everything in between.
My initial verdict had me think of In Ferneaux ['Inferno'] as a step back and to what could sound like a minor work, but after having played it over several times, I kinda like the result, although, it's still a complex and somewhat experimental release that also bridges his more progressive work released under the moniker Fuck Buttons together with Andrew Hung and that of his solo music as Blanck Mass. In some ways because this is both more ambient and experimental in the way Fuck Buttons has styled their albums, and to some extent more upfront and 'hard', and yet, progressive bits, here and there, could point to inspiration in early techno days.
