The very mention of a collaboration between Cold Meat Industry heavyweights Raison D'etre and Deutsch Nepal should garner the attention of "death industrial" fanatics, and all but the uninitiated should anticipate hearing essentially what they expected from the duo's sophomore release.
A recording from a 2002 concert in New York City, The Sound of Black Cloggs offers little in the way of surprises. It's a slight disappointment considering the unrealized potential of this meeting of the two Peter Anderssons (no relation), although I imagine neither the audience nor the later CD listeners could feel let down by the Swedish display of doom and gloom.
The album opens with "Interbreeding Politics at Boxholm Bruk," a slab of gnarled ambience reliant on ominous atmospheres, snarling synths, and distant mechanical clangs. "The Horror of Kisa," originally presented on the debut Excursions by the Bank of the Black River thrusts rhythm into the forefront with an undanceable throbbing loop only briefly subdued by the cold breathing soundscapes that support it. The noise drops out dramatically at the onset of "Kommisarie Olofsson," with shimmering drones and chimes merging with the now familiar musical themes of this performance. A voice emerges, almost certainly that of Lina Baby Doll (Deutsch Nepal), infrequently murmuring and muttering in German over this mix of light and dark sounds. Distorted assembly line percussion ushers in "Stenbock and His Disciples," recalling visions of an abandoned or haunted factory from some otherwise forgotten horror movie.
Something resembling a siren sweeps into the mix periodically, adding to the filmic dramatics in the build-up to the thrilling finale, "Bi-Rath, The Beast of the Forge." The monolithic closer's minimalist beat monotonously bludgeons with stereophonic echoes as piercing pads evoke something otherworldly or unholy, standing in stark contrast to the bleak industrial purity of the preceeding tracks. A studio version of this would be more than desirable.
While this live document wont revolutionize any related subgenres, such a conclusion does not diminish the release's overall value. Rather, compared to the numerous self-indulgent musical pairings I've been subjected to in 2005, Bocksholm's sound sustainably entices, occasionally flickering with the innovative sparks of its masterminds.
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