COH "Iron" Wavetrap WAV02 2001 (44:14)
Annum
Per Annum [Pärt 2] (6:12)
East.er.Okay.Hell (6:14)
Love Mites (5:45)
Waltz Nuevo No 2 (6:21)
For
Whom the Dell Falls (4:34)
Rubbing Free (4:51)
Now!
[4'19" into 2000] (4:21)
Spiegel I'm Spiegel (5:56)
"Iron" is the third full length from COH, aka Ivan Pavlov, follow-up proper to 1998's "Enter Tinnitus" and the second release from his own Wavetrap Records. It comes in a thin foldup with cover art created by hot iron pressed to media, the 'wavetrap' logo inside beneath the disc curiously misspelled 'wavecrap'. Past COH albums have been presented as 'pop' and 'disco' while this one is literally dedicated to 'heavy metal fans all over the world'. How serious are we to take this? Some track titles are obvious tongue in cheek takes on various 'classic' metal tunes: "Love Mites" - "Love Bites" by Judas Priest, "For Whom the Dell Falls" - "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica and "Rubbing Free" - "Running Free" by Iron Maiden. Others seem to reference other things: "Annum Per Annum [Pärt 2]" pays homage, at least in title, to the organ work of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt while "Now! [4'19" into 2000]" serves as sequel/reaction to the raster-noton "20' to 2000" series which COH took part in. Obviously Pavlov's wry sense of humor and irony (pun intended) are, as always, at play here too. Regardless, I do think that much of this is indeed influenced by metal music. The 8 tracks are within the 4 to 7 minute range and are undoubtedly songs with refined structures. Layers of computer derived clean/distorted tones, drones, static, squiggles, pops and plunks replace guitars and double bass drums with buzz saw vibrations and rhythmic pulsations. It certainly sounds and feels more like COH than Slayer ... quiet and playful in some places and quite ominous and 'heavy' in others. The joke may be on me, but either way I love it. Pavlov is currently expanding "Netmörk" from the "emre [dark matter]" compilation into a full length album to be released by souRce research recordings later this year ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via COH.