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Granite Mask, "Her Venomous Hiss"
With only a handful of releases available, Granite Mask is quite an enigma. Little information about the project can be found online, and the artwork on their output is abstract to stay the least. The lack of information is fitting their murky, abstract sound, which does a brilliant job of mixing conventional electronic rhythms with dissonant, abstract blasts of noise.
Granite Mask’s use of what sounds to be vintage analog drum machines and electronics result in the more song-like moments, even amidst long passages of abstract noise."Pulsating Yarn" leads off with accessible synth patterns and moments of rhythm, but the other half of the mix is comprised of explosive blasts of noise."Venom" wraps the faster rhythm in a cloak of distortion, and GM adds a series of textural, dissonant patterns of noise.The piece may stay relatively static throughout, but that makes for a fitting deconstruction of dance music.
The heavy static throughout "Initiation" prevents the piece from becoming too traditional in its approach:a jarring kick drum and hints of melody pass through but are never strong enough to ground it into a dance floor friendly work."Chinatown" may feature a simple, pummeling bass line and more memorable rhythm, but the overall backing is raw and abstract enough to mostly engulf everything else.It too may mimic the staunch repetition of dance music, but there is a notable amount of subtle, yet effective development as it proceeds.
Granite Mask's penchant for experimentation ventures in a different direction on "Retaliation."Rather than simply blending noise in, the group introduces more complex rhythm programming. Along with a battery of delays and reverb, this makes for a more dub-heavy piece. On "Drops," however, the overall structure is looser, with the rhythms kept sparse to emphasize rich expanses of synthesizer.While there is still a fair amount of effects and processing, the result is a more pure sounding piece of music.
The most conventionally musical piece closes the album.On "In an Alley," Granite Mask sticks to mostly techno/electro beats and bass, with the overall structure and composition of the song remaining faithful to that.However, the entirety of its sound and character is the right about of abnormal, adding a significant amount of depth to something that could otherwise just be a piece of repeating sequences.
The ambiguity of Her Venomous Hiss, and the Granite Mask project as a whole, adds an extra dimension to the music on this tape, but that is not a necessity in the grand scheme of appreciation.The noise and dissonant elements used here are excellent, acting more as a complex textural element rather than just an indiscernible wall of static.Compounded with tasteful implementation of conventional rhythms and bass synthesizers, the result is a brilliant piece of music.
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