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IRM, "Closure..."
Concluding a trilogy of releases that began with 2008's Indications of Nigredo and 2010's Order4, Closure... is a dense, operatic work of noise and harsh electronics. Tied together as an album and an overarching narrative, it is a bleak and grating disc that conveys violence throughout. It is a challenging and complex work, but a multifaceted one that takes multiple playings to deconstruct and fully appreciate.
IRM—the trio of vocalist Martin Bladh, Erik Jarl, and Mikael Oretoft—take cues from a multitude of difficult genres, resulting in nine pieces that never have the band relenting in darkness, either through overt force or insinuated maliciousness.About half of the songs that make up the album are blunt, confrontational outbursts of noise."Closure I" is all massive percussion and shrill squeals of electronics.Bladh's vocals appear nearly indecipherable here and throughout the remainder of the album in a similar way:buried in a pool of flanging and filtering that give his voice a sinister, otherworldly quality.Jerky vocals and abusive rhythms abound on "Closure IV" as well, having less of a distorted, and more of a militant industrial sound to it.
Without the percussion, "Closure II" might not be as immediately intense, but the buzzing and aggressive electronics act as a forceful accompaniment to the vocals."Closure VII" is another piece where the ensemble channels aggression without the rhythmic additions.Instead, it is Bladh's vocals doing battle with layers of synth distortion, building and compounding to an explosive wall of noise climax that is not far removed from Macronympha’s best work.
The trio dial back the dissonance for other parts of the album, resulting in more pieces that lurk rather than assault.For most of its duration, "Closure III" is a calmer, quieter piece of music.Ticking clocks, spoken word and what sounds like sheets of rain conjure a mood, albeit a gloomy one.Similarly, much of "Closure V" stays on the ambient end of the spectrum, with scraping cello strings by Jo Quail buried under buzzing electronics and a dark, sinister bass throb.Spoken word and abrasive sonics enhance the bleakness of "Closure VIII," with a more conventional and calmer bass guitar melody that underscores it.
There is clearly an central narrative to Closure…, but the heavily processed vocals make it anything but clear.There is the recurring motif of both performance and execution, and the intersection of both, which is bolstered by the shadowplay images presented throughout the accompanying booklet.Even divorced from its thematic content, however, Closure… is a haunting and harrowing work of harsh electronics that carries just as much intensity in its music as it does the words.
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