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Richard Ramirez & Skin Crime, "Pleasure, Commerce, & Disease"
Harsh noise can be fairly boring stuff, but when done properly, thekind of destruction it can unleash (especially live) is impressive,perhaps reaching that apocalyptic level so many reach for. Both RichardRamirez and Skin Crime are seasoned veterans but they've both foundtheir way to the Troniks/PACrec label for this effort in obliterationand, sadly, the results are a bit mixed.
Troniks/PACrec
With such a provocative title,I was hoping for something a tad more thematic to come from these two.Some variation is in order here and its still unclear to me what any ofthese songs have to do with the theme presented in the artwork and songtitles. "The Smell of Hospitals" and "Some Sedatives" could've been agreat opportunity to revel in the drugged up hallucinations of hospitalpatients and the perpetual discomfort of visitors, but instead they aresimply two grinding pieces of static and whirlpool noise jammed up therear end of a sick man and left there for maximum evisceration. One isloud, the other is soft, but both feel as though they are composed ofvarious ingredients recorded through the remixing properties of ahousehold blender. The excellently titled "This is the Body I OnceOccupied," on the other hand, wraps up the album on a positive note.While it still sounds as though it was recorded with the help of awashing machine or maybe an industrial wood cutter, there's a bit morespace within the stereo and a little more variation pops up on thistrack than anywhere else on the album. It makes for a more interesting,though slightly less intense listen. Pleasure, Commerce, and Diseaseisn't the most varied record ever, which doesn't surprise me: it's beenmade to chew on flesh and bone, not scatter the mind with any amount ofmental trickery. Whatever shortcomings it has in the way of creativeexploration, it attempts to make up for that in sheer volume and gusto.If having bad hearing for a few days isn't bothersome, then Ramirez andSkin Crime have crafted quite a killer worthy of its overpoweringambition. - Lucas Schleicher
Troniks/PACrec
With such a provocative title,I was hoping for something a tad more thematic to come from these two.Some variation is in order here and its still unclear to me what any ofthese songs have to do with the theme presented in the artwork and songtitles. "The Smell of Hospitals" and "Some Sedatives" could've been agreat opportunity to revel in the drugged up hallucinations of hospitalpatients and the perpetual discomfort of visitors, but instead they aresimply two grinding pieces of static and whirlpool noise jammed up therear end of a sick man and left there for maximum evisceration. One isloud, the other is soft, but both feel as though they are composed ofvarious ingredients recorded through the remixing properties of ahousehold blender. The excellently titled "This is the Body I OnceOccupied," on the other hand, wraps up the album on a positive note.While it still sounds as though it was recorded with the help of awashing machine or maybe an industrial wood cutter, there's a bit morespace within the stereo and a little more variation pops up on thistrack than anywhere else on the album. It makes for a more interesting,though slightly less intense listen. Pleasure, Commerce, and Diseaseisn't the most varied record ever, which doesn't surprise me: it's beenmade to chew on flesh and bone, not scatter the mind with any amount ofmental trickery. Whatever shortcomings it has in the way of creativeexploration, it attempts to make up for that in sheer volume and gusto.If having bad hearing for a few days isn't bothersome, then Ramirez andSkin Crime have crafted quite a killer worthy of its overpoweringambition. - Lucas Schleicher
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