Parallel Evolution

Aaron Funk
Originally uploaded by pattern loader.

I'm in a bad mood, so we're going to be talking about the noisy evil sounding crap I listen to when I get like this. As much as I would love to listen to nice choral music like Dave Hykes or Anonymous 4 all the time, occasionally I crave something with a little edge to it.



Which is why I've never completely written off Vex'd.

They have a Murdoch owned website which I refuse to link to but you should probably be aware of their Sileni remix as well as their newer beats for Planet Mu. So I'll do what Gutterbreakz used to do and link you directly to Bleep.



As far as sound design goes, they lead the field in my small corner of the electronic music fanbase. I like Distance's riffs better, the whole Gary Numan covering Korn thing works for this former System of a Down fan. But now that I've discovered where Daron Malakian copped his style from (Voivod), I don't have much use for Serj's gibberish.

Alas I will never be 17 ever again.

So yeah, Vex'd, I've accused them of being a gateway drug for Venetian Snares fans. I don't think that I was entirely offbase in that accusation, but now that these people have been converted Mike Paradinas is releasing some absolutely prime Benga cuts. So Vex'd now have my grudging admiration for increasing the interest in Dubstep to begin with.

Good on you, keep it up.

And I don't get to talk crap about how noisy their productions are when I spend my time listening to Blut Aus Nord. There is a kind of eerie parallel evolution between dark ambient and black metal and the noiser, more aggressive end of this scene. Maybe its because we have so many ex-metal heads involved. Hell, Scorn was in Napalm Death. The Bug, despite his love of reggae, spent most of the 90's in Techno Animal with Justin Broadrick also of Napalm Death. Funny thing is, I hate grindcore and can't stand the album that they were on together. Grindcore combines everything I hate about rock, punk, hardcore, and metal into one unlistenable, overly technical mess.

But then again, I don't get to talk, I listen to Anaal Nathrakh.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone actually think that this music is in a different genre than Venetian Snares - Making Orange Things?



At a certain point I lose track of what's post-jungle, gabba-fried power-noise, and what's blackened noise metal with programmed blastbeats. Its all just screamy computer music isn't it?

Or to be more imprecise,

Isn't it all what used to get called Industrial in the 90s?

Despite the fact that the Canadian and English misanthropes responsible for this hideous racket belong to very different communities they seem to be working towards the same ends with different methodologies.

Birmingham and Winnipeg must be miserable places to live.

And I live in Central Minnesota, I don't want to think how cold its going to be in a couple of months.

Winnipeg is a hella long way north of here, poor bastard.

Just a reminder, the industrial fanbase and the dub fanbase have been stepping on each others toes since, well at least the mid 80s. Adrian Sherwood of On U Sound did do all those mixes for Skinny Puppy, and well, Depeche Mode too.

I'm going to be honest, I was a teenage Ministry fan.

Yeah I know its not "real" industrial. Yes, I know what "real" industrial is.

I love Coil, but not Throbbing Gristle. Weird, huh?

Oh yeah, I "heart" Mike Paradinas.

More Benga!