Reviews
[C & D Services] [Creative
Loafing] [Dark Velvet] [Dead
Angel] [Fresh Cow Pie] [Improvijazzation
Nation] [Outburn Magazine] [QRD]
[Sorted Magazine, MusicDish, Flow Online]
[Stomp and Stammer] [Your
Flesh]
- Dark Velvet - Issue #3
- The gorey packaging to this release reminds me of Rozz Williams'
style album art--mutilated bodies, physical deformities...you
name it. The music too, reminds me of what Rozz might be doing
as a side-project today if he were still among the living.
And the song titles reveal all: "Flesh That Moves," Dora's
Deliverance," "They Hide Life"--you get the
idea here. Demented lyrics delivered by male and female vocals
over a painful guitar/bass/drum sound. At times totally sane
and at times it's like having a maniac loose in the house.
A really neat release from a band that I've never heard of
previous to this...and even though they are on the same label
with Bethany Curve, they are NOTHING like them. See what happens
when Nina Hagen (psycho-weird) meets Christian Death (gothic)
meets Half Japanese (eclectic).
- Fresh Cow Pie - Issue #4
- Such a frustrating record for me to get into. The music is
awesome intensely dark cinematic soundscape stuff ala Mogwai
and Godspeed You Black Emperor. The female singer presents
a hurdle I just can't get over. She's too melodramatic, like
she's trying to be Patti Smith and Diamanda Galas rolled into
one. I'll keep playing it over and over though, because the
music is just too damn good to let sit on my shelf.
- C & D Services
- Every so often a CD comes along for which your initial impressions,
as a reviewer, are a combination of 'oh hell', 'why me', 'god,
this is different' and 'how the hell am I going to review this?'
Imagine My Bloody Valentine with a sax player, In The Nursery's
rhythm section and Siouxsie of Banshees fame on occasional
vocals. Actually, this has got traces of early Banshees in
there, but it's a lot more dense, more post-rock and less punk.
(in fact no punk). The compositions are thickly structured,
oozing musical layers from every pore, with a tense, taut nature
that sets the heart rate racing and the nerve-ends jangling,
.or inhabits more haunting depths that are dark and stark,
but then build up on waves of samples, tumbling, military-esque
drums, distorto-guitars, layered vocals that are more hell
than heaven but still blissful, whining backdrops and a type
of music that threatens to fall apart at any minute. Occasionally
they go into areas that are pure Banshees but so much more
dense, strong and raging than Siouxie ever dared to g, as a
massive, swarming set of music rises high into the airwaves.
Very varied yet totally consistent, this is really new music
that I just loved and is one of the finest new bands in this
area that I have heard in a long time, totally different and
ultimately refreshing and rewarding, a real blast in every
sense of the word. - Andy G.
- Your Flesh Quarterly - Issue #42
I had to look again and again at the CD cover and then visit
the web site to verify that this is indeed a new release by
a current band. I was thrown off by the sound of it, the look
of it, the types of reverd, the type of playing. I thought
I was listening to something from 1987.
Picture the era that included these bands (and their peers,
who I can't remeber right now) at their most audacious: Mudwimmin,
Tragic Mulatto, Hellcows, Butthole Surfers. The time when post-punk
rock went tribal. (Or maybe the second time that happened.)
Occasionally atonal, emotion-laden, super-intense female vocals, "scary," churning,
searing guitar; a saxophone; keyboards; pounding drums. I had
no idea there were any bands today making this type of music.
Maybe it's an Atlanta thing. Confused sexual aggro angst. Centurions
in bloody body paint marching across the empty lot that's full
of broken televisions and dirty needles. Medievil medical dictionary
illustrations come to life. I'm not saying I'm in love with
this sound; I'm just trying to describe it. Need catharsis?
Try this. - Anne Eickelberg - Outburn
Magazine - Issue #9
- Atlanta, Georgia's Pineal Ventana unleash a fearless album
of ferocious songs and anti-songs on their third full-length,
and first release for art/avant-rock label Unit Circle. Malpractice is
like a rabid musical circus, where nothing seems quite right,
and Pineal Ventana are performing on the musical high wire
without a net and don't seem to care. At times, Malpractice contains
remote elements and attitudes that fondly remind me of Bauhaus,
Swans and even the Velvet Underground. From the gutteral grunts
and seething vocals of Clara Clamp to the ritualistic percussion
of Mitchell F. and the disturbing sax of Shane Pringle, Pineal
Ventana create a blood curdling, out of control, and undeniable
album of power and perversion. Highlights include the eerie
and off-kilter opening track "Hollow," the dark dirge
of "The Hooded Mirror," and the ballad-like "Ruin." -
rodent EK
- Sorted Magazine, Music Dish,
Flow Online
- I want to see this band live. That's all I can say. Actually,
that's not all I can say, but that's my first impression after
listening to this disc. If the CD can convey this much energy
and passion and leave me this absolutely breathless, their
live shows must cause coronaries and epileptic fits on a regular
basis. And that's exactly what I'm into right now-near-death
experiences. Here's another thing I can say - it is so nice
to get a CD in the mail with such an awesome physical presentation
(artwork, disc title, band name, etc) and have them live up
to my starry-eyed expectations. Too much of this stuff ends
up being just noisy, monotonous heavy metal with stupid lyrics
sung by greasy-haired, overweight men that secretly long to
do high school all over again. "Malpractice," however,
is loaded with awesome sax paired with an incredible rhythm
and guitar section-imagine Lydia Lunch ("Teen-Age Jesus..." era)
making an attempt to be musical along with the noise, without
compromising any of the electricity. - Holly Day.
- Stomp
And Stammer - May '99
- I do know that Pineal Ventana's brand new debut for
Seattle's Unit Circle Rekkids is the best album by an Atlanta
band I've heard all year. Menacing and sensuous, it accentuates
the strengths of past recordings while stripping the self-indulgent
fat. A damn impressive accomplishment! Best drums of
any band in the city, hands down. But where are the Judas Priest
covers? - Jeff Clark
- Dead Angel - Issue #36
This is definitely a step up in every direction for Atlanta's
weirdest band -- in terms of artwork, production, cohesiveness,
everything. This is the first album on which the glandular
ones actually sound like a band instead of a shrapnel-infested
cyclone in progress. Not that there was anything wrong with
that -- their sonic fury has always been most pleasing -- but
it's nice for once to hear their ominious dirges o' doom articulated
with a bit more precision and clarity. Some of the credit for
the sudden step up in production values undoubtedly goes to
Martin Bisi -- given his inolvement, i don't think the Swans-like
feel of the drums on tracks like "The Hooded Mirror" are
any accident -- but i suspect a lot of it is just simply due
to the band finally having the chance to work in a proper studio
after eons of fire-breathing live shows.
The album opens with "Hollow," a creepy dirge of
bowed electric guitar squeals and moody stuff (more guitar
drones? keyboards? who the hell knows?) lapping like the ocean
in the background as Clara Clamp goes on about being washed
away by the sea... which, from a sonic perspective, is a perfect
intro to
"The Hooded Mirror," basically a Swans-like snare
beat repeated endlessly with psychotic intensity as the rest
of the band builds on top of it. By the time the keyboards
come in and Clara decides to weigh in with her quavering harpy
vox, she sounds like the angel of death flying over a city
collapsing block by block. "Crack in the Light (Crack
in His Eye" fades in with their specialty -- loping tribal
drums and Clara (heavily reverbed here) carrying on like a
woman deep in the throes of psychosis or possession, followed
by twisting reels of guitar distortion and at last thick waves
of sound; "Taenia Solium" follows in a similar but
even less restrained fashion, harking back to their earlier
hurricane-delirium style.
But then comes the surprise -- the slow, brooding pulse of "Dora's
Deliverance,"
like the blues gone tribal. Clara starts out in talk-talk mode,
carrying on a conversation that's almost impossible to discern
since she's mixed down below the music, but as it increases
in intensity before drawing back like a snake and suddenly
revving up to cyclone speed, she goes into full-tilt shriek
mode, sounding most scary and flat-out demented. Oooo, the
headless sno-cone girl approves! "Rats for Belmer" introduces
weird found sounds into the atmosphere (along with another
heavily repetitive beat) and mainly gets bonus points for the
title, but "Flesh That Moves" is a most swell exercise
in atmosphere that blends an obscure sample (i think) and washes
of sound into a thick soup that gradually coalesces into an
actual song of no small fury and impact. "They Hide Life" is
mainly an exercise in scary drones (more of that bowed guitar
at work) that leads into "Ruin," apparently the Pineal
answer to goth, one that works much better than you'd expect
for a band weaned on the runaway -train-on-fire aesthetic.The
final track, "Practice," clearly demonstrates their
newfound confidence in mixing the quiet and subtle with the
loud and scary -- a twinkly keyboard motif is gradually joined
by oscillator tones, squeaks and squawks, and other ominous
noise, all serving as backing for a sample of a medical professional
pontificating on the subject of medicine... but instead of
going out in blinding waves of sonic terrorism, they allow
it to fade back down and out. A suave move.
Needless to say, this comes highly recommended, particularly
as an introduction to the band. Special mention should also
be made of the power-packed graphics -- Unit Circle has a reputation
for turning out nice-looking CD packages, but this is something
else. Never ones to shy away from the concept of presenting
the beauty in ugliness, the front of this CD must be seen to
be believed.... - QRD - Issue #15
- The Ventanas have found a new engineer named Martin Bisi & it's
caused their sound to change slightly, in one of those ways
that you instinctively get mad about at first but grow to love
with subsequent listens. After 5 years of pushing the envelope
as an incredibly tight agressive/tribal/no-wave band they keep
exploiting their talents better. This release has more violin &
bowed guitar & songs like "Hollow" & "Crack
in the Light" are some of the creepiest things not imported
from Italy.
- Improvijazzation Nation -
Issue #37
- Jaded (near) goth from this Atlanta group. This particular
CD was sent by Unit Circle Rekkids, which is the release label.
We’ve reviewed some material from Ventana before, but I don’t
remember it having such heavy drone influences before. If you’re
into that whole scene, this would prob’ly be an anthem for
you, but to me it’s anathema in the immediate! Are they (any)
good at what they do? You BET! Truly soundz’ like Lucifer’s
legions, & I’m sure th’ local branch of chicken-blood slurpers
will have these guitarz’ BLASTING while the maidens are being
slain. Evil is plentiful enough without encouraging it. Sorry,
kiddies, I just can’t get IN to it, though I’m sure there will
be plenty on ‘ludes who will! Thumbs DOWN! - Rotcod Zzaj
- Creative Loafing - April 1999
- Atlanta's Pineal Ventana have always transcended categorization.
Their sound amalgamates punk, improvisation, tribal rhythms
and noise rock. But past releases, such as '97's Breath as
You Might, had an experimental feel that few listeners could
easily consume. There seemed to be six musicians performing
individually, and not as a group. So, rehearsal and maturation
have played an integral role in Pineal Ventana's blistering
new release, Malpractice.
The industrial/noise outfit's sound has jelled with the help
of NYC producer Martin Bisi. Bisi's impressive resume includes
shared production work on recordings by Sonic Youth, John Zorn
and Bill Laswell. What's laudable here is Bisi's ability to
capture PV's caustic energy, and to create a corporeal representation
of the group's powerful live dynamic.
Malpractice also unveils the evolving musicianship of percussionist
Mitch Foy (ex-King Kill/ 33), vocalist Clara Clamp and bassist
John Whitaker (ex-Damage Report). Foy brings the big industrial
rhythms -- care of percussive instruments that include an eclectic
array of car parts, even a gas tank -- which serve as backbone
for most of Malpractice's songs. Clamp's versatile vocals range
from haunting spoken word to ephemeral shrieks, while Whitaker
holds the group together with his thick, reverb bass lines,
perfectly syncopating along to the tribal rhythms. This triumvirate,
along with Jason LaFarge (violin/guitar), Shane Pringle (sax)
and Kim Chee (guitar/percussion), forms PV's first steady line-up
since its beginnings in '93.
Malpractice is a rich, phantasmagoric album, which proves to
be more and more cathartic upon each listen. As enigmatic as
they may be, Pineal Ventana seem to improve with each new project. --
Jeremy Arieh
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