Music > Album Reviews

Black Midi - Schlagenheim

20/06/19

Black Midi’s new record is roughly what you would expect from the elusive outfit. These freshly graduated music college students open their record with a raucously raw torrent of energy and weight. The opener, 953, is enough to knock anyone off of their feet. It combines the dark folk of Metallica with flashes of Code Orange, strokes of Black Sabbath alongside King Gizzard’s psychy tendencies. The experimentation of Frank Zappa, and even to some extent the guitar tone from Queens of the Stone Age or their older brother Kyuss is palpably noticeable. Perhaps one of the most striking comparisons can be made with their contemporary jazz counterparts. All in all, a reverence for the avant-garde is striking.

With complex rhythms, it takes surreal turns in dynamics and texture, cascading rock avalanches of rock ‘n’ roll – this band push boundaries. It’s interesting and strikingly potent. The percussion on the LP is phenomenally relentless, precise down to each hit – managing to tow the line between sharp, snappiness and sonic anarchy.

On Near DTMI strained vocals shout ‘dead in the water’ before descending into a deranged guitar hurt locker – rhythms galore, it twists satisfyingly for its short duration. It is one of the most intense tracks of the record, elucidating threat in a two-minute rollercoaster.

Securing denunciations of diabolical caterwauling (Laura Snapes of the Guardian) and exaltation in the form of wonderful cryptic crossword in musical form (Steve Lemacq of 6Music). This album has clearly divided people. It is an album that is polarising in two senses: the sound and the comments on it. It can go from a dissonant hellish chamber to a perfectly serene soundscape. On its calmer side, Western has a beautifully twangy banjo and a guitar riff that glides around it spaciously (side note: cowboys are back with jazz-rock!)

Of Schlagenheim has a thunderous fuzzy bass line, as well as a lot of stranger sounds. There’s something otherworldly about a lot of the tracks on the record, akin to Speedway- there’s a futuristic quality. The sounds are what you’d imagine coming out of a retro sci-fi game.

Like a ‘you’re in the bathroom at a party’ video this is more like ‘you’re in the bathroom at an extremely violent film’ video – bmbmbm features a cacophonous screeching and wailing that largely is unidentifiable other than it being a human who isn’t particularly happy. The bassline marches on in the background, with a relentless repetition that’d be familiar ground to any post-punk aficionado. Geordie Greep talks over the top of this, with what sounds like a drug-fuelled rant, repeating, stumbling like Mark E. Smith before the track descends into a wall of noise, screeching guitars and colossal percussion

This record has grooves in the right places, riotous noise-rock when required and enough depth to keep any music fan coming back to it. It’s rich with melodies, rhythms and musical themes that make it one of the most interesting releases of 2019. While not being great for binge-listening, it will last a while with anyone who prefers their music leftfield.

8/10