Oscillotron "Oblivion" (2024)

This artist made quite an impression on me! Their crafty approach to dark atmosphere through delicate, minimal synths has been a delight to return to over the years. Now trading in the stellar visions of astral tension and alien mystique, Oscillotron returns eight years on to abandon inspired compositions in favor of a dull monotonous drone.

 

Oblivion is unrecognizable, a reeking fuzz of noise to drown too. A blurry haze of hellish bass distortion, muddling through the cracks within its own distortions. The wall of sound makes for brooding, ominous tension, until a few minutes in you realize this is the entire hour, offering rumbles and blemishes as its only discernible distinctions.

 

Drone Metal isn't my cup of tea and the bleak aesthetic on offer does little to impress as a lone offering. Although crafting this particular growl might have been a feat to accomplish, its enduring stay is not. Unlike some other spacey drones I have enjoyed, this pale vibe feels hollow an empty in comparison, a drab rot to rid oneself of.

Rating: 0/10

Commissioner "What Is Commissioner" (2011)

What is Commissioner? That's a reasonable question to ask, but unfortunately the answer is far from. Commissioner is a noisy hash of genre crossing ideas that could of had some chemistry if it wasn't for a horrid execution and lack of emotion. I found this record when researching Suicide Silence's "You Can't Stop Me" record released last year. It was their first without singer Mitch Lurker who participated in this project before his death in 2012. The project is a collaboration with California based producer "Big Chocolate", the man behind "Disfiguring The Goddess" and you can hear a lot of that blunt force trauma vocal production style on this short record.

In an attempt to crossover Deathcore and Dubstep the two create a sour lifeless curdling of blistering noise that lacks any excitement. A continual barrage of wordless, deafening screams play out over a colorless mix of electronics and guitars. The slightly djenty, tonal guitar bludgeons chord after chord without a grain of groove or feeling. The electronics batter away with ugly, awkward textures and alien, industrial noises that are often very unbalanced in the mix and have uninteresting wobbles and noises screeching over what little is going on in the background. Theres a lot of harsh chopping and glitching sounds thrown in too the already clustered and aimless songs, further dispelling any signs of music.

It's truly been an awful listening experience, of the few times I could bare to stomach this record I found nothing in these lifeless noise abuse tracks. On paper a lot of whats going on could work, however the execution seem to suck out all feeling. The heavy guitars could of easily added in a little groove and mosh, but the breakdowns where beyond lackluster and everything about this record just reeked. Its hard to be so critical but there was truly nothing to take away from this experience.

Rating: 0/10