Band: Failed Utopia
Album: Anti
Year: 2006
Label: self-released
Genre(s): Rhythmic Noise
Webpage: www.failedutopia.com

Rating: 8/10

tracklist:

1. Shattered Shell: Freedom
2. Duality: a beginning
3. Overwhelmed by animosity
4. An Imagined Error
5. Twist Space

            Finally, a fresh take on rhythmic noise. I have long awaited the day when I would finally hear something in the genre of rhythmic noise that would keep me interested. The idea of the genre is excellent and enticing, but the trend seems to be to simply over-distort everything and let it clip to the max, because in some way that is supposed to embody the harshest, most intense music ever…unfortunately these concoctions always end up coming off as bland, pointless and completely uninspired, not to mention musicially undeveloped. Repeating a single sample about violence 35 times in a row does not make the song evil or brutal…sorry, it just doesn’t.
            Anyway, Failed Utopia brings to the table an entirely different approach to the industrial sub-genres containing phrases paired with the word ‘noise’. Instead of trying to be overbearingly harsh and crushing, they create more of a cerebrally extended soundscape; the mix incorporates many strange and fantastic noises in addition to the rhythmic elements. Don’t get me wrong, the beats are nearly always pummeling, distorted and destructive, but I get the sense that the music has a much deeper understanding of existence than the shit that typically totes the ‘overwhelming brutality’-mentality. The best analogy I can make is: Anti is the product of Terrorfakt suddenly taking an interest in eastern philosophies and flying to Tibet and becoming enlightened to the notion that using more than one drum loop per song makes the music better. Anti is a mid-paced journey through a certain upper level of cerebrally structured chaos and distortion, keeping the listener both entranced and wanting to smash things with a sledgehammer at all times. The songs on this EP create their sense of brutality not from high BPM or large amount of distortion and overdrive, but through well crafted beat structure as they allow a number of noises, clicks, and beeps to change and mutate over time while consistently spewing out a hugely powerful rhythmic beat as the song’s spinal column. The production on the album is fantastic, especially in a genre where production quality is often times unheard of or a simple afterthought (there isn’t any clipping! They are already worlds better than Manufactura and the like). The beats are truly harsh and intimidating, and not just because of huge amounts of clipping and processed overdrive or gain. I know that rhythmic noise has more of an anti-club mentality, but I would so much rather hear this album than Terrorfakt or Xotox played in a club setting. The only real downside to the album is, as is the case with most noise, the lack of diversity from song to song. There are never any breaks from the distorted beats and pounding rhythms, and there aren’t many other prominent noises or melodies to groove to throughout the EP, but to be honest I would rather have the continuity of songs that this release offers than to have 5 songs of completely different genres and types thrown together, and for that reason I find that their style of writing works on this scale. Although, I hope they do throw some more elements into the blender while constructing their next album.
            Unfortunately this offering is only an EP, clocking in at just 24 minutes, but I am hoping that it is the harbinger of a truly vast and monolithically crushing full-length album. I am still amazed something of this caliber comes out of Baltimore. This could potentially lead to a wave of…dare I say it…progressive rhythmic noise!?

-november 2006    by [.d4n b4rr3tt.]