The single-word titles that grace the 10 tracks on ‘Interrupt-Decay’ are indicative of a stark aesthetic. Blunt, functional, brutal. This pretty much sums up the contents of Carey’s violent audio works, too.
Things erupt instantaneously with the gnarling power electronics of ‘lag’, a swirling maelstrom that crackles and overloads... the hum of power lines exploding with 10,000 volts to devastating effect. ‘chop’ is as abrasive and sharp as the title suggests and throughout the album, electronic noise grazes, bruises and overloads the sense. Distortion in every shade imaginable, and noise in every colour, from pink and white to black and countless shades of grey and brown too.
There are quieter moments, such as the skittering static of ‘thresh’, although blasts of distortion fizz, crackle and burst at seemingly random intervals, ensuring there’s no real opportunity for the listener to get comfortable, and the same is true of the looping ‘struct’. But just in case anyone’s feeling a bit settled, ‘fmod’ really ratchets up the frequencies and the volume to inflict maximum pain and ‘1F’ is a blinding blizzard of noise.
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It’s not pretty and for many, it’s probably not listenable. However, for fans of Merzbow, Prurient, Whitehouse et al, ‘Interrupt-Decay’ is a gloriously nasty, noisy treat.
Jeff Carey Online
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