Her Noise Is Violence - Unresolved Trauma

Noise, harsh noise, or however else you would like to phrase the dark and niche sub-genre has always been one that is difficult for me to enjoy. I have always found that noise as part of music, not as an entire genre, can be enjoyable when used correctly. Many, many industrial bands use the genre to decorate their songs, often incorporated as a flourish more than anything else. But full length albums that are nothing but noise often fail to impress me for one of two different reasons. Option one is that the harsh noise on the piece is nothing but an attempt to blow out someone's speakers without any artistic merit behind the chaotic cacophony. The second option is that the musician creates such a boring and dull sound that can in no way be either listened to with intrigue or as simple background music. 

Every once in a while, I do find myself fascinated by a noise release. The last time this anomaly occurred is beyond me; most of the bands I've listened to filed under noise are usually a hybrid of a sort. What is important to me in a noise album is not rhythm or beat; that would make the purpose of releasing a noise album null and void. What a noise album needs to contain is one thing and one thing only: sonic texture. If a noise release is filled with nothing but white noise and a couple of tape loops, then I turn it off immediately and write it off as a piece of garbage. This texture that I so crave was given to me just a couple of weeks ago when Philadelphia, Pennsylvania noise musician Her Noise Is Violence passed unto me her debut EP "Universal Cremation". 



The two tracker was created with organic and synthetic recordings and samples (some samples from Skintape.net). I was curious at the sound presented on the EP, but I also wanted to hear something much more substantial than what was given. Lo and behold, like a prayer answered from a slimy tentacle, ancient and forgotten God, Her Noise Is Violence released a full-length album titled "Unresolved Trauma". This album does contain both tracks from "Universal Cremation", but it also comes with five new songs as well. 

"Unresolved Trauma" kicks off with one of the best noise tracks I've ever heard in my life, and that is 'Psalm 91 (Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi)'. I did a little research on the Psalm, and from what I gathered it was usually chanted in times of hardship. Whether personal or relating to the current affairs of the world, I'm sure that Psalm 91 is needed now. In either event, the vocals are provided by CIRMA / Ensemble Organum lead by Mr. Marcel Pérès. The song opens up with a low-explosion of noise and is backed by a constant, eerie synth. Waves of noise consistently swash underneath the beautifully sung vocals. All I'm saying is that if every church had a piece like this, noise included, I might become a man of faith myself. 

'Call of the Void' comes in next; the waves crashing against a sea wall continues throughout this song, but other sounds join it, such as something like a hollowed out steel drum being scraped against. 'Universal Truth' contained a couple of vocal samples towards the end of the track that are verbose and hate-filled, but very fitting to the nature of the track. 'Unresolved Trauma', the title track of the album, is absolutely disturbing. I can compare it to that of exploring a broken psyche; it's a horror-movie in sound design. The last song on the album, '4am (Still Afraid Of The Dark)', was a great concentration of unsettling sounds, dark ambiance, and crashing synths. 

However much I praise "Unresolved Trauma", I do have a couple of complaints to share as well. I was enjoying 'Cremated Remains' in all of its odd glory, but when the two minute mark hit I wanted to throw off my headphones and burn them where they landed. There's a sharp, high-pitched sound (like that of a very, very annoying fly) that ostracized me from the track. It only lasts for forty seconds, nonetheless I was sure to keep an eye on that point when playing through the album multiple times. It became a skipping point for me. 'Nothing Left' was a song that I did not like in its entirety. It sounds like a loud electrical current and that of a WWII era plane falling from the sky in one; it's not pleasant nor did it make me want to revisit it - ever. 

Nonetheless, the complaints I have do not stand up against the words of praise I have showered this album with. I have been coming back to 'Psalm 91 (Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi)' multiple times since this album released ten days ago, and I'm not ashamed to say that I may have streamed it upwards of twenty times by now. The rest of the album does not compare to this song, but that does not mean I did not find enjoyment out of this. Her Noise Is Violence is a noise musician who understands that there needs to be a balance between disconcerting sounds and a listenable experience, and I think she's managed to crack the perfect formula for it in most cases. This leaves me both wanting more but patient for the future of Her Noise Is Violence. The digital version of this EP is available on Bandcamp as a digital album. But, hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll see a CD or cassette version come out. 
Feb 25 2021