It-Clings vs. Pneumatic Detach - The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness

One of the unusual problems with music is that there's so much of it; no matter how much you listen to, there's always going to be something that escapes your notice for a while. When I come across a release from a few years ago that I haven't heard and it turns out to be great, it's like finding long-lost money in my pants when I pull them from the dryer; it's a nice surprise, but I wonder how I missed it in the first place.

That brings me to the 2007 release "The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness", a collaboration between It-Clings and Pneumatic Detach. It-Clings brings spoken word contempt for everything to Pneumatic Detach's distorted industrial beats to make something full of pounding, vitriolic anger.

I came into this release expecting something along the lines of "Total War" from Boyd Rice's Non or something from Whitehouse, and there are some similarities, but "The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness" brings a distinct approach to the combination of spoken word and industrial. First, this release is distorted right to the verge of becoming noise; it walks the fine line between retaining recognizable rhythmic structures and letting aural entropy take over. The opening track, "Necessary Evil" begins with harsh, unstructured noise, but drops into a pounding beat. Throughout the album, the tracks blend together into a continuum of anger and brutality. I like this, but there's a weakness in here, too. It's a full length album, and as much as I like what's going on here, I found myself wanting things changed up now and again; it's almost too much of a good thing.

The vocal work from Squid of It-Clings is unique. Instead of sitting on top of the mix, his scornful rants are woven in with the beats, just as distorted at the rhythms and at times verging on becoming unintelligible only to emerge again later in the track. It's well-crafted, and while I occasionally lost a word here or there, the raw, occasionally dispassionate anger in the vocals is ever present. The lyrics to Squid's rants show a disdain for people, society, and personal relationships; the themes are easy to identify with. They're not groundbreaking, but they strike a resonant chord and his presentation is compelling for those who enjoy the spoken word. Together, It-Clings and Pneumatic Detach put together a really solid release; take the descent into madness with them. Mar 02 2012