M.B. - Bacillusmetrai Entopathogen
M.B. (Maurizio Bianchi) shouldn´t be a stranger to anyone (if you ask me). Has been active since 1979, and hails from Italy. He is an absolute pioneer in industrial, noise, and electronic music, like the Italian´s answer to Merzbow, although having a broader sense of various styles of expressions incorporated in his numerous releases. You can also call him the godfather of the Italian industrial and noise scene, I can´t (really) think of anyone getting close to that! ( do read the Wikipedia link below about M.B.)
Bacillusmetrial Entopathogen is one of his latest releases, and it has been released on limited CD and cassette via Grubenwehr Freiburg, both encased in a 7-inch vinyl bag, with the CD in an informative cardboard sleeve. There are also some nice and nifty-looking collage graphics attached to this, which has become a sort of trademark for some of the newer M.B. releases. 3 long tracks, about 75 minutes in total.
First track Bacillus, a specific genus of bacteria that we encounter daily. Is an incredible sort of uplifting melancholic dreamy piece. Really gentle it starts with some spacious and distant drones, drones made by human breath, or the sound of watery waves in reverbed slow-motion? A mesmerizing ambient synth levitates the listener into another plane of existence, actually a slight trace of melody in there! Might just be the most mellow and pleasant M.B. I´ve ever heard, not that its approach makes it less efficient. A filtered human voice speaks slowly through the hypnotizing aural soundscape as well. It has a kind of ambient/techno-dub feel/sound, just without the rhythms offcourse. Amazing track, the depths of it are absolutely jaw-dropping! The thing is, you (and me) don´t really want this track to end!
The second track Metrial (Uterus) gets slightly more depressing. It kind of gets back to that classic M.B. sound, the sound of utter doom and microscopic despair. A spacy Tangerine Dream in a Bad Trip, or an ambient version of the soundtrack for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Lots of reverbed sounds, echo sounds, delayed sounds. Some organ there, human voices here, etc. Hard to put your finger on it (with words) easier to understand when you actually hear it. Even Genesis P. Orridge got depressed listening to M.B. which in my words is a good thing! If the first track represented a fresh apple, then this track shows how the first steps of decay are setting in!
The third track is Entopathogen (Fungoid parasitic microorganism), which turns slowly into a slow-driven sci-fi horror thing. Why I'm thinking of the first Alien film, I don´t know! I do know that certain ants can get infected with this fungoid organism, the result? The mushroom grows out of the body of the ant, just like the alien eats its way through the host. The track works in a very unpleasant way, totally opposite regarding the first track. It really is the sound of something, taking host inside a living being... and slowly killing it. First, u get sick ( like flu), then u get irritated by small things, next u succumb to a longer sleep and occasionally vomit at times. Everything from here leads only to your death. And that is how this track is, really murky stuff here!
I can't help but think about when I get sick (regarding the last track). About the whole process of how I feel... certain things in motion (in my body) when I'm actually getting sick (in one way or another). The first stage of catching a cold, being strangely... pleasant? Maybe your body feels slightly heavier, but you feel more relaxed nonetheless! And then it just... creeps up on you. Getting worse and worse, like the whole body is going through a change. And that is how this latest M.B. album feels and sounds like! Although it makes you feel utterly unpleasant, you will (still) want to return for more. The experience hidden within this recording is quite amazing! Constant and repeating listening is recommendable!
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