Violetshaped – Violetshaped
Violetshaped is the intriguing collaborative project of Violet Poison and the Repitch label’s founder Shapednoise and this self titled long player sees both artists deliver a primal and, at times, harrowing debut album.
Violet was one of the first colours used by man, found on the earliest, pre-historic cave paintings and fittingly, there is a brutal, brutish undercurrent on this release. “The Lord Won’t Forget” features stomping industrial beats that splinter and shred as the arrangement progresses, accompanied by a slamming rhythm and the kind of blood-curdling screams normally associated with a victim enduring the last acts of torture before passing to the next world.
The mood doesn’t lift much on “CX310”, where similarly heavy beats are fused with a fuzzy wall of bass and insistent squelches – at least they got rid of the unfortunate person who got garrotted – while the duo turn their attention to a more conventional techno sound on “Spectral Nightdrive” and “Delusory Parasitosis”. The former provides some relief when a filtered riff emerges through the grainy, concrete beats, while the latter sees the duo venturing deeper with a surging, insistent bass driving the arrangement along.
These are exceptions rather than the norm however, and Violetshaped seem to be more comfortable when inhabiting abstract non-conventional ideas. The rather grandly titled opening track “State of Temporary Neuronal Effervescence” articulately expresses their interest in staying in the shadows with its tingling, deconstructed percussion and noisy textures. “Out of Any Symmetry” sees them opt for a more upfront approach while retaining their love of abstract sound design, with slivers of pulled apart and reassembled sounds and splintered percussive parts unfolding over stepping, half-paced beats.
Despite all of their tormented bluster, Violetshaped are at their most impressive when they are understated, borne out by the last two tracks. “Down Regulation” sees low-tempo, gentle beats fused with washes of white noise, while the blissed out “Anaesthesia” is blurry, indistinct and vivid – just like the act that made it.
Richard Brophy
Tracklisting:
A1. State Of Temporary Neuronal Effervescence
A2. The Lord Won’t Forget
B1. Out Of Any Symmetry
B2. CX310
C1. Spectral nightdrive
C2. Delusory Parasitosis
D1. Down regulation
D2. Anesthesia