by: Rx Zenabi
Few have raised eyebrows and elicited such different extremist reactions as our next spotlight subject: The controversial provocateur and also HIGHly influential musician, NON AKA Boyd Rice, his solo industrial/experimental/martial noise and dark ambient/drone entity.
We immerse in his two albums in particular, featuring that range of esoteric, sinister sounds.
The first NON Boyd Rice record I heard is the initial auditory attack that initiated me to his works in early 2000, found in the wild from a local store (but later stolen, ha), the dimly lit industrial martial noise-avant-garde wreckording, In The Shadow Of The Sword. It was originally released in 1992 under Mute Records.
The second one, and seemingly bookending this review a decade later, is the CD/DVD set of the drone/dark ambient album Children Of The Black Sun. I only got into it recently, due to just finding it in the wild (as always) and heavily spinning BOTH its CD and DVD hi-fi counterpart (basically the same album, only the latter in immersive audio format).
On In The Shadow Of The Sword, NON Boyd Rice and co-conspirators combine a live set recorded in Osaka, Japan on July 3rd 1989, and later studio tracks recorded at Human Head Studios, Denver, Colorado, from the years 1991-1992.
The Osaka show is even more evil-sounding industrial and avant-garde martial noise, featuring collaborative performances with Doug Pearce of Death in June, Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis and Sleep Chamber, Rose McDowall of Strawberry Switchblade, and also a contributor to Coil, Current 93, Death in June, Nurse with Wound, Psychic TV, and Tony Wakeford, Sol Invictus and ex-Death in June.
Together, the first 9 tracks make for an unsettling, captivating collection of eerie, hypnotic, slow-burning experimental industrial wasteland tracks. Boyd and collaborators create an oppressive atmosphere with samples, keyboards, noise, heavy industrial clang, and pounding almighty martial percussion.
“Do you want TOTAL WAR?” declares Boyd, with reverb-laden vocals, the track being the closing hymn of his well-celebrated album, 1997’s God and Beast.
From there, the live rituals further progress into the unknown. Solemn, ritualistic heavy drums, creeping synths, and ultra-low vocal spoken-word rhythms, and Rose’s incensed singing sound decrepit and trippy at the same time, creating moods that twist the listener. It then drowns them with its minor keys.
The distant, ancient-sounding, otherworldly appeal of this first half dominates the album. It continues over the studio tracks. They progressively become layered, denser, and more noise-infused.
NON hypnotizes you with sinister, avant-garde industrial as layers of heavy hypnotic discordance, disturbances, noise, and ghostly spectral voices. They blend and clash FX-laden speeches and eerie spoken words from the abyss…
“Scorched Earth” features lines adapted from the infamous author, Ragnar Redbeard. “Love And Loves Murder,” meanwhile, borrows from analytical psychology founder Carl G. Jung, borrowing from ‘The Seven Sermons Of The Dead’
Somewhat of a contrast is his drone/dark ambient album Children of the Black Sun. Released in 2002 under Mute Records, a decade later, it is in a 2 CD/DVD set.
The latter is in Dolby 5.1. Listeners get a more immersive hi-fi experience with a much more layered version of the album. Perhaps more of a panoramic listening experience for audiophile drone/dark ambient connoisseurs (and snobs).
That said, NON’s mastery of ultra-hypnotic, engaging drone that builds and crescendos and gets mental is evident here. It may not be as extreme or layered as his other more celebrated works in the industrial/martial industrial realm. However, it’s a cinematic, soundtrackish, sometimes even nightmarish 7 movements that comprise the discs.
Just relying on the drone/dark ambient classification may give the impression of aimlessly wandering sounds that some might think. But it is a diverse and engaging listen that doesn’t overdo the ambience nor overstay its droning sonic journeys.
From the opening of “Arka” and the horn drone intro of “Black Sun” building the upscale dread of “Serpents of the Heavens” and “Serpents of the Abyss”, to the last 3 tracks, it keeps listeners engaged.
Waxing and waning with unearthly minimalist drone and dark ambient combined, the trip even goes more textured, discordant, psychedelic, ethereal. It ends with a primal synth and sinister spoken-word epilogue, as it continues to expand sonic palettes.
The sound design and production, with veteran Denver, Colorado mastering engineer Bob Ferbrecher at the helm, help with the clarity and balance. He’s worked with Boyd, Michael Moynihan, and Blood Axis. He also did Boyd Rice & Friends albums, plus Crash Worship, Human Head Transplant, 16 Horsepower, among many others. So he knows a thing or two about capturing and creating those otherworldly sounds.
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