Open Listening 1

New Millennium Cyanide Christ:

http://www.seeqpod.com/search/?plid=70f013c429

The piece is at a medium/fast walking tempo (just the right tempo to head-bang to), although the subdivision of the large pulse creates a frantic, thrashing feel.  The sound consists of two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, and in middle and later sections two more guitar overdubs are incorporated.  The sound is harsh, grating, jagged, and evokes a carnal, primal sense of ritualism, perhaps because it resembles tribal music in its rhythmic ferocity and polyrhythmic layers (and its tonal ambiguity).

The jagged, low riffs played by guitars and bass, and kick drum rarely repeat; they change from section to section in a process similar to variations in classical music.  Different sections are often preceded by brief breaks (entire band rests).  The work appears to be primarily through-composed.

The music is disorienting, difficult to comprehend, creating a sense of anti-personal, noninvolvement.  The guitar solo is particularly gut-wrenching, achieving a sort of tortuous, wiggling sound.

The final "groove," in which the vocalist plays no part, gives the piece a sense of finality and fades into obscurity, as if a giant machine is rolling into the distance over the desolate remnants of a destroyed city.