Korperschwache's Ignore the Need is as much an experiment with sound as is it music, and, as such, I guess it is really a sort of post-rock and post-sludge thing, or perhaps even a post-music thing, which inherits the droning notes from doom oriented music and the chaos of more experimental sludge rock/metal, combined with programmed drum beats (well, they sound programmed, at least) which are often challenging to listen to.
The first track 'Breathing Down Deep the Smoke of Paradise' is a more mellow, if I can use that term, affair which has more of a melancholic alternative post-rock sound to it. This track is characterized mainly by a clean and simple – almost warm – sound which is underlined by a relatively simple programmed drum pattern. However, sort of countering the warm sound is a wall of massive sounding atmospheric effects which generate an almost eerie dimension.
'Alcohol Poisoning' sounds just as unpleasant as its title indicates. It actually starts out in the same warm territory as the first track, but builds up towards a darker sound, which kicks in with distorted droning guitars and a frantic drum figure and general sonic chaotic expressions. The last track draws pretty much on the same type of chaos generated by droning guitar notes and frantic drum figures, but it strikes me as being much more intense (I can imagine that getting tasered in the balls is a very intense experience), although it ebbs back to more mellow feels every now and then.
With track lengths of respectively 8:04, 10:37, and 24:56 Korperschwache definitely take their time and do not rush through their sonic experiments. And they definitely also challenge the listener – the texture of the music and soundscapes on this album is challenging enough, and to this you can add track length as another challenging factor. I think Ignore the Need is a very interesting experience, but I must admit that the drum beats are not my cup of tea. That is, I quite like how everything comes together on the first track, including the drum beats and their contribution, but most of the drum beat experimentation on the two other tracks does not sit that well with me.
If you like sludgy post-rock experimentation and the dark, warm, and bizarre moods it can generate, then you certainly should give this release a listen. This release comes in a package limited to 50 copies, which include a t-shirt, posters, liner notes, and a bunch of other goodies, but if you can live without physical releases, you can purchase the album digitally on iTunes and similar services.
Track Listing:
1. Breathing Down Deep the Smoke of Paradise
2. Alcohol Poisoning
3. The Architecture of Self-Medication: an Intriguing Unconditional Response as an Inevitable Reaction to a Disorienting Assortment of Psychotropic Pharmaceutical Narcotics Administered in Pill or Capsule Form
a) Offered a Wide Variety of Pills and Capsules, the Patient Takes All of Them
b) Psychotropic Effects Begin to Manifest Themselves Almost Immediately
c) Patient Becomes Delusional, Disoriented, Prone to Hallucinations
d) An Unfortunate Allergic Reaction to a Combination of Medications Yields Disturbing Results
e) The Patient Says "Fuck You" Over and Over While Growing Increasingly Agitated until Several Staff Members are Forced to Use Extreme Methods to Gain the Patient's Compliance (aka No One Ever Told me Court-Mandated Rehab would Include Being Beaten with Clubs and Tasered in the Balls)
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