Nino Pedone has been exacting his brand of harrowing, industrialised noise for over a decade now, and with each new release from his Shapednoise project, his rhythmic abstractions have only gotten heavier. Absurd Matter marks the inauguration of his new WEIGHT LOOMING label with his most adrenaline-inducing productions yet, constructed with the heaviest of metals and featuring a lineup of equally seasoned collaborators that match the album’s stygian tones.
It’s clear from the start that Shapednoise isn’t holding back here, instead pulling the revolver back and firing with full force. The cavernous entrance of the album’s intro is an imposing collage of heartbeats and heart racing shudders, descending deep into the world’s subterranean heart where high pressure crushes coarse synths and sharp slices of rhythm into a dense sequence of white hot noise. The throttle of ‘Family’ quickly furthers that feeling, with cryptic verses from Armand Hammer overloaded and entrenched in the anticipation of the unknown.
‘Know Yourself’ bares sharp, bloodsoaked fangs, with ZelooperZ’ unapologetic lyrics snaking through guttural bass and asymmetrical trap patterns, leading into the barking turbulence of ‘Swash’. Shapednoise takes a chainsaw to every sound here, letting the engine rev into overdrive. A groove sinks into the sinewy, visceral percussion of ‘Savage Mindedness’, with apocalyptic power reducing the beats to rubble, while Moor Mother grins and growls unrelenting bars under the weight of asphyxiating shreds on ‘Poetry’.
With the mass of bass and noise like the Earth on Atlas’s shoulders, Shapednoise presents a thrill seekers trip on Absurd Matter.