Scorn - Anamnesis

Anamnesis is a ‘rarities’ collection from Mick Harris’ genre-spanning project Scorn. It’s actually a bizarre cross-section of the sounds that Scorn had made up until the late 90s; encompassing the early Nik Bullen material, the loud beatwork of the Logghi Barhogghi era and the minimalistic, bass heavy electronic beats that would come later.

 

It’s all a bit of a mess, to be honest. It’s like this CD can’t decide if it’s a b-sides collection, a remix album or a super cool round-up of unheard stuff. It’s great though, if like me, you’ve rinsed all life out of nearly every Scorn record and want to hear some long lost material from the vaults. There are some quality beats and vibes on here, especially the more minimalist stuff. When lined up back to back with the older stuff you kinda realise how much of a snoozer Nik Bullen is with his vocals (and this is coming from someone who loves Vae Solis). The track here from that era sounds like Godflesh withering in the final stages of a long battle with AIDS.

 

Not a bad CD overall but definitely not the place to start with Scorn. There is some phenomenal material out there linked to this project.

 

Scorn - Logghi Barhogghi

This album was the final recording that Mick did with any connections to Earache. The album itself was produced and "marketed" by Earache Records, but released by Mick's own label, Scorn Recordings. Logghi Barhogghi is only the second Scorn album after the departure of Nik Bullen, and still sounds a bit bare and unsteady on it's feet, just like it's predecessor, Gyral. Although, unlike Gyral, LB is much more straight forward and was a definite sign of what was to come with Scorn from this point on. The name Logghi Barhogghi came from when Mick Harris over-heard an American tourist trying to pronounce the town Loughborough; that's fecking highlarious!

From start to finish, LB is a stripped-back affair of clanking percussion and heavy beats. The moody synths and unusual atmospheres are held right back. LB is all about the beat! On the first few listens through, this took some getting used to. I thought this was a remix album or some sort of experimental spin-off project, but this is a fully-canon Scorn album, despite it's very basic approach. Some tracks are stompers; heavy programmed percussion looped over and over until your brain just can't take it no more, other songs are a bit more laid back; some even barely audible, with just a purring bass line and ticking beat. Every now and then the phatter-than-your-mudda bass lines come in, scarily pre-dating all this dubstep stuff by well over a decade. That's fucking incredible!

I will say though the basic beats make this record a great buy for rappers to practice / freestyle / write tunes to. However, for most folk this Scorn album is definitely going to remain a challenging listen, and sadly will more than likely remain unknown to the festering masses. But, despite its awkwardness, LB is so goddamn far ahead of it's time it's literally frightening.

JK Flesh - Posthuman

Seeing Justin Broadrick performing live as JK Flesh in Roadburn 2012 really opened up my eyes; it was like a dream coming true, the dirgy rhythms, haunting vocals and nasty guitar sound of Godflesh mashed head on into dubstep-style heavy bass and programmed drums. I didn't really know wether I should dance or punch somebody in the face. To be true, I did neither; I just stood there bobbing my head as the awesomeness washed over me, pummelling me into a pulp of useless flesh and deafening me past the point of ever comprehending music ever again. A slight overstatement, but a fantastic experience nonetheless. 

When I heard that his debut LP under this name would be coming out a short-while later, I almost jumped for joy. When the record dropped I was skint as fuck so I didn't get it initially, but I picked it up a few months later on my birthday. The true depth of the vinyl format is needed for something that sounds as massive as this; the pressing is excellent and does a cracking job of portraying the full bottomless sound of JK Flesh's aural assault. Things get off to a slow and creepy start with "Knuckledragger", but then "Idle Hands" chugs things up in true JK style. 

It's a fairly long record, considering the simplicity of the subject matter, but it doesn't make for a tiring listen; every song is perfect. Honestly, it doesn't get spun as much as my Godflesh records, but it's still pretty damn awesome. Released in 2012 by 3BY3 Records, and seemingly still available at a decent price (about £20, which isn't bad considering they are fairly limited (500 only)). Check it out and get one!

Scorn - Stealth

What better way to see in the new year than with some head-pounding Scorn music? Stealth is probably one of my favourite Scorn records and it is the record that I recommend to people that are new to Mick's work and who are familiar with the concept of dubstep. Stealth is very similar to the album that followed it (Refuse; Start Fires), but unlike Refuse and its exploration of the one-dimensional sound by using real drumming, Stealth sticks to the straight and narrow floor-shaking bass and mind-shattering drum programming that Scorn is so damned good at.

 

There simply isn't a bad song on this record; each song is as stonking as the last. For all the slowed down, repetitive as fuck "dubstep" accompanied by eery atmospheres you really need look no further. And considering I got this for £6 and it's a double LP I literally consider it the steal of 2012. Hours of scouring Discogs has finally paid off! Ha ha! So welcome back to Lines In Wax, I hope you had a good new year. Let's start the new year with some pure and positive music; turn this all the way up and feel the vibe! This has the Ohm Resistance logo on the back but the record was put on by Ad Noiseam and Jarring Effects. 

 

Scorn - Yozza

Sadly, Yozza (released in the arse-end of 2011) was to be the last thing that Mick Harris would put out under the Scorn moniker after 20 long years of pushing the boundaries of underground electronic music. Looking back now, it is hard to believe how far ahead of the times Scorn was; playing something that was the blueprints for the dubstep sound years before any silly cunt with a fucking Adidas cap decided it should be a genre. Oh, the injustice! But never mind, because in the right circles Mr. Harris is known for being a true innovator and leader in music, from his involvement in birthing Napalm Death and the grindcore genre right through to his ambient, experimental, noise and prolific collaborative efforts with over 9000 different artists, producers and musicians. Holy mother of fuck! You can head over to the man's own website to try and get your head around his discography. Best of luck!

Yozza opens with what seems like real drumming (a theme explored on the previous record Refuse; Start Fires), mixing dirty and distorted bass with the usual anxious soundscapes and devastating lows. If I can be so bold I will suggest that side B is superior; opener "Shake Hands" is Scorn at it's best, and "Name's Not Down, Not Coming In" will warble your intestines to muck, in a good way. Cut on a 12", the songs are phat as fuck and the mix is huge. Although this is a great EP, this isn't the way I imagined Scorn to go out, but it's not my fucking band and I don't make the decisions so I'll shut up. I will miss Scorn, but at least the music will live on his in records (not to mention the 160 other projects Mick has on the go). I'm just glad I managed to catch him live in 2011. What a fluke! Out on Ohm Resistance.

Scorn - Refuse; Start Fires

As far as dubstep goes I'm still pretty inexperienced, but as my musical tastes somehow mutate drastically I find myself listening more and more to this genre. Scorn for me were the in-road into this electronic genre I would have maybe never touched otherwise, despite the fact a lot of types of dubstep (or gorestep) mimmic the structure and heaviness of metal music. This double 12" by Ohm Resistance however, does not strike any resemblance to the psuedo-dub-metal that Scorn once shat out many moons ago.

I have heard this style of music described as both darkstep and dungeon dubstep; and I can see how the slow, clanking, echoic and vividly dark vibe lends itself excellently to these well deserved tags. A lot of Mick Harris' later Scorn stuff tends to blend together, but Refuse; Start Fires stands out from the later offerings by incorporating a real drumming performance alongside the usual ear-drum piercing sampled snares and bass hits. This adds a strange dynamic to the otherwise rather clinical and menacing Scorn sound that hasn't been seen since the days of Colossus when Harris performed drums himself.

My one criticism is that if you are actively listening then the songs can drag on a bit too long at times and can be a bit repetative, but if your listening as background music (which I often do with Scorn due to its eery but chilled out nature), you won't notice. Refuse seems void of typical 'drops' as it were but still gets heavy now and then with nizzling bass and the odd bangin' fuckin' wup wups, if you get my drift, yo.