PAIN FUCKER MOTHER KILLER!
PAINKILLER - Samsara (CD) (2024)
PainKiller are back in their original line-up of John Zorn, Bill Laswell and ex Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris. "Talisman", a live recording from 1994, released in 2002, was the last album in that constellation. Meanwhile however blast beat originator Harris has stopped drumming altogether. So how does this work?
Before giving you the answer let me briefly bring you up to speed in case you're unfamiliar with this legendary trio, which I have used as a reference point in this blog countless times!
It all began with Zorn's love for Napalm Death and the idea to let Jazz musicians play Grindcore, which birthed the album and band Naked City. You'll hardly find an album which matches the craziness of the forty-two tracks (with between eight and seventy-two seconds length) of "Torture Garden"!
PainKiller was not exactly the reversal, but at least a variation of that idea: the Jazzers Zorn on saxophone and Laswell on bass plus the Grindcore drummer, who had as good as zero experience in improvising or even playing slow playing what today is commonly called Jazzcore.
From 1991 to 1994 they released three studio albums: the brutally chaotic "Guts of a Virgin", my personal favorite "Buried Secrets" with guest apperances of Godflesh on two tracks ("The Toll" might be Justin Broadrick's most extreme vocal performance ever), which also introduced Dub influences, and "Execution Ground", which broadened the range to Ambient and saw the band indulding in longtracks up to twenty minutes length.
Since then there have been a couple of live performances (and respective releases) both with Harris and other drummers. But who would have even thought of the possibility of this new album?
In some ways "Samsara" goes back to the early days of PainKiller: Jon Zorn's alto saxophone improvisations go through all the extremes from warm smoothness to shrill screeches and wild noisy bubbling sounds. Laswell reprises his rumbling and roaring bass sound and the signature flanger effects in slow passages.
Beyond that however the premise is very different now. No live drums and no extreme vocals either. Instead "Samsara" presents the Power Electronics version of PainKiller.
So instead of mostly the bass leading the flow and evolution of the music, the foundation of these eight new pieces had been recorded by Mick Harris alone. Dynamic, completely Electronic tracks made of synth sounds, effects, noises and pumping beats, which would probably all already work on their own. The other players however elevate the material with the bass stying close to the rhythmic guideline while infusing his special tone, and Zorn finalizing them with a rich performance of in your face Avantgarde and floating Spiritual Jazz.
So there you have it: PainKiller goes Future Jazz - still regocnizable, with a similar vibe and rawness, yet recontextualized for a new age. I dig it.
Before giving you the answer let me briefly bring you up to speed in case you're unfamiliar with this legendary trio, which I have used as a reference point in this blog countless times!
It all began with Zorn's love for Napalm Death and the idea to let Jazz musicians play Grindcore, which birthed the album and band Naked City. You'll hardly find an album which matches the craziness of the forty-two tracks (with between eight and seventy-two seconds length) of "Torture Garden"!
PainKiller was not exactly the reversal, but at least a variation of that idea: the Jazzers Zorn on saxophone and Laswell on bass plus the Grindcore drummer, who had as good as zero experience in improvising or even playing slow playing what today is commonly called Jazzcore.
From 1991 to 1994 they released three studio albums: the brutally chaotic "Guts of a Virgin", my personal favorite "Buried Secrets" with guest apperances of Godflesh on two tracks ("The Toll" might be Justin Broadrick's most extreme vocal performance ever), which also introduced Dub influences, and "Execution Ground", which broadened the range to Ambient and saw the band indulding in longtracks up to twenty minutes length.
Since then there have been a couple of live performances (and respective releases) both with Harris and other drummers. But who would have even thought of the possibility of this new album?
In some ways "Samsara" goes back to the early days of PainKiller: Jon Zorn's alto saxophone improvisations go through all the extremes from warm smoothness to shrill screeches and wild noisy bubbling sounds. Laswell reprises his rumbling and roaring bass sound and the signature flanger effects in slow passages.
Beyond that however the premise is very different now. No live drums and no extreme vocals either. Instead "Samsara" presents the Power Electronics version of PainKiller.
So instead of mostly the bass leading the flow and evolution of the music, the foundation of these eight new pieces had been recorded by Mick Harris alone. Dynamic, completely Electronic tracks made of synth sounds, effects, noises and pumping beats, which would probably all already work on their own. The other players however elevate the material with the bass stying close to the rhythmic guideline while infusing his special tone, and Zorn finalizing them with a rich performance of in your face Avantgarde and floating Spiritual Jazz.
So there you have it: PainKiller goes Future Jazz - still regocnizable, with a similar vibe and rawness, yet recontextualized for a new age. I dig it.
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