Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild

I love Blanck Mass but this picture is hilariously wank

What do you guys mean by pretentious? This description is the least pretentious thing I've ever read:

“In this post-industrial, post-enlightenment religion of ourselves, we have manifested a serpent of consumerism which now coils back upon us. It seduces us with our own bait as we betray the better instincts of our nature and the future of our own world. We throw ourselves out of our own garden. We poison ourselves to the edges of an endless sleep.

Animated Violence Mild was written throughout 2018, at Blanck Mass’ studio outside of Edinburgh. These eight tracks are the diary of a year of work steeped in honing craft, self-discovery, and grief - the latter of which reared its head at the final hurdle of producing this record and created a whole separate narrative: grief, both for what I have lost personally, but also in a global sense, for what we as a species have lost and handed over to our blood-sucking counterpart, consumerism, only to be ravaged by it.

I believe that many of us have willfully allowed our survival instinct to become engulfed by the snake we birthed. Animated — brought to life by humankind. Violent — insurmountable and wild beyond our control. Mild — delicious.

This is perhaps the most concise body of work I have written to date. Having worked extensively throughout my musical life with dramatics, narrative, and ‘melody against all odds’, these tracks are the most direct and honest yet. The level of articulation in these tracks surpasses anything I have utilized before.”

  On 6/9/2019 at 9:45 PM, Stickfigger said:

Slow Focus is fine - was one of my fave releases of that year 

  On 8/1/2019 at 8:25 AM, Blir said:

What do you guys mean by pretentious? This description is the least pretentious thing I've ever read:
 
“In this post-industrial, post-enlightenment religion of ourselves, we have manifested a serpent of consumerism which now coils back upon us. It seduces us with our own bait as we betray the better instincts of our nature and the future of our own world. We throw ourselves out of our own garden. We poison ourselves to the edges of an endless sleep.

Animated Violence Mild was written throughout 2018, at Blanck Mass’ studio outside of Edinburgh. These eight tracks are the diary of a year of work steeped in honing craft, self-discovery, and grief - the latter of which reared its head at the final hurdle of producing this record and created a whole separate narrative: grief, both for what I have lost personally, but also in a global sense, for what we as a species have lost and handed over to our blood-sucking counterpart, consumerism, only to be ravaged by it.

I believe that many of us have willfully allowed our survival instinct to become engulfed by the snake we birthed. Animated — brought to life by humankind. Violent — insurmountable and wild beyond our control. Mild — delicious.

This is perhaps the most concise body of work I have written to date. Having worked extensively throughout my musical life with dramatics, narrative, and ‘melody against all odds’, these tracks are the most direct and honest yet. The level of articulation in these tracks surpasses anything I have utilized before.”

  On 7/31/2019 at 11:54 PM, Rubin Farr said:

 

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I'm glad I don't verbally suck my own cock

I like this stuff but I think it's for reasons I doubt many of the major music outlets will relate to, except maybe TinyMixTapes. I feel like this is weird kitsch cyberpunk meets late 90s / early 00s alt rock and industrial / EBM stuff. Like if the Initial D took place in some Mad Max hellhole and this was the score.

I know what you mean. The way it's marketed is so unlike how I hear it. That music video above is such a poor representation of the music IMO, I find the music quite silly and over the top and fun (though admittedly the tracks from the new album sound a bit pants) but the video is going more a "disturbing" style like it's supposed to make you uncomfortable. It doesn't make me uncomfortable at all, it just smacks of somebody taking themselves a bit too seriously. From now on I'm referring to this album as Blanck Mass - A Level Student

I really don't like the sound and the look of this. The pretentiousness of this guy is a big turnoff as well.

The pretentious label is a fair one but do you think there is no truth to what he is saying? He obviously feels strongly about it and can hardly say “humanity is destroying itself, lol”.

Music video coupled with the track is disgusting and not in a good way. I must listen to his other albums a bit more but this doesn't sound good. The pretentiousness of the guy is still very off putting

  On 8/4/2019 at 7:44 AM, thumbass said:

I really don't like the sound and the look of this. The pretentiousness of this guy is a big turnoff as well.

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So my opinion still stands after a few listens

He looks like it feels great to torture bunny rabbits. Come here little fluffy one, go on I'll tempt you near my grasp with a carrot. Hop nearer.... just a little closer....

Now I have you I'll fucking rip your ears off!!!

Nasty, nasty man, with his nasty music. 

  On 8/14/2019 at 7:11 PM, beer badger said:

He looks like it feels great to torture bunny rabbits. Come here little fluffy one, go on I'll tempt you near my grasp with a carrot. Hop nearer.... just a little closer....

Now I have you I'll fucking rip your ears off!!!

Nasty, nasty man, with his nasty music. 

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Lol the nasty sounds dont bother me though, the song is just bad and the video triest way to hard to be shocking

AMA on Friday via reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/indieheads/comments/cqci7f/ama_announcement_blanck_mass_on_friday_august/

Not a fan, tbh. I'm new to them though, but what I'm hearing in these youtubes, it's pop music with some distortion added to the mix. Gives it an edge at first, but wears thin pretty quick. The pop is fairly blend. And the distortion is too one dimensional and becomes nothing more than a schtick after a minute or so. 

given the wealth of amazing electronic music out there, past and present, it boggles the mind why people would spend money and time on this. it's only because of media coverage.

this isn't grabbing me. and the album title is ridiculous, not to mention the blurb up there ^. it's a pity cos I really liked Dumb Flesh, World Eater a bit less so.

  On 8/15/2019 at 1:35 PM, usagi said:

this isn't grabbing me. and the album title is ridiculous, not to mention the blurb up there ^. it's a pity cos I really liked Dumb Flesh, World Eater a bit less so.

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I think I’d agree, Dumb Flesh is by far a more cohesive album than World Eater. But “Rhesus Negative” blows any single track from it out of the water IMO.

  On 8/1/2019 at 8:17 AM, Blir said:

I love Blanck Mass but this picture is hilariously wank

 

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I'm getting an Underworld circa 1989 vibe:

It's out 

It sounds exactly like his last album and I'd rather listen to that

Hmmm, really liked a lot of World Eater but the new one's sounding fairly naff to me... must be those chintzy EDM-style leads. Hush Money in particular is a big nope.

*kermit sipping tea*

  On 8/15/2019 at 2:57 PM, Rubin Farr said:

I'm getting an Underworld circa 1989 vibe:

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Haha, I love that album!  "I'd change the weather, I'd change the weather for you now ..."  Might as well give it a spin now, didn't see that coming when I woke up today.

"Intro" - crowd sample, post-film screening perhaps?

"Death drop" - There's a momentum to this that has a heavy metal tinged VGM boss battle vibe from a 16-bit Dune game never made. Or just straight up EBM / industrial. The electronic elements remind me of Hello Everything era Squarepusher sans breakbeats.

"House Vs. House" - Another track with a cinematic / montage feel to it. Really dig how this utilizes 90s trance synth stabs and europhoric rave elements, akin to Lorenzo Senni's work, but with more heavy percussion. Dig the more ambiguous, hard to decipher vocals. Some of Aphex Twin's stuff on Syro and Tuss has a similar approach, where the heavily effects-laden vocals serve as a melodic element and riff.

"Hush Money" - I'm just going say it - this sounds like something cyber-goth kids would dance battle to and I fucking love it. You know those late 80s / early 90s rock meets hip-hop collabs like Anthrax meets Public Enemy or the Spawn soundtrack that merged big beat electronica with alt rock? This is like goth metal meeting New Jack Swing or nu metal meeting late 90s urban music. I feel like this harnesses elements of 90s alt rock, electronica, pop that most people have steered clear of instead of embracing and re-appropriating. A lot of indie artists get close, Visions era Grimes comes to mind, but never really dive in fearlessly. 0PN's G.O.D. played around with it a lot as a concept but remained experimental. Burial's Rival Dealer is about the closest thing I can think of in terms of unabashed appropriation of saccharine 90s music we collectively loved but felt embarrassed about later.

"Love Is A Parasite" - I think I write this earlier, there's something so teenage-y angst about the tone of it, along with a tv or movie sountrack vibe, like Initial D if it was set in some Mad Max wasteland or some alt rock / electronica theme song of a late 90s / early 00s TV14 action show on WB, Disney, or Nick but with these industrial, EBM, and breakcore vibes. Love the suite that comes in around 3:15. 

"Creature/West Fuqua" - Ahhh yss motherfucking organs. I was expecting some retro horror OST italo-disco or arpeggio heavy stuff or dungeon synth but delightfully surprised this turned out to be more of an interlude track with harp.

"No Dice" - I don't have much to add not said earlier, so I'll say this: Black Lodge High School Musical

"Wings of Hate" - Evocative track title and the opening matches. Def Curse of the Golden Vampire / Machinegirl / vibes but with really heavy blackgaze instrumentation.

I haven't heard anything quite like this, lot of familiar elements but blended in a unique and novel way. Jogger's classic "NEPHICIDE" and Fire-Toolz, some of Torn Hawk and much of the Orange Milk catalog all come to mind, as does Kid606 classic albums that married cheeky samples and rave tropes with more experimental and serious glitch and breakbeat production. One of the more fun, engaging, and interesting albums I've heard this year. I don't think it's AOTY or anything but I like the direction this project is taking and wish more musicians were taking this route of unpretentious sounding stuff, even if the write-ups are the opposite.