Suppression / Fleshlicker - Split EP
As 2023 draws to a close, it feels like the world is worse off in practically every measurable way. International conflicts have intensified, global temperatures continue to rise, fascists are being elected and granted power, the few dollars most of us can scrape together are worth less than ever, and noise-core bands continue to defy logic, musical conventions, basic etiquette, and financial responsibility by recording and releasing 78 tracks of cacophonous punishment that have been carved into a 7” disc of polystyrene to bring you nine minutes closer to The Inevitable Void.
Here we have the proper vinyl debut from the UK’s prolific Fleshlicker; with one five minute track of chaotic drum machine blasts that only pause long enough to pull your face out of the toilet bowl for a split second of air before you’re shoved back into the filth. A strong offering from a prolific
On the flip side of this arbitrary piece of carbon waste Virginia’s legendary Suppression delivers the final recording session from their home of 20+ years, The Roach Floor. Their side of this dialogue is centered around “Dark Age” and “Dark Age, Part 2,” two haunting and rhythmic pillars erected among an egregious number of the noisecore blasts Hodges and Parrish are known for - and allow the two-piece to display their (often overlooked) ability to write songs and hooks.
This 7” is an example of one of my favorite things a split record can do; it’s a pairing of two artists that have clear similarities and influences, but distinctly different approaches - if not sounds. It’s a document that should encourage fans of one artist to give a few minutes to the other, and (in theory) make some new fans in doing so. In the tradition of Man Is The Bastard’s legendary splits with Crossed Out, Born Against, Capitalist Casualties, and Agathocles, and even Suppression’s splits with Despise You, Grief, and Facialmess, we hope you’ll check out both sides, and that you’ll find something familiar but intriguing… Or at least that you’ll hear these machine gun blasts and noise and have a few minutes of either embracing nihilism and misanthropy, or a temporary reprieve from the pain of consciousness.
Noise is music.
Anthems Of The Undesirable Records