seven

running on emptiness

survival unit (2003)
jc smith · June 19, 2003

The brutal, corrosive electronics of Heid side-project, Survival Unit, twist and squirm in unimaginable ways on this incendiary 21-minute, three track, 3" CD from Somnambulant Corpse.

The three tracks mesh as one long track, though the times are listed on the package to differentiate sequences. The first track, "Desperate Hours," opens with tortured cries and unearthly vocalizations of some slathering beast, before a rippling bass texture and echoed vocals kick the initial participants aside. It's a throbbing, bubbling take on death industrial, but the noises grow more intense, more lethal, and everything succumbs to feedback squelch, vomituous machines and spastic electronics fused in a dance of chaos and confusion. Urgency is at hand, as the embittered noises flail for dominance amidst the swirling sonic vortex. As the title track commences, the noise heightens even more, scaling speakers and eardrums alike. It buzzes with caustic intent, before a pulsing tone rips through the fray, assisted by a hard distorted bounce and screaming vocals, pure adrenaline fury, on display. The final track, "Pray Them Bars Away," slows the pulse, grinding stentorian rhythm accentuated by abrasive static, chiming, broken glass percussion, and more vocals spewed from a blanched, arid throat, a parched espousing of the turmoil of our times. Running On Emptiness is absolutely manic, raw, and, as mentioned above, incendiary power electronics (with a death industrial heart).

Though this release is almost sold out, a split disc re-release (with Tugend), with added material, is forthcoming from Somnambulant Corpse.