Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Kites

Hallucination Guillotine / Final Worship

Label: Load Records Release Date: 26/11/2007

31293
ben_patashnik by ben_patashnik January 9th, 2008

Commonly, it’s not beyond the realm of reviewers to talk about the images that the music they’re listening to can evoke. Reviews of, say, Explosions In The Sky albums are peppered with celestial visions of slow-motion beauty, building to some kind of majestic crescendo while, on the other side of the coin, something like Dillinger Escape Plan calls to mind being beaten up arhythmically, but in a good way. But Hallucination Guillotine/Final Worship… Jesus, the prevailing image that you could have after enduring Kites aka Chris Forgues’ latest long-player is one of boring, meaningless violence.

As soon as the whirring death blades of ‘Hallucination Guillotine’ kick in it becomes swiftly clear that Forgues’ decision to steer clear of any digital effects only makes the album sound bleaker and nastier than any synthetic creation. You could argue that the album forces you to confront the idea that a relentless barrage of noise is as musically valid as the most pop-tastic verse-chorus-verse medley, but you’d be missing the point. This feels like one man’s journey into seeing how many horrendous sounds he can cram onto one disc before slapping a bunch of song-titles on them and presenting it as something more than the sum of its parts.

It’s not the inaccessibility which is most jarring, it’s the fact that, even beyond the consideration that this could be some avant-garde piece of work, there remains little of merit once you’ve got accustomed to the screeching, taut tones of ‘Flicker Boosters’ or ‘Pink Shadows’. There’s no denying its shock factor, but it’s like opening your wardrobe door and seeing Sadako standing there every single night: at first it’s fucking terrifying, but once repetition dulls its impact you start to use her as a spare hat stand rather than respecting her as the unimpeachable harbinger of death that she once represented. The only moment of subtlety is achieved through the sandwiching of ‘Poison Blur’, which sounds like someone stroking a microphone with a paintbrush, between the (yawn) supposed noise terror of ‘Cool People’ and ‘Flicker Boosters’. And that’s not exactly earth-shattering.

Moral of the story? Just say no.

  • 1
    's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Majik Most

You Got Jokes?!

Mobback
31260
31297

End of the Road Festival Christmas Shindig at Cargo, London, Wed 19 Dec

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND