Wolf Eyes - Slicer
(Hanson)
Wolf Eyes as vicious earsplitters onstage, electrofart loopwankers off? Slicer, a CD reissue of a 2001 cassette release, says "YES": defiant, perverse, horrifying, far more likely to induce psychosis than repeated plays.
Slicer brings on total disorientation... no track titles, no sustained beats, no vocals. No form. What recognizable loops and rhythms there are quickly fall apart, disintegrating into total electrosqueal or total silence; Wolf Eyes occasionally tempts the listener with structure, just to maddeningly pull it away as soon as it's in reach, a technique taken to wrist-slitting extremes on track three. Trying to accurately describe the myriad offensive sounds that make up the whole of the album would be fruitless, but suffice to say that track seven brings the record to its logical conclusion: over six minutes of thin, piercing tones that seal the deal on the headache you should've developed at least four songs back.
Buried between the many physically painful moments there are in fact some interesting ideas/sounds. On track two, the incidental is instrumental, with vinyl pops, crackles, and surface noises eventually revealing themselves as an accidental "beat." Track four manages to achieve its own sort of sick droning beauty, as creepy horns swoop under and around a loud buzzing tone before falling into a loop of processed gurgles and burbles.
In the end? Soundtrack to your radio's/record player's nervous breakdown, perhaps. And/or waste-of-time knob-fiddling and sound experimentation of dubious value. Either way, this one's a listening experience reserved for the truly masochistic, even if there may be something to say for music that can make a person sick to their head, stomach, and soul. Live, Wolf Eyes kicks your ass. Listening to Slicer, you want only to kick yourself. Hard and repeatedly.
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