Coilguns / Never Void Split 10" (Review)

 By: Aaron Pickford

Album Type: Split 10"/DD

Date Released: 26/09/ 2012

Label: Dead Dead Dead Music/

Hummus Records/
Savour Your Scene Records/
Invektiv Records

Following the two studio studio tracks from both bands, we're treated to 2 live tracks from both bands.  These tracks are a further indication of how truly destructive both of these bands are, indeed to me the live tracks are more representative of the uniqueness of these bands, given that the foundation of great bands is how they present themselves in the live arena

‘Coilguns/NVRVD’ Split 10”DD track Listing

Coilguns

1) Mandarin Hornet 07:02

2) Dewar Flasks 01:59

Never Void

3) Hungry for Needs 02:07

4) Direcktore 02:55

Coilguns

5) Parkensine (Live) 05:53

6) Mastoid (Live) 02:53

Never Void

7) Son Of Man (Live) 01:49

8) Null and Void (Live) 04:06

Coilguns is:

Louis Jucker | Vocals, Crowd Fighting

Jona Nido | Simultaneously both guitars and bass, Cabinets megalomaniac

Luc Hess | THE fucken drummer

Never Void (NVRVD) 

Lukas Heier | Drum-annihilation and Club-Mate-delegate!

Christian Braunschmidt | Guitars, feedback and noise generator, vocals

Stefan Braunschmidt | Bass, low-frequency feedbacks, sound, vocals

The Review

For anyone who didn't experience the enormity and sheer brutality of their previous release ‘Stadia Rods’, you missed out on one of the records of the year, with their Dillinger Escape Plan meets Botch noise, Coilguns produced a record that was characterised by the coexistence of disparate or antagonistic elements.  What made the record all the more stunning was the fact that it was essentially recorded live in one day.  ‘Stadia Rods’ was 30 minutes of discordant, inharmonious and jarring incongruity, a record unable to exist or work in congenial combination but all the better for it. 

So what we have here is a split with 2 studio cuts and 2 live tracks each from Coilguns and Never Void.  Again Coilguns employ a live feel to their recordings with the guitar and drums being recorded live, with no overdubs and with the vocals recorded 6 days later.  I am not sure what it is about this format Coilguns prefer, perhaps the simplicity of learning the track and then pushing the record button.  One thing is for certain though is that despite its live feel, you wouldn't know it, the music is super tight and from the outset ‘Mandarin Hornet’ has great depth to it, with the opening salvo of chord progressions interspersed with arpeggios and the seismic blasts of the drums with fills galore smashing the shit out of the intro for over 2 minutes.  This gives way to a caustic battering once the vocals kick in and then band come at you full force, with their hardcore battering ram, vocals are harsh, guitars slice and cut in an attempt to unlawfully threaten or inflict irreparable aural impairment. At the 4 min mark things get chaotic with blast beats, fiercely off kilter staccato riffing, until we're back to the opening salvo of chords, just with added crunch and assaultative aggression.  The last 1/4 of the track you get more than you could hope to bargain for with a final frenetic bombardment of brutal noise, it is scathingly injurious. 7 minutes of chaos.  Man, it is stunning. 

Next up is ‘Dewar Flasks’, Coilguns continue with their ambiguous noise, with a sharp burst  of desecrating noise, indeed what I mean about the ambiguity of this particular brand of chaos, is that at first it appears to lack definite structure and yet this is perhaps because we are used to things being simple and straight forward.  There is nothing straight forward about this profane and merciless barrage, using their primitive weapons to devastate and annihilate.  ‘Dewar Flasks’ is an exercise in Coilguns apparent lack of pity or compassion, because they appear to be intent upon inflicting their own blend of unsavoury vitriolic destruction, in turn lacerating your senses.  It is their sulfurous denunciation and we love it. 

So, what do Never Void bring to the table?  Having never heard their music, I was intrigued to hear if they could immediately turn me on to their music, particularly given that their info sheet suggest they're a band for fans of Trap Them, Converge and Gaza to name but a few; three bands who come with pretty hefty reputations.  Never Void kick things off with ‘Hungry For Needs’, with guttural growls from the vocals, invoking a death metal vibe and yet whilst Coilguns evoke more mathcore nuances in their music, Never Void are more akin to hardcore.  It is an extremely pacy track, coupled with ambient noise at times and the use interchanging vocals offers the just right amount of hate and intensity.  Never Void breathes just the right amount of malevolence and misanthropy.  ‘Direktore’ is another fantastically malignant track, which feels scornful, indeed the modus operadi of this band appears to be having a destructive clinical course. 

Following the two studio studio tracks from both bands, we're treated to 2 live tracks from both bands.  These tracks are a further indication of how truly destructive both of these bands are, indeed to me the live tracks are more representative of the uniqueness of these bands, given that the foundation of great bands is how they present themselves in the live arena.  Coilguns, here with ‘Mastoid’ and ‘Parkensine’, just smash it and to be fair to Never Void completely own and is further example of how truly fearsome a proposition these bands are. 

You can purchase the vinyl, DD and CD here

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