There are only a handful of albums that I think qualify as truly scary. You won’t get what you want By daughters, and swans To be kind Both immediately. come to mind. But those records come with… let’s say, baggage. I’ve seen all I need to to look The environment lacks some atmosphere To be kind And pop-toned curses shine You won’t get what you want, But for this, unbridled brutality has been shown. This isn’t the soundtrack to a slasher movie, it’s the most violent scene from the scariest horror movie, presented as blown drums and stripped-down guitars.
The album opens with a reading by Douglas Dunn Kaleidoscopefor , for , for , . A poem about being stuck in a cycle of grief, as the noise is accompanied by sparse drum booms and bursts of noise and a low metallic drone. When it turns into singer/guitarist Chip King’s distant lament, “A Lament” fits and starts as it struggles to take flight.
Good art is not necessarily pleasant art.
It sets the tone for the record, which is less a collection of songs and more a monologue built to pay tribute to the power of distortion. And here I confess, I’ve seen all I need to to look It won’t be for everyone. It’s largely atonal, the tracks can blend into each other, and even when the drums pick up the pace beyond funereal, the songs feel weightless, like the band trying to get out of a bog.
That’s not to say there aren’t moments of catharsis to be found. The city is bombarded In particular, its back end explodes when King’s vocals become a Goblin-esque croak over shelling piano chords, delivering one of the few moments of genuine chords (even if it’s buried under a skyscraper of fuzz).
Although it is only 38 minutes long, at times, I have seen what I need to see Can feel like an endurance exercise. But, like a marathon, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort. There is beauty in its brutality. It is the kind of victimization and demonization that, say, Bring it back is. Good art is not necessarily pleasant art.
If you’re looking for a record that conjures up a horror movie vibe without veering into camp. Something that feels genuinely dangerous and terrifying, and not just merely creepy, of the body, I have seen what I need to see are you looking for The record is available on Bandcamp and most streaming services, including Apple Music, Ocean, Deezer, YouTube Music, and Spotify.
