review :: Royce Icon
As a guitarist myself, it's always pretty cool to hear people making guitar based experimental music. A lot of experimental folks seem to really hate the instrument, due to how it is used in conventional music. Funny though, that they don't mind using the same high class synths and keyboards that the big time pop and rap producers use. Anyways, this new disc from French act and Burning Emptiness staple 'O' is more or less solely comprised of just guitar, and it's interesting to hear the different things they do with it.
At it's best, "numero o" has a very symphonic jam quality to it, and at it's worst it lingers around in the same places for a bit too long. This disc is certainly a good place to go if you want to escape the normality of a lot of subgenres in industrial music, but I think it may be a bit too weird for some. The majority of this disc is short bursts of layered guitar, ranging from scratchings and squeals to ambience, reversed chords, thick bursts of delay, and traditional, almost Spanish style playing. There is a lot of energy here, but at times it seem it is very forced and the playful and quirky nature of the shorter material can get somewhat tiresome. It is never outright annoying mind you, but there are certain points on this disc that really make me want to scream "Okay, we got the shtick already, goddamnit!". Having said that, I feel that over all this is a pretty cool disc. It just gets somewhat redundant, but it is still worth listening to for its better side, and it is remarkable if for no other reason than because it is unique. Recommended, but don't spend your rent money on it.
