It’s fair to say that most of the music we feature at this site could be imprisoned for sonic assault and battery, arson, premeditated murder, and/or practicing brain surgery without a license. This next song is off those well-beaten paths (pun intended). Though just as deranged in its own way, it operates on the senses with different twisted techniques.
The name of the band is öOoOoOoOoOo. The name could be pronounced as it is spelled, I suppose, sort of like the sound of an extended orgasm. But it isn’t meant to be pronounced. At least I don’t think it’s meant to be pronounced; I’m not really sure. My guess is that it’s more like a pictogram, an arrangement of letters that resembles the creature from which the band takes its actual name — which is Chenille in French, Caterpillar in English, कमला in Nepali, and so on.
The debut album of öOoOoOoOoOo is called Samen, and it will be released on October 21 by Apathia Records. öOoOoOoOoOo is a collaboration between Asphodel (the former singer of the avant-garde metal band Pin-Up Went Down) and multi-instrumentalist Baptiste Bertrand; they were joined on this album by Aymeric Thomas of Pryapisme as session drummer. The song we have for you is “No Guts = No Masters“.
It seems kind of ironic to warn fans of extreme metal that they’re about to hear something challenging. The rest of the world already thinks our tastes are lunatic, or they would if they knew what we were listening to. But as I said, this is a different kind of crazy.
The band’s name may be Chenille, but Asphodel’s ever-changing voice is more like an audio chameleon, with only slightly fewer personalities than Sybil Dorsett. The tempos and rhythms of the song are also in constant flux, as are the volume and the heaviness factor. Sometimes you get strings, sometimes you get lead-weighted riffs, sometimes it sounds like carnival night at the asylum.
But don’t think this is just a jumble of sounds tossed into a blender (along with your brain). As seemingly demented as the song is, it hangs together. It’s catchy, it’s seductive, it bounces like the dancing man at the end of the hangman’s rope. You may find yourself going back to it repeatedly (as I have) in an effort to figure out just how this strange jigsaw puzzle was assembled, or simply to marvel at its ingenuity.
Or I suppose you might run from it as fast as you can. There’s only one way to find out.
To repeat, Samen will be released on October 21st by Apathia Records. CDs and shirts can be pre-ordered at the first link below, and digital pre-orders can be placed at Bandcamp via the second link.
http://shop.apathiarecords.com/en/bands/152_ooooooooooo
https://apathiarecords.bandcamp.com/album/samen
Chenille on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ooochenilleooo/
12 Responses to “AN NCS PREMIERE: öOoOoOoOoOo (CHENILLE) — “NO GUTS = NO MASTERS””
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oOoOO did it first, like. I always pronounced their name in the voice of Kenneth Williams.
Well, not important, their name is a pictogram. Not a name.
Wait, did I just listen to one singular song?
Best song I’ve heard all year.
\m/
reminds 1 of Unexpect
I really dig this. Reminds me of Australia’s A Lonely Crowd. At least this one song does. (Though Chenille would be decidedly more abrasive.)
https://alonelycrowd.bandcamp.com/album/transients
Wow, this is awesome. I dug it so much I immediately preordered…
What an amazingly unexpected sound! thanks for bringing these guys to attention, cause this song is fuckin awesome! i kinda get a slight Leprous vibe, which is great in my book!
this track is interesting, well crafted, well executed, but nowhere near as eclectic and odd as I thought it’d be based on the (excellent) review. I’d have to listen to the rest of the album, maybe there are bigger surprises there.
Fucking A. I just want to hear more.
Thank you all for your words.
Here is a second extract from Samen, called “Chairleg Thesis”.
https://apathiarecords.bandcamp.com/track/chairleg-thesis