203 Barriers

"203 Barriers", the third album Kill The Thrill, was released on the non-usual for the band alternative low-budget labels. For his publication took Season of Mist, a powerful office from the world of the mainstream - part of the metal underground, which at that time earning a name (and money) for the publication of the records of Mayhem, Nocturnus and other figures of extreme music. Such cooperation has brought new opportunities in terms of advertising and distribution. With the release of "203 Barriers" the group found admirers where they have not even been looking for. Publications in metal magazines and joint performances with profile artists for their new label opened the collective to a wider audience. Although before this there were enough negative events: a trip to New York for the group planned to work with the leader of Swans, Michael Gira, as a producer turned into a complete failure. The artistic direction, given by Gira, absolutely didn’t correspond to the idea of the participants Kill The Thrill. The difference in views on the final result was so great that upon returning to France all the material was rerecorded, although Gira was listed in the booklet as responsible for the artistic direction.

With the release of "203 Barriers" it’s possible to say that Kill The Thrill have their own face and recognizable approach to composing and sounding. As in the case of previous records, the group consistently develops ideas for creating a hybrid of post-punk, doom, industrial rock and metal, weaving new fragments and details into the main canvas. Predominantly tense, quivering-nervous mood of the album passes in moments of pain and internal contradiction expressed through instrumental storms and nauseous vocals, to immediately change to melancholy, as if regretting the expressed out loud. And already through the melancholy, musicians in an amazing way open to meet the light, creating sublime harmony, tearing through the main material in the same way as tears burst after a long strain, tracing wet paths on the face, illuminated by the rays of the sun. A huge achievement in this - the voice of Nicolas Dick - leader Kill The Thrill, which at peak times is consonant with the voice of Johan Edlund of the times of "Wildhoney", and more quiet singing reminds us of the late Tiamat recordings. Periodically contrasting the mood of the vocal line with the mood of the instrumental part, Kill The Thrill create a sense of ambiguity and multidimensionality, a sense of life in music and thus make the perception of the album even more difficult.

Revealing its potential is not immediately, the third album Kill The Thrill as if asks to be understood not by analytical, but by empirical means. At the same time, he does not tolerate to inattentive attitude, pulling songs out of context or listening to streaming, rewinding and turning on in random places. "203 Barriers" is an outstanding record, highly appreciated by critics, but sometimes requiring too much from a modern listener.

One of my most seemingly futile musical searches was for bands who had their own slightly nuanced brand or at least adequately copied the haunting sounds of Godflesh's "Us and Them". Most bands bearing obvious homage to this industrial metal giant merely channeled the aggression without all the wondrous awe and melancholy Justin Broadrick incorporated into otherwise very angry and dark music; Scorn's " Vae Solis" came closest, although this album unsurprisingly features Justin Broadrick on guitar. So I felt as though I were happily doomed to replay vintage Godflesh material until I'd grow sick of it. Thankfully at some point before that eventuality, I discovered Kill the Thrill.

Now, at a certain point in time, KtT might have seemed a knock-off of the "Streetcleaner" aesthetic, with abrasive industrial music made even more coarse and menacing by another layer of basic but very effective metal riffs. Albums like "Dig" and "Low", certainly reminiscent of the starkly monosyllabic album titles of early Swans, very much channeled the blind rage and primitive rhythms of industrial into a metal band format, albeit in a far less raw way than Gira and crew had ever accomplished. Any atmospheric flourishes or nuanced sonic experiments were largely absent. In this way, a basic analogy exists between " 203 Barriers" and "Us and Them". While not displaying the bold urban vibe of Godflesh's classic albums, Kill the Thrill's 2001 release strongly recalls Broadrick's more poignant moments such as " The Internal" and "The Descent". Considering this, it may even seem that Kill the Thrill lies somewhere on the sonic palette between Godflesh and Jesu, which was formed just two years after this release.

"Breath" and the title track are the best examples of how Kill the Thrill maintains a certain compelling level of angst without overshadowing the moody ambience which serves as the canvas for the entire album. The general design of these songs is the use of sampled sounds and doomy machine drum beats to create a claustrophobic atmosphere which absolutely bursts open with the majestic violence of the choruses, which is certainly the band's strong point. This fairly simple compositional strategy results in a sound that is saturated equally with anger and sadness and is far more compelling, at least on a deeply emotional level, than so many contemporary bands peddling the ambient/post-metal trend.

But for all the links I've drawn between Kill the Thrill and Broadrick's project, the lead singer, Nicholas Dick, will fall far below the standard of most listeners; he doesn't have even the simple though pleasing melodic quality that Broadrick's voice has developed over the years. Still, with this being said, his voice, in all its coarseness, works as an abrasive texture against the often mesmerizing wall of sound composing these songs. However coarse and disharmonious his voice may sound, his deliver very much follows the contracting/expanding nature of the songs' verse and choruses, which makes the claustrophobic moments even more desperate and panicked and the ethereal flourishes all the more beautifully strange against the raspy vocals.

Perhaps, now that Godflesh seems to have jumped on the reunion bandwagon so many classic metal bands are joining today, Kill the Thrill will never get the recognition it deserves. But if you are feeling nostalgic for a fairly distinctive version of the poignant though violent sounds that Godflesh and its industrial metal minions were churning throughout the 90's and early 00's, Kill the Thrill's discography is a fine place to explore and "203 Barriers" will most likely be the best place to start.