steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

Slasher Risk

"Triple Jesus" CD

self-released

Genre: improv, experimental

NYC, USA

Oct 23, 2008

Triple Jesus opens with a twenty minute improvised epic, exposing the listener to the sounds of a guitar chiming through the cavernous walls of Hell. It is an unsettling experience, but not an unexpected one from a band named Slasher Risk. The composition never gets noisy, instead maintaining a heavily echoed, very meditative approach - it is, at times, even melodic. As the disc wears on, however, things become less accessible. The second track is noisier, although the effect itself is more atmospheric than abrasive; these are the sounds of you running through a castle that is rapidly disintegrating around you - the piece has a momentum to it that yields a distinct sense of urgency. The creepy fourth track is perhaps the most unusual nugget here: it manipulates a strange, ethereal strings drone to create a truly unsettling mood. On the other hand, the fifth track is my least favourite. It sounds like a prepubescent garage band recorded live to boombox; although the execution is certainly more self-conscious and deliberately noisy, I feel as if I've heard this formula before. Strangely, the brief sixth track, which follows the same formula, caught my ears much more agreeably.

Triple Jesus is a remarkably eclectic and principally enjoyable experimental release. Originally released (with two fewer tracks) as an LP for the Kass/Jamps label, Abandon Ship has made the right move in re-releasing this in CDR format. Slasher Risk deserves to be heard by all followers of the noisy avant-underground.

slasher risk's myspace

84%

youuuuuuuutube!: slasher risk live in brooklyn

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 6 tracks, distributed by the band, released 2008]