(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Fear of God was a pioneering grindcore band from Switzerland that released
the album As Statues Fell (Off The Disk, 1988) and especially
the EP Pneumatic Slaughter (Atrocious, 1992).
Their bassist Dave Phillips left after the album and formed
the collective Schimpfluch Gruppe, becoming a
super-prolific composer of electronic and digital music.
His recordings are surgically assembled, but, as usual with prolific musicians,
each one could have been edited down to a few minutes of music.
His immense discography includes:
III (Schimpfluch, 1997);
For Rudolf Eber (Die Schoene Blumen Musik Werk, 2000), a collaboration with Genetic Transmission (Tomasz Twardawa, another super-prolific composer);
IIII (2001);
The Hermeneutics Of Fear Of God (Tochnit Aleph, 2003);
Insect (Digitally Destroyed Daffodil Discs, 2003);
Tapes (Tochnit Aleph, 2003), a compilation of unreleased and rare recordings;
IIIII (Ground Fault, 2004), that contains 99 pieces;
Illusion Is A Natural Condition (Auscultare Research, 2005),
a collaboration with Randy Yau that contains 37 pieces;
6 (The Egg And We Music, 2006), that contains 23 pieces;
A Collection Of Curses (Blossoming Noise, 2006), a compilation of
rare and unreleased recordings dating as far back as 1994;
Schimpfluch-Commune Int (Nihilist, 2007), a collaboration with Rudolf Ebner and Joke Lanz;
Field Recordings (Little Enjoyer, 2007), a collection of 27 field recordings;
Should A Seeker Not Find A Companion Who Is Better Or Equal, Let Him Resolutely Pursue A Solitary Course; There Is No Fellowship With The Fool? (Radical Matters, 2008), that manipulates field recordings of reptiles, amphibians and insects;
the double-disc Frogs Rain (Scrotum, 2009), from recordings made in 1994-2009;
They Live (LP, Ltd) RRRecords RRR-USA 2009);
We Are None Of Us (Misanthropic Agenda, 2010), a collaboration with
Francisco Meirino, another super-prolific composer;
Mutations (Ini.itu, 2010), a collaboration with Cornelia Hesse-Honegge;
Humanimal (Monotype, 2010);
Ghi Am Viet Nam (Little Enjoyer, 2010), another collection of field recordings;
? (Heart & Crossbone, 2010), that adds the human voice to the manipulation of field recordings;
Anthropocentric Utilitarianism (Cass, Album, Ltd) O[k]hlupeng o[k]-22 2011), that contains Truth Is Invented By Liars and The Less I Know;
Abgrund (LP, Ltd) Second Sleep SS048 2012), that contains Snap Out Of It and In The Dust;
the double-disc of field recordings Suara Alam Indonesia (Nuun, 2012);
Borinosophil (Monotype, 2012), a collaboration with Polish electronic musicians Alexei Borisov and Olga Nosova;
At The Heart Of It All (Ruido Horrible, 2013), that contains
Dawn To Dusk and Dusk To Dawn;
Voice (CDr, Album, Ltd) Sub Jam Kwanyin 051 2014), a compilation
of 37 rare or unreleased pieces;
Medusa (Excrete Music, 2014), a collaboration with Italian duo Aspec(t);
etc.
The double-disc compilation
Homo Animalis (Schimpfluch Associates, 2014) collects cassette material
of the previous seven years, and is a good introduction to Phillip's career,
for a grand total of 158 minutes.
The 19-minute The Less I Know is
abstract noisescape with gothic overtones derived from animal sounds,
desperate animal sounds, so it feels like a pamphlet about
how humans use animals, and mostly how we kill them.
The 15-minute Novaturient is more conventional noise collage,
starting with a duet of wind and clock, peaking with a clash of metallic parts,
and then continuing to change and evolve until the finale, which is
a volley of shrieks.
The 14-minute Exipotic represents a third pole, with a calmer atmosphere and a subtler flow of noises.
The 15-minute Kelelawar B is another requiem for animal screams like The Less I Know, except that here the mayhem is thicker and the noise is louder.
The 20-minute Humanimal B might actually beat Novaturient in the category of "narrative" noise collage, if nothing else thanks to the lacerating
drones that create a constant sense of catastrophe.
Personal Responsibility, the shortest pieces, a hypnotic loop of pig growls, is actually quite affective.
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