Published by Davide Pappalardo on June 24, 2018
Trying to categorize or even give a simple identity to American veteran band Controlled Bleeding is a futile and shallow attempt. Born in 1978, originally based in Boston and then moved to New York, the project sees as the main and only constant member the multi-instrumentalist Paul Lemos, accompanied during the years by different musicians, even if the addition of Joe Papa and Chris Moriarty during the early 80’s has been pivotal for the evolution of their sound and their different ventures in the world of music. Initially an art-rock band, they soon experimented with power electronics, industrial, ambient and noise, publishing many albums under different labels in a very short time. Then, they went on a quest in the world of music, touching many different genres and themes, both with their name and with side-projects like Skin Chamber and Fat Hacker : post-rock and post-punk, ethereal music, classical, new-wave, EBM, industrial-metal, tribal, Goth, dub, and many more genres. They are still active even today, playing a very personal and strange brand of prog/psychedelic rock with a totally renewed line-up.
Probably the most productive period in their long history was between 1985 and 1988, when they released in the span of just three years 13 albums, two off-shoots as The Art Barbeque and as Paul Lemos & Joe Papa, and 3 splits (Across The Stagnant Pond with noise project Uncommunity, Halved with post-industrial act Maybe Mental and Les Nouvelles Musiques De Chambre #1 with classical composer Benjamin Lew) , most of them on underground labels and in limited and hard-to-find editions. Unfortunately, when compared to other acts in the world of industrial experimental music, Controlled Bleeding are still unknown to too many people, and sometime their legacy is underestimated. This is probably due to the fact they changed their sound so often following their own will, regardless of expectations and fashions, and even due to the scarce availability of their work. Artoffacts Records is changing this situation thanks to a series of re-release which started in 2016 with the remastered and expanded edition of their first work Distress Signals and of the albums Body Samples and Knees And Bones. Now the Canadian label presents the huge cd boxset Blistered Bags Of Fodder Swaying, containing ten albums, many of them for the first time on cd, published during the period mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph. Death in the Cameroon, The Art Barbeque “Feet Hacked Rails“, Headcrack, Between Tides, Curd, Core, Paul Lemos & Joe Papa “Music for Stolen Icon“, Music For the Scourging Ground, Music For Gilded Chambers, Songs From the Drain are the works here reissued in remastered and restored form, accompanied by large-size reproductions of the front and back covers of each release, as well as an essay by Paul Lemos about the albums, of which he gives a very honest and sometimes harsh opinion, and the real life-occurrences influencing them and their mood.
Death in the Cameroon is a three track industrial-noise affair, starting with Skin evening and its ghostly soundscape made of dissonant lines and shrilling drones, an evolving noise-storm which collides with dark ambient motifs and scaring sampled voices. The second half of the track dwells in pure cacophony, assaulting the listener with distortions and sharp screams. At he beginning Paris lights follows a subtler route, displaying a minimal synth loop with psychedelic qualities and tribal rhythms. Then the track devolves into what we could call, using an anachronism, a sort of proto-digital-noise, a distorted wall of then-futuristic effects; droning movements are the climax of the episode. Ribs in scavenger’s sack seems as an expansion of the futuristic elements contained in the previous piece, using drum machines and keyboards together with a 4-track recorder. The result is for the first part of the track an electronic boogie with obsessive grooves. Then, ambient passages take their tool in a quiet long moment, but for sure this is not the end of the 30-minute long number, which progressively touches frantic and lysergic tribal/electronic explosion, dark ambient, avantgarde weirdness and much more.
Feet Hacked Rails is the experimental work of The Art Barbeque, a Controlled Bleeding off-shoot composed of Phil Rip, Beyond Floride, Chuck Louch (pseudonymous for Paul Lemos, Chris Moriarty and Joe Papa) used to issue even more musing without the risk of saturation and total artistic control. More than a music album, we have here a collection of studio pastiches and experiments, sometime lasting only seconds. A restless track like Chest cavity dance beat, with its obsessive droning drum and keyboard sounds has more sense as a novelty then as an actual song, while Dredging phil is an electronic mantra reminding us of late-70’s experimentation. It’s easy to understand why in the essay Lemos is detached from these early experiments seeing them as half-finished and sometime pointless. Nevertheless their importance in the philology of Controlled Bleeding development must be stated, and they have their place in this collection.
Headcrack is an ambient work with industrial and martial undertones, sometime almost ecclesiastic with its ethereal soundscapes, sometime close to death industrial in its decadent distant vocals and imposing drum sounds. Firelight reminds us of Coil with its medieval melodies and elegant suites, while Dry lungs is a monolith made of thundering marches and voices from hell. Headcrack Pt. 1 (music for four guitars) is a progressive rock number full of suave movements, an anticipation of the future versatility of the group, and Moonshards a dreamy keyboard exercise with nice melodies and elegiac atmospheres. The work shows a more mature face of the band illustrating to us their evolution.
Between Tides returns to noisier territory, displaying shrilling drones and obsessive static loops, without forfeiting different passages with melodies and guitars: Horde works as a sort of field-recordings-in-a-factory thanks to its disturbances and lo-fi sounds, and In the box plays with glimpses of guitars and glitches, once again anticipating sounds and experiments which we will find in today’s music; minimal keyboards and drums give to the track a retro feeling. The title track is a strange communion of drum machines, progressive guitars and eerie vocals, The scorched ground is a kind of “orchestral-noise” with shrilling electronic mantras and cacophonous walls-of-sound. The two natures of Controlled Bleeding are encapsulated in these tracks, once again showing the developing of their(anti)style and unique identity
Curd is another fusion of electronic experiments, noise numbers and ambient suites, starting with the looping Chain and its concentric sounds. The track soon adds eerie ambiances and guitar loops in an obsessive repeated sound. Inland II is a celestial ambient song with ethereal vocals and sombre orchestral motifs, something which wouldn’t be out of place in a David Lynch movie, Brained by funk is a very strange minimal wave track with tempered vocals and with refrains reminding us of Fad Gadget and After the heat a cinematic voyage with delicate arpeggios and evocative keyboards. The works continues on the same road of the previous efforts showing a mix of playfulness and actual song structures.
Core is the last work before the “Sub Rosa era” and the first work done by the band with an 8-track recorder. The joyful electronic ride called Land filler starts our journey with its powerful keyboards and orchestral arches, and numbers like Boiling eggs, with its energy and progressive playfulness, and its reprise , with its post-punk undertones and jazz elements, show a band with less angst and stronger roots in post-rock and experimental guitar-driven music. Underside of lung trees sounds like a love child between Swans and The Pop Group, full of grave guitars and explosive passages, while Music for last words is an ambient instrumental track with the usual melodic keyboards and evocative sounds, not missing guitar arpeggios.
Music for Stolen Icon is the 3-track album issued by Paul Lemos and Joe Papa as a collaboration between the two, a sad and brooding industrial work. Ethereal vocals and unforgiving slow rhythms are shown in Curb life, while Deep paths uses droning mantras and celestial synth-lines for a cinematic music experience. The beautiful work is closed by Under heaven and its medieval tones united with guitar motifs and melancholic ambiances. An album foreshadowing a grim period for Lemos’ life, with the dissolution of his marriage because of his obsession with music, something which will influences the following Controlled Bleeding efforts for the Belgian label Sub Rosa.
Music For the Scourging Ground is an album in which industrial and ambient music collide into orchestral passages and melodramatic motifs full of sadness and confusion. Bright shadows is a perfect example of this sound, a passionate track with orchestral arches, beautiful arpeggios and enthralling vocals, and the vocal mix of Near the water follows suit with its operatic movements and majestic atmospheres. An awakening displays tribal rhythms, piano sounds and opera vocals, a skillful piece of music showing us the maturity reached at this stage by the band, while The shallow sky is an exercise in post-punk guitars and eerie ambiances. Voices of the dead changes mood with its brooding dark ambient drones and distant sharp sounds, adding oniric chants in the background. The dark period in Lemos’ life can be perceived in this music, making it real and powerful.
Songs From the Drain works as a compendium of almost every genres touched by the band until then, encompassing industrial, noise, dark ambient, pop, classical music, electronics, progressive rock and much more. Ash and stone sets the tone with its majestic and ethereal synth sounds and evocative voices, a cinematic affair with heavenly atmospheres, while Music for earth and water starts as a suave suite made of calm and placid guitar-motifs and piano sounds, then after the fourth minute it descents into dark ambient territory focusing on droning darkness and scaring samples. Red stigmata is a highlight in Controlled Bleeding career, a beautiful piece made of daydream guitars, marching drum machines and peaceful vocals, reaching its climax during the evocative refrain. Music for glass stones changes curse with its brooding structures made of scary chants and malignant atmospheres, a dark ambient affair with a slow building which turns into a noisy piece during its last part.
Music For Gilded Chambers is to many the best album ever done by Control Bleeding, a bombastic release with grandiose orchestral movements and epic vocals full of refund hope. Scourging ground is a heavenly piece of piano and voice which evolves into an epic classical overture full of enthralling choruses and passionate passages, Tides of heaven still shows dark ambient tendencies and sharp reverberated effects, adding sparse guitars while it turns into a beautiful ballad made of sadness and heart. A silken barb is a lively march with a medieval feeling, a collection of orchestral sounds and evocative voices with nice song-structures, Healing time is an imposing martial number recalling Laibach in its militant songwriting made of strong drum sounds, shrilling synth effects, triumphing trumpets and harsh vocals. A sort of light at the end of the tunnel, the album still posses dark traits combining them with ethereal and fascinating tracks.
An epic collection containing the most prolific and eclectic period of Controlled Bleeding history, giving the chance to wider public to keep in touch with the band music. While some of the early episodes are more of experiments without a real song-structure, most of the collection shows some of the finest tunes done by the group, moving from abrasive sounds to ethereal passages, from electronic mantras to guitar-driven beauties with progressive and evocative qualities. A must have for any lover of music regardless of genre and mood, a perfect way to catch up with one of the hidden gems in the world of alternative music. Do yourself a favor and listen to this compendium of great works and inspiring art.
Label: Artoffact Records
Rating: 8,5