Whatever I was expecting when I started listening to Dominick Fernow’s new record was completely shattered the moment the opening track, ‘Many Jewels Surround The Crown’, starts. The second you hear the bloodcurdling scream at the beginning, it becomes obvious this will be unlike anything you’ve ever heard.
The second track is a masterpiece of chugging Industrial Techno, whilst the title track that follows is a sinister spoken word piece set against eerily threatening synthesizers and a soundscape that alludes to a particularly harrowing seventies art house film. The album reaches a threatening peak when Fernow proclaims a desire to “take a tree branch and ram it inside you”.
It’s a perfectly crafted piece from beginning to end; albeit quite traumatic at times. It’s rare these days that an album takes the listener on a journey, one with real development and even a story arc. A lot of the album gets quite harsh and borders on unlistenable at points, however a scattering of thumping Techno beats tie the album together as a cogent whole.
It’s a phenomenally raw and exciting piece of work, incorporating huge ranges of sounds and effects into his pallet. In short, throw out all of your records, purge your hard-drive and replace it all with this album.
Title: Bermuda Drain (Hydra Head)
Artist: Prurient
Out now on Hydra Head
