IRM - Order4

I've noticed that there are people who tend to put IRM into power electronics "shelve" and categorize this Swedish band that way. I can't understand the reasons because such a description fits only with high reservations and lacks accuracy in what's being heard/seen. IRM has always distinguished with their unique sound and explored self-mutilation, weirdly interacting with religious themes. Though I doubt that I'd be wrong by saying that with this album, released via Swedish label Cold Meat Industry, they took one more step towards even more peculiar space. This CD is like a collage, made from elements of drone, noise, avantgarde, violent and nihilistic visions/orders... All these elements glued into one Order4 picture and you get absolutely new, horrific phenomenon which doesn't quite fit into any stylistic boundaries and is not that easily describable. First of all about the artwork of the album. Perhaps that sound comparison with collages that came out from subconsciousness was for a reason because the artwork is done by Stefan Danielsson whose weird collages always serves as pabulum for your imagination. By the way, Whitehouse - Racket artwork was also done by this artist. Minimalism of Order4's digipack is charming. 4 tracks, each playing for 15 minutes in disc. First of all I spun this CD countless times without reading the lyrics that are added in a booklet. Impression was good, but only after reading and getting deeper into texts, beauty/horror of this album was fully revealed. Lyrics are indispensable condition for full comprehension of this album. Order1 starts with several minutes of cymbal drone which after some time is almost deadened by massive guitar drones and subtly effected voice. The track itself consists as if of 5 parts. When buzzing drone and voice manages to raise weirdly anxious atmosphere to maximum, sound cardinally changes and starts growing from more silent seeds while the sudden strike of monolithic drone and voice wave destroys it. Last couple of minutes are devoted to psychotic story-telling with chaotic melody in the background. Harp? Strings of the piano? Deconstructing material form of human flesh. Order2 and Order3 are different from the other two tracks. Thematically - castration is performed during these two. Left testicle at first, then the right one. Somehow after reading this text, these associated to me with Martin's performances and scripts for them. Order2 starts in similar manner as the first track ended. Disharmonic pseudomelodies of strings, becoming more and more insane. Voice gives orders in one ear, what should be done with the "patient". In the other ear instruments/drugs needed for the certain action are hinted. Sound is divided into separate segments, wiven with each other as in the first track and as in all the rest of the album. It's like waving of the pain itself - several minutes of lighter calmness or hardly heard pulsating that suddenly transforms into screaming mass of noise that is changed with hardly bearable tranquility, projecting into absolute darkness of consciousness. The culmination of Order2 is like desperate cry for catharsis "light light light..." Atmosphere in Order3 is sicker than in the previous one. Sounds seems to be densier and boggier. The feeling is as if the body temperature would've suddenly risen. Strength in ordering voice has disappeared. It sounds more like giving orders while at the same time constantly loosing self-motivation and power and giving up to pain. Motive that stuck - hear beating that is still heard while silently crying for light at the end of Order3 and finally it transforms into continuous beep of heart-monitor. It'd stopped. Order4 is, I think, analysis and state of mind after these happenings. In the first track it was questioning with projection into the future. In the last Order - we look backwards. Logical center of gravity is on tracks dedicated to castration. Though the first and the last tracks are more song-like. A little different, muffled voice and more massive and frightening sound lines. If the track gets calmer - it's not light tranquility. It's wandering in the mud of thoughts waiting for the moment while you're brutally pulled out and thrown under slabs of noise and madness of vocal.
Order4 is one of these albums that you write and write and write and still you think that you haven't described it well enough. Then you rewrite sentences and start again. And still.. You simply need to say stop to yourself at some point because trying to put this album into words is loosing its sense. Yes, listening and living through this album is shaking experience. You listen to it over and over again, follow the lines of text and become more and more involved in actions described here. You wish to obey the order more and more. Leaning towards absolute self-destruction. How are such suggestive works called? Masterpieces? But these big words are not needed. No catharsis comes after this. This is simply the CD that is a must to experience.

Format: CD
Released: 2010
Label: Cold Meat Industry

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