Chier — Maximum Perversum
Maximum Perversum was a self-released in November of 2017- and as mentioned in my introduction it came in the form of either a CDR set, or digital release- the physical edition was ltd to 20 copies, sadly these are all gone now- but of course you can still get hold of the DL direct from Chier’s Bandcamp here. I’m reviewing the CD set- this comes in a fairly similar package to past self-released Chier sets- so you get the white labeled CDR’s( each with a pen-written numbers on)- two of these each come inside their own DVD case sized folded sleeve. These sleeves feature black & white collage artwork- bringing together cut-up porn, & scrawled black metal like texts. You also get glossy black & white inlay sheet- this takes in cut-up pictures Victorian children, a pentagram, and more scrawled like black metal like writing. Going from both the artwork, the title releases, and track titles the main focus here is euro-porn.
So moving onto the discs themselves- on the first CDR we have three tracks, Bizzare Begierde : Act I-to- Act II. The first act is three minutes of slightly noise battered German ( I think) film sample- this blends together bright & kinky 80’s/ 90’s synth craft, female talking & latter sexual moans. "Act II" comes in near the twenty-eight minute mark, and it finds a slurred & hazy blend of wondering/ muffled low-end, grainy rush & gallop, and circling sub rumble. There’s a lose/ fairly ill-defined feel to this ‘wall’, and I guess it does bring to mind been lost in the haze of perversion or erotic narcotics. "Act III" is the longest track of this first disc at forty minutes-and once again there’s a hazed, blurred, and out-focus feel to it. The ‘wall’ sees a slight roving & ill-defined under drone- to begin with, this is added to by a fairly active canvas rattling mids, thinner/ smaller buffet & baying grains, and the gritty jitters. By around the midway point, a more forceful & seared feel has taken hold, and we get a blend of rapid buffeting & hacking-grit tinged texturing. Then in the last, ten or so minutes things switch more tensely moody with a blend rattle tinged industrial drone & meaty judder- which is edged by this throbbing & penetrating sustain. In summing up this first disc- I certainly appreciate the vibe that’s trying to be created here & there is a creative enough use of texturing taking place throughout, but personally I found it all a bit too loose/ ill divined for my liking.
Moving onto disc two and we have another three tracks- Tango In The Dark: Act I- to –II. The first part stands as one of my early favorites of the set- we get a wonderfully brooding-yet-intense blend of distant & murky tolling & droning, unformed micro pops, and this rattling storm like circling. It starts off flair lumbering & moody in its pace, then slowly but surely over its forty-five-minute playtime the pace picks up, as does this creepily ringing & simmer dark ambient tone in the guts of the track, which just hints at eerier harmonics. "Act II"- sees a crude & awkward sounding tumbling tone descent, blended with buried industrial like a rattle, grey buffeting static, and subdued pops- all making for another effective track twenty two minute track. Lastly we have "Act III", and after the slightly more pared back first two acts- this nearing ten minute track offers up a more seared, though still moody blend of rolling rips ‘n’ tears, creepy & buried industrial knocks, and smaller aggressive jitters- it’s a great end to this most consistent of discs.
So next of course is the third disc, and for this disc, we just have two tracks- Sklavin der leidenschaft:Act I- Act II. "Act I" is the longer of the two tracks here coming in at just shy of the forty-four minute mark- this is a fairly active wall- moving from a initial blend of low-down grinding roast & crisp jitter, onto mixes of slight swaying low-end rush & grain spin, onto more dense-yet- atmospheric blends of almost percussive pelting, rapid crusty tumbles, and reverberating ringing drones. All told it's a nice bit of skilfully composed active wall-matter. "Act II" comes in at around the twenty two minute mark- this opens been built around a tight weave of pelting-yet-clipped low-end descents, which are cleverly edged with rattling & at times creepily wising harmonic sways. Before later on moving into more open & slurred blend of cluttering & wavering low/ mid ranged hacks.
Lastly, of course, we have the forth & final disc, and this returns to the three-track format of the first two discs with Maximum Perversum Acts I- to-III. "I" slides in at nearing the twenty-eight-minute mark, and brings together a fairly dense & manic blend of violent sweeping & swaying buffeting textures, buried moody roller like squeals, and sudden more pummelling sub-tones. In its last quarter this wall gets a lot more seared; with both of the two main textures get more rapid & ranging. "II" is the baby of the batch coming in at around the sixteen & a half minute mark- here we get a mix of tight rumbling descent, smaller feasting & crackling patternation, and sudden sweeping sways of moody buffeting. "III" sees a taut mesh of airless cable drone, chalky grain feast, and more uneven pops ‘n’ snaps- this just under twenty-eight-minute track is another stand out for me, and nicely exists the final disc.
For the most part Maximum Perversum is another consist set from Chier- showing both the projects skill for creative & moody texture selection, and worthy wall composition. I just personally found the first disc slightly less inspired & appealing- through the other three-disc more than make up for this.