Godlesstate — Godlesstate
I guess if you are familiar with 6 Comm’s blend of Coil like dark electronics, ethnic percussion/ dense rhythmic matter, melodic touches, clever sound source manipulation and splattering of avant-garde twists and turns- you will be semi-prepared for what Leagas does with Godlesstate. But really the project is a lot, lot dark, denser & often less set song based. With 6 Comm there was mostly a fairly formal song setting in place, and of course you had Leagas often prominent vocals which came across as a blend of Jonh Balance, Scott Walker and Marc Almond….for the most part these are not present here.
This album takes in 11 tracks in all, and a runtime of sixty five mintues. And though the tracks here were written & recorded between 2014 & 2016, there is a really disctict sonic identity running through-out most of this albums run time- and it’s a very dark, mis-shapeled, often sour, and off-kilter vibe. Pretty much all of the tracks here are thick, unpredictable, and strange blends of electrionic percussion, brooding & suffocating horn ‘n’ synth layers, shifting ethnic percussive & elements, droning-to- sinister vocals, discordant piano bangs & horn bays, & all manner of unsettling sonic flotsam & jetsam- all stirred together to create a truly nightmarish, horror-filled & often disorientating experience.
The feeling of dark disorientation & off-kilter-ness really pervades the whole release, it’s only in the last two or three tracks where the sound returns to a slightly more harmonic, lighter, and formal song like feel…though I have a feeling this is very much deliberate, as the last three tracks are separated from the previous eight on the track listing by a rune like line on the back of the CD track listing.
All in all Godlesstate is a fearful, troubling, and dense record that will take you time & effort to navigate, unlock & come-to-terms with. If you where a fan of 6comm & Leagas other work, this certainly worthy of your time…just don’t expect a easy-ride, or a re-hash of his past endeavours…as Godlesstate is a very darker & different beast.