Insomnia — Barbarella

“Barbarella” is the new disc by Insomnia, co-released by Mandarangan Recordings and  Rarefazioni Uterine (Italy). Truth be told, this is my first introduction to Insomnia. After a little investigation, it appears to be the harsh industrial noise project of Jason Vizmanos based out of Chicago. Chicago seems to be fertile ground for scummy electronics these days, and as someone who has an affinity for noise from the windy city, I must say I was intrigued to give this disc a spin.

The first track “Superstar” starts off with some blown out noise and with what sounds like a chilling organ (akin to what you might hear in a B-horror film) played in the back drop intermittently. As the track progresses blown out percussion and contact mic madness join the cacophony. Some synthy buzzing closes out the track. The second track “Arinolang Ginto” presents a swirling synth drone. It sounds distant and somewhat muffled compared to the previous track, however it sounds like that was intentional.
 

“333 Years” deceptively starts out with piano bars before being quickly disrupted by electric buzzing. The buzzing segues into a fuzzy melange of subdued noisy feedback, with “perhaps” some vocals thrown into the mix, but truthfully it’s hard to tell. The dense fuzz changes tempos and is peppered with little beeps throughout. It sounds like some ramped up television static layered with some circuit bent bleeps.
 

The disc’s longest track “The Inauguration of the Locusts” runs over 17 and ½ minutes and sounds to be a composition of alternating noise loops mixed with swirling synths and electronic insectoid chirping. The closing title track “Barbarella” is a nice mix of noise and synthy oddities layered over waves of static fuzz and even some damaged beats thrown in for good measure.
 

While I can’t say “Barbarella” crosses any new territory, I can say that it is a damn solid noise release. Mr. Vizmanos, is definitely a talented soundscaper and I look forward to hearing more from this project in the future.