Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Novasak - The Exploding Sorority Machine [Zvukovina - 2011]

This  CDR release, sporting two untitled tracks, brings us harsh noise the way it was in the 90's: chaotic, freewheeling analog improvisations with full spectrum thickness, lurching between mulched up grinds, unforgiving high pitched screech and synth bass squelches.  To my ear, the sounds Novasak gets here were likely all sourced from the rich tones of a vintage synthesizer. This release is available in both tape & CDR format

One of the most distinctive things about this release is the way it begins, a long, slow build atypical of noise music, a filtered facsimile of wind that grows, steady and inevitable as the hurricane approaches.  Around 3 minutes a piercing high frequency synth enters and dwells mercilessly on a robust and perfectly obnoxious tone, arcing lazily down into an eerie, glassy consonance over the next couple minutes as the windy white noise recedes into nothing.  The tone itself then begins to short out into squealing scraps of feedback.  Around 6 minutes, the piece lurches into harsh noise mode with some frequency modulation.  My ears don't like it, but I appreciate it as a dramatic gesture.


The remaining 20 minutes of track one are more common harsh noise fare, though Novosak has an uncommon fascination with the higher frequencies ranges and whitewash timbres that recall a firehose.  The first deeper tones are introduced around the 8 minute mark, and from this point on I find the grainy textures pleasing.  Having jammed with synths like the unpredictable ARP 2600, I notice that this sounds very similar to the sounds I got.  As often occurs in improvised noise music, the purely synthetic barrage ripples and quakes in surprisingly organic thunderous hail storm patterns.  Like many Merzbow releases, the noise is regularly broken up by squelching modulation and bits of silence, allowing for variation in rhythm and density.  The end of the track is anticlimactic: nearly 4 minutes of lazy, subdued bass swells.  It sounds like a build up for a truly powerful moment that never comes, but it's probably the most pleasant sound on the album.


The 29 minute second track wastes no time with entrances, dropping the listener immediately into a scorching cataclysm that is indeed thrilling, at least for the first few minutes.  Heavy LFOs and beating frequencies create brief moments of rhythmic consistency.  Mostly, there are the same ideas and sounds here as in Side A, but with a more formidable and satisfying physicality to the sound.

This track stops completely 17 minutes in, and a new 'track' begins, highlighting the informality of this release.  This track is slower moving, dwelling on a thick dissonant tone cluster with shifting undercurrents of bass.  It continues as an indecisive drone, with different pitches in the chord wandering up and down whimsically.  It's some of the most listenable stuff on the album but also some of the least engaging.

So Novasak's "The Exploding Sorority Machine" is a solid but forgettable slice of harsh analog noise.  Nostalgic diehard fans of the old ways will eat this up for all its directness and simplicity.  The tracks have no momentum to speak of, but then this genre was always about the sheer joy of powerful sound in the present moment.  I am glad to have heard it, but I can find no reason to recommend it over countless other noise releases with more attitude and distinctive character, and truthfully I may never listen to it again.  Anonymity itself is also a part of noise culture, so again this is not exactly a criticism.  If you truly love harsh noise, check this release out. 

Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5

Josh Landry
Latest Reviews

Novasak - The Exploding Sorority ...
This  CDR release, sporting two untitled tracks, brings us harsh noise the way it was in the 90's: chaotic, freewheeling analog improvisations with full...
260226   Violent New Breed - Violent N...
260226   Ozone: The Attack of the Redn...
250226   Fossilization - Advent of Wo...
250226   Hvast - Chwasty Polskie
240226   Dirk Serries - Zonal Disturb...
240226   The Stargazer’s Assistantâ€...
240226   Stephen O‘Malley - Spheres ...
200226   100 Tears - 100 Tears( Blu Ray)
200226   Garden Of Love, - Garden Of L...
200226   Blood Dolls - Blood Dolls( Bl...
Latest Articles

Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding Wall...
Back in 2024, I got my first taste of Absurd Reality, and I was so impressed by how crude and nasty its take on walled noise was. Behind the project is South...
290126   Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding ...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom