Skullflower — Desire for a Holy War
Matthew Bower is as versatile as he is busy. He's been cranking out music with Sunroof!, Hototogisu, solo as Total, and of course, Skullflower, over the course of almost 25 years. More so than Sunroof!, Skullflower has been an on-again, off-again proposition, and the outfit is generally considered his most "rock" oriented, despite the fact that Sunroof! have recently amped-up a bit.
It's hard to say what one might consider Desire for a Holy War, but the word "harsh" may come to mind. It's not unlike some of Bower's other constructions in that it uses guitars in an almost impressionist manner. Bower favors banks of analog effects, which give his guitar noises endless permutations, from nervous twittering to sheets of metallic noise.
He is certainly no stranger to ambient noise, as he's created blissful drones with Sunroof!, and as far as Skullflower goes, he's tended to leaven those effects with a bit more structure. This new album is quite possibly the most noisy and unrelenting work that Bower's ever put his name to. It will beyond a doubt draw comparisons to Lou Reed's unwittingly seminal noise blast Metal Machine Music, because of it's nonstop use of feedback as a compositional tool. MMM came off as a middle finger to the record industry, which legend has it was Reed's intention at the time. But as an artifact, it doesn't hold up so well, because it's relatively formless and unemotional. And that is precisely where Desire for a Holy War diverges from that album.
Though it is certainly not for the weak of heart, careful listening reveals a work which is not without its share of artful subtleties, and sense of purpose. The album comes across as a statement, an attack, yet at the the same time, once one has adjusted to its intensity, it's oddly listenable, enjoyable even. It's an intense and umcompromising work which, as the title would lead one to believe, is either a protest, or merely an observation of ugliness, terror and war. As such, this music says as much as any reasonably gifted individual might say with actual words.
There is an emotional complexity to this music which not only conveys anger, but sympathy and sadness as well. It is meant to be played loud, and is likely to piss off your neighbors, as only the best albums do. Stephen Kasner's cover art, painted exclusively for this disc, is creepy and mysterious. As with Utech's brilliant Arc series, which intended to tie the photography of Max Aguilera-Hellweg to each artists' music, Kasner's artwork is perfectly evocative of the music contained within Desire for a Holy War. It's limited to 750 copies, and should be available for a little while. Don't let it slip through your fingers.