Striations — Vietnamization
Vietnamization first appeared on US noise label New Forces in 2018 as a C60 tape- it was ltd to 100 copies. Here from this year is a double CD release of the album- which features three additional around thirty-minute tracks, which did not appear on the original release. The new release is presented as a fold-out digipak in a green, black and color scheme- which takes in press cuttings and disturbing picture collages. It comes in an edition of 300 copies this time; though considering both the quality & impact of this release I can’t see these hanging around long at tall.
Industrial/ Power Electronics project Striations has been active since the summer of 2010. The key mind behind the project is Oakland, CA-based Mike Finklea. In all the project has put out around thirty releases- taking in full-lengths, EP, and splits.
For Vietnamization, Mr. Finklea is joined by the likes of Alexandre Chami(Insurgent, Koufar, Bachir Gemayel), C. Latina(Corpuscle, Impersonator, and Private Archive
Label) Samuel Torre(Disgust & Terror Cell Unit), and Stefan Aune(Breaking The Will, Kjostad, and New Forces label)- and these collaborators certainly push a great release to been a masterpiece, with their often moody-to-searing additions to Finklea's noise-making & shocking-to-powerful collagingý.
The first CD is split into three tracks- and each of these run between twenty-three and twenty-seven-minute mark. The first track is entitled “Phase 1 Operation Footboy”- and this is split into several subsections- to start with it opens with a 1971 army recruitment advert, which fair soon leads into a very pained blend of billowed and raging half-buried vocals & clashing arterially like textures. Soon this morphs into a blend of throbbing 'n' brooding synth craft, slices of war noises, helicopter sounds and yells- all to create a decidedly moody & dense atmosphere- much like I’d imagine it would have been like for the new recruits been dropped in the jungles of Vietnam . As we move through the track we shift from blends of significant & moody noise making- that flies with samples & pained vocals, onto paired back & impactful audio samples- that go from interviews with troops, field recordings, news reels, and more- all making for a truly creative sonic journey/attack.
The other two tracks on disc one “Phase 2: Operation Concord”, and “Phase 3. Operation Boundary Raider”- follow a similar blend of noise, atmosphere, and samples- I won’t go into detail or analyzing what goes on in the tracks- as they are fairly shifting & moping in there unfolds- but each are as rewardingly eventful, creative and impactful as the first track.
The second disc takes in two half-an-hour tracks “Phase 4. Operation Shed Light” and “Phase 5.Operation Freedom Deal”. The first track is more focused on collaged news reports, interviews, and on-ground field recordings- all making for a more thoughtful-yet- still unsettling/ shocking experience. The final track returns a blend of brooding & noise bound matter, sonic collagingý of newsreels/ interviews, and blends of the two. Once again this second disc is most compelling and worthy- featuring loads more great samples, and atmosphere- that moves from eerier & unsettling, onto thicker & more seared, through to dense/ layered attacks.
As long-time readers of M[m] will know when it comes to noise my personal preface is walled noise- sure I enjoy both harsh noise, and PE but I’m a lot more selective picky with these sub-genres of noise. So I guess that makes what I’m about to say even more meaningful- Vietnamization stands as one of the most skillful, compelling, original and re-playable noise releases in the last few years- the addition of the new material here really deepens & enhances this great-ness even more, to make this one of those rare releases- a cool 5 out 5 scored album. Really what every facet of noise-making you're into you need to get this release… it's a stone-cold classic!.