Stuntman: Incorporate the Excess

The last track on this album is called "Scarecrow Warfare." It's an instrumental, so I can only imagine what the band wanted to convey by that cool title. As I listened, I couldn't help but wonder: why hasn't anyone thought of that idea before? Think of it—the scarecrows of the world, with only a full moon to light their way, engaged in battle. It's a cool image; I mean, just think of all the hay flying around. As for the song, it's really only a two chord piece, but it has plenty of other things going on to keep it interesting. On the whole, the track is gloomy, but made heavier still by the painstaking and deliberate slowing of the tempo as the song reaches the middle. As it moves toward the close, a bit more sludge and a bit more noise bring it all together. It's a cool song, one that will have pride of place on my next few playlists.

"Scarecrow Warfare" wasn't just a killer track; it was also my introduction to Stuntman, a hardcore / noise group out of France. Going strong for over ten years, Stuntman is a heavy, excessive, and (as they say) "noise-soaked" band. They are uncompromising from beginning to end, refusing to do anything that even smacks of commercialism. Instead, they build on the rage at the heart of contemporary hardcore, fuel it with distortion, feedback, and noise, and organize it into musical bursts. There's no melody here, no catchy choruses, only feedback, distortion, screamed vocals, and a hard-driving beat. It's a good album, but it doesn't make for a relaxing listen. It begins with the fiercest of attacks and doesn't let up until the scarecrow armies begin their march across the fields of France.

Track Listing:
1. Broken Mirrors Lacerate
2. The Patriot, The Elite, The Icon
3. Bag of Dicks
4. Horn of Misery
5. Roll the Skull
6. Chaos Shepherd
7. Scarecrow Warfare

Added: January 20th 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1595
Language: english

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