Moscow based avant-metal / industrial merchants USSSY have once again returned to pummel your eardrums into submission with their second studio album entitled Oko. Comprised of I Am Above On The Left members Artem Galkin (guitars & oud) and Pavel Eremeev (guitars, samples & voice), along with new drummer Pavel Bogachev, the trio has actually toned down (albeit ever so slightly) their relentless barrage of sound that made up the majority of their debut album, which was also released by Russian label RAIG last year.
While the trippy looking cover graphics and infrared images of The Pentagon and The White House seemingly about to be obliterated like a scene out of the film Independence Day, nothing can totally prepare you for the massive, densely layered wall of sound & scorching feedback laid down by Galkin and Eremeev's dual guitars and Bogachev's consistently off kilter industrial sounding rhythms. Save for the ambient, oud textured interlude "Biologican Civilization" the rest of this disc comes across as a cold, post apocalyptical industrial wasteland. This is especially evident on "Boreas", "Ocean Investigation" and the absolutely dizzying fret board runs amid the plethora of feedback and effects on "Cock-Fight" and "Cyclone vs. Antycyclone". The chaos surrounding Oko climaxes with the ten minute "Ioann Grozny" which will definitely test the patience of the average listener with its full-on and in your face onslaught of swirling guitars, frenzied drum work and shot of dissonant feedback blended with some out of control electronics thrown in for good measure.
Be forewarned because if truly fucked up avant-garde, instrumental metal isn't up your alley then I can pretty much guarantee that you'll find Oko to be a challenging listen at best. That being said, I have to say that there's an almost cleansing feeling in their dense wall of sound and uncompromising assault that ends up making quite an impression here. Not to mention that if you're able to penetrate that wall of sound, you may be surprised to discover that there are melodies to be found buried just underneath all that pent up rage and aggression. In conclusion Oko is definitely not going to hold much appeal for the casual listener, but will yield rewards for the more adventurous.
Track Listing
1) Boreas
2) Biologican Civilization
3) Ocean Investigation
4) Cock-Fight
5) Cyclone vs. Antycyclone
6) Polarity Reversal
7) Ioann Grozny
8) Watershed