Gnod
Infinity Machines

THE REVIEW

Over a hundred minutes of duration would be enough to validate the title, but I believe the name rather seals the listening with a metaphorical image of the mind; the album represents for the Gnod trajectory a sublimation of their musical excesses from acid rock to abstract electronic expression; the tracks are constellations of moods, signals, and spontaneous voices over scraps of abrasive electronic sounds. The work is in its entirety an immense piece, exhausting to consume all at once, for this reason I feel like suggesting it in large sips:

Control Systems starts, slithering through circuits until it transforms into diametric images, from bucolic dawn to metropolitan noir;

Desire chews clumps of electrons, overlaps itself, pulses psychotically and obsessively builds puzzles of grey skies;

Breaking the Hex has within it a great moment, allowing Mr. Jazz to express himself, often the most drunken of the party, this time disfigured and shredded among noises;

Infinity Machines flows in an elongated closure, techno from another planet, and as a good titular track, it is among the most nostalgic pinhole impressions of the listening experience.

Each episode is depicted by an alienating suite of sounds that shatter, explore, and isolate the mind in music that resonates like a cerebral analysis. I don't doubt that someone would devour it in one bite, as one might expect, one never says never, but a triple-exhausting-vinyl proposal perhaps marks too much ambition for this exquisite cybernetic and multi-sensory music. A vase to draw from if passing through, maybe with eyes closed, I liked it this way.

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