Convulsif – Extinct

Hummus

Swiss fourpiece Convulsif certainly understand the power of tension. On Extinct, their third album, the opener “Buried Between One” had me checking the CD player to make sure it was s till working, such was the space between the resonant bass notes. When you leave it to play and you are being lulled, all of a sudden the bass clarinet kicks in like a swarm in your ear, and the machine is in motion and barely lets up for the album’s fifty-minute running time.

The depth of the bass, the pure clarity and chicanery of the drums, the shudder of the bass clarinet and the manic fury of the electric violin make for a really compelling and turbulent mix. Each note and strike of the rhythm section has purpose and serious intention, providing a constantly shifting backdrop for the snarling and shrieking poured over the top. While the violin fuzzes and squeals, the clarinet follows a lower line, but is no less furious

There is subtlety at play in places; “Five Days Of Open Bones” finds the clarinet more sinuous and there is space aplenty through which you can sense impending movement, dusty air swirling around bass and drums. You can feel the drums become busier but when it arrives, the violin is like a swarm of locusts visible on the horizon.

You watch as the air grows dark and then they are in your hair, chasing and chiding, while the bass becomes son of Stinkboot, a doff of the hat to Tracey Pew as it stomps and stamps, the ground shuddering underfoot. The foursome turn in an absolute tumult, electronics added to the dangerous scree, the air thick with noise as they all lose their stuff and pile it all up, setting it on fire and dancing around the flames. It is a stampede, a cacophony amongst which the drums are an absolute delight.

It is not noise for noise’s sake at any point, with everything having its purpose. There is aggression but not in naked form like, say, GOD; there is a passion to Extinct that just swells up in the enormity of the undertaking, an intensity and belief that every note and beat is sacred and essential. The interplay between bass and drums on “Feed My Spirit Side By Side” is wonderful, the strings singing in awkward contortions. I would love to see this thrown onto a dancefloor and watch the throng dislocate arms and legs as they try to keep up.

The album plays out with the long-form “The Axe Will Break”; this is all about hypnosis and the power of repetition, drawing the listener in as the piece gradually swells, not such that you can pick it out directly, but the drums allow the violin and clarinet to proceed subtly. The sea of interstitial noise that flows in and out of the players’ efforts starts to clog up any gaps and the feel is more restless as the momentum gathers. The clarinet is like a clarion clearing the ground as the piece becomes apocalyptic in its all consuming grace, moving ever closer to a logical but unwanted conclusion.

I must confess, I stuck Extinct straight back on again because I just wanted to be swamped once more. This album is quite something. What a discovery.

-Mr Olivetti-