REDUCTIVE LIVING

New Iron Lung album, "White Glove Test" with the bonus noise LP that was only really made available to attendees of the bands recent Oz and US tours. Originally they were to have hard copies with them when they were here, but for whatever reason, the pressing plant had delayed the release. As a result, I paid the band to secure a copy with the bonus disc, and then it arrived in the post last week. Split pressing between Iron Lung Records and Prank records. Unsure of the pressing details, but I know that it's long sold out now. The second 12" offers a noise track that syncs in perfectly with the BPM of the music on the first 12". The idea is that you would have two record players and spin both discs simultaneously. Or you could just listen to the noise record alone if you're a bit of a fiend for that kind of thing.
Again, the band have released here a total lesson in how to write and play good quality PV influenced hardcore that retains qualities of both an older and more modern stand point. If you're after a pure blast ridden grind fest like the bands previous album, "Sexless//No Sex", you probably won't be quite satisfied; for one the recording is somewhat different here, not as loud and less concerned with the immediate gratitude that a loud mastering job often delivers with grind records. Secondly, the ratio of lower to faster tracks here is arguably larger. To me it seems that way anyway. The tracks that have become engrained in my mind with this album are all of the slower, doomier tracks, not the frantic stuff. Best played from beginning to end to get the full feel of the album, this thing peaks and valley's through a bulk of really cool, depressing, drone stuff and a handful of violent, fast, hyper blasts. Jensen again validates any claim that he is one of the best drummers across any genre at the moment with his work. A little to my surprise, a few previously released songs have seen a re-do here- the tracks from their contribution to the "Brutal Supremacy" compilation from 2011, "Reductive Living" from the "Saboteur" single from last year, and "Nothing" from the "Exposed" 7" from 2009. Artwork by the bands guitarist Jon aka Feeding.