Cassette
Wild compilation of Sound of Pig-affiliated, Memphis post-punk/industrial noiseniks, Viktimized Karcass. In operation for six years between 87-93, the five piece emerged just as industrial was shifting into new shapes and dimensions. I've no real understanding of where this might have fitted in the deep South of the late 80s, though there's certainly a European tradition being mined here. I'm specifically thinking Ramleh, with whom they share similar psychedelic inclinations and sonic aggressions, ala Grudge For Life. Infinite Expanse have chosen to sequence in non-chronological order, though it's not too hard to distinguish the earlier tracks from the later experiments. The twelve minute long Mosquito is from their first year and is charged with an almost Butthole Surfers like mutant groove, while the equally lengthy closer, Islamic Times, is also from the same period and displays a similarly shamanic quality to that of Gibby Haynes. Later tracks show a more tangible move towards the austere, a blackened mix of synth and fx manipulations - see the drum-machine led title track from 1991 or the noisy sprawl of instrumental opener, City in Flames. Taken as a whole, it's obvious these fellas weren't fucking around when it came to fucking around, mashing the corporeal, visceral and sometimes outright nasty into a heady brew, just as likely to poke you in the groin as they were the eye. Fair enough. I've no issue with such intentions.
