Steel Hook Prostheses – “Empirics Guild, The” – [Malignant Records]

Muad'Dib   10/23/2013   A Library, CD

Bitcrushed white noise and distorted vocals swirling around like cigarette smoke floating in a hazy afternoon sunbeam falling through a black market medical emergency waiting room. Whispers simmer from the dark corners of the room, sounds from faces best left unseen. Detached electronic percussion lazily throbbing from the underground nightclub next door mixes with the cries of anguish slipping from under the door where the steel hooks live. There’s no healing here, but for a price they will cut the putrefied morbid flesh away. No questions asked, no answers offered.

A lot of very different textures to sample in each track, but skilled mixing keeps each element distinct. Each track maintains a thematic feel of the whole but on further listening develops its own character.

Steel Hook Prosthesis are J. Stillings and L. Kerr. They are based out of Texas and have been releasing albums since 2001.