20.SV
Acid Vomit.Human Genocide
6.3
Anyone remember Stallagh? If that doesn’t ring any bells then perhaps Lebanese noise merchant Xardas’s involvement with other projects Veinen and Kafan might. Anyways, Xardas has unleashed one hell of a product in the form of industrialized post apocalyptic noise act 20.SV. Acid Vomit.Human Genocide is actually a collection of two previous works that have now been placed together to act as the beginning of what will eventually be a long and drawn out multi-CD story based around the aural explication of human suffering, nuclear radiation, and a nihilistic abandonment of all sense of hope; the birth of a nuclear winter. Sounds interesting enough so far.
The concept behind the Acid Vomit portion of the disc is: to channel the visions of an industrialized post apocalyptic bio-nuclear radioactive world into the form of frequencies. Though this sounds interesting enough, the finale of the album, Human Genocide, serves as an interesting duality of aural expression: First, The massive nuclear bombing of the major cities of the world without mercy. Secondly, the vision of these destroyed cities, the emptiness, desolation, destruction and the stench of death invoked from such scenes and landscapes of extinction.
I’ll be honest here; I have absolutely no idea how the hell I’m supposed to score an album like this. Something this unconventional can’t exactly be put to conventional grading standards with the expectation that everything will just turn out all right in the end. No matter how you look at it, 20.SV is undeniably challenging and Acid Vomit.Human Genocide is a hard listen by any means. But, just because this isn’t offhandedly easily appreciated does not devalue its ability to absolutely amaze the listener with a uniquely rewarding experience. 20.SV have achieved absolutely everything they have set out to accomplish with an unmarred quality of sound and extreme overall polish. Not one thing is amiss from their wall of industrialized ambiance.
Let’s sidestep all the annoying bullshit arguments over whether something like this is really art or even music at all because the only thing that matters in the end is how you feel about it. Disagree with the bands ethos? Then get the fuck over it and move on with your life. Whether it’s rewarding or not depends directly on your personal penchant for liking music this abstract.
Acid Vomit.Human Genocide is an amazingly submersive and harrowing experience. The industrial rattling of “Uranium Minds” sets a hollow and foreboding precedent of harsh ambiance before the scorched earth bleakness of “Nuclear Storms”. Yet the real horror begins with the dissonant electronic frequencies, harsh alien squeals, and stuttering static of the ostentatiously frightening “Suffocate.Acid Vomit” before the truly unsettling “Disfigured Children.Radioactive Generation” truly expunges all feeling. Finally, the epic thirty one minute closer “Human Genocide” finishes the album with a more precise, focused, and undeniably mature approach. The song drowns the listener in a tidal wave of swelling dread, acting as the perfect realization of 20.SV’s intended approach.
However this is probably the most unique album I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing, I do have some serious issues with Acid Vomit.Human Genocide because though it is almost flawlessly executed, it’s all feeling and abstract expression with almost no substance that draws the listener in after the first few initial exposures out of pure curiosity. I’m glad I heard it, but after this I’ll rarely listen to it again. Personally, I’d rather stick with the genius of Garm’s (Ulver) work on Teachings in Silence or the disturbing semi avantgarde ambiance of bands like Blut Aus Nord, The Axis of Perdition, and The Ruins of Beverast. All of which seems to offer so much more in the way of substance before something quite like this. A hell of a release from Autumn Wind Productions, interesting doesn’t even begin to describe it.
