Back in April I was walking into my local favorite deli when I saw a man sleeping underneath a nearby stairwell. It was just after Blue Origin launched their girlbosses in space PR campaign, and I had just seen photos of Katy Perry clowning for the camera singing “What a Wonderful World” and kissing the fucking ground on her return. It was all bullshit, and left me with an aching sense of disgust witnessing the full display of the societal spectrum, and wondering why the fuck we get so much shit wrong all the fucking time. In lieu of self sufficiency, our attention is co-opted with ideas and beliefs that can be marketed, packaged, and sold, then resold, in a never ending mindless process of production and consumption of frivolous ideas that reduces our physicality to nothingness, while enabling indulgence in illusion.
Extreme music plays an interesting role in current times. From early development, to global reach, various artists and fans engage in energy exchanges that revolve around an adoration for harsh noise rearranged ad nauseum in various fashions with genre identifiers that all just revolve around a blackhole of the acceptance of a less than ideal reality. From the first second of “Less Than What You Once Held” Body Minus Head demands your full attention. No time is wasted immediately leading into an intensity that grounds itself as the very foundation of the band, as the ten tracks pummel, punish, and wallop with hyper aggression that showcases a bottomless pit of angry energy.
“Goodness And Its Implications” follows a more traditional hardcore tempo and delivery, but again the vocal delivery is unique enough to slice through your brain to decapitate and resonate long after the track ends. Its uniqueness doesn’t ever wear off, albeit to its short runtime, or its authentic long-lasting novelty that really only compare to Elliot Morrow’s work including potential of developing a cult following; It’s the ribbon that ties everything together.
The rest of the band keep things at a healthy gallop, working through breakdowns and blast beats ranging from more traditional sounding hardcore leanings (but mostly always blackened) to more full on brutal assault black metal breakdowns with some slowed powerviolence inklings, all on grind runtimes. The overall effect leaves one full or exhausted by the end of the 18 minute runtime marking an overall lasting first impression for a promising new act that should gain notoriety as their reputation grows.
I bought the man sleeping under the stairwell some food and water. As I gently placed it down beside him, he awoke justifiably startled before he understood what was happening and thanked me. The modern world of existence we share is heavy, and takes a lot out of us. With subjective priorities we operate as a giant body of momentum that doesn’t ever stop to think about what we could actually be doing for one another, if we thought about the larger problems we could solve. It’s unfortunate, because it is a reality, but one we allowed to happen without forethought. I’m grateful Body Minus Head captures a sound on the same wavelength of frustration, despair, and punishing aggression; it’s a breath of fresh air amongst the muck & bullshit, and envelopes the listener in a harsh noise cocoon of quality aggressive sustenance. Enthralling as it is breathless, An Exercise in Self Sufficiency is a bold offering of comforting rage.
