AN NCS PREMIERE: DISROTTED AND GUILTY C — “LIVE IN OSAKA”

 

(Grant Skelton provides this review of a collaborative live recording by the Chicago doom band Disrotted and the Japanese harsh noise artist Guilty C, and introduces our premiere of a full stream of the sounds.)

In 2015, Disrotted contributed a gargantuan grotesquerie of a track for a split with Japanese powerviolence veterans Su19b. The track, entitled “Infernal Torment,” is nearly half an hour of droning, staggering madness. The song is a stroke of subversive genius, further compounded by the fact that Disrotted enlisted the help of Japanese noise artist Guilty C to collaborate on it.

The track was my introduction to Guilty C. Researching information on him proved somewhat difficult, but his official Bandcamp discography dates back to 1999. His experimental soundscape is acidic to the unexpectant ear. It jars the brain and rattles the nerves. For those old enough to remember static, or “snow,” on a television screen — picture that sensation invading your skull, rearranging your gray matter, then careening down your spine. That’s the best visual description I can use to articulate what Guilty C’s music is like. To put it bluntly — it’s called harsh noise for a reason.

I am by no means an expert on Guilty C’s discography. But thanks to Disrotted, I’ve worked my way into his back catalogue. I’m currently finding his 2011 album Bottom Down very gratifying for my nocturnal work hours. It’s horrific, brooding, and mesmerizing.

 

 

To the point, in 2017 Disrotted and Guilty C performed “Infernal Torment” live in Osaka. This dissected and reimagined performance exceeds the studio version in length by 10 minutes. In a 2016 interview, vocalist Adam Jennings said:

“Well, the last time we played in Osaka, our friend GUILTY C was not in town. I have been a big fan of his work for over a decade, and was thrilled that he agreed to take part of our side of the Su19b split. It was only natural, then, to ask him to do a collaboration set this time around. We are going to record it and release it as a cassette when we get back…

“The collaborations with Tetuzi Akiyama and GUILTY C will allow us to showcase more of our noise influence and background as well. Disrotted is our metal band, but all 3 members of the band are/have been in projects that are more in the industrial/drone/ambient/noise genres.”

From Kaala

If my time interacting with the NCS community has taught me anything, it’s that there’s at least one person reading this (who may not even comment) that is looking for exactly what Guilty C and Disrotted are offering. These two artists have developed a specific taste. That taste may be repellant to many. But to those who do muster an appetite for it, they will be satisfied and then some.

 

(The tape edition of Live in Osaka is available through Disrotted for $6 — contact them at disrotted@gmail.com.)

Disrotted:
https://www.facebook.com/Disrotted-317242548425284/

Guilty C:
https://www.kaala.jp/bands/guilty-c