Wanting to hear more of Black Shape Of Nexus following their split with Kodiak a couple of years back led me to the intense Negative Black, and while I am not well versed with all of the work from B.SON (an acronym of sorts for the band), this album feels like a somewhat departure at least from what has come across my path from them (again, only a single track from a split).
One thing is I am certain of is that Black Shape Of Nexus turns out one of the most writhing morasses of noisy chaos from the old continent that has graced these ears in a while; somehow the collective of B.SON harnesses all the best aspects of noise, doom, and hardcore punk and forces it into a nasty batch of songs that all want to wipe that smile off of all of our faces whenever we listen to this record. “Illinois” feels like the musical element that ties Negative Black back to what I had heard previously (a bridge if you will) before diving headlong into the doomed out hardcore punk grooves of “400H” and “500WV”, but all three of these feel like a big set up for “10000 µF” and “Neg.Black” which seem to serve as both a literal centerpiece (the former) to Negative Black and its sonic twin (the latter) gathering all musical moods and methods that the band conjures into one impressive beast of a song. Ultimately, the seven songs that comprise Negative Black are a dense sonic maelstrom that sound claustrophobic and utterly menacing even during the most spacious sounding moments (check out “RMS” and its space-y vibe but still dense sound); and to be perfectly honest, “10000 µF” and “Neg.Black” make this album for me while the other tracks are like an extra awesome bonus to Negative Black.
Is Negative Black what I was expecting when I popped it on my stereo? The resounding answer is an emphatic “NO” but that does not denigrate the crushing musical statement that Black Shape Of Nexus makes here; instead, Negative Black sounds more like a band that is comfortable throwing down a group of songs that while seeming initially disparate in their approaches actually feel more like extensions of each other as you listen more often and more intensely, though your ears might be screaming for help after listening to the record for a couple of hours (I know mine were).
