Nekrasov as an artist has made a name for himself over the past few years. Working in a rather limited, hard to define genre (Black Noise) and managing to inadvertently become one of the flagship artists in the current crop of artists in this genre. Black Noise itself is best defined by the over arching characteristics of it. That being the taking the lo fi aesthetics of early black metal and some of the initial creepiness as well and generally mixing it with the distorted sounds of the harsh noise genre. Strangely these things seem to work well together.
In Nekrasovs' case the prior releases seemed to work on a more linear basis, at times leaning towards more rhythmic patterns or even some kind of drum machine torture of some sort. This worked to give the releases a defined sound and even some structure in a sense. For the first Nekrasov release on Crucial Blast the artist refuses to settle. While the record is still firmly rooted in the given genre a more noticeable choice has been made. In this case that choice involves embracing Drone. This is to say rather than having a sense of rhythm this release takes that piece out of the equation almost entirely. The good news is that it is unnecessary in the context of these tracks.
What the listener receives are 3 massive tracks that focus on droning out to complete mental disruption. The undulating distortion bring the listener to a point of calm only to push a little further and make that calm disruptive in itself. If this all sounds confusing it's only fair Nekrasov records have rarely been something meant for the enjoyment of normal listeners. One must listen intently and be prepared for something of this style in general.
This release may not be the best starting point to get into Nekrasov but, the record would not hurt any listener that loves something abstract and near painful (this is meant in the best way). The production is gritty without being lo fi instead it revels in it's own darkness and is all the better for it.
Both Nekrasov and Crucial Blast have done some things to make this more than just a musical piece. While the record itself has been reviewed the 2 disc set also comes with an art magazine. The beautifully distressed and dark pieces do a much better job of explaining the feeling of listening to this recording than words really can. The black and white pieces depict things of evil that cause fear and unrest. All of these feeling are normal from looking at the artwork to listening to the record. There is nothing easy about this record but once you make the effort it can pay off.
