lee m. bartow (aka leech) bill abdale (TEETH SO SHARP) fade kainer (INSWARM)
with: mike hill (TOMBS) nick dellapenna (TOURNAMENT) maliks matt slagle matt melnick (DISASSOCIATE) mark kammerbauer (FRAGMENT KING) fallon nieves bernard allen kevin reilly jeff spindel and others
Influences
swans, james plotkin, godflesh, jesu, titd, PxDx, aNb, neurosis, battle of mice, isis, etc.
Energy can change form, but cannot be created or destroyed.
We are all hungry ghosts, leaving our mark in the fabric of space and time, leaving our mark on those who come in and out of our lives.
They leave their mark on and within us, as we leave our mark with them.
We may grieve for a time, we may not, but we can not ignore who we are as a result of having experienced them for a time.
At the core of my previous project Navicon Torture Technologies, beneath the visceral, decaying imagery and ranting rape-fantasies, was an attempt to convey a profound sense of loss. Disappointment, unrequited love, fear of being alone, expressed through the rage of the victim-turned-perpetrator.
With love is nothing., these same concepts can be explored, with a somewhat less vicious mode of expression.
Consider NTT as the place in which rage and denial meet, and love is nothing. as the calm that overtakes us as we accept that our fate is far worse than we ever imagined.
HEAR love is nothing. PERFORMING LIVE AT REDSCROLL RECORDS IN WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT HERE
People upset that leech decided to put an end to NTT should definitely check out the new(ish) love is nothing. chapter 2 cdr. if you have heard chapter 1, this disc doesn't really sound much like that and has more in common with NTT material than the first love is nothing disc. the notes say there are guitars on it, but they are mostly dark, deep guitar drones and such... no riffing/power chords and no drums. none of the industrial metal-type sounds & structured songs of chapter 1. the overall mood of the disc is very dark, restrained, subdued, and brooding with periodic layers of leech's characteristic vocals.
This new, self-described "digital metal" project sees Leech from Navicon Torture Technologies handling lyrics, vocals, mixing, and editing while joining forces with some of his occasional collaborators Maliks (guitar, drums, and additional sounds), Nick Dellapenna (bass), and Mark Kammerbauer of Fragment King (also on guitar, drums, and additional sounds). Things begin with a great deal of promise, kicking off right away with layers of power chords and dissonant textures over a simple drumbeat with plenty of lightly distorted screams/yells before shifting into waves of feedback and wispy midrange noise before the three-minute mark. This approach thins out and hits on a few Godflesh-like moments over the next few minutes as subtly rhythmic loops or sparse percussive sounds occasionally layer in and distant yelling starts to make its way into the background. Near eight minutes in a brooding form of barely audible singing starts to add melody behind the distorted waves as a more sinister pulse starts to signal a steep rise as disharmonic hard panned guitar lines interact with one another along the outer edges before fading away to a reverberated hum of windy midrange ambience. Then the singing returns with a hint more breathing room to create somewhat of a lulled drone alongside a slow, repetitive guitar arpeggio that eases back on the distortion. Nearly six minutes later the track sort of reinvents itself with a restrained distorted beat and some excellently twisted guitar lines behind intense layers of screaming and singing. The only problem here is that the vocals are suddenly way loud, and though they sound awesome, they almost entirely drown out some of the finest guitar work of the entire composition. But before you know it things have settled back into another rather ambient passage with some reversed guitar parts and distant shuffling textures, shifting back into the crushing heaviness of the opening dirge after one weird beat breaks things up for a bit. As is often the case with these types of D.I.Y. projects I think that minor elements of the recording are the only setback keeping this outfit from being wholly impressive. I touched on that one issue earlier where the vocals jumped way up in volume and drowned out a lot of the music, and aside from little mixing hitches such as that, I'd say that a lot of the guitars (notably that opening riff) could use more of a natural warmth to their crunch, as sometimes the sheen associated with a direct line recording can start to creep in and disturb the overall intensity. Most of the vocals sound pretty damn good, though some of the singing would probably need a hint of smoothing over were it ever more prominent in the mix. The CD-R is packaged with a black and white cover that keeps things minimal in terms of both artwork and text. The lyrics aren't included but one can only assume they're blunt expressions of pain in one way or another. This one's limited to a mere 25 copies, and my guess is that they're all gone now, but you might get lucky if you do some digging. There's a lot of cool material within this rather epic track. I'm not completely floored yet, but I can say without a doubt that a slightly more developed and professionally executed take on this approach would absolutely and totally kill, so I'm really excited about what's going to come of this. A few of the moods touched on herein are fucking powerful as hell...
(review of chapter II cdr from Malignant Records catalog): The new project of Lee from Navicon Torture Technologies, eventually replacing that project as his main focus. So, bitter sweet, considering it signals the eventual end of an incredible musical experience, but this is good work too…just different. More varied and certainly less brutal, and featuring collaborative recordings with live drummers, guitarists, bassists, and an otherwise revolving cast of sound contributors. Chapter II in particular, features input from Bain Wolfkind, and some others whose name I don’t immediately recognize. Still, this is powerful stuff…emotive, dark, and full of angst, mixing flowing cinematic drones with agitating, heavy electronic frequencies and death industrial clangs. And most importantly, the classic Lee Bartow vocal stylings.
(review of chapter III cdr from Malignant Records catalog): Part III in the series from Lee Bartow’s (Navicon Torture Technologies) new project. Emotive and tortured angst as channeled through through a perfectly stitched monster of buzzing power drones, ethereal dirge, sludgey, effects laden bass, fuzzy and grim guitar riffs, and dark, swelling tones with an orchestral feel. 2 tracks, each over 30 minutes. Totally unique and sans comparison.
(review of chapter IV cdr from Malignant Records catalog): One long track totaling over 50 some minutes in length. A heavy, pulsating drone that proceeds in a hypnotic, linear fashion, before eventually morphing into something more ominous, dirty, and polluted, with an awesome, swelling orchestral part near the end that reminds me a little bit of Anenzephalia’s first track on Noehaem.
You have a discrete but dangerous sonic disorder. A special sonic check up is required. We must take an appointment. I have to see you as soon as possible.
Still looking for permutation and transfiguration of possibles.
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