Operant – Harnessed to flesh

Operant is the brainchild of August Skipper (also a member of Ascetic: with Andrew Jigalin, Saxon Jörgensen) and Luna Vassarotti (also know as Luna Violenta during her DJ sets), also the minds behind the Berlin based techno-noise-experimental label Instruments Of Discipline. They started their activities in 2016 with the cassette EP ZK-II, a noisy industrial affair linked to power electronics and power noise, followed in 2017 by the vinyl EP Zero Knowledge in which they added rhythmic noise mantras and techno-industrial elements to their formula made of evocative female vocals (sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted) and chaotic atmospheres with distorted sounds and brutal drum machines.

Now they return with their third effort called Harnessed To Flesh, a five-tracks mini album in which they follow their already established path playing with brooding ambiances, sharp, shrilling sounds and majestic noise assaults. Dark ambient, noise, techno, industrial and much more are the tools for a sound full of urgency, but at the same time evocative and enthralling. Once again the mixing and production process sees the helping hand of Blush Response, already present in the previous work Zero Knowledge, guaranteeing a modern sound in which every element is clearly audible. The result is an album enriched by a range of different emotions, melancholic but brutal, introvert but aggressive.

Also to the inorganic world starts our sonic journey with its futuristic layers of sound, soon conveying a dark atmospheres where abrasive effects and distorted rhythms dominates a pitch-black soundscape. We could think about 80’s sci-fi movies like Terminator, and the addition of distant, ultra-distorted vocals reduced to screeching sounds contribute to the eerie but chaotic nature of the track. A noisy crescendo guides us toward a majestic power electronics mantra, a grandiose industrial symphony of chaos with method.

Be a boy follows the ambient sound with evocative female vocals soon contrasted by a robotic spoken word, mixing the ethereal and the human with the rigid rhythm of a mechanical world. A musical cyborg laid out by sparse beats and looping effects, underlined by shrilling sounds. Fast rhythms and heavily modified vocals start the second part of the track, a pulsating rhythmic affair with riffing sessions and strong structures.

Chancellory grows with seductive whispered vocals and electronic loops, adding different sound samples until it reaches a static atmosphere which menages to be at the same time soothing and noisy. A saturated mantra adding distorted tones and glimpses of shrilling melodies to its slow development, culminating in a pounding track with an obsessive bass

The sacrifice of meaning for power is a Frantic affair starting in a relatively quiet manner, but soon violated by harsh sounds and steady drum machines. It erupts into a compulsive techno joyride made of filtered effects and grooving attacks, a monolithic number with a punishing songwriting encapsulating a perfect track for the alternative dancefloors accustomed to hard sounds and militant rhythms.

Dead realities VIII starts as a sound-collage of modified vocal-samples, then a hard bass sound takes its place together with spiraling effects and electronics riffs. An acid atmosphere dominates the track while exuberant samples and faster rhythms are entwined in a structure destined to surrender itself to a power noise wall of sound. When Operant play hard they really mean it, and the number soon becomes something that wouldn’t be out of place in the harder album of labels like HAND and Ant-Zen. A sonic delirium of the harsher quality, an intelligent cacophony in which the evocative dark ambient elements are not forgotten, laying down until they explode in a melancholic loop mixed with industrial sounds.

Harnessed To Flesh is the most complete Operant work to date, a compendium of modern industrial showing the roots of the duo in the genre without ever indulging in old-school nostalgia, and at the same time their connection with the most recent development of the genre, especially rhythmic noise and power electronics. Here they orchestrate an intelligent take on noise music, sometimes even touching club territories without losing their abrasive and uneasy nature. Experimentation with a cause, harsh soundscapes and exhilarating sonic attacks, evocative brooding atmospheres, obsessive rhythms: these things, and much more, are Operant, and if you have an interest in industrial music, do yourself a favor and treat yourself with their music.

Label: Instruments Of Discipline

Rating: 8,5