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<\/a><\/p>\nThose in the know recognize them as the custodians of the World’s Ugliest Cat, but they are more widely known<\/a> as the Industriogothronica1<\/sup><\/a> duo Ego Likeness<\/em><\/a>. Donna Lynch is also a poet and a horror writer and a Stoker Finalist<\/a> (along with her husband) for their collection Witches<\/em><\/a>. Steven Archer is a visual artist as well as an acoustic one, who does disquieting things with oils<\/a> and a variety of animal parts (things which have been hung in galleries from NYC to Seattle). He does soundtracks for NASA<\/a>, and writes, um, children’s storybooks<\/a>. He also manifests as the solo acts Hopeful Machines and Stoneburner.<\/p>\n If that last name sounds familiar to you, you’ve probably read Frank Herbert. Wikipedia describes<\/a> Stoneburner’s music as “Worldbeat”, but doesn’t specify which<\/em> world: Steven created Stoneburner as an ongoing experiment in what tribal dance music might sound like on Arrakis. If the name isn’t enough to clue you in to that fact, the album titles should be: On the Folding of Space<\/em>; The Mouse Shadow<\/em>; Songs in the Key of Arrakis<\/em>.<\/p>\n Except for his latest, Technology Implies Belligerence<\/em><\/a>, which constitutes a departure into what we might call more obscure<\/em> territories than the Dune<\/em> series.<\/p>\n It would probably be an overstatement to describe TIB<\/em> as a Blindsight<\/em> concept album. Certainly there’s an influence; the cover art is pretty much a giveaway, as are tracks like “The Structure Itself is in Pain”, “So Much More Aware So Much Less Perceptive”, and “Theseus Abandoned”. But there are eight other tracks on the album, and they seem to come from darker places than the Oort. Titles like “The Angel of Abscess” and “Minor Monsters” make the point; their lyrics drive it home:<\/p>\n I am the storm after the calm There are no ancient institutions All the predatory creatures Of course you can be forgiven for not appreciating those elegant little turns of phrase on first listen. You can be forgiven for not even hearing<\/em> them, given the way Archer growls and snarls and clinically distorts his voice in Post. I get the sense that at least three quarters of the time he treats Human vocals as just another instrument in the arsenal, another sound<\/em> to be twisted and manipulated to convey not so much a coherent lyric as a gut feeling. The words are there, but they’re not front and center. You have to hunker down and mine<\/em> them from the mix (or cheat by watching videos with subtitles<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\n You like your Violence from a distance
\nVoyeristic, you stagnate
\nTrading all lack of resistance
\nFor excretions on your plate<\/p>\n
\nI am the god behind the psalm<\/td>\n\n
\nSaving me from dissolution
\nYou cannot preserve the stars
\nIn empty canopic jars.<\/p>\n
\nSniffing out the weak and injured
\nTruth inside you like a splinter
\nYou run for shelter
\nThey run for dinner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n