If you respect it when an artist pulls no punches and lays it all out there, please so say hello to “Chicago based electronic war machine” Whitephosphorous. Their latest continues a string of releases challenging various structural ills in society. As suggested by the title, “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” seems to be mostly taking on the prison-industrial complex. This is a noise suite that hits hard.
There are six songs offering, primarily, a strong dose of industrial noise, occasionally accompanied by voices – sometimes sampled media and sometimes a “narrator,” all channeled through a voice changer – that help fill in some of the blanks (in case song titles like “Indefinite Detainment” and “Mundane Barbarism” don’t do the trick). The music created effectively suggests unpolished violence and suffering. “No Knock Raid,” for example, alternates distressing sirens and machine gun rhythms; it sounds like The Bomb Squad on steroids.
Closing song “America the Beautiful” offers a sudden calm, at least at first. There’s a very slow drum beat and some other noises. As it slowly comes into focus, you realize that this is actually a simple version of the well-known song, but what’s that other sound? Crying? It all left me a bit…unsettled…angry…frustrated…all of the above. Whatever your reaction, it will leave you with emotions and thoughts to sort through, and a strong desire to listen through again and again.