Conor Fynes 'Concrete' - Whourkr (5/10)

Whourkr's first album 'Naat' was something of a shock for me. Even though I found the music profoundly unpleasant to listen to, it did introduce my to a strange style that I had not heard much of in the past; cybergrind. Essentially a fusion of grindcore and glitchy electronics, one would be hard pressed to find a band in metal that sounds more like someone's great uncle setting up an old internet modem. All the same, the way that Whourkr chopped up the otherwise generic deathgrind with programming was interesting, and I wanted to hear what Whourkr could develop into. 'Concrete' is still a jarring cyber mess at points, but Whourkr did take a move here that I wasn't expecting from them, incorporating actual melodies and real instruments into their sound. On their second time around, Whourkr has created a much more diverse collection of songs here, although they still tend to fall into the realm of kitschy cybergrind that I first heard them as.

Whourkr's trademark sound of digital chopping and guttural 'br00tal' death metal is here, and much of it sounds like a continuation of what they were doing on the debut, 'Naat'. Dirty death metal riffs are played, backed by a drum machine, and electronic tweaks made to make everything sound artificial. I can really appreciate that Whourkr takes electronic music into metal and uses it for much more than a gimmick, but it is one of those things that I could respect much more if it was still on the drawing board. While actually listening, I do not find the sound enjoyable at all, and especially when they go into these breakdowns that rely on the digital elements attempting to make things sound as jarring as possible, its tough to listen to, even if there isn't too much actual depth in the sound.

What makes the cybergrind elements here much less tired is the addition of many new sounds that I would never have guessed Whourkr would add into their sound. 'Santo' is a Spanish-tinged acoustic yodel, for example, and hearing such a polar contrast like that from what I am used to Whourkr doing was just as shocking as when I first heard this band's music. Other highlights include some great use of piano, and its played very well. All the same, these aspects ironically feel like gimmicks of their own; things that don't necessarily belong in the music, but that Whourkr threw in there, perhaps as a self-conscious realization that their sound was a little too one-sided. In any case, it is a nice addition, but I'm sure Whourkr could have found additions to their sound that better complimented what they already had.

'Concrete' is a huge improvement over 'Naat' in terms of musicality, althugh they do seem to have lost a bit of that identity that made them so shocking to me in the first place. It will be very interesting to hear what Whourkr does in the future, because even though I haven't enjoyed their music, it is clear to me that they are not afraid to constantly try new things.

Conor Fynes 'Naät' - Whourkr (2/10)

Despite being a relatively short, twenty five minute mini-album, I must say that it's incredibly difficult for me to place a 'rating' on this album. Certainly, I have quite a few things to say about this music (it would be difficult not to have something to say about it), but in terms of actually laying the final judgement down, I'm put in an awkward position. Although the music of French/Danish collaboration Whourkr is practically unlistenable and admittedly not- at least by the conventional standard- in 'good taste', I find myself really intrigued by what the band is doing here. With that in mind, don't take the rating I've given here too seriously; it is indicative of my perception of the music's quality, but as with most things, it really isn't that simple.

Whourkr plays a little style of music that many like to call 'cybergrind'- that is-, the fusion of electronic music and grindcore. Merging two potentially extreme styles of music together, Whourkr gives a musical trip like none other I have really heard. The base of Whourkr's music is beyond-generic brutal death metal, with downtuned guitar riffs and gutturals so deep that they could be misinterpreted as a clogged vacuum. Of course, a band like that could go for a nickel for twenty, so given my rather shocked reaction to this music, there is obviously something else that Whourkr have done to spice up this sound. In this case, they have used computer programming to chop up the guitars virtually beyond recognition; the guitars are quick to cut out artificially, and sometimes they are teched out to sound more like a loading internet modem, than anything typically musical.

For twenty five minutes, Whourkr overloads the listener with inhumanly fast drum machines, noisy electronics, and deep death metal riffs. The concept is very interesting on paper, but actually listening to 'Naät', it comes across as painful to listen to, despite being intriguing on an intellectual level. Some of Whourkr's work here even sounds like a generic death metal album having been scratched, caught in some dismal loop. Although there's a (surprising) symphonic interlude thrown into the middle of this mess, 'Naät' is more of less a one trick show, it gets old quickly, and by the end of this short record, my ears are in violent shock, and asking that I pour wax into them, to hopefully dull the ringing caused by the uncomfortable dynamics in this album.

Whourkr is interesting, and they do have an exciting sound, but it is one-dimensional, and painfully so. It's granted that this cybergrind is not for me, but it does not stop me from appreciating the experiment. All the same, I could recommend this album more if it had just been left as a concept on paper.

UMUR Naät is the debut full-length studio album by French/ Danish avant-garde metal duo Whourkr. The album was independently released in 2007, but has seen a more official release in 2009 by Suprachaotic/Dan's Crypt.

The music on Naät is highly original but it´s not the kind of avant-garde music that includes everything but the kitchen sink. The basis in the music is death metal/ deathgrind with programmed drums, but the music is constantly twisted as it is put through a chopper and electronically altered. The alterations means that the songs sometimes sound like there´s a 64k modem trying to connect to the internet on top of some brutal death metal. A strange yet very exciting combination. The vocals are wordless deep grunts and screams and they are meant to work as an extra instrument which they certainly do. This makes for a really exciting and progressive avant-garde musical journey but it´s also a dark and disturbing one, that at times leaves me with something I would describe as physical illness/ nausea. I´m kept on my toes at all times and thankfully the album is only 24:44 minutes long. Don´t get me wrong here though, I´m not satisfied with the short playing time because the music isn´t good, but because this kind of extreme and demanding music would be too much if the album lasted any longer. Some people might find this strange but the quality is very high on the 24:44 minutes that the album lasts and the album might have gotten tiresome had it lasted any longer. The production could have been better, but it suits the music pretty well.

Naät is an excellent release by Whourkr who put themselves in the frontrow of avant-garde metal with this one. It´s not a perfect release, but it´s not often you come across something that sounds this alien and yet still so intriguing. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is deserved.