Live at Oita AtHall, 2019/01/27.
by Dave Skipper

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This gig was a number of firsts for me: my first visit to Kyushu, the southern island of Japan’s big four (massive thanks to local noise artist P.O.V. for the kind invitation!); my first live use of the Make Noise Morphagene module (which I described in my notes for Quantum Reverie); my first live use of the Schlappi Engineering Angle Grinder module (LOVE this module!!); my first live use of a noise-staple shaker box (actually I used two MASF SCMs, one empty and one filled with screws); and my first live attempt at vocal sampling!

You will notice when you listen to the audio recording below that very little happens in the first couple of minutes. That’s because I was recording myself reading some Bible verses to manipulate in the Morphagene, and that vocal signal was muted from the final output while I recorded it. The only discernible words to subsequently appear (and only very early on) are the opening words, “The dead tremble,” hence the track title. Thereafter the words are so far chopped, reversed, and granulated by the Morphagene, and then distorted through the Angle Grinder in particular, that nothing more can be understood. I thoroughly enjoyed manipulating the new and varied textures and detailed timbres that resulted.

Here is the first part of the text that comprises some of the source material for the piece:

The dead tremble,
  Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
Sheol is naked before Him,
  And Destruction has no covering.
from the Bible – Job 26:5-6 (New King James Version)

Cheery! I thought this was appropriately-themed subject matter for an extreme music event (featuring goregrind metal bands and harsh noise artists). Sheol is the Old Testament Hebrew term for the place of the dead.

Later on in the performance I added some extra noise layers from the Mister Grassi module from Ieaskul F. Mobenthey (which I used extensively in 2018 and am now phasing out as I feel it has run its course) as well as the screw-filled shaker box (which you can see instigating bursts of noise in the video footage below)..

Listen Here!

This is the direct unedited recording:

Video footage of the performance is here (captures more of the room sound; thanks Mayo for taking this!):

Track artwork:

DEPARTMENT PAGE FOR THIS SERIES: LISTEN HERE!
PREVIOUS ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES: Quantum Reverie
NEXT ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES: Spumescent