Arabrot - Solar Anus (Fysisk Format)

The order of the day with Arabrot, musically speaking, is low-down dirty-ass tar-pit-thick noiserock of a distinctively Melvins-and-Neurosis-esque bent, so it is unsurprising to see that Solar Anus was recorded by Steve Albini. Indeed, his trademark low-end thump and powerful drum sound are all over this record, adding a great deal of heft to proceedings and giving a dreadful clarity to the diseased sounds emanating from the Arabrot boys and their instruments.

For the purposes of adding extra tinges of audio-mange to the already disgusting sludge of Solar Anus, the core duo of Arabrot – guitarist/vocalist Kjetil Nernes and drummer Vidar Evensen – are joined by the terribly mysteeeeeeeeerious Concept Virus, adding touches of electronics to the astoundingly muscular, thick broth of sound conjured up via nothing more than a drumkit, a baritone guitar and the human voice.....although calling the sounds that Nernes emits 'human' may be pushing things a tad. Veering wildly from barely suppressed histrionic King Buzzo-a-like whispering to bestial Scott Kelly growling, via strained, throaty black-metallic shrieking and nasal, snotty Albini-isms – often within the space of one song, and often all at the same time – it seems that Nernes is legion, for he is many.

The noise that Nernes declaims above is driven by the absolute rock-solid drum-smash of Evensen, who plays like a behemoth with tree trunks for sticks and Njernes own sucking bog of black molasses guitar, which circles, lumbers, lurches and bloats when needed and twangs and chimes out when not.
The electronics of Concept Virus are used sparingly but to great effect to achieve such feats as thicken the guitar and add texture of opener 'Solaranus', to help make 'Auto Da Fe' achieve its goal of total ear-violent scabrousness, and to confuse the ears of the listener during 'The Wheel is Turning Full Circle' into thinking that a telephone is ringing and then melting somewhere nearby.

With the higher forms of scatology and the transit from filth to gold as their subject matter, winning song-titles such as 'And The Ass Has Spoken' and 'Madonna Was A Whore', and the Albini-tweaked drum and guitar-quake as their weapon, Arabrot have well and truly smashed Solar Anus out of the park and into the aether, where it hangs, shining down light and raining down dirt like a supermassive brown star.