Through the Harvest I have conducted a long investigation into the experimental Power Electronics of Iron Fist of the Sun through what I have bought and the material I have reviewed that included the two albums that came after this I concluded that there are massively high standards to meet. I Will Never Have the Right comes after Blush and the brilliant massive loss of the self that is Behavioural Decline. There were allegedly five drafts of Behavioural Decline, imagine what it took to break down what’s left of the self and record the process so many times? Where can I Will Never Have the Right go after such a massive onslaught upon the self?
The reoccurring theme of the Shallow Man ( The artist when not creating and consumed by daily life) returns in New Dawn for the Shallow Man blips and splatters into action with that arching Death Hum Synth that this project revels in at times; a minimal raw yet massively effective drone. This references the sickness of other earlier Power Electronics artists just through it’s sound without having to resort to well trodden lyrical ground, the personal lyrical content is what stands out, whilst the music ends in crackles and distant pulsations.
Ugly synths return and resonate into a sickly repetition in My Reflections Drain Sideways with feedback weaving itself into the fabric of the track. A slow vocal croaks anonymously and incoherently as the repetition defies attempted fracture from new drones, clicks and cuts. A dialogue begins to emerge between the entire spectrum of separate dominant and background sounds as some consistently chat away whilst others take the lead at different times. The eventual end of the nauseous rhythm is at once a partial relief and clear signifier of the arrival of something new.
A throbbing keyboard drone draws the core of a new track The Lady From Behind the Hedge whilst sharper frequencies fluctuate around it. No vocal emerges, however if there was a dialogue of sounds on the previous track My Reflections Drain Sideways There’s a huge conference that erupts into a symphonic power struggle of sounds. This track has a massive overall sound and really pushes beyond the limits of the IFoTS sound due to its forced expansiveness.
Things are minimal for No Septembers; looped nausea serves as a base for incoherent ranting. It’s really good to see such experimentation with unbearably nauseous loops going on; an experimentation with other forms of sonic assault rather than the full on destruction demonstrated on previous recordings. The addition of other frequencies into the palette only intensifies the aggravating sounds.
Drink My Eye is murky noise using a muffled vocal that nods to early Ramleh. Sounds never erupt, they only chug away ominously and shift rapidly through low frequency sounds to an end. This changes completely as aggressive sharp farting electronics develop to form a drone that becomes Are We Two Or Four; a raging vocal overlays the minimalist cacophony. A warped solo falls in line with the rest of the track causing a massive shift in the proceedings, as this disappears the drones raise slightly in volume and shifts subtly in frequency to compensate the loss.
The Lady Behind the Fence revels in low level rumblings and frequencies. Feedback wavers from foreground to background throughout with a distant vocal that hides behind the electronic rumblings. This continues throughout No New Dawn at Sunrise the vocal is still there but its’ clarity hidden in a haze of feedback and droning electronics. As with other tracks on the album, the assault is restrained yet still aggressive and all the more threatening as a result of that restraint.
I Will Never Have the Right demonstrates a move towards a far more difficult sound that was really honed to perfection later on in the Tears Royal album. As well as the all maximum assaults Iron Fist of the Sun is equally at home in the lower rumblings of noise experimentation. With albums like this and the last album Tears Royal I think Iron Fist of the Sun will continue to happily deconstruct and reconstruct its’ own sound like a child taking a toy apart for fun and not giving a shit. There are some successful results and some that are left as experiments in mid air. So far in what I have heard of the discography, a true full out Power Electronics assault was given in Behavioural Decline and to some extent in the split lp with Burial Hex. However with experimental aspect of Iron Fist of the Sun I am forced to fully engage with the album rather than just take a full on sonic assault. This furthers upon each listen to reveal exciting new results each time. You win again.
Rating: 4.5/5
Written by: Lazrs4
Label: Freak Animal Records (FI) /Format: CD / FREAKCD 063
Tracklisting:
01 New Dawn for the Shallow Man
02 My Reflections Drain Sideways
03 The Lady From Behind the Hedge
04 No Septembers!
05 Drink My Eye
06 Are We Two Or Four?
07 The Lady From Behind the Fence
08 No New Dawn at Sunrise
