Album Review: DNMF

Maybe about two years ago, I read a book called There is No Year. I bought it on a whim, after seeking out “post modern fiction” authors on the internet. Needless to say, I was totally unprepared for what the book had in store for me. There is No Year, by Blake Butler makes House of Leaves look a children’s book. It was confusing, grotesque, unnerving, and unrelenting. The sheer sense of dread and underlying horror that runs throughout is making me anxious right now just typing this sentence.

The reason I bring this book up is because after hearing, oh, I don’t know, the first minute of the album DNMF, I realized it was like the audio equivalent of There is No Year.

DNMF is the brainchild of two artists from the Netherlands: Machinefabriek (whom I have mentioned on here before) and “heavy jazz act” Dead Neanderthals. The press release for the album says that they “have managed to create a hideous monstrosity.” And they are not fucking around.

DNMF is two tracks in length, and it is serious business right from the word go. The first piece, “The Thing on The Doorstep,” begins to build almost immediately, with low, sinister drones and an ominous, rhythmic thud. Around 13 minutes into the track’s 19 minute running time, horrifying and disjointed saxophone blasts come screeching into the fold, courtesy of Dead Neanderthals’ Otto Kokke. Think the ending of that piece that Bill Pullman pretends to play in Lost Highway—“Red Bat With Teeth.”

But, you know, more unsettling.

The second track, “The Colour Out of Space,” takes things in a different direction.

It opens with a similarly ominous tone, but after about three minutes, it takes off into straight up post-rock brashness—a complete surprises with the artists that are behind this. Driven forward by the crashing and pounding of the drums, fuzzed and blown out sounds coming from god knows what continue to blare relentlessly, forming an all together urgent, intense listening experience that eventually descends into absolute dissonance and cacophony.

I can say that without question, I haven’t heard anything else in 2014 quite like DNMF. It’s an experiment in sound that isn’t for the faint of heart. It tests your patience and your nerves, but it’s also incredibly original and refreshing to hear a collaboration between artists that are willing to push the boundaries and make a record as confrontational and unfriendly as this. 

DNMF was released on September 11th (yikes) via Moving Furniture Records. The limited edition vinyl LP of it is all sold out so you'll just have to deal with the digital download.