Cloaks
Versus Grain

A Norman Records recommendation (25th June 2009)

This record left our Ant feeling ecstatic.

Brett and I have just come up with a fantasy scenario where we're out listening to the Cloaks tracks looking well fucking hard in gangs like the movie The Warriors. Such is the power of the aggressive distortion on 'Versus Grain'. It's a right old nasty stompathon of noisy but not overly harsh electronics with many of the tracks fitting into a kind of exaggerated dubstep template. Proper wicked industro-crunch step. Dark as hell too, if you can imagine Scorn, The Bug, Zan Lyons, Wolf Eyes, Otto Von Schirach, DJ Scud, Slepcy all having a big fuck off riot then this may well be what they'd come up with. It makes me think of slowed down Ambush gear and labels like Hymen and Ant-Zen. It's a beast of an album that'll have you rocking like a bastard. It also prompted a few swearwords from me due to my lack of vocabulary. Recommended.

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Sound clips for Versus Grain

#00148 Play

Junk Play

Against Play

#00162 Play

Rust on Metal Play

Sixmenace Two Play

#00197 Play

RFID Play

Detritus Play

What their label says...

- Following on from their highly praised, much sought after 'Hi Tek' EP on Werk Discs (Disrupt, Zomby, Actress), 'Versus Grain' is a cold and
challenging assault on the senses from dubstep destroyers Cloaks.
 - A genre-crossing sound that incorporates aspects of noise music, industrial and dubstep with knowledge and authenticity.
-  Cloaks will appeal to fans of Distance, Pinch, Wolf Eyes, Nine Inch Nails, Ben Frost and Pan Sonic alike.
- Speaker-killing sound-system floor shakers constructed from found sound sources which incorporate experiments in circuit bending.
File Under:  Industrial / Experimental / Noise / Dub / Dubstep
Track listing: 1) #00148  2) Junk  3) Against  4) #00162  5) Rust On Metal  6) Sixmenace Two  7) #00197  8) R.F.I.D.  9) Detritu
Info:
'The concept of Versus Grain is as mono and primitive as our sound sources. We seek to simply pull in the opposite direction of our contemporaries;
wading through dark new waters in terms of approach, sound design and execution.'  Cloaks
To say that Cloaks are swimming against the tide would be something of an understatement; as opposed to offering the listener a 'breath of fresh air',
they have created a sound so dense, it's closer to giving them a boot to the face. Stemming from initial ideas of experimentation with found sounds and
primitive sound sources, the music of Cloaks suggests a kind of 'use once and destroy' ethos. The tracks found on 'Versus Grain' were pulled from the
wreckage of hours of studio experiments, articulate in design yet captured with a sense of urgency. Housed within their structures is a cold destructive
impulse that recalls the work of Einsturzende Neubauten as much as it does the dark hooks of Burial. This as you may have gathered is a
confrontational sound.
Emerging from a murk of low analog sludge, the opening track "#00148" sets the tone for the album; a rolling barrage of unrelenting bass-shake, a
dark-stepping sound unlike anything else. It's a claustrophobic assault, offering the listener no room to breathe; it's as if every kick drum and hi hat
serves, for a split second, to hold back an endless tide of digital feedback. Maybe the closest comparison you could make would be Trent Reznor's
most pummeling sonic constructions tearing through Jah Shaka's sound system - viciously fucked. Cloaks use noise as a weapon. And this is heavier
than you - heavier than anything.
'Versus Grain' is thirty five unrelenting minutes of battering beats; layer upon layer of sound, dense walls of screaming sonic dirge, decaying static and
cold metallic beats. Circuit bending is a fundamental part of the process - by shorting out parts of the circuitry in the equipment used, the sound
sources become mutilated to extreme and devastating effect. The randomization of the outputted sound makes for a truly unique ear-fucking. Killer
beats are matched to piercing tones and harsh waves of static, which gives Cloaks' aggressive style the potential to be played out in both dubstep and
metal clubs alike. Their live performances to date have been scarce due to the fact that creating this music tends to leave a lot of the equipment used
irreparably damaged! As and when these events occur though, they should be something of a unique experience in themselves.
'Versus Grain' is for fans of extreme music as much as it is for fans of heavy dub, but from the outset it is clear that Cloaks do not sit comfortably within either genre, or any other for that matter.
This is the new broken sound.

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