Scorn
Refuse: Start Fires

5
...according to our Ant on 26 August 2010.

This somehow managed to evade our review pile upon its CD release a few weeks ago. Now it's on on juicy double vinyl so it seemed appropriate for me to tell you how FUCKIN GREAT this album is. Now there is one thing you can say about Mick Harris' output; that is that it's consistent. Any style he applies himself to he seems to master, whether it be isolationist ambient or ultra heavy dubstep (well lets face it, a fair amount of his productions have been proto-dubstep). 2007's 'Stealth' full length seemed to fit into what was happening at the time but with an ultra heavy style that could only be Mick Harris. So is this follow up album more of the same? Well yes and no... Some of the tracks follow the ludicrously heavy mechanical electronic beat template of previous work, however, this time round Ian 'Yan' Tracy has been enlisted to play live drums which Harris has then given the good ole fashioned dub treatment and it really does work well. What I find interesting is why he chose not to play the drums himself? What with him being such an innovative skin thumper back in his Napalm Death Days.... Perhaps he cant drum slow enough, maybe he sees a kick drum and becomes possessed and starts pounding away like Animal from the Muppets and so he had to get his mate in.... Anyway There are some absolute monter tracks on here. For example 'Take Someones Eye Out' is ludicrously heavyweight and would slip in nicely into a mix with some techno. 'LT94' is full of slow thudding and snappy percussion with shuddering bass growls and atmospherics from the darkest void. It's extreme, apocalyptic dub heaven, but then it's Scorn so I would expect nothing less. Seasoned followers will add this to their collection with joy, while newcomers should watch their bassbins. Thoroughly satisfying.

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What their label says...

Scorn’s fourteenth full length release remains in the vibe and tempo of modern dubstep while adding a brand new element to the Scorn sound: a live drummer, Ian ‘Yan’ Treacy. The vibrant sounds of the kit are run thru the filters and dub wizardry of Mick Harris, former drummer of Napalm Death and Guinness World Record Holder for composer of the world’s shortest song. The tracks are a journey into dark atmospheres and atomic warhead bass, with more variation and hue than 2007′s ‘STEALTH’. Yet on ‘Refuse; Start Fires’ Harris has returned to painting angry pictures with more colours than simply black – the record takes on new territory at the 70 bpm mark, and the live kit gives the tracks a more fluid groove than ever in places. But this is Scorn, and Scorn delivers darkness and anger like no one else, with merciless cuts such as Bear Felt Nowt and Shitwind’s A-Coming providing harsh atmospheres and endurance test bass wobble like only Mick Harris can dish out. Scorn is an entity – for over 15 years Mick Harris has not relented with the project’s dubbed out beats, film noir atmospheres, and over the top bass compulsions. ‘Refuse; Start Fires’ is perhaps the angriest and most well articulated of his projects in the last decade.

Tracklisting

a1 Scorn – Bear Felt Nowt
a2 Scorn – Hands
b1 Scorn – Take Someone’s Eye Out
b2 Scorn – Then Woke
b3 Scorn – Look at That Bill
c1 Scorn – LT 94
c2 Scorn – Boot It
c3 Scorn – Amroth
d1 Scorn – Beaked Point
d2 Scorn – Shitwind’s A-Coming