Text by: Mikko Polus
AUGMENTED ATROCITY – IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T EXIST
I got the Finnish solo project Augmented Atrocity’s self-released debut tape Dekadent Intent (published in 2021 or 2022) as a surprise addition in some trade in 2022, I think. Perhaps due to not really knowing what to expect, I found its stripped-down and fairly rough industrial power electronics even surprisingly enjoyable. The tape doesn’t try to break any genre barriers, but does its thing effectively and has been made with a good sense of style. It got me curious to hear the project’s next release. I found out when writing this text that the tape was followed by another self-released tape titled Opulence, but as I didn’t know about it, I thought what came next was the full-length CD Anomaly that was published by Aussaat in 2023.
For me, that CD was a disappointment. The songs themselves weren’t bad, but the overall sound lacked the power and roughness I was expecting, and despite its distortion it felt somewhat soft and plastic. These sound issues made me see the album more like a sketch of what it was supposed to be. On the debut tape the sparse and raw sound elements either supported or opposed each other, whereas here they felt to rather blend into one liquidy mass that gnaws at its own features. Then again, that description is also pretty much exactly what the album’s artworks look like, so it’s possible the album is exactly as it was intended to be and I was just expecting things from it that I was never meant to get.
Based on that experience, hearing the follow-up album “In Search Of Something That Doesn’t Exist” (published by Aussaat in 2024) felt like a relief. It took a step back towards the debut tape’s rawer approach, yet doesn’t recycle already done ideas. The rougher sounds are paired with much cleaner and softer synth tones in the Anomaly-album’s style, but now it all doesn’t lose its individual features by melting together. Vocals are used fairly sparingly and often with some “muddying” effects, which suits the album’s subtle and held-back approach.
One new thing that the album brings is how unafraid it is of silence, which can be frustrating when you’re waiting for the industrial pummeling and sound pressure to continue but your pleasure gets denied. As a plus, these quieter parts make you even unintentionally focus more on what little you are hearing. What sounds like digging up sand or dirt in the beginning of track four grows rawer and more mangled over the track’s length, but the way it builds up made me anticipate for a knockout punch or another type of greater payoff than the what song eventually delivers. Then again, perhaps it’s not meant to grow in its force but in its distress, which is what it does.
The broken ethereal loop and the cruder sounds that are layered or spoken on it are a good summary of many things happening around the track: broken beauty, roughness, emotional conflicts, and overall anguish of the mind. The album has a quite minimalistic approach to how many sound tracks each song uses, and a lot of its style and samples feel thematic, although often I barely have even guesses on what these themes and subjects actually are. It is of course possible these thematics only exist in my head, heh. Either way the songs and the album in its entirety made me think about the reasons behind the choices made, and it’s hard to complain about that.
After hearing the debut tape (and knowing the artist’s history as half of the duo Kovana) it’d seem certain that he could create a hard-hitting album, but he seems to intentionally avoid making sure and easy choices and this leads him to less predictable results. It’s as if he didn’t only invite, but would practically force chance and fate to play a part in the creative process. This would make it seem less surprising that instead of sure hits the result would be something rather uneasy and unpredictable despite the songs’ often minimalistic build.
So, I wouldn’t recommend the album to those looking for something easy and familiar, as even though it can hit hard, it does so quite sparingly and rather focuses on tension and unease. It’ll be interesting to hear where the project goes from here.
Music video tracks on YouTube:
“In Search Of Something That Doesn’t Exist” is quite a change from your earlier album. The songs are still mainly built from a heavy industrial / power electronics base, but the overall sound feels very different. Were the albums made with very different gear or methods?
The gear that I had was the same as in the Anomaly, but I had a totally different approach to using it. If I remember correctly this album had less emphasis on distortion pedals, I used more cassette tapes and organic field recordings like flies and high heels. But I actually think that the sonic difference came from the fact that this time I had a clear theme in my mind from a very early on.
The album title is interesting. A very sisyphean attitude, taking on an ordeal that goes on and cannot end satisfactorily. Anomaly’s digipak included some of the used lyrics, but the listener has no such luck this time. Could you open up the album’s themes a little, or a lot, heh?
When I came up with the name of the album it didn’t take long to realize that I had copied the name from Atrax Morgue “In Search Of Death” -album. But that made me like the album name even more.
I don’t know how well I can put it into words. The color grey is maybe the best description. We as humans can find great happiness in places where it shouldn’t exist but at the same time corrode it with our own imagination. It’s the balance between creation and decay where the decay will always outweigh the creation. Memories will fade so eventually our roots are tangled and attached to nothing. When we lose our past then we’ll lose the purpose for the future. Many of the album’s ideas came from witnessing a family member losing their memory.
The tracks “Dogs Without Teeths Can Only Bark” and “Entwined With The Vines Of Regression” both seem to have a broken recording of ethereal ambient playing and/or looping in them, and “To And End” seems to employ a similar sound but in a slowed and pitch-shifted form. What’s the source of these sounds? I kept thinking it might be some sample(s) chosen for a conceptual reason, but of course it could be something you’ve made with a synth yourself.
“Dog Without Teeths Can Only Bark” circles around this one tape loop that I did a loooong time ago. There was this self-service flea market in Pihlajamäki where on one table someone sold their self recorded tapes. The tapes usually contained some religious music. Everything was written with cyrillic letters so I had no idea what was actually on the tapes. But I bought them and made tape loops out of those tapes. Each time before recording my own stuff over, I listened to what was on the loop and one time there was playing the “Dog Without Teeths” loop. I have tried to create many song variations using that loop, but never found a place for it. So it just collected dust before finding its place on this album. Once I thought of copying William Basinski and making a Disintegration loop out of it.
If you mean the metallic clicking in the song “to an end” then that’s also from those flea market tapes. Some orthodox liturgy going on in the tape or something. The song was more like a happy accident when on the other hand “Entwined With The Vines of Regression” was more planned. That loop was made with my synth improvisation.
The album has quite a teasing style. At times it hits you with heavy industrial power, and at other times it fades to near silence, starts to grow and build up something… but this build-up might not lead to some knockout or any kind of catharsis, but rather the anguish of anticipation is transformed into some other form of unease. Was it already your initial plan for the album that it would deliver its heaviest punches quite sparingly, or would be at least equally focused on the more subtle and minimalistic approaches and upholding a somewhat uncomfortable atmosphere?
It might have been just reflections of something personal. Every high requires low. I just went with whatever felt right.
But I’m aware that changes in dynamics play a big part in my music. I try to experiment and be creative with them so it doesn’t start to become boring. Big punches are great occasionally but when you’ve been punched over and over again maybe it’s not so exciting anymore.
I would assume that the album’s emotional charge would have some requirements for the recording situation and mindset. The liner notes state the album was recorded during 2022-2023, but does that mean a couple of sessions spread far apart or a multitude of recording sessions? I’m asking as it seemed to me that you would’ve intentionally let some wiggle room for impulsive decisions and experimentations in the tracks, so I am curious about the album’s composition and recording process. Were the tracks composed, honed and rehearsed before recording, or does the album also feature tracks that would’ve been born out of improvisation on the spot?
When I start making an album the first recorded song tends to be more rehearsed, like in this case “Scratching”. It’s easier to continue towards more experimental recording sessions when I know that I already have a good song that can work as a reference point for the experimentation. And then I go step by step more experimental with each recorded song. The final songs are the most spontaneous like in this case “Echoes of her high heels” and “To an end”.
I also have a collection of songs that have never seen the light of the day for some reason. When the album is missing some puzzle pieces I start hunting and going through my archives to see if there’s anything that fits. Like “Call of the void” was recorded for AA – Opulence tape but I lost the audio file only for it to emerge for this album. “Dog without teeths” and “Back to where it all started” were also songs that I pulled from my archives.
And last I recorded the vocals and glued them on top of the music. Live vocals are great but it’s just impossible to mix while shouting at the same time. It also gives me more time to work on the lyrics because that’s the most time consuming part.
The releases’ visual side seems to be heavily important for you. This album’s illustrations feature human-like forms that are entwined or writhing in a tissue-like mass. Is the track “Entwined With The Vines Of Regression” somehow related to these graphics, or what was the idea behind them? Speaking of human figures and tissue masses, you might want to check out Thomas Stetson’s art book “Defects” that Narcolepsia-related Black Blood Press published.
Maybe the Ildjarn CD cover had some influence on me or I don’t know, but in 2023 I picked up my pencils and just started to draw and draw these roots and vines. I don’t know why I was so passionate to draw these captured and decaying figures. First these weren’t intended as visuals for AA, but of course the art started to influence the music and at some point they got tangled together. And now that the time has passed I’ve gotten a better understanding of what the visuals represent for me even if I still try to keep the analytic and the creative processes separate.
And thanks for the recommendation!
Both of your CDs so far have been published by Aussaat. Did the label reach out to you, or how did this collaboration happen?
My connection to Aussaat began in 2020 when Edge of Decay released their “Riistettyjen Antologia” CD through Aussaat. Kovana was featured in a couple of the tracks so Aussaat also contacted us and showed interest in releasing Kovana. At that time we didn’t have anything worth releasing so I asked him in 2021 to listen to some AA songs. He liked the songs but I think my motivation towards AA started to fade as it was my side project. So the songs were left to collect dust until Kovana got demolished in 2022. Then I contacted Aussaat and asked if he would still be interested in releasing the songs. Then that became the “Anomaly” album. I’m satisfied with how Anomaly sounds when the creation process was so messy.
Since this CD, you’ve self-published a cassette titled Aneurysm. I haven’t heard that one, so: does the tape continue in the same vein as this album? I guess the tape is quite recent, but I’ll still ask if you’re already working on or planning for upcoming material?
I still have some tapes left if you are interested.
“Aneurysm” got started when I really wanted to make a self-published tape again. The songs were made and recorded in just four days so it’s a much more straightforward album. The themes are still revolving around slow decay, dementia, death and this sort of thing.
Now I’m working on a collaborative album with one other Finnish artist, but otherwise I don’t have any plans for AA. First I need to find something that does exist.
Resources:
Aussaat label at the social media: https://www.facebook.com/Aussaatundernte/
Augmented Atrocity titles currently sold by NHFASTORE: https://www.nhfastore.net/index.php?route=product/search&search=augmented%20atrocity
