FISTULA (Inverted Black Star) CD-R

At some point in 2007, Ohio's FISTULA met up with Steve Makita from Apartment 213, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Lockweld. The end result are two new discs, 'Lessons In Lamentations' and this one, which has been released by Crucial Bliss/Crucial Blast one year later. 'Inverted Black Star' is a really fiercely chunk, and I could imagine that even old fans of the band will have their problems with this unwieldy sonic sculpture, which has nothing to do with rock or metal. Maybe it's still sludge, but it has been enhanced with so much noise that the result is an abstract heavy bastard. 'Inverted Black Star' is subdivided into three different parts. At first there's 'Cronus', that is based on feedback and strange drill noises while at times a simple heavy riff cuts through this bizarre soundscape. The transition to the next part 'Sky God' is fluent, and a voice starts to speak underneath the corrosive wall of noise. Another crushing doom-soaked riff is enforcing the structure of the song and with increasing playing time both riffs return frequently. 'First Ruler, Never the Last' is the last part of 'Inverted Black Star' where the band goes on at an accelerated tempo with a completely distorted sound. For my taste, this experiment has been successfully executed although it's not that kind of album which you want to hear very often. FISTULA don't make any compromise, and if you like noise than you should give this a chance. At least a few more words about the packaging that is in the best of taste. It's a 3-panel sleeve, where the disc is attached to the inside of the jacket on a plastic hub. Very nice!

(KK)

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