Review: Venowl – Patterns of Failure
Rare is the occasion that a piece of music can genuinely be called “indescribable,” but that’s exactly what Venowl’s debut album is.
First released in 2012, Patterns of Failure has been remastered for cassette reissue on Broken Limbs Recordings. As other writers have lamented, Venowl’s music is not an easy beast to categorize. This is sound designed with no purpose in mind but to make you uneasy. There’s basically no way to call this music anything that doesn’t sound like a complaint: this is repetitive, painful, laborious, droning noise and it’s perfect in every way.
I’ve heard Venowl compared on multiple occasions to Khanate or Sunn. The basic touchstones are there: long, low, droning guitar notes, sparse drumming and tortured howls form the backbone of all three bands’ sounds, but neither of the latter come anywhere close to Venowl in terms of pure unbridled evil. I tried to write a review of this record and failed miserably. Words don’t do the music justice, so here are some visuals:
If you like the way that video made you feel, buy this album immediately.
.5/5 FLUSHES
Patterns of Failure is out now on Broken Limbs Recordings. Buy it here or here.
