Some of you may remember Thot’s excellent EPs, so it may come as something of a surprise to learn that those excellent musicians have dug even deeper upon this release to create something even further beyond the boundaries of industrial music’s perceived norms in a blistering and blinding display of fizzing creativity and eclecticism. Released for free/pay what you want as a download as a ten track outing, an 11 track CD or a 13 track CD/T shirt package, there truly is no excuse not to get hold of this thrilling release in one form or another but for those of you who are possessed of a more sceptical disposition, read on and discover exactly why we think that ‘Obscured by wind’ is so worthy of your time.
The industrial scene is remarkably limited and, due to the very high quality demanded of successful acts, limiting. While acts such as Rammstein are content to emphasise the fun aspects of the genre (and arguably none do it better); Marilyn Manson has slipped in and out of the genre and become demonstrably lacklustre into the bargain; Filter are closer to rock than industrial these days; and NIN and Ministry have both called it a day; there have been few acts that any sane commentator might suggest are worthy to follow them. And yet… Belgian act Thot seem to be hell-bent on creating a whole new industrial scene, emphasising the harsh beats of prime NIN, the wilful experimental nature of acts such as Swans and the pop nous of latter-day Gary Numan and they do so in a way that makes their music ideal fodder for the brain and for the dance-floor, a trick NIN pulled with remarkable aplomb and one that Thot look set to repeat.
Check out, for example, the distorted beats of ‘take a bow and run’ which is all cut up vocals, massive swathes of guitars and memorable hooks. ‘Dancing in the corn’ is a brief, beautiful segue taking you forward to ‘moved hills’ and before you’ve even had a chance to stop and draw breath you’re four tracks in, sweaty and ready to lay down your life in Thot’s mosh pit, should the band ever grace UK shores with a live appearance. It’s the perfect mix, subtly experimental with a highly musical edge, heavy and bass-laden when it needs to be and fuel for the hips at all the right moments. Thot, quite simply, apply all the elements that you’d imagine they’d need to be huge, and yet huge on their own terms – there is no overt commercialism here, hell they’re even giving the album away to those unwilling to buy the CD version, and the music is at least as brainy as it is addictive – seriously, who else in the scene right now makes music as insanely good as this? An ideal single, ‘moved hills’ is another barn-storming, breathy blast that sees over-loaded synths battling it out against a melody so thick you could club a seal to death with it; and club is the key word here – almost every track would pack any dance floor I can think of in a heartbeat.
‘Spellbound fields’ is a static-led entity of monumental proportions unveiling the sort of guitar riff that Trent left behind on ‘no, you don’t’ from ‘The Fragile’ and it’s an awe-inspiring track that is beautiful, repetitive, ugly and heroic all at once. As the guitars surge and roil over you it’s like being caught in a tsunami of jabbering electronics and frenzied human riffing and it sounds astonishing. ‘Blue and green “are melting down in a seed”’ is up next and after such a brutalised attack upon the senses it takes refuge in the only sensible way it can, by shifting focus entirely into sun-dappled beauty. As the static drains away you’re left with a single, elegant vocal and gentle guitar and piano backing the whole thing to create a remarkably elegiac statement. ‘Ortie’ is another moment of foot-tapping glory with a sampled guitar and storming electronica fighting it out over a beat of Rammstein proportions. It’s part Marilyn Manson circa ‘Antichrist Superstar’, part Korn-remixed-by-NIN, part Numan-esque cyber pop and like everything else here it sounds utterly unique and completely brilliant. Punking it up a little, next up is the stuttering ‘solid insecure flower’ which replicates the hesitancy of its title with a full on guitar riff stamping down the rhythmic insurrection of the electronics. ‘The hour speller’ is an insane, distorted trip into psychotic territories where machines rule over humanity in some dystopian future before the title track closes the album in a moment of sublime, damaged beauty – all fizzing circuitry and samples buried under strings and beats.
Thot have crafted a work of exceptional intelligence and skill that has its sights set firmly on conquering the industrial world and, on albums of this quality you can’t help but feel they might succeed. There is beauty, honesty, ugliness and truth all wrapped up in this twisted, monumental work of art and the best thing is you don’t necessarily need to spend a penny to see if I am right (although you really should). Quite simply go to www.thotweb.net and see for yourself quite how special Thot are. In the meantime I’m going to listen to this again. Quite astonishing.
