Before Nothing is described as a “Cosmic Noise” duo from Elkhart, IN consisting of the entities known only as West and NoEyesFiend. Taking inspiration from Swans, Atari Teenage Riot and Melt-Banana, the duo creates in hope to find solace from their meth-fueled, consverative surroundings.
Homicidum Tractatus Eroticum does a great job at expressing this exact wish as well as the desperation such a wish is born from. From the moment you hit play on opening track “Bootlickers” youre greeted by a fistful of noise, spoken samples that tell of a man whos quite simply had it up to here with the world. You can clearly make out their influences as the voice seemingly is devoured by the swarms of drones and crackles that slowly creep towards you throughout the track only to have an aural mental breakdown coming back for just a moment to deliver some surprisingly calm, dare-I-say melodic female vocals.
Murder Hymns is a short and sweet or umm..well you know what I mean, track just over a minute long, its a total noise attack complete with a voice yelling about god knows what as it falls prey to the aforementioned electronic swarms.
MBM MCLW is the first track to deliver something you might be able to call a rhythm. It sounds as if its a live recording from a basement show which is by no means a negative statement. I can already say with great certainty that this is not an album for the faint of heart, this is also not an album for anyone looking for more traditional or structured music, this is pure mayhem. The influences of the early industrial scene are on full on display, something I`ve often expressed a wish to see more of and Before Nothing comes in like a genie from a lamp granting my wish.
Headspacing is quite a change of pace, replacing the constant aural curbstomp with a slightly more mellow, melodic and somewhat melancholic collection of sound which is how I have chosen to see this release, as a collection of various sounds each portraying their own individual state of being as it all collapses into decay.
The final three songs, Wounded Child, Return To Bassline and Best Things each hold ares of interest similar to what has been specified for the previous tracks. Do I like this album? Sure, would I listen to it again? Yeah I might as I feel there is probably alot of detail within the overwhelming layers of chaos that is yet to be discovered.
I do however have to point out that with this form of music its quite easy to fall into a sense of that everything sounds the same and it`s all just distorted microwave sounds, I think Before Nothing has managed to not fall into that category just yet however I would have to hear where they go next to truly make up my mind.
For my final thoughts I will say that if you, like me, enjoy the avant garde and more experimental sides of the industrial scene and long for the days where it wasn`t all simply dance oriented music then check this album out and make sure to purchase it through their Bandcamp as underground artists will always be in need of all the support they can get.
https://beforenothing.bandcamp.com/album/homicidium-tractatus-eroticum