CD, Bugs Crawling Out Of People / The Pandemic, 2007
www.it-clings.com
If you have some knowledge of the North American electro-industrial scenes, chances are the name “Squid” (or “Sqwd”) will ring some bells. One of the members of the influential but now defunct Toronto Industrial Kollective, Squid has moved on to start his own label, Bugs Crawling Out Of People, and develop a spoken word (or rather “spoken wordcore”) project, It-Clings, in collaboration with a variety of musicians. Justin Brink (a.k.a. Pneumatic Detach), Squid’s ‘partner in crime’ for this album, is also well known for his musical work in critically praised albums such as “[pa.re.ses]” and “[vis.cer.a]” and should dispense introductions.
The basic premise for “The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness” (and for the concept of “Spoken Wordcore”) is a seemingly simple one: combining Squid’s bordering on psychotic misanthropic spoken word rants with an accompanying musical background. Simple in concept but perhaps not so simple in execution, It-Clings and Pneumatic Detach managed to achieve a very effective creative synergy which extends to the entirety of the album and makes it a memorable listening experience despite a couple of flaws. To my ears, the minor flaw seems to be an occasional unbalance in the intensity of music and spoken word. The first and foremost of the flaws is that the album’s pacing is so relentless that, when listening to it on its entirety, it may happen that it will on occasion fade into the background. However, when the tracks are taken individually, there’s no escape from the delivery of their brutal payload.
Aptly titled, one can’t help but wonder if one isn’t listening to the raging ramblings of a psychotic madman or, at the very least, a seriously maladjusted misanthrope. In any case, someone you might not want to meet under any circumstance or, if there was such a thing as a ‘Thought Police’, who would be a prime candidate for execution for what goes on in his mind. Perhaps, in the end, “The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness” is actually a cathartic experience recorded for posterity. It-Cling’s texts are explicit to say the least, consisting of visceral and violent reflections about the world at large and It-Clings’ personal demons. Sex, self-mutilation, misanthropy, madness: every track is one step down, each delivered with frightening lucidity. Pneumatic Detach’s ferocious musical compositions fit It-Clings charismatic and expressive spoken word performance like a glove, driving the madness to new heights of intensity, rage and despair.
Morbidly violent, “The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness” is a very intense and definitely interesting release which should be, at very least, checked out. After listening to this album, one can’t help but wonder what will come of future It-Clings releases and from collaborations with other artists (though there are quite a few already out there, scattered over a variety of different albums).
[8.5/10]
— Miguel de Sousa