Imagine Richard D. James playing a rave for zombies and psycho killers at the Berlin Philharmonic. And then imagine it being the shit!!!

Venetian Snares (Aaron Funk), as always, is back with torrents of vicious "Amen" drill & bass beats. Venetian Snares comes across an angrier Aphex Twin or Luke Vibert. This time around, he keeps it under more control, and adds heavy (Hungarian?) Classical influences, with tons of strings. But the Classical riffs aren’t smeared on superficially. Melody and beat playfully interact in impressive, fucked up counterpoint. This is a match made in Heaven (or perhaps Hades). You get the melodic, dramatic intensity of Classical, and the visceral insanity of some of the noisiest beats that electronica has to offer.

This isn’t for the faint-hearted, but if you like drill & bass… hoo boy, are you in for a treat. Sick sick sick!! One of my favorite releases of 2005.

Favorite Tracks:
Track 5 is KILLER!! Also try 7, 9, 10.
Track 3 is a remix of Billie Holiday’s so-called "Hungarian Suicide Song"

- Captain Dee, June 2005

1. Discordant, disorganized solo piano interlude. (0:40)
*2. Disjointed symphonic plucks, effects – kinda Looney Toon-ish. Amen breakbeats kick in. Menacing. Later, computer-ish sound effects. (4:55)
**3. Creepy old female blues vocals over slow menacing hip-hop-ish beat. Dramatic violin riff, haunting background ambience. Mesmerizing, beautiful! Note: This is a remix of an old Billie Holiday song "Gloomy Sunday," a cover of a Hungarian composition by Reszo Seress, also known as "The Hungarian Suicide Song" – lore has it that the melody can make people commit suicide. (3:26)

4. Dark, soundtrack-ish strings. Kinda space-y. No beat. (3:44)
***5. ILL!!! Ominous strings, depraved violin solos, and piano/clarinet/brass lines. Jazzy drums as the tension builds, and finally all hell breaks loose at 3:32. Wicked combo of strings melodies and drill & bass madness. Fuck yeah!!! (7:46)
*6. Interlude, no beat. Very sad strings and slow deep piano. (1:36)
**7. Weird spoken words about pigeons and fear. Digitized ambience, swelling pulses of strings, bass, varied instruments (flute, horn), Slick breakbeats. Spins out of control. Bangin’!! (6:01)
*8. Distant/sporadic symphonic samples messily patched together. Finally things settle down, and Amen breakbeat kicks in over violin and spooky sounds. (5:49)
**9. No beat. Silly xylophones/chimes, synthesized(?) symphony swells in the back. More mysterious and cheerful than the rest of the album. Cool! (1:39)
**10. Heartfelt violin solo, discordant strings, noisy gnarled drill & bass, creepy ambience. Interlude with bird noises and haunting speech about depression. (8:50)
*11. Ambient. String plucks, chimes, eerie strings. Music for a ghost town. (2:16)