The Incredible Journey...of sound!

I love listening to new music.  And nothing makes me hotter than hearing something so different, so original, I can't even put a genre on it.  I had that experience last weekend, when I stopped on the Suboculis website.

I was about to cook supper and wanted to listen to something different for a change.  I had given Suboculis a quick listen about a month or so ago and thought his sound was pretty cool. His Infirmus album is posted on his website for anyone who wants to check it out, so I decided to take a closer listen.  I plugged in my speakers so I could turn it up and holy shit, am I glad I did.  I kept turning toward the speakers, thinking - fuck this guy is good!  Of course, I did what was the only logical next step.  I bought the album. And listened to it over and over and over...

Suboculis is the solo project of bassist Dan Menapace and his music is an incredible journey of sound. I say that because you don't fucking listen to Suboculis you fucking experience Suboculis. I want to call his style a sub genre of rock because it is somewhat reminiscent of Tool and Pink Floyd, but from there....

My favorite way to experience Suboculis' Infirmus is turned up while relaxing in a comfortable chair with my earbuds in and my eyes closed.  Then it's just him and me as the nuances of his music move over my body, sparking off all kinds of primitive instincts....fuck it's hot!

Now, there are two songs in particular on Infirmus that really do it for me.  The music seriously takes hold of me....the fucking music mixed with the sound of the vocals turns me on beyond belief....getting inside me and well, let's just leave it at 'they fucking turn me on'.   The troubling part of this is that these two songs are possibly Suboculis' two most politicaly charged songs.  The Sludge Chronicles lyrics are a narrative of John Gesselman's disturbing account of his experiences in the US Navy and dumping radioactive waste in the water at the Farallon Islands Nuclear Waste Site, 30 miles west of San Fransisco, California between 1955 and 1959 - and Narrow Escape speaks to the Cuban Missile Crisis.  So yeah - it makes me feel ashamed and dirty inside but these songs still fucking turn me on.

I am also impressed by how Suboculis is so successful in creating his desired atmosphere.  The titles of the tracks are pretty much spot on with where they take me.  I'll admit it, he did have me turning to the dictionary on more than one occasion.  Incursus is a perfect example of that!  When I sit and listen with my eyes closed, I get the feeling of having flashbacks of a night before.  You know how it is the morning after...as if the pounding head and turning stomach isn't fucking bad enough, your brain gets assaulted with flashes of all the stupid fucking shit you did the night before.  Anyway, after tracking the meaning of incursus through a legal dictionary...it means assault!

If you're afraid of the dark you may not want to listen to Phobophobia with your eyes closed.  This track takes me to places with all kinds of big ass spiders and shit.  Casuality puts me in some futuristic war trench with terminators storming past shooting lasers.  And this is all without the aid of hallucinogenics! 

Now, perceptions are of course filtered by our own personal experiences (and which movies we've watched) so whose to say how Suboculis will make you feel.  I encourage you to find out.  One piece of advise, and please take it  because it seriously does make a difference...plug in your fucking speakers or earbuds!  There are subtle nuances that tie the music together making it truly an experience in sound.

I hear Suboculis is in the process of recording new music.  If it touches me - hehe - anywhere near as much as Infirmus, watch out baby, this wild cat just might come to prowl.  And ooo baby, there's no doubt in my mind that you could make me purrrrrrrrrr........; )

http://suboculis.com/