GESTURE SIGNAL THREAT

Morphed, twanging strings of unknown origin strum as subdued fake ethnic chants open 'Gesture, Signal Threat'. Odd little whistling instruments are layered throughout 'Gllisten'. It's a repetitive swirling track that makes you feel you're listening to music whilst in a coma. Unfortunately it ends as a few tracks do on this recording with a huge rush of static buzz which is enough to make you jump out of your skin if listening on headphones.

Literally every sound is played in reverse in 'Host' - which is pretty much par for the course as far as Zoviet France go. In many ways, listening to their albums is similar to lying in a hospital bed where the only sense available to you is hearing. Devoid of all human contact and being totally alone.

Coming to terms with 'Gesture, Signal, Threat' is a tough proposition in that it's unlike anything else in the Archives.It is however similar to everything Zoviet France recorded from this era.

Wooden and almost prehistoric xylophone runs rampant throughout 'Signal 8'. All the while strange whooping backward instrumentation wheezes in the background. Another of those intensely annoying static clicks at 100% volume makes your heart leap into your throat. It almost sounds like a production fault, but is clearly intentional.

A one note spooky bass throb which sounds like an elastic band twanged at low speed introduces 'Threat' as high pitched vocals warble in a non-human manner as time tunnel swooshes, full of reverb and echo proceed to the end of this most typical of Zoviet France tunes.

The seven minute 'Grote' cools it a bit with the overloaded effects and instead offers a strange extreme stereo approach using 'Wicker Man' percussion with blobs and beats of wooden bells. This sounds very ritualistic and rather sinister as you can hear faint tribal vocal grumblings in the background. It's good barbecue music if you fancy battering away at empty plastic tubs and plant pots as someone cooks the food.

The lengthiest track follows with 'Blow' - an utterly destroyed tune that was once possibly lovely, now reduced to a cacophony of electronically filtered noise which belongs in 'Eli Roth's' 'Begotten' film. A sickly and disorientating malaise of sound.

The final track named 'Bran' returns to that weird floaty indescribable percussion that only Zoviet France seem to have mastered. Whistles are squashed through more effect units of unknown origin. A truly bizarre album if you're new to the band, but no surprises at all if you've heard anything before or after 'Gesture, Signal Threat'.

Another successful recording in the Zoviet France catalogue which is spoiled by huge bursts of static noise at one or two points. This one is a shimmering, creepy and non linear oddity and is as good a place as any to start if you haven't heard them.

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