BLANCK MASS
The Rig (Invada)
Over the last decade or so, the career of Benjamin John Power aka electronic/noise artist Blanck Mass has taken some surprising turns: a song featured in the 2012 Olympics ceremony, membership of mid-table indie outfit Editors, an appearance on a #1 album (his is the sleeptalking voice on Mogwai’s As The Love Continues that gives opening track To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth its spectacular title). Rather more predictable is the fact that he’s created the score for a sci-fi horror TV series – The Rig – about supernatural goings-on on an offshore oil rig.
The acid test for any commercially available soundtrack is whether it works out of context – and The Rig one certainly does. Through headphones in a darkened room, it manipulates your senses and imagination arguably even more effectively than a screenwriter or cinematographer could.
Omen reverberates with dread; Circles conjures malfunctioning circuitry and a technological meltdown; Flesh Meets Floor comprises disorienting synths, waterdrop percussion, and terrifying clanking chimes; and Helldeck’s sudden tempo shift from malevolent drones and sonar pulses is enough to induce a panic attack.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
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