CoC : Pain Jerk - Greater Curvature : Review

Pain Jerk - _Greater Curvature_
(Spite, 1998)
by: Gabriel Sanchez (8 out of 10)

Anyone who denies Kohei Gomi a position right alongside other "worshipped" noise artists such as Masami Akita, Maso Yamazaki or the ever loved Joe Roemer is only denying a truth which becomes clearer with every new output by Pain Jerk. _Greater Curvature_ finds itself divided into four parts, encompassing some 45 minutes of time well spent listening to this magnificent noise creation. As always, Gomi's amazing editing and stereophonic effects techniques are put to great use with layers of harsh sound finding themselves augmented by spacey blips and bleeps which come pouring in and out of the speaker channels. The entire feel of this release seems to be less of one large sonic attack on its listeners than a venture into mixing and editing (which could be said for many a Pain Jerk release). While the noise remains consistently loud and often takes a turn for the punishing at points, it also remains very hypnotizing. Unlike some noise releases that tend to drone on endlessly, Pain Jerk keeps the sounds fresh, sporadic, and always mixing in order to add a level of depth and interest rarely found in many newer artists, who seem content to turn on their pedals and let them run with little thought or innovation being given to their sound. With every listen, I still find myself attempting to pin down all of the sounds that Gomi seems to have knitted together so well in this excellent noise venture. With the ever growing audience of Pain Jerk fans out there mixed in with the especially skillful quality of the noise found here, I expect this limited edition of 50 releases will soon be gone, so make a point to act fast on it. To those unfamiliar with Pain Jerk or noise in general, this is a more than ample place to begin building a hefty collection of both, as this easily rivals almost everything being put out by almost everyone in the noise scene today.

Contact: Spite, P.O. Box 56153, Kalamazoo, MI 49005-1653, USA

(article published 1/9/1998)