Vandal X Album Reviews

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Songs from the Heart (1999)
13 Basic Hate Tracks (2002)

Songs from the Heart (1999)

7

Happy / Iceberg Extra Cold / It’s a God / The Residence / Kill My Baby / Bad Mood / Congo ’98 / Outrage / Bullit / Double Minded Man / The President / Point Blank / Secrets / On Your Head / The Bank / Business as Use You All / I Run / The Doctor / The Stud / The Boat

I guess you could say that Vandal X are noise terrorists. Even though they’re only a duo (at this point: Bart Timmermans (vocals, guitar) and Jo Boes (drums)), they have quite a reputation going for them as one of the louder acts around. How else could that be when you keep in mind that they took their name from an Unsane-song (one from the debut with the tasteful cover) and obviously have Steve Albini as their most important role model? Equally extreme bands like Big Black, Shellac and Helmet are the most obvious references: like those bands, Vandal X betrays a healthy disregard for conventional structures and notions about melody and relies on sheer force, shrapnel-sharp riffs and ultra-tight drumming instead. This music isn’t concerned with looking for the perfect pitch and melody. It’s bleak, violent and almost depressing anti-pop that’s nearly entirely robbed of its humaneness. The band had already released one album (Little Man’s Blues) a bit earlier, but I don’t own a copy of it and I’m not sure I ever will (if anyone’s got a spare copy…), as it doesn’t seem to be around anymore. Anyway, these guys’ dreams were fulfilled when they flew to Chicago in late 1998 to record an album with the guru of detached white noise: Steve Albini, whose no nonsense-approach is all over the album. There’s an emphasis on a dry and natural drum sound, while the guitar sound is suitably abrasive and incisive. Finally, there’s also their dual cassette deck AKAI HX-A301W, which is credited as a guest musician (anyone remember Big Black’s Roland?).

Now, with only one guitar, one drum kit and one voice, you wouldn’t expect the results to be diverse, would you? Well, in a way, it isn’t a sprawling encyclopaedia of genres and styles of course, but shifts in textures and clever use of sound fragments certainly lighten things up along the ride. This change of pace is certainly necessary as most of their songs are extremely raw, often brutal and always bare-boned. Even during opener “Happy,” with its whispered vocals, it becomes clear these guys aren’t making music to satisfy, but to confront. “If the price is right, everyone’s for sale,” is their conviction, and the music is adapted to it. Other tracks, like “Iceberg” and “The Bank,” for instance, are minimalist combinations of music and samples, which they get from various sources like B-movies, political rallies and God knows what else (the howling dogs in “Iceberg” are particularly unsettling). Also “Bad Mood” (a reference to Helmet, I presume) and “The Residence” get their charm completely from a near-annoying repetition. However, the bulk of the album holds no barrels: short and very aggressive songs with semi-screamed vocals, concrete riffs and lots of unbridled fury: “It’s a God” and the aptly titled “Bullit” are relentlessly dark material that was made to be used in the bleakest, most violent movies imaginable. Usually, these songs aren’t very intricate compositions, but “Business as Use You All,” the blues-noise of “Double Minded Man” and harsh “Kill My Baby” are among the best pieces of noise-rock ever released by a Belgian band. Luckily not all the songs are that abrasive, as several tracks (“Congo ’98,” “The President,” “The Doctor”) are sound pieces/collages that disrupt the manic intensity for short periods. On top of that, a few songs, like “On Your Head” and “Stud,” betray hints of melody (beware!), so it might not be a painful experience after all. Still, unless you’re already acquainted with the violent and cold music of the bands I mentioned above, these Songs from the Heart might be hard to digest. During “Bad Mood,” the singer mutters “everyone’s got a dark side,” and these two guys certainly didn’t hold back their own. Consume at your own risk.

13 Basic Hate Tracks (2002)

7.5

Fuck’m all / Wish You Away / Mr and Mss X / She’s Killing Me / Prepare / Strong / Punk Under 13 / Run Away Boy / Pursuit of Happiness / First of Many / Evil Man Son / Not You / For Old Times Sake / No Way Try / Homesick Bleus

… but this time, it’s for real. As the cover and the title suggest (anyone remember Fudge Tunnel’s joyful party album Hate Songs in E Minor?), the boys kick up the intensity level on their third album. Indeed, whereas the second album was already pretty extreme, this one gets really vicious. If this is Vandal X, then Songs from the Heart was merely Vandal R. This time around, the album wasn’t recorded in the US, but in good ol’ Belgium, and I don’t know what happened (did somebody get hurt?), but it might very well be the noisiest Belgian album ever released (correct me if I’m wrong). Perhaps the drum sounds less prominent than before (during the more abrasive songs – like “Wish You Away” – it completely drowns in oceans of distortion), but the guitar sounds like an industrial killing machine. On top of that, Bart T. screams (shrieks, screeches) as if he couldn’t care less about his vocal chords. In the meantime, Dave Schroyen (ex-Evil Superstars) had replaced Jo Boes, but the new one’s performance is equally impressive. 13 Basic Tracks is just that: 13 outraged motherfuckers dressed as songs that, accompanied by two short interludes (making the album less fragmented, but also less digestible than Songs from the Heart), mercilessly attack the eardrums. Even though the band added some bass here and there (at least, that’s what it sounds like), the album’s basically an alternation of brutal and insanely brutal songs. This gets a bit exhausting after a while, but 39 minutes is something I can deal with. Usually.

The album opens with a smart interview excerpt, with Lemmy (I think) complaining about compromise (“What’s rock without noise? We can’t have that, there’s no such thing…”), before the band kicks off in this punishing, over the top noise that finds them crossing from noise-rock to noise-core. They used to dabble in mainly mid-tempo grooves, but this time around, there’s a stronger influence from hardcore punk and avant-noise like Refused, Melt Banana, etc … the challenging stuff out there. During “Wish You Away,” the guitars roar insanely like Bob Mould’s on “Beyond the Threshold,” while tracks like “Pursuit of Happiness” continually explore the outer edges of rock and white noise. Highlights among the decibel assassins are “She’s Killing Me,” the ridiculously fucked up “Run Away Boy” with its alternation of circular thrash guitar patterns and semi-industrial mid-tempo groove (not to forget all the cursing and swearing), and also the Helmet-tribute “Prepare,” which rocks with a terrific tightness and ferocity. So, the noisy takes from the album are much more extreme than the ones on Songs from the Heart, but most of them are also more effective, taking things to a higher level of intensity with more focus. The calmer, more repetitive tracks on the other hand, can’t keep up with these highlights: the soft/loud-dynamics of “Mr and Mss X” are only cool for so long, while also “Strong” and “First of Many” are too stilted. It’s also a bit of a shame that they tacked “For Old Times Sake” and “No Way Try” together, as they basically seem the same song to me. Finally, to make sure everyone’s got the point, they turn in a completely over the top-performance during album closer “Homesick Bleus” (yes, it’s spelled like that). It’ll probably be clear by now: you definitely have to be in the right mood for 13 Basic Tracks. On days like today, when I’m in a jolly good mood and feeling okay, I can deal with it, listen to it, and get on with my business. On a bad day, however, this is the kind of album that awakens the voices in your head that’ll tell you that becoming a mindless killer is the thing to do. Or something like that. Recommended, but in medium-sized doses, and only if you’re a sucker for this violent kind of racket.