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Bilal makes me scratch my head. On one hand, it’s completely unclassifiable; on the other, it draws from such a huge cauldron of musical influences that it’s not completely foreign. Quite frankly, Bilal is a brilliant, ambitious work that is as much a work of art as the paintings by Megan Abajian that grace the cover and inserts.
The album begins with two tracks that blend noise rock with noisy dance music a la Aphex Twin and Autechre and the heavy droning psychedelia of Flying Saucer Attack (which pervades the entire album). “Brng Yvwh” makes a markedly sinister turn, combining a Flipper-ish bassline with Loop-esque guitar lines. “Deka” loops the “Amen break” with dark ambient drone and glitch-y, static-y noise. The title track kinda sounds like something Six Finger Satellite would have done 15 years ago with syncopated rhythms, a heavy, pounding bassline, new wave keyboards and spooky – almost black metal – vocals. Ambient drone drives “Mouths Flame,” and “Sunblind” is pure horror movie soundtrack music, but “Daisycutter” could almost be a track from Heldon‘s proto-industrial 1976 album, Un Rêve Sans Conséquence Spéciale. “Master Swine” takes a 4/4 bass drum beat and Throbbing Gristle-izes it. And we end with “Deitus,” a creepy, noisy, droning, atmospheric track that succinctly sums up the entire album.
I generally use the term “soundscape” when talking about outright noise albums, but it really applies here. Each track paints a new picture, a new landscape to be examined and appreciated for what it is. To think this is the work of one man, Ryan Huber, is astounding.
He definitely composes his music with a paint brush.
