Theme – Sacral Blood Warning CDr

Theme – Sacral Blood Warning CDr

"Sacral Blood Warning is an impressive release that journeys from the more noise based tracks of the first half through darkened drone via improvised and noise rhythms to the final expansive piece that co-opts Coil-like electronics with their ongoing penchant for psychedelics. Sacral Blood Warning, like their previous album No Emotions Catered For, revolves around wordy monologues. The vocals remain the pivotal focus of Sacral Blood Warning but drenched in noise and processing the meanings are often lost in the fug of electronics and noise layers. "Are you listening?", the punk vocal asks on 'Pit Of Impunity' shrouded in shivery effects as bursts of frequencies shimmer and electro sequences stutter and shudder. 'Reconstriction', meanwhile, unfurls from unwieldy layers of textured frequencies and juddering rhythms. In customary post-punk fashion for Sacral Blood Warning, the vocals cascade. "Wide awake, so it's claimed", as electronic beats pulse and ricochet and sequences batter before the whole thing is sucked-up into a vortex of sound. Most others have posited power electronics as the catalyst for this but for me up to this point at least Theme are working in territory that furthers the punk poetic spoken word of Map 71 - who had their Gloriosa tape album released on Richard Johnson's Fourth Dimension label - and the electro-punk sequences of Suicide. 'Exit Stance, Part 3' is rhythmic noise, as it lurches from abrasive mangling and processing into explosive frequency noise cut with rhythmic disarray with vocals distant and effected and almost reduced to another layer in this dense noise assault. As mentioned before, Sacral Blood Warning is unrelenting, heavy and savage. And it is but only up to this point as from 'Dark Sunshine' onwards Theme divert the sound into other areas. That's hardly surprising as their preceding album, No Emotions Catered For ranged from percussive improvised songs, atmospheric noisescapes to lilting acoustic folk, all filled with vocals, spoken, chanted, processed and cut-up. Only the textured noisescape of 'Logic Is (Not) The Answer' from No Emotions Catered For would fit seamlessly on Sacral Blood Warning. Sacral Blood Warning, for the most part, is much more intentionally abrasive." - Compulsion Online