Taiwan experimental band Scattered Purgatory, the duo of Lu Li-Yang and Lu Jiachi, gleefully put genres through the mincing machine, cackling as they go. This new album, forthcoming on the excellent Guruguru Brain label, is full of glorious surprises. Essentially, they make giallo rock, deep, dark rock with saxophone cutting through drone and clattering percussion.
So tracks like ‘Atata Naraka’ , ‘Wunai’ and ‘Thundering Dream”s dystopian visions are all infused with gothic industrial intensity, psychedelic sax and drones. They’re as melodic as they are heavy.
But this is, above all, an album of contrasts. This is more apparent through ‘Above The Clouds’ , where minimal piano and heavenly vocals are juxtaposed with distortion, and ‘Moonquake’ is a sweeter flirtation with hip-hop beats. It’s like a global jukebox gone rogue.
Released via Guruguru Brain on January 30th.
Hit The North 