EP Review: 156 "Humanize/Dehumanize" (Independent) by Corban Skipwith

Band: 156

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Country: USA

Genre: Experimental noise

EP: Humanize/Dehumanize

Format: Digital, 5" and 4" plexi-glass picture disc lathe set

Label: Independent

Release date: January 1, 2022

Oh man, what do we have here? I can already tell this is going to be one of the weirdest releases I’ve covered all year!

For context this is a four track EP with two different types it seems of the first two tracks.

1. Humanize (5″ Version)

2. Dehumanize (5″ Version)

3. Humanize (4″ Version)

4. Dehumanize (4″ Version)

So get this, this is the actual description given on the Bandcamp link.

The record (as well as the digital download) features the track “Humanize”, which is meant to also be played backwards, as is the track “Dehumanize”, and they are brief meditations on sickening tortures carried out by authoritarian regimes - and even supposed “democratic countries” - the world over.

How fucking insane is that? My mind is blown by this. What kind of person even has an idea to do this? Or make this kind of album? Truly the world of music is an endless abyss and the more you search for the bottom the more strange the results you find. This EP is insane for so many reasons, firstly the idea behind it described above! Secondly the sound which honestly sounds creepy as fuck, it’s a combination of

-Dark Ambient

-Drone

-Noise

-Experimental

-Meditation all of the ingredients needed to make a fucked up sonic pie with extra chills. I’m going to go out on a limb and say I won’t find a project more unsettling, more deranged and morbid then this. The whole time I was listening I felt my nerves standing up, my brain was having a panic attack and my soul was breaking apart piece by devastating piece. The album is done and I can still feel the sounds crawling around in my head, truly unsettling stuff, wow.

I don’t say this often but listen at your own discretion. This thing may be short in length with only four songs but it has the power of a fucking hammer. This EP is a fine example of what someone or a group of people could do when given the ultimate, unrefined freedom to create anything they want and chose to create the sonic equivalent of fear, pandemonium and internal panic. I’m not kidding guys it’s been well over ten minutes since I listened to this thing and I still feel uneasy writing this! Check this out if you have the balls because you’ll need a large pair to get through this nightmare of a record. –Corban Skipwith

Lineup:

Adel Souto: All instruments