Gag isn’t the guy behind this label only (Vomit Bucket Productions, for your information, will focus on his own projects only as from now on), but he’s the same dude who plays in Vomitous Discharge (review on the split with No One Gets Out Alive: see January 24th 2015), Sewage Cocktail, Splattered Nachos or The People’s Noise Project (review on Man! I Feel Like Noise! … coming soon). But probably his best known project right now is this one, Ataraxy, formed in late Spring 2009 in order to canalise Gag’s Noise-laden contemplative states of mind.
Those who are ‘trusted’ with Ataraxy’s Anti-Music will know that this solo-outfit brings nothing but terrific / horrific Harsh Noise and HNW. In A Modern Narrative’s case, it isn’t different at all. Yet still this is quite a hard-to-digest exploration / experience, for A Modern Narrative last for seventy five minutes. Two possibilities: you will start vomiting (hehe, got it?) about immediately, or you will go with the flow, not knowing exactly where it will lead you.
Actually, I tried to go with that flow a couple of times before, but even I, with a stomach devouring bottles of Tabasco as if it were water (brrr… water…), have difficulties to handle this. Of course there’s no need to search after melodies at all, but I have to admit that, seen from structural point of view, A Modern Narrative indeed has something to tell, though this being not that gentle.
Despite being rather minimal in execution, generally seen, there is quite some variation. The opening ‘song’ (damn, what else can you call this?), called Awaking On Another Dark Day, is pretty darkened, while the next epic, Constant Agitation, isn’t but a throat-ripping Noise Wall exploration / explosion with an abyssal and ugly-faced no-nonsense attitude, being pretty agitated and schizoid. And that’s about the main spirit on this lengthy album (meaning: most compositions bring this kind of cheerful lullabies). It’s static, lacking of any melody and f*cking your brain, but at the same time, intelligently trying to keep the listener attentive. Though, from time to time I’m losing my interest, like in Resignation or Considerations, which lack of identity to my ignorant opinion. But some other excerpts have that specific attraction that might carry some disturbed brains, with having a masochistic personality being a helpful attitude in order to undergo this sonic torture. Pieces like Mysterious Beings are clearly trying to tell you a story, a story that does not exactly deal with the average pink flowers in the hair theme - but which certainly a (hi)story so honest in essence…
I have to admit that my knowledge of this scene is not that huge at all. But being open-minded, my grey cells try to absorb this kind of material as intensively as possible in order to strengthen my utterly professional attitude – or something like that. No, seriously, I think Ataraxy might have created another influential mind-destructing piece of Anti-Music from the noisiest regions of aural discomfort, undoubtedly attractive for those who like the lullabies of, let’s say, Vilgoc, Vomir or Dead Body Collection. I am sure there are some other comparisons, more appropriate, but I think this will do for now… But I warn you: tranquillisers might be needful, and recently filled stomachs might be emptied sadistically fast…