DISSECTING TABLE "Power Out of Control"
Triumvirate | CD

Released on Triumvirate label, two albums by Ichiro Tsuji aka Dissecting Table are only an episode in his over 15 years long career. This Japanese project could be seen also in the rosters of such fine labels like Dark Vinyl, Crowd Control Activities, Relapse/Release to name but a few. However, Dissecting Table has never seemed to be regarded as one of Japanese noise leaders. Perhaps due to its too obvious streams of inspiration - American dark electro of FLA , or Skinny Puppy, and grind core i.e. Napalm Death. The most frequent description applied to Dissecting Table has been 'Merzbow meets Napalm Death', and it seems valid in a way. As time passed by, that weird mixture has become a sort of a trade mark for Dissecting Table, recognizable on each album. 'Power Out of Control' fits that frame well - made entirely with the help of PC software (at least, it sounds so), and mastered by Tomas Dimuzio is what we'd expect from this project. There's consistent action going on here but whether it is good or bad I am not sure. The record consists of four long pieces and the most interesting one seems to be the 2 nd , wherein Ichiro puts more invention and effort to fill up the almost 13-minute track with a fine combination of rhythms & noises, sound manipulations, snippets, cuts and complex noise structures, additionally incorporating his characteristic screaming vocals. The remaining 3 tracks keep the line marked on previous Dissecting Table's records - pounding basses, grinding drum machine, electro lashings, hisses, noises. It's a part of Godflesh, Kong , FLA family with strong noise itches that you surely know. If you ask me what my opinion on this is, I can say Dissecting Table is not my cup of tea, it doesn't attract me at all, but hardcore fans of DT will esteem the record high for sure!

[krzysztof sadza]