Music Banter - Slowly Goes The Night

Nausea – Heroin And Your Veins (2009)
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GENRES – Alternative Rock, Experimental

Part 1 - Midnight Music
1 Intoxication
2 The Trigger
3 The Lady

Part 2 - Death Sits Down
4 Murder Theme

Part 3 - Hangover and Rain
5 Fumes
6 Two Black Dogs
7 The Trainyard
8 A Hallucination

Part 4 - Red Pavement
9 The Chase
10 The Gutter

Hmmm finally back… Not for long probably, but something is better than nothing I guess. Heroin And Your Veins’ main contributor is Janne Perttula from Finland. The entire album is surrounded by a dark and enveloping aura, which is only perpetuated by the songs being split up into various groups… The sections aim to explore a lonely souls travels through a damp, sin-ridden town.

Intoxication begins with the sound of water falling into a puddle, and other assortments of sounds, which actually do make me think of a man sitting in a bar, chugging down drinks when it rains outside. The piece is driven by light electronic sounds, but primarily a calmed and almost psychedelic guitar riff. It is already reminiscent of Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, and this isn’t a bad thing. It does have a slight jazzy feeling, despite the absence of brass, however not as much as other such dark-jazz bands. The layers are interestingly done, although not incredibly deep. It just comes together well, and not meaning to be explosive or bombastic, it is just a nice chilled song, perfect for night times. The deep brassy sounds are nice towards the end of the track.

The Trigger carries the main sounds over from Intoxication, and is slightly more abrasive, with harsher snare sounds and a twangier guitar sound. It is almost like travelling music in the sense of the album as a whole. Despite everything sounding harsher, it still has an ethereal quality, as if not being played for the listener, but in general, behind a veil of fog. The Lady is as loud as the previous track but has a darker and seedy underbelly exposed, relying more on longer bassy guitar lines. The Electric organ is a nice touch, cutting in and out sporadically. After sounding finished it comes back with a nice finale, rawer and yet clearer than previously.

Murder Theme begins with a nice touch of crows cackling yet is difficult to discern. Light static noise welcomes an organ, initially undiscernible before it comes to the forefront of the track. Carrying a sombre tone, the opening of the track is reminiscent of funeral march songs. It is an interesting track in that the organ isn’t used sparingly, which is something most can’t say about music nowadays. The ‘evolution’ of how the guitar notes is also pretty nice early on. After about 5 minutes Jenna pulls out a saxophone, with dark and grinding notes reverberating outwards. This really makes the jazzy aspects of the albums tone stick out. It also has a film noir quality to it as a whole. Fumes’ sounds aren’t initially surrounded by a haze of ambient noise, as the bass twangs lead to the introduction of the organ and drums. It is slow and foreboding, perhaps due to their solitude, before a spacey mix comes out from no where to add some depth, representing a drug induced and tripped out state of mind. Everything is down tempo, as if awaiting the high to come.

Two Black Dogs is a down trodden, grimy piece with harsh and dirty notes. It is almost comical in its nature, light hearted despite being polluted. Almost like men getting up to no good, but from their perspective it is all a bit of fun (A Clockwork Orange style). The Trainyard follows suit, dark and gritty, painting the picture of an old abandoned train yard, full of decrepit vehicles and shadows at every turn, not quite being able to find your way through under the effects of alcohol and drugs.

A Hullucination is the amalgamation of similar themes and sounds presented elsewhere, in one of the better forms on the album. There is nothing new but that doesn’t mean its boring to revisit them. This is partially due to the fact that rather than sound like an album with distinct song, it is one long journey. It is quite easy to leave on, and not look at the play list and then be surprised when you realise you are through to song 5 already. It’s simply constructed, but it still delivers a punch in the right mood. The Chase is quite a late turning point, beginning with vigour, and carrying an air of violence. The new section ‘Red Pavement’ may be pointing to such violence and blood being spilled (just an interpretation) but it is a nice change nonetheless. At times it almost becomes dreamlike, with the intensity lifted and becomes light hearted, before returning to a state of panic and anger, perhaps representing the coming down from the previous high. It is probably my favourite track on the album.

The album ends with The Gutter, is a calm track which represents hitting rock bottom. It brings into the album an atmosphere of finality, fitting for the final track of the album. No new ground is broken but its still a pretty good wa to end the album.

It is hard to call this album special, purely because it isn’t. The ideas and sounds have all been explored, and probably better in their individuality elsewhere. However, in the right frame of mind, when you don’t feel like being attacked by noise, it is a pretty good ‘drug’. It carries itself well with a feeling of professionalism but also experimentalism. As I said, it reminds me of Bohren & Der Club of Gore, however, it represents an more rocky version of the band. Although there is minimal jazz ‘sounds’ overall, it still has that vibe overall.

8.0/10

The Lady
A Hallucination

These will be rare….