The word “cinematic” often gets thrown around in the instrumental post-industrial genre, but if Amps Kill’s debut full-length album Wretched Inheritance were a score, the film would be bleakly breathtaking.
The result of a lifetime of classical training combined with noise-oriented, post-industrial experimentation, Wretched Inheritance is concerned with the world left to us by our ancestors and what we’ll leave behind for future generations. It’s a meditation on the relentless march of time towards death, and the transformation of our bodies and minds when we cease to exist. Blistering synths, sparse and throbbing drums, menacing melodies, and masterful vocal samples bear witness to these contemplations. Yet, like all things mysterious, the sonic landscape of Wretched Inheritance contains pockets of sublime splendor nestled in its craggy peaks and valleys.
Founded in Denver amidst the tumultuous events of 2020, Amps Kill is helmed by composer and improviser Stephen Bailey, a self-described “refugee of the classical music world,” who employs surprisingly deep musical motifs in service to a barrage of noise and synthesizers. Bailey’s astute musicality, combined with a gnarly but cohesive palette of sounds, lends Amps Kill grisly gravitas.
Clocking in at nearly an hour, Wretched Inheritance closes with a serene contemplation on a post-human earth before launching into a series of outstanding remixes by fellow noise-purveyors Snakes of Russia, Gorgonn, User Friendly and more, mining the source material for downtempo glitch, IDM, power noise, and beyond.
Wretched Inheritance is available worldwide now on Bandcamp and all major streaming platforms.
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