Illusion Of Safety
Historical
Previously released as a special-edition (read:expensive) box, this unusual example of ambient (read: expensive) box, this unusual example of ambient industrial is now accessible to the general public (read: affordably priced). Either way, the music is unusual in that it provides ambience as the term is truly defined- "the distinctive atmosphere surrounding or suffusing a person, place or thing" -avoiding the mistaken idea that ambience softly blends into you, rather than pulling you in. True to its name, the band pulls you into an illusive world: The second you have ground to stand on, it's yanked away. This nebulousness makes the record thoroughly disconcerting, the sounds a mixture of electronic noises and samples sparsely interspersed with deadly tales of torture and deviance. Importantly, this record strikes a balance of power and originality essential to a truly-innovative and entertaining record in any genre. Historical is not all loud noises and pensive jerks - each idea flows with the next without obvious, overtly fluid transitions.Illusion Of Safety creates spaces only to destroy them without hesitation, giving its concept of ambience a disturbing presence. Christina Zafiris CMJ 02/05/1993
Illusion Of Safety
Historical (Staalplaat)
I'll put my conclusion first: Historical is an astonishing piece of work. I was glued to my stereo for the entire 56 minutes the first time I listened to Historical. It made me wonder why I had never looked into Illusion of Safety before that moment. After the opening elector-metallic noise collage, "Historical Pt.1", I.O.S. dives into richly textured world of menacingly dark ambient noise. Shards of noise punctuate the ambient sound taht reaches the highs and lows of tghe audio spectrum. If you use high volume while listening to this, then don't be surprised if you damage your stereo. The sound range is that extreme. A shocing piece of found dialogue about torture and human atrocities anchors the composition, "Historical Pt. II." This song is infinitely more terrifying than the cartoon and terror used in most forms of industrial music. Its so real taht it renders most attempts at horror, terror and schock value absolutely pointless. The accompanying music compliments and supports the tale being told so strongly that if you aren't moved to shake your head in disbelief, you had better check your pulse and your conscience. The rest of Historical continues like this until the fianl song, "Musicfuk II." This song revisits the collage and noise manipulation of the first song and brings the entire collection to a clear and satisfactory conclusion. Once again, Historical is an astonishing piece of work.
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