The United States of America is a country of endless possibilities and the absolute worst healthcare system in the Western World. The ‘Sicko’ documentary by Michael Moore is 16 years old, but it’s still valid. I still get the creeps from it: Non-insured people who are denied care for not having paid for it and adequately insured people being denied care for whatever reason they can come up with. It’s hell. It was hell in 2007, and it is still hell, especially when you are ill.
Thomas Garrison, who most of us know as CONTROL, is one of the many people who got severely ill with all the problems that come with it. He was getting treatment, which made him so sick that he couldn’t work properly. In the aftermath of a relationship, he got more problems than he asked for on top of it. And still, be too sick to create a solid income. To pay for his treatment and have a chance to stay alive and get better. To heal.
Thomas is a great guy, but when he’s on a stage or working on music, something snaps. His loud, modular-based power electronics are straight from the heart. Lyrics from the abyss of his feelings are screamed into the microphone while his setup is pushing out some of the most extreme frequencies. From a long talk, we once had either while he was visiting Europe or I was visiting Santa Cruz, he told me it was mostly one-takes because they provide the best and most honest recording of emotions surrounding the particular tracks. And let me tell you, this CD definitely shows it.
The seven tracks on “This Death” have equally happy titles. “Suicide”, “This Death”, “Radiation”, “Revenge … Denied”, “Nothing But A Shell”, “Chemo”, and the closing “Cunt” describe the things Thomas had to endure or how he has felt since he was diagnosed two years ago with cancer. Which he is still fighting. Every single day. So when I tell you this album is unhappy and incredibly ‘in your face’, aggressive, loud, sincere, dark, brooding, intense … Believe me. I haven’t lied one word.
Marcus and Nicole from Cloister Recordings are close friends of Thomas, and when the proverbial shit hit the fan set up a GoFundMe in support. Derek did a fundraiser on his Chthonic Streams with a genuinely excellent online sampler. But it’s two years later, and Thomas still has cancer and is still struggling. So, to create some extra income, he made this CD, and I’m doing what I can to write a few words on this one. It was released earlier this year and in hardcopy available through Thomas himself or Cloister Recordings, as well as digital through Bandcamp. Where other stuff is also available. So you get really fantastic music, and you get to help out someone who wants to make more music like this in the future. Make a bit happier next time, though. Maybe.
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