Edge of Decay is the second Finnish noise project in the most recent batch of 999 Cuts. Behind the project is Olli Tanskanen, who is active in more projects, among others, Vigilantism, Gourva and Lusters, which is a collaboration between Olli with Circle of Shit. The list of releases by Edge of Decay, who has been active since 2012, shows well-known labels like Aussaat, Freak Animal, Phage Tapes and Nil by Mouth – as well as many more – so yeah, it is a direction in where to place the music a bit.
“Polttomerkki” translates to “Stigma”, and in 40 minutes, you will get stigmatized by Olli. Four 6-7 minute tracks and one a bit longer guide you through a messed up mind of all kinds of intrusive noises. It’s not the harsh noise with cutups and sudden movements like the Rotat CDR elsewhere in this Vital. The music is more organized. When there is a certain movement,, Olli provides time for that sound to evolve, interact with other sounds, and become part of a larger thing, Being the composition. The track ‘Pioneers of Filth’ is an excellent example of that. Or even the hidden layers in ‘Whoreson Blues’, which is the opening track.
The tracks “No More Zen” and “Polttomerkki I” are constructed differently. The space the sounds get is the same, but the origin of sounds seems different, and I couldn’t really get my ears around it. Like massively manipulated vocals or … (re-listening at this exact moment) … Modular manipulation? A massive FX pedal board? In “Polttomerkki I”, it seems like they’re a bit less manipulated, but even then … Sometimes like the origin of stigmas, they remain a mystery. The final track, “Polttomerkki II”, is my favourite of the album, probably because everything I used to describe the previous tracks comes together in this one. There is a nice build-up, lots of space to evolve, and lots explore in hidden layers that are sometimes pushed to the front to reveal themselves.
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