Review of the album, "Pressure of Silence" in CMJ New Music Report - by Tad Henrickson
We all know that drum'n'bass and jungle are the flavors of the year, but to get a grip on Savage Aural Hotbed's sound you have to go back to the drum'n'bass pyrotechniques of the organic '80s. Instead of using samplers, sequencers and drum machines, Pressure Of Silence is more like a journey back to the days when machines had moving parts instead of microchips.
Drums of all shapes and sizes, clarinets, drills and grinders, gongs, water, toy cars and the beloved theremin are all intertwined. For "Chutes And Ladders" the snare drums pound like the pistons of a car, only to be relieved by weird electronic sounds from bass and clarinet. "Nein" and "Mark's Attitude" both have slinky bass lines supported by ever-shifting, ever-driving rhythms. Slow songs such as "Two Stage Trigger" and "Earth" lull the listener into a state of calm, only to shake the listener out of it suddenly: soon enough, storms of sound pour out in a deluge, shifting with no hesitation. Savage Aural Hotbed takes a side road across the Spanish countryside in "(Z!," in which flamenco guitar leads the listener through a hail storm, only to be smashed by meteors in 'Bong Hits At The Great Pyramid."
Pressure Of Silence isn't likely to get notice from the techno world, but it would make a great fit — this ambient beat-oriented sound could easily slide in between Transglobal Underground and Photek without raising an eyebrow.