Mauled by Sloths (mbs) is one of the strangest musical projects I have ever come across. It is the brainchild of Cthulberg, also known from such projects as Atropine, Pogrom Synod and Epilektrician.MBS' music mostly consists of displaced and severly manipulated samples nailed together in a soundscape so mangled nothing can live there. It ranges from naive pop tunes to utter inhuman confusion, but usually elements of both are present. MBS bears comparison to nothing else, but if you can imagine a collaboration between Nurse With Wound and Severed Heads you're approaching some semblance of understanding.
Fragments of jazz, classical, conversations and micro manipulated oddities float in and out of attention, with steady beats providing the only semblance of sanity. Still the music is strangely melodic and can even be soothing once you reach the proper mindset. All in all MBS provides you with beautifully dislodged pieces of popular culture, altered to the unrecognizable by a very overactive imagination.
Admittedly, upon first hearing MBS my mind couldn't process the music, and it gave me a head ache trying to understand what the hell I was subjected to. I had to learn how to listen to it, and pataclysm is no exception. Listening to the record is very similar to reading William S. Burroughs. Just listen to it without trying to make heads or tails of it, and your mind will start working little by little.
The title, Pataclysm, is a reference to the imaginary science of pataphysics, which I am not going to try to recount here, suffice to say it is linked to dadaism and that this element is evident in the music, as well as in the track titles.
All I can say is really that MBS is not for just everyone. The music is challenging, but not in the trite "blowing your mind out with 260dbs of pissing on a dead cat", and you'll either hate it or you'll love it. Maybe even both. Give it a try anyway. You might find your conceptions are altered by the experience.
Pataclysm was originally released way back in 2001 on CD-r, but has now been made available via by Thee Brad Miller on his blog Because God told me to do it. Go there to download it.
Stay tuned for interview with Cthulberg tomorrow! It promises to be enlightening.
1 Pataclysm (edit)
2 Reet Petite Repeat Repeat
3 Doctored Udderveins
4 Aural leprosy versus damaged muezin
5 The Flaw that Blinds
6 Polarity Wreck
7 Patatarakt (waterwaist mix)
Norway, 2001, File Download, Mordisco recordings,
http://theebradmiller.blogspot.com/2010/07/mauled-by-sloths-pataclysm-ep-2001.html
http://www.myspace.com/mordisco
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