City & i.o - Chaos Is God Neighbour

Éditions Appærent

£21.40

Format: CD
Catalogue No.: APP005
Release Date: Jun 2022
Genre: Electronica / Ambient

1 - Desolate Revenant
2 - Breach
3 - Omnistack
4 - Catacomb (with Dis Fig)
5 - Descendant Cross (with x/o)
6 - Bleak Chain (with x/o)
7 - Unkind (with Dis Fig)
8 - Bomb-blasted Stack (with vvilms)
9 - Atlatica
10 - Circling Orc
11 - Temprorare
12 - Marrow
13 - -20+20-20+20-20+20-20
14 - Granular Heater

City & i.o are immensely proud to present Chaos is God Neighbour, the full-length follow-up to their 2019 record Spirit Volume. This new release finds the musicians digging into murkier depths than Spirit Volume, and features extensive contributions from collaborators Dis Fig, aka Felicia Chen, x/o, aka Veron Xio, and vvilms, aka Aaron Wharton.

Composed at a frenetic pace over several weeks in mid-2020, the claustrophobia is palpable. As the album progresses the tracks get both shorter and progressively more brutal, interrupted by brief moments of respite. Throat-shredding harsh vocals provide a high watermark in intensity, while the expansive performances of Dis Fig and x/o serve as vantage points over the morass, giving the listener something both beautiful and human to grasp. Careening from rich synth work, to distorted guitars in alternate tunings; from i.o’s virtuosic and unhinged drumming to slabs of harsh ambient noise, this is a genuinely ambitious and rewarding album.

The front and back cover artwork is courtesy of legendary Games Workshop illustrator John Blanche.