Review: To End It All “Scourge Of Woman” [Scry Recordings]

Forging songs from rhythmic harsh noise, sampled instruments, and live vocals to create walls, beats, and caverns of sonic corruption, here comes an American duo armed with their brand new beastly spawn of avantgarde music.

In November 2016, longtime collaborators noise artist Masaaki Masao and vocalist Joy Von Spain (both members of Eye of Nix) joined forces to give birth to a beastly spawn of Avantgarde/Death Industrial Metal known as To End It All, forging songs from rhythmic harsh noise, sampled instruments, and live vocals to create walls, beats, and caverns of sonic corruption. Drawing inspiration from death industrial and black noise acts like Pig Heart Transplant, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Goly Grim, Sutekh Hexen, Throbbing Gristle, as well as vocalists Onielar, Diamanda Galas, Kathy Berberian and Cosey Fanny Tutti, this Seattle, Washington-based duo makes stripped-down songs using performance and composition techniques distilled from their other projects such as Mongrel Gods, Microscopic Suffering, Eye of Nix and Caligula Cartel, with their brand new album Scourge Of Woman being the culmination of the duo’s material recorded between 2017 and 2018. And trust me, this is not an easy-listen at all for the average music fan like most of us, but you might be surprised with the uniqueness of each song blasted by Masaaki and Joy throughout the entire album.

In the opening track, titled “Lure”, Joy simply declaims the song’s lyrics in a mesmerizing way (“LURE / Be ablaze Conflagrate Cauterize Brand Scald / Exacerbate Torch Desire Seduce Lure / Delude Entice Erode Consume Seduce Lure”), before wicked, distorted noises arise from the underworld, while Joy impersonates a demonic entity growling manically. Put differently, this is what I call a demented start to an album, and their hypnotizing feast of distortions and vociferations goes on in “No Hero’s Death”, with Joy sounding like as if she was conducting a black mass, leading to an explosion of noises titled “Beast Filth”, a pure avantgarde creation not for the lighthearted which feels like the actual sound of the Apocalypse thanks to the excellent job done by Masaaki, and those perturbing noises will keep punching you in the head until Joy begins gnarling beastly. Then displaying choir-like, operatic vocals, as opposed to her previous growling up to now, Joy steals the spotlight with a beautiful performance in “Mouths Searching For The Breast”, while Masaaki limits himself to individual, rumbling blasts of sounds.

“Instinctual Force” is even more eccentric than all previous tunes, showcasing just metallic bursts of distorted noises for almost three minutes before we have “Future Aborted”, sounding very similar but not as captivating as “No Hero’s Death”, with Masaaki complementing Joy’s vocals with his rumbles and tones. And just when you think the duo couldn’t get even more eccentric than they already are, they come crushing with the Stygian and atmospheric “In Cases of Rape and Incest”, bringing forward seven weird minutes of somber church-inspired vocalizations supported by detailed sonic explosions; followed by “Burning Rapists”, where I guess the sounds blasted by Masaaki might represent the fires burning rapists, ending the album on a disturbing mode. In addition, if you go for the limited edition of the album you’ll be treated to the bonus track “Cages Bleed Shiver And Shake”, a demonic display of industrialized noises and deranged gnarls by the duo, definitely worth the investment on the LP version of the album.

Featuring an austere artwork by Carlos Melgoza (Anima Nocturna), Scourge Of Woman is not an album recommended for the average rock and metal listener, as already mentioned, but it’s indeed a solid effort by Masaaki and Joy in trying to think outside the box and bring to life something that stands out in the overcrowded world of alternative music. Do you think you have what it takes to tame this eerie and deranged beast? If your answer is yes, if you’re not afraid of what’s uncommon and eccentric, you can get more details about the duo, including tour dates, by visiting their Facebook page, as well as listen to more of their music on SoundCloud, and if you want to give them a try and show your support to their wicked music you can purchase Scourge Of Woman (available for a full listen on Spotify) from their own BandCamp page, from the Scry Recordings’ Big Cartel in a 12” black vynil LP format featuring the bonus track “Cages Bleed Shiver And Shake” (unavailable for download), or from CD Baby.

Best moments of the album: “Lure”, “Beast Filth” and “Cages Bleed Shiver And Shake”.

Worst moments of the album: “Instinctual Force and Future Aborted”.

Released in 2018 Scry Recordings

Track listing
1. Lure 4:18
2. No Hero’s Death 3:42
3. Beast Filth 4:18
4. Mouths Searching For The Breast 4:18
5. Instinctual Force 2:39
6. Future Aborted 4:35
7. In Cases of Rape and Incest 7:01
8. Burning Rapists 4:04

Limited Edition 12″ Vinyl LP bonus track
9. Cages Bleed Shiver And Shake 3:31

Band members
Joy Von Spain – vocals
Masaaki Masao – noise, samplers