Fuckhead – Avoid Nil LP (Noise Appeal Records)

Here’s another good one from the recent batch of records sent by Noise Appeal Records. Once again, I am going back into the past and exploring the luxurious Noise Appeal catalog, and the release I picked up for today is unquestionably unique. Those who read my reviews regularly probably already know that this record label doesn’t hesitate to publish anything if it sounds good. Noise Appeal is known for its quality over quantity, but I have to admit this particular record stands out from the crowd in its uniqueness. Of course, it sounds marvelous, but it’s not something you stumble upon at Noise Appeal every day. They’re much more into heavier underground genres and indie sound, while Avoid Nil by Fuckhead leans much more towards experimental, industrial, electronic, and avant-garde music.

Fuckhead is a Vienna-based experimental trio with over three decades of rehearsing, recording, and performing. Their experience bursts through these eight powerful tracks, fully stacked with every possible subgenre of electronic music you could imagine. It’s even difficult to define what would be the primary sonic direction because Fuckhead stray into the depths and fundamentals of each of them with such ease. You’ll notice experimental electronica, industrial, glitch, dubstep, drum and bass, and breakbeat, but also noise, ambient, drone, and maybe some other obscure avant-garde music genres. These continuous levitations between standard and avant-garde electronica perfectly match the dark ambiance that Fuckhead tries to achieve through their sound.

These guys unquestionably know how to assemble tracks that will tickle all your senses and force you to delve deep into their obscure, eerie, dark sound. Still, unlike most of the artists who explore the elements I mentioned above, Fuckhead lean much more toward the experimental and avant-garde music. You’ll notice that Avoid Nil is not related to any commercial aspect of electronica and probably has much more to do with glitch, noise, industrial, ambient, and drone. Their compositions range from downtempo, chillout, and ambient tracks to more noisy, glitchy, abrasive, raw, industrial numbers solely drenched in dubstep beats. Each ingredient integrated into these compositions sounds detailed, complex, and multilayered, with many energetic rhythmic sequences, melodies, harmonies, and leads. It’s nearly mindblowing how everything works to the advantage of the dark ambiance.

Avoid Nil will be right up your alley if you’re into experimental and avant-garde electronica. You should give this album a listen even if you’re not into these genres at all because Avoid Nil provides such a unique listening experience rarely seen nowadays. The standard black vinyl comes with a high-quality cardboard sleeve decorated with an abstract visual identity. You can also check out Avoid Nil on all streaming services, but the vinyl version sounds much better and with more details included. You can grab Fuckhead vinyl bundle at Noise Appeal Records.