"The collaboration with Iggor is definitely one of the most extreme recordings that I have worked on," says Dwid Hellion.
The Integrity vocalist is chatting with me about his new EP with Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy, Petbrick), a 4-track collection described as "violent noise" by the labels co-releasing it. If you've heard Psywarfare, you should already know Dwid isn't new to harsher side of the musical spectrum, but he's reached deeper into the lunacy well this time out.
"This is definitely one of the most insane-sounding things I ever done," Iggor wrote me about the EP. "Dwid is a master of noise and I have been a huge fan of Psywarfare for quite a long time."
In case some No Echo readers aren't familiar with the historical context of noise music, Dwid offers up some knowledge: "Some of the pioneering artists of this particular style would be Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse, and NON (Boyd Rice).
“The basic concept was that the ‘rebellious music’ that the record labels were pushing on the young people at that time was called ‘punk rock,’ and that style was essentially their parents music (like Chuck Berry recordings) but played sloppier and with some added nihilistic and offensive lyrics.
"The aforementioned musicians felt that extreme music should not just be a slightly messier variation on their parents music, but it should be futuristic, dangerous, and violent-sounding. Electronic instruments provided that possibility for them.
"You know that you are doing something correct when your peers cover their ears and complain, 'turn that noise off! Its hurting my ears!' The same conformist outcry that grandmas of every past generation have exclaimed to young people."
With or without the context, Iggor Cavalera x Dwid Hellion is a jarring listening experience:
Before they began collaborating, the two musicians were actually neighbors for a while, as Iggor explained. "That’s a funny story… many years ago I was renting a space in Gent/Belgium while I was touring with my wife doing an electronic project called Mixhell, and I was in a toy shop buying Christmas gifts for my kids, and I thought I saw someone that looked exactly like Dwid, we kind of made eye contact, but both thought it was too bizarre, returning home we messaged each other on MySpace (RIP) and realized we both were living on this small medieval town."
The pair clearly share a deep musical bond. "Dwid and I have done many collaborative works in the past years, we did a project called Corroded Spiral, a Throbbing Gristle tribute tape, and I played drums on some Integrity reissues.
"Dwid and I have similar taste for the dark side of art and music. But we finally decided to do an experiment on noise on this very specific project. The results are pretty mad."
Between his touring schedule with Cavalera Conspiracy and other projects, Iggor seems to be busier than ever. "In the last few years, I have decided to release some tapes from my experimental side of things, with some collaborations with very special artists like Merzbow, Vomir, Linekraft, all coming out on very cool labels. Keep your ears wide! Thanks for being open-minded about different styles of music. No Echo rules!"
Aw shucks.
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Iggor Cavalera x Dwid Hellion is available on streaming outlets and cassette via Dark Empire Records (US orders) and Alpha Morzel (EU orders).
Tagged: dwid hellion, integrity, sepultura
