sludge / noise rock
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Several decades ago, I worked as a volunteer on some sort of holiday camp (which we often referred to as a child-dump). While we were preparing the activities for that summer, one of us made up an impossible mission: take 100 grams of toilet paper and rip it to pieces until you get 200 grams. That one holiday, eating an entire raw union wasn't the hardest mission on that camp. Many kids tried, all failed miserably.
I guess it's our Belgian humor. We are so damn good at utter nonsense. Just look at our government, our traffic and our music. We invented new beat and we invented popcorn music. But we're also good at making shitloads of noise and slamming it in your face at high velocity. Hey, we have AmenRa, remember? Our latest assault comes from the otherwise quiet town of Beringen in Limburg, 30.000 Monkies, screaming, scratching, clawing and biting.
30.000 Monkies have been all around our country in the past few years or so. It has become quite impossible not to see these guys live. I've seen them a few times and each time I was blown away by the wall-of-noise they create. Combining harsh noise rock with severe sludge influences and some slight ambient breathers doesn't seem to be enough for them, so they thrown in some doom, a handful of blastbeats and some completely inaudible noise. Oh, and they scream.
If you want bands to compare these guys with, think Melvins, Melt Banana, Sonic Youth, Merzbow, Lightning Bolt, Harvey Milk, Yob, Sleep, Neurosis, AmenRa... From opener 'Melaena' to closer 'Juice', 30.000 Monkies drag you along an array of musical brutality, often interluded by dark and haunting soundscapes . Personally, I think my favorite track is 'Mountainesque I', a crushing piece of music that completely rips you apart until you weigh twice as much.
The verdict? Well, look at it this way: our country is completely absurd, twisted and chaotic. 30.000 Monkies created the perfect soundtrack for a biopic about Belgium, an equally absurd, twisted and chaotic record. The difference is, I tend to take 30.000 Monkies way more seriously than any of our politicians, policemen, civil servants, lawyers, judges, employes or car drivers. At least I like listening to this album, it's one of the few Belgian things that don't piss me off...
Serge
I guess it's our Belgian humor. We are so damn good at utter nonsense. Just look at our government, our traffic and our music. We invented new beat and we invented popcorn music. But we're also good at making shitloads of noise and slamming it in your face at high velocity. Hey, we have AmenRa, remember? Our latest assault comes from the otherwise quiet town of Beringen in Limburg, 30.000 Monkies, screaming, scratching, clawing and biting.
30.000 Monkies have been all around our country in the past few years or so. It has become quite impossible not to see these guys live. I've seen them a few times and each time I was blown away by the wall-of-noise they create. Combining harsh noise rock with severe sludge influences and some slight ambient breathers doesn't seem to be enough for them, so they thrown in some doom, a handful of blastbeats and some completely inaudible noise. Oh, and they scream.
If you want bands to compare these guys with, think Melvins, Melt Banana, Sonic Youth, Merzbow, Lightning Bolt, Harvey Milk, Yob, Sleep, Neurosis, AmenRa... From opener 'Melaena' to closer 'Juice', 30.000 Monkies drag you along an array of musical brutality, often interluded by dark and haunting soundscapes . Personally, I think my favorite track is 'Mountainesque I', a crushing piece of music that completely rips you apart until you weigh twice as much.
The verdict? Well, look at it this way: our country is completely absurd, twisted and chaotic. 30.000 Monkies created the perfect soundtrack for a biopic about Belgium, an equally absurd, twisted and chaotic record. The difference is, I tend to take 30.000 Monkies way more seriously than any of our politicians, policemen, civil servants, lawyers, judges, employes or car drivers. At least I like listening to this album, it's one of the few Belgian things that don't piss me off...
Serge