Music we grew up with. Loud As Giants powerful debut album is no Eighties tribute.

Release Date: 28th April 2023

Label: Consouling Sounds

Format: digital / CD / LP

Loud As Giants is Justin K. Broadrick and Dirk Serries – “our collaboration not to invent new music but just to bring together the music we grew up with, were/are inspired by and we just like to do ourselves,” says Dirk. They’ve also referred to Empty Homes as trip down memory lane as they head back into the mists of times to reboot their mutual fascination for 80s culture and the genres that influenced and shaped their formative years.

However, don’t worry about any stereotypical 80s fashion faux pas or an emphasis on synthetic sounds and heavily processed drums. Four ten-minute-plus pieces of experimental, post-rock drones and ambiance bring those 80s influences into a contemporary setting and create an immersive experience. Monuments is probably worth the admission price alone. An ominous pounding beat provide the platform on which to create swirls and swathes of hypnotic cadences. Easy to see how the arrangement can create an entrancing journey.

Estranged takes a more slow build approach. Almost four minutes of distant industrial atmosphere finally gives way to another pulse that’s barely detectable beneath some grinding chords. Again, distance and space is paramount, cinematic in the sense that the piece soundtracks something imminent, a sense of suspense. Room Three sees a cyclical pattern build as some shiny metallic ambience and busy skittering gets treated to the regular punctuation of a synthesized pulse before it outstays its welcome. Visually, it evokes the waves of a tide that rolls in as far as it can go before ebbing and retreating back – or, should you wish, the ominous rumble of some portent of natural disaster. Consoling sounds – you can see where the record label helps!

Isolation – as claustrophobic as the title – brings things to a conclusion. Again, a jungle of dense and bass drones concludes with hints of the ring of She Sells Sanctuary making the ears prick up right at the finale. A project that has been in the pipeline for years, due to conflicting schedules and their prolific careers, a fully deserved release.

Here’s Monument from the album:

Loud As Giants online: Justin Broadrick Website / Bandcamp

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