ALBUM REVIEW: Invalide – Formless Mass

FORMLESS MASS is a noise project from Virginia, USA, and they’ve just put out their debut album Invalide. Over the years we’ve had a variety of artists coming out with their own noise projects that don’t so much as focus on coherent songs but rather a mixture of sounds and styles that convey an emotion or story. It’s not for everyone, but it is interesting.

Now, going in blindly will probably leave you incredibly confused and wondering what the hell you’ve just listened to. There’s certainly nothing out there, as far as we know, that sounds quite like Invalide, so there isn’t much point in comparing it to anything in the world of music at least. This album is probably more easily compared to something like a low budget horror film where nothing is linear and everything leaves you disorientated with flashes of different scenes and low-quality camera angles. If you know, then you know.

The tracks themselves range between nine and 15 minutes long, and each track name seems to accurately represent the state of mind one should associate with the sounds one hears. Schizophréne features two voices, one a patient and the other a doctor, in a mental hospital. They talk about their surroundings and how the patient ended up there, all the while surrounded by nothing but distorted noises, faint drums, groaning and screaming. Again, if you have no idea what you’re in for then it’s a very confusing experience.

Démence focuses a little more on instruments but they’re still not the main feature as the distorted noises continue, yet they do grow louder… And louder in Paralysie where the noises grow much more intense before suddenly becoming quiet. Closer Catatonique starts to go down a more ear-splitting route and features drums that somehow heavily recall those of The Sound Of Drums episode in Doctor Who. “The drumming. Can’t you hear it?” We swear we’re not going mad.

So to summarise Invalide in simple terms: what the hell was that? We get noise projects, and we understand their purpose, but it goes without saying that this won’t be for everyone. One thing that can be said is that there’s certainly nothing else like this album out there, as far as we’re aware. It’s hard to even know how to rate this because it certainly achieves its purpose of disorientating the listener, but whether one is likely to enjoy it is another question entirely.

Rating: 6/10

Invalide is out now via Edgewood Arsenal Records.

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