PainKiller - Collected Works flac mp3 download

This is a monster, monstrous album, the collected works of an unlikely trio - JOHN ZORN, BILL LASWELL and MICK HARRIS. It marks the anno and domini of their recorded work and contains some unbelievably extreme moments of Noise and Jazz, Dub and Rhythm. Inspired originally (so legend has it) by Thrash Metal, this album goes way beyond it's limits.The first and second albums, which make up most of the first disc we reviewed elsewhere - "Guts Of A Virgin" and "Buried Secrets", so I don't see why we should go into details there again. The final track on this disc - "Marianne" sounds as if it comes from a later period, and is curious as it is formed into a proper song, showing just how powerful they really could be when they approached a more 'normal' structure. It could come from the late 70's post-Hippy pre-New Age Traveller pocket of GONGesque Indie music, but is so faaaaarrr removed in it's magnificence. What's probably the finest element here is the twanginess to LASWELL's guitar - which sniffs at Rock 'n' Roll. Sheer delightful madness! It's wonderful to hear the first two studio collections on one disc, but this makes it incandescent. Excellent.The second and third disc are "Execution Ground" with nothing additional, so, again I'll say nothing about these - jump to the reviews which exist elsewhere in hyperspace.Which leaves the fourth and final "Osaka Live" disc. A more muted, slightly less crisp sound, but all the elements are there - fire and ice, boiling away in their almost instinctive improv journey. From mountains of mangled metal and bone to smooth, sleek passages through calming warmth, these madmen fed off one another, or rather reacted a little like a flock of birds - once one is startled into panicked life, the others follow suit. You feel that, for all the aggression and bone-crushing might, there's some inner urge to portray the beauty of pure, undiluted passion. There seems to be a lot more space on the live interpretation - I know ZORN used to recline and watch his partners in cacophony play solo and together, verbally encouraging them into new realms. The fourth track definitely sounds like a live reproduction of an album track (hey! don't ask me which one!). And for them to have played this mad music po-faced is almost impossible to contemplate - insane vocals and flatulent noises make for a performance so brilliantly crazy it could only have come from performance art genius or the Warner Bros cartoon soundtrack studios. And perhaps it has a little of each.So, the journey is done. MICK HARRIS, when I spoke to him, said it was doubtful whether there'd even be live work on the project again, let alone a studio album. And as sad as it is to see such a powerful triumvirate part company, yes, you do feel that this final seal on their collective sarcophagus shouldn't be broken. If you missed out on their existence, then get this and experience just how much you missed.Genius!Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.