Review: Radar Men From The Moon ‘Vomitorium’
It’s been a few years since Radar Men From The Moon‘s Covid-era album, The Bestial Light, was dropped through Fuzz Club Records, and 2020 being a year with so many stunning releases meant the aforementioned narrowly missed out from being included in my Shaman Top Ten, making the honourable mentions instead.
The line-up consists of Glenn Peeters (guitar) and Tony Lathouwers (drums), second drummer Joep Schmitz, and new additions Bram Van Zuijlen (guitar/synths), Niek Manders (bass) and vocalist Niels Koster. The album’s title is Latin for ‘to spew forth’ and I’m interested to hear what ‘spews forth’ sonically from Vomitorium, the band’s eighth full-length, also handled by Fuzz Club Records, seeing as the last album saw a stylistic shift towards industrial/noise-rock and acid-metal, away from the droning psych/space-rock that was the band’s forte up to that point.
Speech Of The Hammer, the album’s opener, is also its longest at over nine and a half minutes and feels like a continuation of The Bestial Light, what with its brutal Children Of God era Swans industrial grind marching mercilessly on devouring all in its path. The track makes clear that the sounds heard on the last album weren’t a one-off, if anything, the band are doubling down. A hugely effective way of re-announcing yourself after such a lengthy hiatus.
The drumming on Psychic Warfare Now! recalls that of Killing Joke heavy hitter Big Paul Ferguson while the rest of the track in fact recalls the apocalyptic post-punk of The ‘Joke with the late, great Geordie Walker’s ringing guitar and of course the unhinged vocals of Jaz Coleman. Another musical gem. Vomitorium is yet more Swans worship, this time Cop era, the heavy baritone spoken-word style vocals of Michael Gira in tow while Liberation, the album’s shortest number at just over two minutes, is laden with atmospheric ambient noise goodness recalling Brazil’s Deafkids, particularly the three Ritos do Colapso EPs released during the pandemic. A pleasant respite.
Altered States is not necessarily what I’d have expected from RMFTM, instead, producing EBM brings to mind bands such as Front Line Assembly, late ‘80s Ministry, Die Krupps and Front 242. Possibly the most experimental piece on the record and perhaps for some (though not me), it’s most divisive.
Never has hopelessness and abject despair sounded so good…
My Body Is An Event appears to imbibe from Head of David’s pioneering blend of sludgy post-punk, noise-rock and industrial, a band who opened the doors for future artists such as Fear Factory who covered Dog Day Sunrise on Demanufacture as well as former Prong bassist Mike Kirkland who wore one of their T-Shirts during a 1989 Dutch TV appearance. It is delivered in an understated fashion with a residual amount of the band’s drone/psych roots woven subtly into the mix to excellent effect.
Confusion is superb, the listener is once more taken down a darker 1980s post-punk route, the world is again, as with that time, embroiled in turmoil and chaos with wars, political corruption and environmental catastrophes, making this the perfect song with which to soundtrack such horrors. Never has hopelessness and abject despair sounded so good.
Open Door To Vices starts with tribal drumming and shouted vocals ala New Yorkers Cop Shoot Cop and this kind of no wave spirit continues throughout the track’s five-minute thirty-two-second running time, albeit with a doomy musical backdrop, thus proving the ideal conclusion to the eight track album.
Vomitorium goes further in its musical expansion to The Bestial Light which, though brilliant, felt like the band were tentatively holding back at times. A confidently delivered and superbly crafted album for you to check out ASAP.
Label: Fuzz Club Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
