Drose - Boy Man Machine

Drose
Boy Man Machine
2016
Spotify

Noise Rock. it is one of those things that is not at all hard to define. Does it make sense? Can you tolerate it? Might you listen to it again? Then it likely is not Noise Rock. Atonal and disjointed the "music" rarely reaches what we would define as rhythm, and it is a sound that Ohio based band Drose have really captured well on their new album Boy Man Machine. I have to use the term "well" because if you are not full immersed in this genre it is hard to even find a place to begin. Do you start with the pained vocals screaming somewhere in the distance or the occasional off beat symbol crash? The sounds are meant to make you uncomfortable meant to put you off, but there is no relief and the anxiety swells in you. From the first second this album is playing you are put in an uncomfortable situation and there is no way to claw out of it. With these elements you would expect the record to feel super aggressive, but it really doesn't. There are of course times where there is more than enough banging and yelling for anyone, but it does not feel like anger. What Drose are able to convey with this music is really raw sentiments devoid of any need for song structure. "Mechanism Is Lord" repeats this one of music and lyrics over and over again but somehow it never becomes redundant, really fascinating stuff.

I use fascinating very distinctly, because there is no chance I would ever listen to this again by choice. I can see what people like about this and the power the genre has to really project emotion, but fucking A it is absolutely miserable to go through. Just when you think you might actually be settling in to a nice pattern, boom, crashes, bangs and anything else in the room is thrown at your ears. "His Reflection" is somewhat sweet at times, but never allows you to get to comfortable or lulled in anyway. You may expect the album to bring you in close then release the cracken of noise on you, but Drose let you know right from the beginning what they are about and what music they are going to play, there are very few surprises. If you love Noise Rock then maybe Drose is exactly what you want, the casual listener just can not tell. However the sense of impending doom and allowing anxiety to take over are what this record is about, for better or for worse.

5.8 out of 10