Gone Bald Soul Vacation in Rehab Clinic Interstellar Records / Konkurrent

Gone Bald are possibly one of the noisiest Dutch (/Croatian) bands to grace Stayfun so far. That’s fine, though, especially when it’s such a high quality piece of noise as this trio have produced - switching from loud to menacingly subtle, and back to blistering again whenever it suits. It’s not a polished and shiny recording, simply raw, but it feels like it needs that element of honesty in sound as well as lyrically, to be true to itself. All you can do is turn it up loud and face the starkness of it, as all three members attempt to wring everything they can out of their instruments. It’s not even that Gone Bald don’t want you to have a good time. They just prefer to provide a listening challenge and to weed out those with weak stomachs and ears first.

As for the songs, ‘Addict’ throws up hints of Henry Rollins in a full rage while being backed by Seasons to Risk. ‘Recovering by Suffering’ shares similar quirks with System of a Down minus any comedic or over-the-top theatrics, just that rawness once more. It’s then left to ‘Das Drawoc’ to produce some great rhythms interspersed with violent riffs to close the album, and just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, it explodes into a totally new gear. When they’re playing this well, they are strong enough to take on any other noise-rock band in the world.

If they sought a simpler route, Gone Bald could be creating sharp bursts of vitriol in three minute segments. Instead, they opt to explore the ideas over much more prolonged periods. The average length of these songs is approximately eight minutes, which opens them up to the risks of boring the listener. It’s not such an issue, though. A lot happens during the course of these tracks. There is precision in rhythm, and at times that is dependent more on mathematics than intuition, but thankfully not to the extent of eight minutes of constantly changing riffs and beats. The balance between the experimental and the natural sits well, meaning there are parts to catch you by surprise or to make your brain tick, as well as plenty of huge blocks of noise to be swept away in.

Steven McCarron

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