Scorn – Gyral

Gyral was Scorn's first studio album without Mr. Bullen on bass and vocals. If you are listening chronologically, it becomes wholly apparent that he is missing; there is a vocal-shaped hole in the music after a while. Scorn have never been lyrically dense, but those washed out, tired, effect-laden bars were just as much a part of the early works as the big beats.

That doesn't make Gyral boring however. The record is sparse and minimal (not as stripped back as the record which would follow it) but still sparkling and alive, with ticking beats and meandering synth loops and samples. Coupled with the old, vintage looking artwork, and Gyral seems melancholic, nostalgic almost; its as if it is holding a fractured mirror up at the Scorn of the past, where through the cracks in said mirror, the Scorn of the future is beating its way through. Things would start to change more drastically after this.

The first album by SCORN with only MICK HARRIS at the helm. The dance ethic is still there, with BULLEN's WOBBLE-esque bass replaced by subsonic BassStation rumble. The rhythms are complex, and sometimes challenging, but nowhere near as fragmentary as later works.
Stripped down to a solo core unit, SCORN stood teetering at the brink of (ohmygod) Commercialism, took one look at the falsehood and chose artistic expression over larger possible rewards. "Evanescence" was a showcase album - everybody loved it - record of the week / month in all the Nationals, and album of the year with most Indies. Anyone less single-minded than MICK HARRIS might have gone that one step forward and ensured a comfortable future for themselves. How many of us wouldn't? But no, the man, alone, decided to take us on a journey through a darker, more clinical side. The key to this album is less to do with rhythm and more to do with the love of sound, and especially dark cyclic sounds. The drum machine is there, on top of the mix, slowed down to a ponderous pace, but you often get the feeling it's there more to give the album a feeling of logical structure. Beneath this, bereft of BULLEN's JAH WOBBLE-like bass, lies all manner of samples and whirling noise. It kind of takes the mood fx of the early albums and leaves out the one element which gave the music 'tune'. The drums are deceptively simplistic, and thus have more space to experiment. This album is a kind of half-way point between the nearly-commercial full on dance of the earlier album and the broken - rather - than - break-beat which came from "Logghi Barogghi" onwards.

Perhaps MICK should have lost the SCORN name and created under a new heading - perhaps his later, similar THE WEAKENER guise. This is a departure from earlier works, and sounds like a completely divorced project. The bass had, until now, been a defining feature in the music - they were like a cleaner PIL with their sights set of the new century ahead, rather than the Eighties.

Still, judged on it's own merits, this album is a dark and chilling journey through some fascinating soundscapes and, taking longer to work it's way into your mind, is probably a more lasting experience - subtle tastes forming gradually rather than an immediate onslaught of spices to numb the senses.

MICK has never been totally in step with the world, and it's one of the reasons why those who know him like him so much. Too many flaws in this world, too much deceit. MICK is nothing if not a totally honest guy with a strong sense of right and wrong, and will fight like a tiger against what he doesn't agree with. Reception of this album was overall luke warm, and he fought against those who couldn't share his views. It's time people revisited this album and saw it for the great work it is.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

this album marked a massive shift in direction for scorn, as it was the first album mick harris produced solo under the scorn name. it also marked a musical change (again) from the more commercial (and definitely more successful) Evanescence album. Far from the ambient dub/breakbeat of that LP, Gyral marked scorn's first foray into isolationist soundscapes, and "circular" musical patterns (hence the name 'Gyral'). If there is one scorn album i recommend the non-believers listen to first, it is this one for the simple fact that it is a link between scorn's past, and his future. And simply for the fact that this album rocks.

I'm into Metal, Progressive and Electronic Music since AGES (Last Century). This album is simply a must for all Electronic Music Lovers. At first I thought it was over repetitive...now after hundred of listening...I'm like the Pavlov's Dog...:-) Mick Harris simply Rules.