Racebannon – Six Sik Sisters Album Review

Only in a place like Bloomington, Indiana could the subversive mindfuck that is Racebannon continue to churn out their perfectly demented blend of art metal freakitude. It just goes to show how every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Take a boring college town, center it in the middle of hickville nowhere — add drugs. This is the kind of bizarro shit that’s bound to happen. These guys have been at it for over a decade now and miraculously continue to get better with experience, much like their obvious forbearers, the immortal Melvins. In fact, this album reminds me in structure a bit of my favorite Melvins album (good lord is this going to be controversial) Hostile Ambient Takeover. Much like on that record, an insanely proficient production quality is augmented to precision with non-traditional song structures, spontaneous drum solo breakdowns and plenty of psilocybin-inspired electro-tribal weirdness for the heads.

Listen to “Thee Plea” – DOWNLOAD MP3

Six Sik Sisters is apparently some kind of concept album about the black plague, which seems appropriate enough. If I had to live in the center of Republican country, I’m sure I’d spend a decent amount of my time fantasizing about mass extinction, which is the true value in heavy misanthropic bands like the ‘Bannon. The brutality of their music represents a deep-seated resistance to conformity and mental decay. Their precision, jaw-dropping “Jesus Lizard from the future” vibes remind the observer that the very desires to create languid mental conditions and conformity fuel only the inverse. This album came with a hyper-bizarre remix disc, further inciting the listener to pursue pleasant escapist dementia. You’ve just got to respect bands where art takes priority over marketing. Both of these discs could be filed in the “least likely to chart anywhere” category, and you get the feeling that’s the point — to do something that other people aren’t doing, mainly because other people are stupid.