Yuko Araki: End of Trilogy – “a portal to an alternative universe”

Yuko Araki is a sonic extremist in every sense. The Japanese artist’s will to take sounds and genres and produce something truly malevolent reaches fever pitch on her latest, End of Trilogy – a release that takes a claw-hammer to the listener, not before pushing and pulling you in every direction.

Integrating noise, prog, free jazz, industrial and techno, End of Trilogy‘s range is ocean-sized while enveloped in a thick sheet of darkness where Araki unleashes brutish beats that bludgeon and leave gaping wounds.

Araki’s brooding, pulverising, abstruse compositions are a perfect match for producer, Lawrence English, who also releases End of Trilogy on his much underrated Room40 label.

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The Brisbane producer has always explored outer-world limits and harnessing the dark tones and withering imagery of Araki’s conceptions, this is a match made in heaven, or, indeed, hell.

Code of Sanctuary sets the tone of End of Trilogy, guiding us through the vortex of menacing maximalist and haunting backbeats.

From here, End of Trilogy is like a prolonged frozen snarl, with each track bleeding into the next like a soundtrack as a portal to an alternative universe, not before being dragged across the cold blood-stained floors of an abattoir (see Blood and Castle and Optical Landform).

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The atmosphere is heavy and filled with waves of juddering drone and shard-like feedback that shifts the equilibrium. Araki takes ideas that the likes of Wolf Eyes produced in the earlier part of this century, expanding the notions of sound design in bestial fashion.

Electronic music has seen the explorations of post-punk more and more through the years and Araki continues these well-deep voyages on End of Trilogy. The Japanese artist cultivates fresh soundscapes in the most aggressive, gruesome fashion in what is one of the most beguiling experimental offerings so far this year.

End of Trilogy is out now via Room40. Purchase from Bandcamp.