“N.V.” (Negative Volume) is a collaboration between Dragged Into Sunlight and Gnaw Their Tongues, and is one of the most pulverizing, psychotic records I’ve ever heard. Even from the beginning, this torturous album violates and debases the senses like nothing else, but more importantly, it paints a lurid picture of humanity distilled down to its most feral, baser instincts: at the bottom of it all is pain and hatred: hatred of fellow humans, of civilization, of life, and of self. Abrasive, violent, blistering, noxious, and absolutely fucking miserable.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not relatable, too.
I used to blast “Absolver” in the cab of my truck while smoking and shooting crack. While doing so, I always thought could feel something, some external force or presence creeping into my head, stoking the fires of my madness and driving me into a frenzied state. The swirling, gut churning torment and unstoppable berserk hatred I felt was like being possessed. I wanted nothing more than to rend this world and everyone in it into dust and dregs, and then to die screaming, dissolving slowly into ashen nothingness, but all I could do was seethe with impotent rage as my sanity was eroded further by drugs, sleep deprivation, and my choice of music.
Negative Volume isn’t for everyone, of course, but if you find yourself seeking something truly, terrifyingly awful to listen to, look no further.
Support the bands: Listen to N.V. here:
N.V. by Dragged Into Sunlight/Gnaw Their Tongues
Towers of Rust 