HARMONY OF STRUGGLE: Brutal Aesthetics
Release year: 2023
Label: Zoharum
One thing I’ve always wondered about are individuals with several projects within the same genre. What’s the reason, the point? OK, if they are stylistically drastically different from each other, then I can see it – say, a symphonic, melodic black metal project, and a bestial black metal project. That makes sense. But when it’s two or more projects in rather similar stylistic trappings, it just seems… well, redundant.
Polish Harmony Of Struggle are a prime example of this. A power electronics project, whose sole member is also the sole member of power electronics project Lugola. Sure, comparing their most recent albums (read our review of Lugola’s here) to each other, there are some differences. But then, there usually are differences between two albums by any project, too. There seem to be far more similarities and overlapping elements.
I mean, it’s not like Harmony Of Struggle and Lugola exist in entirely different parts of the power electronics spectrum. Quite the opposite. Both are about controlled, deliberated industrial electronics extremity. Bouts of harsh noise chaos are virtually non-existent, and neither project resorts to stereotypical tricks such as abuse of ear piercing feedback. Rather, there are nods towards death industrial in both, in how the noise is kept in control and harshness is complemented by atmosphere.
And the subject matter isn’t from different worlds either – which is a legitimate reason to separate Nicole 12 from Grunt, if you ask me. No, both Lugola and Harmony Of Struggle deal with negative, hostile and misanthropic thematics, although perhaps Lugola go for a more personal and visceral approach, where Harmony Of Struggle seems to ruminate on a more pyschological and/or non-individual level. In essence, Lugola’s The Truth Penetrates Your Mouth proclaims a violation of the individual, whereas Harmony Of Struggle’s Having Fun While Drinking The Kool-Aid In Jonestown expands the sadism on a more communal level. But the difference seems to be on the level of inflection and nuance.
There are some differences, though. Lugola’s new album focuses much more on vocals and lyrics – sadly, somewhat to its detriment – whereas the role of the vocals is much more limited on Brutal Aesthetics. They are there, and they are instantly recognizable as the same Neithan who also masterminds Lugola, but most of the time they’re more buried; another layer of noise next to the others, unlike on Lugola’s new album. But again, this seems like more of a nuance than a drastic difference.
So my rumination as to what separates Harmony Of Struggle from Lugola seems entirely relevant and valid. Why not release both under the same name? Nobody would have though Brutal Aesthetics doesn’t fit in well with Lugola, or the other way around, The Truth Penetrates Your Mouth with Harmony Of Struggle.
But from another point of view, I guess it’s a moot point. They’re two different projects, but with no pretensions to not be connected. And that’s just how it is. And there’s one reason to not give too much of a damn about this.
And that’s the quality.
You see, Brutal Aesthetics is a very good album. It’s all about oppressive, slowly evolving pieces of industrial oppression. The tracks aren’t overly long, ranging between three and seven minutes, but Neithan manages to incorporate a real feel of development in most tracks. He builds on a foundation of repeating, looped noise, subtly adding layers and elements that give the feeling of the tracks moving.
Again, like Lugola, this isn’t the most extreme or abrasive power electronics. Instead of chaos, there’s control, and instead of unfocused violence, there’s deliberate sadism. And, in having less focus on the vocals, Brutal Aesthetics ultimately manages to rise above The Truth Penetrates Your Mouth.
And that’s the ultimate reason why it’s easy to dismiss ruminating over whether this could and even should have been a Lugola album as trivial. It’s a good power electronics album, and that’s that. Ultimately, with Neithan providing us two solid power electronics albums, everybody wins. Even if they’re pretty similar in many ways, even if it’s a bit confounding why they’re under two different monikers.
Only Death Is Real 