It is four years since they released ‘Horrible Chambers’, but Gnaw are now back with their third full-length album, and it is quite definitely not something for the faint hearted. Apparently, the album includes guitars, bass, drums, voice, lap steel guitar, Chinese cello, Weevil, conga, sawed off Kramer, Drone Thing oscillator, alto sax, homemade light oscillator, micro cassette recorder, chain link fence, a small child, 2002 Toshiba laptop, voice dictator and space bar, and more. This is experimental guitar-driven noise, which is deliberately designed to be uncomfortable and painful to listen to – put this one and the dance floor and/or party will empty in seconds. We have forty-five minutes of aural torture, spread over seven “songs”, which is so left field that it nearly meets itself coming back again. If you thought that Art Zoyd were pushing the envelope, these guys have long left letter writing behind. In many ways an essential release, this will only ever be appreciated by a select few, of which I am happy to count myself among them.
Gnaw - Curtting Pieces
, Kev Rowland
