Putiferio - Ate Ate Ate

The translation from Italian for Putiferio means "chaos", and this record’s not short on that sentiment. Over the course of seven tracks, these continentals follow a trail of dissonant noise rock, experimenting all the way. But the trouble with experimentation is that sometimes it works, and sometimes … well, you know the rest. The results are displayed on Ate Ate Ate, an album that starts strong and heavy, reminiscent of a slower take on Daughters’ Hell Songs. But at the centre of the disc – the 13 minute opus Putiferio Goes to War – the band seems to stretch itself too far, and buckles from the weight. The beginning borrows the drum-machine input from Big Black – and the vocalist sounds bizarrely akin to Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug – but the last half spirals into an unfocussed jam of tribal and ambient noise. Further on, the surprisingly passive Hate Ate 8 offers a short respite before Putiferio get back to their old tricks. Try it on, but as with any experiment, results may vary. [Jason Morton]