Winter In The Belly Of A Snake - Venetian Snares

...companion piece 2370894, and finally Winter in the Belly of a Snake.

Many people have critized W.I.T.B.O.A.S for being too approachable. This is nonsense. W.I.T.B.O.A.S is so far removed from the appelation "approachable" that it almost becomes shocking to hear someone categorize it as such.

W.I.T.B.O.A.S is a mature piece of work that stretches over 16 tracks. The whole album has a running time of 59 minutes ...
...illustrator Trevor Brown, who had also designed the cover and inlay of Doll Doll Doll (Planet Mu, 2001).

Dad is the first track. I have heard and read that Aaron composed it in memory of his deceased father. I do not know if this is true or not but it certainly makes sense when you hear it. This is the first and only track where Aaron Funk would sing. In my opinion, the lyrics are very well written; very far removed from tasteless ... more

A work of pure innovation.

This is Aaron Funk's 7th release.
2002 was an extremely exciting year for the Venetian Snares lover. First of all, we had Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits, then the great little companion piece 2370894, and finally Winter in the Belly of a Snake.

Many people have critized W.I.T.B.O.A.S for being too approachable. This is nonsense. W.I.T.B.O.A.S is so far removed from the appelation "approachable" that it almost becomes shocking to hear someone categorize it as such.

W.I.T.B.O.A.S is a mature piece of work that stretches over 16 tracks. The whole album has a running time of 59 minutes approx. The disturbing front cover signals the comeback of artist illustrator Trevor Brown, who had also designed the cover and inlay of Doll Doll Doll (Planet Mu, 2001).

Dad is the first track. I have heard and read that Aaron composed it in memory of his deceased father. I do not know if this is true or not but it certainly makes sense when you hear it. This is the first and only track where Aaron Funk would sing. In my opinion, the lyrics are very well written; very far removed from tasteless pop music. This track also features Aaron's madcap piano works that made Songs About my Cats and Higgins feel so vivacious.

Stairs Song is a 6-minute whirlwind of digital fragmentation, very much like Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding (Planet Mu, 2004) by the same artist.
Tattoo is a bizarre concoction of paperclip-like flickering, dramatic surges of violin, compact gabber sequences and vodoo-like dialog in the veines of Contain, the 3rd track of Meathole (Planet Mu, 2006) by the same artist.

Gottrahmen sounds like a computer's lament, with motorized clicks and blips leaking into darkness.
Suffocate launches it's digital debris and sonic rubble into faultless positions. A beautiful operatic fragment spins back and forth in the background. Once again, wonderful stuff.
January bears resemblance to Tattoo: gabber, operatic keys, glitch, with a shivering sample: "I realised that if my body broke, I would break into blossom".

Crawlspace could be described as a 20-second nightmare, very much introductory to In Quod, the eighth track. In Quod enters a world of twisted and murky splashes of electronica and fractured side-sticks. Once again, we are teased by Aaron's outlandish samples as they wrap around the devious rhythms and jump out from dark corners.
The next track was originally composed by Glenn Danzig from the Misfits. It is hard to say if this track is an homage or pure mockery, or even a bit of both.

Cashew lobs some ticks, clicks and snaps in conjunction with masteful string sections and intense Autechre-like mathematics. This track really sounds like Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding (2004 V. Snares release).
Fraujager is darker in tone. Featuring similar patterns to Horse and Goat (V. Snares, 2003), with a sampled voice saying something about "multi-sex" and "tones of blood and cum". Very eerie.

Warm Body is similar to Lioness on Songs About my Cats (2001). 1 minute and 20 seconds of fragile melody. Beautiful.
Sink Snow Angel is wonderful too. It features thundering gabber lines that seem to fit a rather peaceful and scenic piece. Thus, Aaron, much like master Datach'i, can also create beauty with violent sounds.

The fourteenth track is an expansion on Crawlspace, with blankets of messy sound and digital chaos.
Icosikaipent is a tortured piece; sinister and repetitive. It sounds almost like drunk glitch. It soon fades out into echoing digits, very much like an Autechre trademark ending.
Earth ends the album on a desperate tone, it's bitter sound acting like a digital ocean rolling back and forth, splashing softly into your ears.

W.I.T.B.O.A.S is a superb album by Venetian Snares. It has a mature feel to it and can be interpreted as a perfect continuation of Higgins and 2370894.
If you like Songs About my Cats, then you will find this album absolutely amazing. If you are new to Venetian Snares, I would recommend buying Songs About my Cats first.

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(Written by myself - no violation, no lifting, no breach of copyright) 

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