Black Lung
Black Lung is an electronic and industrial music project by Australian musician David Thrussell, also known for his industrial bands Snog and the more ambient Soma.
The first Black Lung album, 1994's Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars, was mostly composed of instrumental tracks taken from Snog's first album Lies Inc. and the Hey, Christian God single. A year later, the album was also released on Germany's Machinery Records as... read more
Full Spectrum Dominance sounds more like Black Lung than any previous record: a unique and powerful mixture of electro textures perforated by sudden breaks and lashing aural outbursts. Pounding synthetic and acoustic beats carry a heavy load of variety ranging from clicks'n'cuts, cinematic soundscapes and dub-oriented sub basses up to complex sequential patterns qualified for any kind of motion.
March 2008, in one of the most unusual events in contemporary music history, notable electronic/alternative musician David Thrussell is commissioned by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - a funding body of the U.S. government and the Pentagon) to produce a recording that reflects the ideals and reality of Vision 2020, a futuristic military strategy program that first saw the light of day in may of 2000.
"The design was twofold," says DARPA media liaison Thomas Steele, "to deliver to the men and women working in some of the Pentagon's most challenging fields an inspiring soundtrack to their daily working lives, but also to present to the general public information and a view hitherto unconsidered of some of the lesser known branches of our military."
Working with a sizeable budget and unprecedented access to defense installations and personnel, Thrussell took over a year to complete the project and wove many field recordings as well as the sounds of sensitive hardware and technology into the final product. "One of the greatest thrills for me," says Thrussell, "was setting up a full p.a. inside one of the ICBM silos at Vandenberg Air Force base, California to run and record the final mix on the title track "Full Spectrum Dominance" - room ambience and all!" Incorporated also are actual recordings of top secret military activities in the upper ionosphere generated from the HAARP base in Gakona, Alaska, "if I told you what they were up to there, not only would you not believe me, but I'd still have to shoot you!," chimes in Thrussell with a wry smile.
Asked if he sees any conflict between his latest project and his past stance as a sometimes critic of government and military activities Thrussell is quick to retort, "no, not at all. I see my role first as a musical journalist - to present the information - there's plenty of time for editorialising later. and...," he continues enthusiastically, "I've even invented my own sub-genre to describe the album's unique, crunchy, downbeat sound - grave-step...." he smiles another beatific smile without the faintest trace of irony.
The project, comprised as it is of both motivational tunes and immersive soundscapes, has already been deemed a success by the personnel at Vandenberg, if play counts on iPods and over the base address system are anything to go by. The DARPA arts liaison fund is proud to present the new Black Lung album Full Spectrum Dominance. Available to the general public June 2009 through all discerning music outlets.
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