Whether they like it or not, New York noise-makers A Place To Bury Strangers have a well-earned reputation as one of the loudest bands on the planet.
Frontman Oliver Ackermann has even devoted his day job to helping others make a whole lot of noise – via his pedals business Death By Audio, and until last year, a great Brooklyn DIY-live-music space by the same name.
While their records are slowly showing a greater appreciation of the rhythm section and more restrained use of ear-piercing distortion – as shown by their most recent set, 'Transfixation' – live, they’re still the sonic force to be reckoned with.
As such, a busy but not packed Hermann’s Bar room (5 September) saw A Place To Bury Strangers unleash their happily expected cacophony of sound and light, with the room otherwise black and minimal, for a set that surprisingly didn’t focus on the new record.
Tracks from their breakthrough 2009 'Exploding Head' were standouts, like the dark final sprawler 'I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart', 'Deadbeat' and 'Ego Death'.
Ackermann split his time head downcast at the mic, on the ground working magic on his pedals and thrashing about the stage as strobes and lights were at once disorientating and thrillingly immersive.
Not surprisingly, the audience were less heaving as a collective and more eyes at shoes – or closed – shuffling contentedly, with a few hands over ears as expected. And, when Ackermnan hits those sounds that are more buzzsaw than guitar note, it’s completely understandable.
Still, this A Place To Bury Strangers mode showed a definite growth, which has less to do with volume and more with making the most of the space they occupy – and playing more as a band. As such, bassist Dion Lunadon and drummer Robi Gonzalez play a much bigger role in shaping the sound and sustaining the atmosphere than just acting as Ackermann’s background players, hidden in a haze of smoke.
And while more recent tracks like the excellent 2015 single 'We’ve Come So Far' have definite shades of likeminded acts such as My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus And Mary Chain, A Place To Bury Strangers prove that both live and on record they still operate in their own, aurally assaulting space.
