Review
The Body
I’ve Seen All I Need To See

Where to start with The Body? The duo has been creating harsh, noise-filled music for well over two decades and have a release schedule that is, frankly, terrifying to look at. The sheer number of albums, splits, EPs and stand-alone collaborations that The Body has produced is insane and the quality has remained consistently high considering. Chip King and Lee Buford have twisted their sound far away from the slightly more black metal inclined early days, although that genre tag is hardly enough to describe just what this band create on record. Sludge, doom, experimental noise and power electronics are all key to the sound of The Body and theirs is a unique take on powerful, metallic music.

I’ve Seen All I Need To See incorporates all of that and more and the record thrusts itself immediately into the realm of difficulty with first track “A Lament” and an unusual rhythm that will have you reaching for the controls – are these glitches purposeful or is your equipment failing? It’s a good question and one that The Body never quite answer. Their music is meant to defy the usual confines of music and pushes itself outside of every known box in order to give you pause before pulling you back in on hypnotising beats and horrific shrieks.

“A Pain of Knowing” passes through on heavy twists and turns of electronic pulses while King’s instantly recognisable screams are overlaid in patterns of torture. The electronics underneath are deep and reverberate throughout the mind as the song moves forward in painful bursts of sound. I’ve Seen All I Need To See is a record to listen to as loud as possible, it feels as though it’s meant to be an agonising journey, a sonic representation of the misanthropy and hatred that is contained within. “The City Is Shelled” continues this theme with a sickly groove, echoing throbs of sound and a frightening switch into blackened territory.

The curious closing of “Path of Failure” is laden with unusual time signatures and bizarre drum patterns (Lee Buford) that echo with deconstructed jazz movements. King’s voice is once again a disarming instrument that wrenches any semblance of hope from the song, and record overall, and encases it in pure, abject misery. The Body are here to provoke and to allow you to reflect inwards on your own faults and mistakes. I’ve Seen All I Need To See is a prime example of a band still experimenting with what is expected from heavy music. The Body are still pushing boundaries with every release and this latest record is a forward-thinking piece that shows just how far they are willing to go – at least, for the moment.