G&P Review: PSUDOKU

PSUDOKU
Space Grind
Revulsion
It’s an old truism that when a movie franchise or television series ran out of juice it would jettison its cast and crew out INTO SPACE! That’s why we’ve been subjected to cinematic indignities such as Jason X. Thankfully, Papirmollen wrecked the wretched grade curve on that one when he launched the almighty Parlamentarisk Sodomi into the astral expanses with his latest one-man-grind-awesomeness project PSUDOKU (apparently, it’s an acronym).
Oh, the Norwegian auteur opens Space Grind with a series of riffs that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Parlamentarisk Sodomi release, but out of nowhere everything gets all The Locust. IN SPACE! Rubber bass runs get funkdafied, slithery riffs and electronic experimentalism collide like doomed galaxies in chaotic bursts of Big Bangin’ energy. In fact, while Mollen rubs his tonsils raw, the keys and crazy strings, in their own way, substitute for and augment the vocals in unique and perplexing ways, adding an amazing extra layer to what could have been another expected (though awesome) grind album. And that’s the key; the soul of Parlamentarisk Sodomi is still lurking under PSUDOKU’s outrageous riot providing that necessary anchor to something recognizable. Now there are new additional layers that will need to be processed through repeated, attentive listens. Additionally, Space Grind’s A side (I got the cassette version) is relentlessly, exhaustively high energy. While side B tends to get looser and more experimental, this is an overwhelming listening experience that could easily stand toe to toe with Orphan on an adrenaline level. Yeah. I just said that. This is an album that leaves me physically exhausted and emotionally spent at the end.
Parlamentarisk Sodomi was something undeniably awesome, but PSUDOKU is something unique, which may be even more exciting. No matter what pseudonym Papirmollen adopts, dude has proven once again that he is a perennial album of the year contender. Norwegian grind, my god, it’s full of stars.

[Full disclosure: Mollen asked Revulsion to provide me with a review copy.]