FRKSE – Horsless Rehearsal C62

Divergent Series

FRKSE (pronounced “forks”) is a project local to the Boston area who combines an eclectic cast of stylistic inspiration raning from raga, noise, hip-hop, and black metal to form a genre blasting epic in Horsless Rehearsal.

At over 60 minutes there is a lot to take in, never mind that there is almost never a rest between tracks, this is a constant barrage of wall-eyed sound. The song structure often features a booming drum-machine back beat, distorted in different ways and mixing in odd samples into the rhythms frequently. Overlaid on this is a layer of noisy synth harmonies and a guitar or two. It’s definitely strange when you have this driving drum machine beat and these tremelo-picked guitar lines with a crunch of distortion and echoing middle-eastern instrument samples to top it all off. But the amazing thing about this is it actually works and ends up sounding like some weird post-modern Norwegian based orchestra performing covers of Bollywood hits in the mid 70s.

Among my favorite moments is the opening track of side B Rituals of Transparency which reminds me of a slowed-down Darkthrone track with epic guitar harmonies and a trve black metal feel. But this doesn’t last for long before we are thrown back into the blender.

One very unique thing about FRKSE’s work are the concepts. With song titles like Blessed is the Fundamentalist and I was a Teenage Dajjal the unique take on a mix of Eastern and Western cultures are sure to raise an eyebrow yet explains the strange amalgamation of the music well. This is definitely one for the weirdos and eclectics out there.

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