SCORN

WHITE IRISIS BLIND

  1/  White Irisis Blind                         (Harris,Bullen)               5.59
  2/  White Irisis Blind (Minimal Mix)           (Harris,Bullen)               5.44
  3/  Black Ash Dub                              (Harris,Bullen)               7.56
  4/  Drained                                    (Harris,Bullen)               7.31
  5/  Host of Scorpions                          (Harris,Bullen)               4.59
  6/  Lick Forever Dog (edit)                    (Harris,Bullen)               3.08
  7/  On Ice (Disembodied In Dub)                (Harris,Bullen)               7.52
  8/  Heavy Blood (Ambient Freaks Mix)           (Harris,Bullen)               6.22
  9/  Heavy Blood (The Blood Fire Dub)           (Harris,Bullen)               5.35
  10/ Stairway (NINJ Mix 95)                     (Harris,Bullen)               6.45

          Recorded, mixed and remixed at Jasmine Cafe
          Engineered by John Wakelin
          Produced by Scorn

Michael John Harris and Nicholas James Bullen: bass, lead guitar, drums, drum machine, samples, percussion, voice.

          1993 - Earache Records (UK), MOSH93T (10")
          1993 - Earache Records (UK), MOSH93CD (CD)
          1997 - Earache Records (UK), MOSH 175 CD (CD)
          1997 - Earache Records (USA), MOSH 175 CD (CD)

Note: Only the 1997 version contains tracks 6-10.
Note: Tracks 6-10 originally appeard on the 'Lick Forever Dog' EP.

REVIEWS :

This is the CD single for the song "White Irises Blind" off of the album "Colossus". I must say that I like the "Minimal Mix" of the title song better than the original, the beat is so very infectious! "Black Ash Dub" and "Host Of Scorpions" are also remixes of "Colossus" songs that I like better than the originals, and "Drained" is probably Scorn's eeriest song to date.

Fleshpile

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"White Irises Blind" shows a much more Dubby sound than some of the later, post-BULLEN SCORN music. Still having traces of GODFLESH to their music, they managed to create a quite commercial sound on this early single with an almost sequencer-sounding prowl-bass. The PIL influence is also apparent, but, while PIL were actually a lot more slip-shod and ragged than we'd prefer to remember them, SCORN were smooth, sleek and honed to perfection. Both versions show a group who had set their sights on leaving a Thrash-influenced past behind and setting out on a more mainstream career. The "Black Ash Dub" plays in the margins of the title track, exploring the true meaning of Dub - to take a spartan track and decorate it with effects like some audio Christmas Tree. "Drained" probably hearkens back to GODFLESH days, with lazy angry guitar, and towards a possible future, with Industrial noise rhythm which gives it a nasty blackness. Interesting, shaky structure which almost promises to fall apart at any second. "Host Of Scorpions" could have escaped from a PIL session - bright live drums and a sub-bassement bass which wanders around like a hebephrenic drunk. Wicked filtered guitar puts this in a league all of it's own. With "Lick Forever Dog (Edit)" they had not quite escaped the influence of GODFLESH, although the heavy use of samplers took it out of the Drudge Cyber Rock league and made it something else. "On Ice (Disembodied In Dub)" seems more like "Evanescence" period dance music and should have warned us of the wonders to come. Dub, yes, but catchy with some great motifs. "Heavy Blood (Ambient Freaks Mix)" could have made a single on it's own and indeed would have probably been a better choice - groovy PIL bassline, church bell like ambience and crisp drums hold rock solid throughout. A very hooky track indeed. "Heavy Blood (The Blood Fire Dub)" takes a very different view of this piece - saturating the drums and almost-hidden bass in copious amounts of fx. Very slack, experimental and dark. The final track is a remix from the even later "Gyral" album by Junglist NINJ who has professed to wanting to combine his drum 'n' bass sound with dark ambience. A deft hand and a lively if dangerous mind have given this madcap variation leagues of distance from the original. If the styles on this album change throughout, the this takes things even further. A cunning mixture of almost silent subtlety and full on crazed druming.

Combining the two early singles along with a more recent remix by Junglist NINJ, this shows a more structured, less exploratory SCORN, and clocks up a massive 62'26".

Antony Burnham (courtesy of the Metamorphic Journeyman website)