“I know not what they mean – tears from the depth of some divine despair – rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes – in looking on, and thinking of the days that are no more”

This slightly abbreviated quote from “The Princess” by the United Kingdom 1800s Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson graces the back cover of Inhalant’s “Bondage”, and seems to serve as the general theme of the record: the pull of love and the pain of the loss, obsession and control, and the fear of abandonment, or the feeling thereafter.

Recorded in Fall 2008 by C.A. Odom out of Vernon, Texas, “Bondage” was released earlier this year on Kalamazoo-based label SNSE and is the first vinyl release from the artist after years of cassette releases and compilation appearances. While the album begins abrasively, aside from a brief ethereal intro, gradually, with each track, the feeling shifts from an angry, domineering tone into what sounds reflective and thirsting as the pieces take on a more ambient, hypnotic, even rhythmic quality.  An airy piece called “Love Song” includes the lyrics “flesh, I love you so”, and was the first moment on the record that my roommate, who is no noise fan, exclaimed “that wasn’t bad”.

The record concludes with “Ghosts of Liberation,” the highlight of the record for me, as at this point the sound has evolved into a full-on pulsing, dark, destroyed electronics groove that could be the soundtrack to an alien metropolis in a sci-fi flick.  For those interested in exploring harsh noise but often find the full-on white noise attack a bit too grating to sustain time and time again, this record could be a gateway into hearing sound differently.