the burden

Artist: Infiltration Lab

Album: The Burden

Release date: August 1st, 2004
Running time: 01:00:27

Track listing:

1. Erklärung [1:07] [1.6 MB]
2. Full Frontal [5:20] [7.4 MB]
3. Ritual [6:07] [8.5 MB]
4. Ectopic [3:10] [4.4 MB]
5. And Baby Makes 3 [6:14] [8.6 MB]
6. In Real Life [2:53] [4.0 MB]
7. Red Blue Valve Image [9:32] [14 MB]
8. Attitude Adjustment [7:04] [9.8 MB]
9. Slowicide [7:14] [10 MB]
10. Perineum [1:19] [1.9 MB]
11. Macabre [10:27] [15 MB]

Perineum (video)

(problems downloading? try shift-clicking or right-clicking then choosing save)

Artwork (for CD duplication):

• CD sleeve [335KB]
• CD label [106KB]

Notes:

Let's get right to it: The Burden is the sophomore album by Infiltration Lab and is distributed online by noisybox.net. This harsh composition is the follow-up to Infiltration Lab's 2003 release ioctl(). The sound? Dark drones, sickened noise, and morbid chants, sometimes accompanied by little sounds and sequenced beeps. The message, if there really is one? Recurring themes appear in life via burdens.

Using state-of-the-art photocopying and glue technology, a hand-crafted set of 25 CDRs was manufactured for personal distribution. Each CDR comes in a cardstock sleeve with a full-face label and a unique playing card. If you'd actually like a hard copy original, send me a note and we'll work something out.

The Burden is released under a Creative Commons license and is free to copy, distribute, display, and perform for noncommercial purposes. The Attribution-NonCommercial license applies to both artwork and sounds.

the burden is a principal or recurring idea; a theme. the chorus or refrain of a composition. it is a drone.

full frontal, by which our senses are assaulted, at birth, by everything that is in reality, we take it all in, but we are assaulted, without choice, to face the unknown. it is the first time in life when we are faced with choice, unfamiliar, and discover confusion. assault becomes equated with nudity.

ritual, in which we grow and learn over long periods of time. we are taken from pod to pure. we are lengthened. it is through daily ritual that we find our places in the worlds. monotony is implicit in ritual practice.

ectopic, where we recover from the ritual and, via conscious awareness, realize that we are stranded, ultimately alone and shielded from the universe. we strike a balance in a sheltered and manic existence. through awareness, we catch a glimpse of where we are stranded, essentially in an organic tube, whose end we know deeply, and ultimately fear. as a result, we cower and sleep on stone.

baby makes 3, to share the burden. burden carried by more than one is a burden that is lessened. we are confused and reject the sense of obligation. we embrace what we know lies ahead, but to our surprise, confusion rules this moment, which should otherwise suggest harmony.

it is through real life that we grow jaded and become more isolated. when baby makes 3 in real life we realize that isolation still equals the death poisons. a becoming is imminent in real life.

red blue valve image provides us with forced choices in ritual. we follow a destructive path of our choosing, although it may be randomly determined and variant among sample selections. closer examination discloses what we already know.

attitude adjustment is administered by ancestors via neo shaman. we are obligated to select what we disagree with.

we become jaded and saddened and choose a slow and painful death. we all do. the slowicide rekindles individual free will, yet we remain focused on the impending ending.

body rejects choice and grows focal point on the perineum. it precedes the macabre.

macabre suggests the horror of death and decay; macabre is gruesome. it is the dance disguised as a death rattle. it is the burden of life.