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[ P A R K I N S O N ]
PARKINSON was formed in 1996 by Danish ambient/drum 'n' bass
guru Thomas Knak (aka Opiate) and by Bjarke Ahlstrand (aka Sch.
Merz) who has an extensive metal background. The purpose was,
and still is, to combine elements of electronic music with extreme
metal and harvest the fruits of this bizarre mixture. PARKINSON
took shape years before several Norwegian metal acts (none mentioned,
none forgotten) decided to include electronic elements in their
metallic landscapes. And, unlike these, the musical collages
of PARKINSON are created by experienced musicians within each
genre, and not someone experimenting with a new instrument/genre.
Other musical colleagues were asked to participate. One of them,
Allan Tvedebrink, guitarist in Whithering Surface, contributed
to the first PARKINSON recordings. The result was released on
the the "Klop" 7" EP which was released on Prutten
Records in 1997. Though only available in the limited edition
vinyl format, the two wicked incatations received a lot of attention
in the artists' home country, where it recieved extensive airplay
on the national Danish Radio.
Due
to other commitments (musical, professional as well as personal),
PARKINSON remains relativly quiet during at times. Thomas Knak
is busy with his other, less violent electronic projects and
is constantly releasing albums, 12" EPs and compilations
under the Opiate monicker and with his groups Future 3 and James
Bong. Thomas also runs the label Hobby Industries and he even
went to Iceland to produce some tracks for Björk.
The
word kept spreading and "electronical" artists. ranging
from R&S recording artists Shanks.dk to Beastie Boys' DJ
Mix Master Mike. (Who has done some excellent scratching for
the upcoming PARKINSON album) and Germany's Funkstörung
have been checking out the sonic outbursts of PARKINSON. A wide
variety of metal musicians/bands have also been introduced to
the Danish hybrid project. Several of these, including Samael's
XY (Switzerland), Dark Tranquility's Niklas Sundin (Sweden).
and Fleurety/Mayhem's Alexander Nordgaren (Norway) have shown
interest and willingness to participate on the forth coming
album opus "Asylum" which was originally due to be
released in 2000 (!) - but now is set for a 2007 release. But
it will be worth the wait as even David Prowse (the guy inside
Darth Vader) will perform some statements on it.
The second EP "Organism Rank",which is available on
a limited edition 7" vinyl EP on Prutten Records is produced
by Sch. Merz and industrial veteran Günther Karse. The
title track is the most harsh, violent and non-compromising
PARKINSON output yet, sounding somewhat like Fields of the Nephilim
on a deathtrip at a techno-rave.
Aarhus based Mindwerk
issued EP 3, "Eden Hell", also on limited edition
vinyl, and this release saw former Fleurety/Mayhem guitarist
Alexander Nordgaren joining the ranks of Parkinson on guitar.
Being produced partly in the UK and Denmark, "Eden Hell"
saw a more uptempo side of Parkinson. This EP sold out within
few months.
Then Johnny died, and Sch. Merz cried. Parkinson decided to
perform the ultimate tribute to the man in black with "Versus",
the 4th EP. In the eighties Cash recorded some bible sessions
for an electronic bible - these were never released on CD or
vinyl - only on a small casio-like-device that read the passages
when entered on the display. The most sinister and obscure,
devil dealing passages from his mind - and the bible itself
is cut together on this utterly essential 7" EP. The track
it self is quiet, almost hypnotic at times - and the bass lines,
delivered by Garth from American death metallers Fleshtized
is hypnotizing. The b-side of "Versus" shows Parkinson
paying tribute to another dark artist, namely Darkthrone. The
classic "Sunrise over Locus Mortis" is transformed
into something even darker than the original.
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