BETHLEHEM. Not the Holy Land of Palestine, at the South of Jerusalem, but a Holy Land of sorts, somehow, at least at a certain time in history. Swiss-based artist Bruno Silvestre Favez keeps drawing its own path in the noise scene with another transcontinental 4-hands / 2-brains collaboration ; the 37th release under the EARTHFLESH moniker since its birth in 2019. On this new collaborative split (the 11th since 2019), EARTHFLESH joins forces with German fellow electronic musician Andy Krenz's DECONSTRUCTOR, taking inspiration from the Glory and Fall of one of the greatest Steel companies to ever exist on Earth. EARTHFLESH brings the drones and waves of noise, while DECONSTRUCTOR brings the sounds of chaos and industrial collapse. Not much more to say, to be honest, music shall speak for itself. Maximum volume, however, still yields maximum results.
HISTORY AND CONTEXT:
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (USA), 1857-2003.
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American company that for much of the 20th century was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. While its roots trace to an ironmaking company organized in 1857 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the company is better known for its role in America's railroad, skyscrapper and construction development and its massive work for the US army. During World War I and II, Bethlehem Steel were responsible of the building of more than a thousand steel-hulled warships, besides being a major supplier of armor plate and ordnance to the armed forces of the country, including armor plate and large-caliber guns for the Navy. When peacetime came, the plant continued to supply a wide variety of structural shapes for the construction trades. From 1949 to 1952, at the peak of Cold war, Bethlehem Steel had a contract with the federal government of the United States to roll uranium fuel rods for nuclear reactors in Bethlehem Steel's Lackawanna, New York, plant. At the time, workers were obviously not aware of the dangers of the hazardous substance and were not given protective equipment which resulted in disastrous radiation-exposure cases. Bethlehem Steel existed through the decline of American steel manufacturing during the 1970s until its bankruptcy in 2001 and final dissolution in 2003.
Read more:
www.wikiwand.com/en/Bethlehem_Steel
released August 31, 2021
Recorded between Switzerland and Germany, August 25-28, 2021. Mixed, mutilated, re-processed, August 30-31, 2021 at the Cubbyhole (Geneva, Switzerland).
Artwork by Bruno Silvestre Favez.
Photo by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis
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