Wes Borland – “Crystal Machete” (Stereogum Premiere)
Wes Borland is the guitarist for Limp Bizkit, so there’s a strong chance you’ve already decided how you feel about him. But when I interviwed Borland last year, I found him to be smart and funny and thoughtful. He’s always been the weird one in the band, the one who talks about Swans and Ween, who’d wear kabuki facepaint and freaky contacts in videos right next to Fred Durst. He’s got a new solo album coming out, and the title track couldn’t possibly sound any less like Limp Bizkit.
Later this summer, Borland will release Crystal Machete, an album he put together almost entirely on his own. He set himself some guidelines in making the album: No distorted guitars, no human vocals, as little outside help as possible. And the song “Crystal Machete” is a mostly-instrumental electro track, one that reminds me of John Carpenter movie soundtracks. Below, listen to the track and read a quote about it from Borland.
Borland writes:
To me, the album’s title track is an intergalactic 120bpm analog ramrod which recounts the tale of a heroine questing after The Crystal Machete. A multi dimensional blade which can only be obtained by outwitting magical booby traps laid out by prehistoric ancient sorcerers from the old world. Both dance-able and cinematic, it gathers it’s power from Lovecraftian Horror wearing a 1980’s mask of synthesis. A more fitting title may have been “At The Mountains Of Mootness.”
Crystal Machete is out 8/5, and he’s limiting the physical release to 500 white vinyl copies.