Last year, Immortal Machinery (frontman Steph K and bassist Mat G) came up with an intriguing release by reinterpreting Hungarian composer Bela Bartok’s music – EP Bartok ReOrganised.
The duo decided to again try something different, and this time around they collaborated with photographer David Payne and music/arts website IDIOTEQ.com to create the silent film tараканы (Tarakani) – the Cockroach, in which the band’s music would drive the narrative. The film tells the story of an unnamed pilot, trapped in a cycle of war flashbacks and waking nightmares. As he battles his hallucinations and alcohol dependency, he readies himself to fly out of trouble one last time.
The duo made a note that goes along with the video: “DISCLAIMER – this film was produced prior to the start of the Russia/Ukraine conflict. We do not seek to glorify war – only to explore its very real effects on the individual.”
As they describe it, through this project, the band’s intention is to provoke a conversation around the effects of isolation, addiction and past trauma on mental health, and ask the question: “What happens when we try to outrun our demons?”
While the music was intended to correspond with the visual images of the film, the music part certainly functions on by itself.
Divided in three parts, it certainly has that cinematic quality the duo intended to create, and their delving into the aspects of classical music with Bartok certainly shows here too. Still, it certainly deserves to firmly sit into the post-post-rock category, at moments deserving to change that immortal description included in the band’s name to immaculate.
