Painkiller: The Rebirth of the Noise Titans

Thirty years ago, jazz composer and musician John Zorn was captivated by the sound of the band Napalm Death. The disruptive grindcore group had evolved from a hardcore base to become a band with a heavy, fleeting, and ultra-modern sound. For Zorn, an aficionado of avant-garde jazz, listening to Napalm Death was like hearing the free jazz musicians of the '60s again. A brutal explosion of irrepressible energy that almost induced ecstasy. Zorn discovered them in New York during his excursions to hardcore music record stores. As an admirer of Japanese culture and a frequent visitor to Japan, Zorn would one day meet the band and Mick Harris in Tokyo.

Zorn became a fan of the group and the grindcore movement, to the point that he convinced the band's drummer, Mick Harris, to participate in a couple of projects with him. One of these included veteran producer and bassist Bill Laswell. Laswell's experience was vast; he had produced records for many artists, many of whom leaned towards experimentation. Laswell was a fearless bassist who had played in the extreme jazz band Last Exit, alongside guitarist Sonny Sharrock and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. Harris was a huge fan of this band. Playing with Zorn and Laswell was a dream for him.

Painkiller would release a couple of albums, perform several shows, and become an unusual group comfortable in avant-garde performances in New York or heavy metal festivals worldwide. Harris, on drums, contributed his astonishing speed of execution. Laswell, with his prodigious ear, provided depth to the sound, while Zorn handled the instinctive and intense elements. Thus, Painkiller became a unique bridge between jazz and extreme music.

But the fact that Painkiller was only a temporary project was very present in the trio. Harris, restless, left Napalm Death and launched a solo career, unexpectedly becoming an electronic artist under the alias Scorn. Laswell focused primarily on his production projects for artists scattered across the musical spectrum. Zorn, for his part, distanced himself from the stage for a while, dedicating himself fully to composition and managing his highly experimental record label, Tzadik.

However, it seemed that Painkiller still had many hours of life left. Zorn wanted to return to playing extreme music. Laswell, bravely fighting a serious illness, was determined to return to experimentation. The initial difficulty was convincing Harris, who had definitively left the drums, to include the electronic developments he had experimented with after the group's hiatus. Initially, Harris felt out of place in Painkiller's original dynamic; however, Zorn and Laswell's persistence eventually convinced him.

Samsara is a new beginning for the band. A peculiarly recorded album, with Harris in the UK delivering the electronic beats base. Zorn would work over those beats, adding his layer from a studio in New Jersey. Finally, Laswell recorded his bass lines from a mobile studio. Samsara sounds nothing like the Painkiller of the '90s. Painkiller does not sound like the "grindjazz" of yesteryear; the band has evolved to the point where they are impossible to classify.

The electronic rhythms provided by Harris are powerful, modern, and abrasive, an unstoppable machine from start to finish. Zorn is a true warrior with his alto sax, engaged in a fierce battle against Harris's rhythms. Zorn adds the human and intense element to the album. His saxophone is an insistent and lethal instrument throughout the recordings. Laswell, in the heart of the action, adds the deep vibrations of his bass, giving a nearly magical and mystical element to the band's sound.

Samsara is pure chaos, magically crafted by these three destructive talents at a distance. Although it is unlikely we will see these three musicians perform these tracks live in the near future, for highly experimental ears, the album is simply spectacular. Harris is a beast behind his electronic spells, Zorn is brutal and intense like few others, with extraordinary lungs, while Laswell sounds titanic, hitting those steel strings harder than anyone else could. Samsara is the triumph of deafening noise. It's good to know that these three titans are back.