It starts slow, with a delicate chime, gradually chugging drums encroach on the chime, threatening it until the bass and more mechanical percussion overwhelm it. Finally "Initiation" wins the award for most appropriately named track, not that it was a tough race. >▲>▲<<<<< is a remix of HEALTH’s "USA Boys", but because it emphasizes the melodrama hidden within the original with the addition of a distant, reverbed vocal sample, I prefer it to the original. Finally Tetanus Wine employs the now expected clattering drums as an anchor, but drops them for the last minute of the track, making the listener feel lost, floating in static. Beta Tape Warp similarly introduces itself with a primitve clap and bass thump, and rather than depending on the drums as an anchor it employs a simple ascending synth pattern that closes the track, as if to highlight its role. How They Kill You begins with rusty sounding drums that anchor the haunted house organ and ghostly moaning. /▲▲▲\\\ ‘s tracks always have a simple drum pattern and either bassline or melody that the listener can nod along to while the track gains complexity. Too many tracks in this and other experimental genres forget to lay a meaningful foundation for their songs, leaving their experiments and those listening with nothing to grab onto. Their real strength lies in their commitment to building a solid foundation for each song. But regardless of whether you call them ///▲▲▲\\\, VOID, or The StupidNames, they make some great music. /▲▲▲\\\, also known as VOID, actually recently changed their name to HORSE MACGUYVER, and I can’t decide if that’s an improvement. These people actually know what they are doing. But, as much as I wanted to be self righteously dismissive and smug, I can’t be. Now, the first thing I thought when I saw most of those names was that this was all bullshit and these guys are just making up stupid names and will slap some nonsense demos on a soundcloud to be part of a scene.
Some of the more interesting names I’ve come across so far include GR†LL GR†LL, ▲, ℑ⊇≥◊≤⊆ℜ, †‡†, and ///▲▲▲\\\. Because these symbols don’t work in URLs, I’ll include links to the myspaces and soundclouds of the bands I mention in this post, hopefully save everybody some time. I suppose the symbols serve a twofold purpose, both suggesting mystery through their unpronounceablility and creating mystery by forcing the bands into obscurity.
This frustrates me, because when attempting to research bands, I can’t figure out how to google them. Many Witch House/Drag/whatever bands employ unpronounceable, vaguely occult nonsense symbols in their names.