The Knife - 'Shaking the Habitual'

By Alexa Cucopulos

The KnifeShaking the HabitualRabid

Best termed as a surrealist rendering of an apocalyptic wasteland, Shaking the Habitual thrusts its listeners into desolation, mimetic of Dante’s Inferno as it lures us deeper and deeper into its sordid and cryptic universe.Tracks such as “A Cherry on Top” and “Oryx,” elicit a sense of claustrophobia through purposeful cacophonies and persistent background dissonance that drone like a swarm of lethal insects. The album oscillates between long, relentless tracks (up-wards of 19 minutes), and short yet poignant snippets of noise.The work is irascible, moody and antagonistic in its capricious temporality. Lead singer Karin Andersson is a muse for different demons; her vocals range from raw undulations to venomous  shrills as she casts spells upon the audience in “Full of Fire” and “Raging Lung.”The album dissociates us from our psyches and alienates us from the familiar in its chilling creation of a depraved hell. Ultimately, Shaking the Habitual taunts the audience and coerces them into delirium — not just embodying madness but inducing it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoH6k6eIUS4