Motivation bonds us. By sharing the same intent, we can fulfill the same purpose. Both Toronto duo Intensive Care (Andrew Nolan and Ryan Bloomer) and Rhode Island duo The Body (Chip King and Lee Buford) thrive as innovative forces in extreme music. Rather than lean into the expected, these four musicians made a collective decision to disrupt once again by joining forces in 2024 for the collaborative album Was I Good Enough? [Closed Casket Activities]. With glitchy graveyard bellowing vocals, icy industrial backbone, and teeth-rattlingly heavy grooves, these eight tracks certainly reflect the respective legacies and pedigrees of their creators.
Yet, they summon a distinctly dynamic and dangerous beast through the distortion.
“Our motivations are very similar,” Ryan states. “The collaboration made sense, because we weren’t necessarily bringing anything separate individually. It seemed like we were bringing two sides together in order to make a bigger whole. At the same time, we didn’t repeat ourselves. You’re going to hear two guitar-based bands who didn’t use much guitar at all on this. It’s a largely electronic album, but it sounds as heavy as any guitar-based music I’ve ever done.”
Their union dates back to a tour in 2018 when Intensive Care and The Body hit the road together. Everybody got along, and the idea for a collaboration would be bandied about for a couple of years to follow. By 2021, it became a reality. The Body established a framework and shared it with Intensive care. The musicians tinkered for the next year-and-a-half in between various other obligations.
Finally, the vision cemented.
“It was all based on our friendship and appreciation for their approach—which is quite similar to ours,” Ryan goes on. “In a conventional sense, we’re both grounded in heavy music. We all try to transcend the boundaries of the genre and redefine what heavy means to us.”
They did so by adopting a production technique widely used in hip-hop and originally popularized in Houston, “Chopped and Screwed.” As such, they collaged together samples, instrumentals, drum loops, vocals, and other elements into a corrosive and caustic collage without comparison.
“We took what The Body gave us and ran with it,” recalls Ryan. “We were deliberately slowing parts down and doubling up to emphasize certain vocal lines. Hip-hop was a huge inspiration. We tried to lean on those techniques in order to create this record and put our own spin on it. Everybody involved in this project wanted to push boundaries.”
A scream signals the start of the ride on opener “Mistakes Have Been Made.” A distorted haze grinds the senses, while a slow trudge underlines the trio of dementedly dynamic vocals from Chip, Andrew, and Ryan.
“Chip’s voice is unmistakable,” Ryan goes on. “There’s a real contrast between our voices. You really hear the back-and-forth of two bands who have come together to make a record.”
Then, there’s “Swallowed By The God.” It moves at the pace of a funeral march punctuated by ominous bells, cracks, and a piercing wail. “The Riderless Mount” hinges on warbling electronics thickened by booming bass. The near eleven-minute finale “Mandlebrot Anamnesis” culminates on a shuddering and epic catharsis, dripping blood, sweat, and emotion over an electronic tundra. The title speaks to the despondency.
