Autopsia – In Vivo II

Autopsia – In Vivo II CD Death Continues 2020

Autopsia have been active since 1980, but on a superficial level of artwork and sound the project have perhaps remained in the shadows of Laibach who have been operating for a similar amount of time. Sonically speaking early Autopsia works were of a lofi dark ambient / ritual industrial style, which gradually morphed towards more composed neo-classical structures, and much later sought to draw in modern sonic elements (i.e. glitch and programmed beat driven sounds). But In Vivo II is not concerned with the current phase of the project, and as per the sub-title of the album clarifies the album is: ‘Autopsia Archive Recordings 1980-1988’. More specifically, over this period Autopsia issued numerous compilation tapes under the same title of In Vivo, where the 17 tracks collated here are sourced from different compilation tapes, and with selected tracks previously not released. In Vivo II is also the second archive album to be issued on Death Continues.

Of the disparate tracks collected here, there is a fair amount of variation which span the differing sounds of Autopsia from dark ambient, to experimental soundscapes, to martial industrial and neo-classical elements. Likewise, some tracks collected here are mere minutes in length, thus play out as short fragments of sonic ideas. Kissing Jesus In the Dark opens the collection, with sampled Tibetan throat singing offset with stoic industrial percussion, which highlights Autopsia’s martial and experimental tendencies. There is also a notable use of tape loops on various pieces, such as the early track Aqua Permanens has a strident martial industrial sound, based on sampled orchestral strings and slow pounding martial percussion. An excellent track. More variation is displayed on ESOTerIC II – The Machine also stands out as composition based on an organ dirge in full flight, where it is not immediately clear if this track was sample based or specifically composed and played. In further sonic deviation, the ritual dark ambient track Red Nights, complete with sampled female vocals, is noteworthy, given plays out very much as a precursor to the stylistic approach would refined by Cold Meat Industry artists’ through the mid-1990’s. Equally the track Relaxed with its industrial soundscape and pornographic dialog sample seems to have been specifically influenced by the earliest phase of SPK (i.e. Information Overload Unit and Leichenschrei). Recomposing A Dismembered God is the longest track at over twelve minutes, and another standout of the collection, being a shrill and stormy classical soundscape based on interlinking orchestral loops. On the concluding track We Area Death, it perhaps is the most refined example of sampled orchestral and choir based loops, being a slow and moody track, charting a tone which wavers between the ominous to the serine, and a sublime conclusion to the collection of tracks.

Given the nature of In Vivo II being an archive release, the correct way to approach this is as a disparate collection of early experimentations from the group, and not as a proper album. This means that some tracks clearly not a strong or refined when considered as individual standalone tracks, but that is not the point either. In Vivo II exists to bring to light a collection of the earliest working of the group and their varied development in conceptual approach to sound and composition. To that end, the release does its job perfectly.