[Review] The Body & OAA Come Together to Unleash Agony and Hurt on ‘Enemy of Love’

For over two decades, The Body (the duo of Lee Buford and Chip King) has remained a defiant force of sonic horror. It’s near impossible to classify The Body under one genre label, for nothing is ever straightforward in their brand of noise, electronics, and experimental metal. Barely a year apart since their previous release with BIG|BRAVE, The Body is back at it with a new collab. Accompanying them this time is that of producer OAA (AJ Wilson). What the trio share on Enemy of Love is a harrowing descent of electronic chaos that exudes anger and loneliness.

Noise music is certainly effective when it is abrasive and clashing with no restraint, and while this is a quality The Body is known to present in their material, the music throughout Enemy of Love is calculated in its flow and presentation. The album’s first single, “Barren of Joy,” makes for a strong example of what the record offers as a whole. Much like that of 2018’s I Have Fought Against It, But I Cannot Any Longer, there is a psychic presence consistently being fed through each track; the emphasis on distance and heartache growing gradually through distortion, droning, and the battering of instrumentation.

Atmospherically, The Body has always displayed a keen understanding of hypnotic presentation; in how they craft individual songs and how those songs work as a progressing tracklist, it is possible to experience a sense of disorientation. Whether it is the bombardment and frenzy of noise and electronic components or the dizzying vibe of descending into a droning abyss, Buford and Lee are masters in pulling listeners into nightmare worlds. OAA lends his skills in elevating these qualities, building upon the duo’s already abrasive, and oddly entrancing performances. Some cuts find themselves giving off a more vibrant approach, such as that of “Miserable Freedom,” where the rhythm exudes a danceable vibe (even if it is laden with industrial eeriness). That is part of the charm to The Body’s work though – the haunting discomfort they convey through music brimming with unnerving tones, while also exuding an entertaining quality.

It appears The Body never runs out of creativity. One might assume that the genre of noise lends itself to repetition – and frankly it can through the bombast of distortion and clashing instrumentals – but The Body is always demonstrating new tactics, or at least fresh spins, to their haunting material. Buford, Lee, and Wilson all come together on Enemy of Love to present a record reeking of misery – a work that blasts and whirls and encompasses one in horror.

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