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Experimental: A Quiet Place to Die.. - Failed Animals (2022)


47 / 100
An experimental release with intriguing concepts and a couple of highlights, but overall it left little lasting impact. 
From the name and the music alone, it’s clear what the collective project A Quiet Place to Die set out to do. Blending experimental, avant-garde, and noise elements, AQPTD has released dozens of recordings since October 2020. Failed Animals marks their 24th entry, credited to Zach Kramer, consisting of 16 tracks in just 16 minutes.

One of AQPTD’s trademarks is their artwork, often using cropped manga imagery. For this release, they pull from Tokyo Ghoul, featuring Touka Kirishima in a near-death state with the words “There’s nothing here that belongs to you.” Despite the gore-soaked, depressive cover, the music itself isn’t quite as bleak.

Failed Animals opens with reversed drums, breakbeat-style percussion with heavy bass effects, then layers in experimental synths and dark ambient pads that give the whole thing a shadowy, disordered vibe. Tracks like “Can We See Another Day” and “The Great Disappointed” lean into compressed tribal samples, while the longest piece, “The Sun Has Stopped,” feels like a dark ambient soundtrack and arguably the highlight here. The final two cuts stand out for their contrasts: “What Happens When You Sleep” is the loudest track of the set, while “I Don’t Need Lies to Not Give Up” closes the album in near-minimal silence.

What drew me to this release was the bleak title, which made me expect a burst of high-speed breakcore—especially given the short track lengths. Instead, it turned out to be firmly in experimental territory. That’s not necessarily a disappointment, but for me it’s the kind of release that slips by after one listen.

Ultimately, Failed Animals isn’t for everyone. Iilt’s best suited for fans of the experimental and avant-garde fringe, the likes of Aphex Twin, Heaven Pierce Her or Merzbow, and maybe even readers of Junji Ito, who’ll find its unsettling atmosphere oddly familiar.

Best tracks: Loops, Ugly, The Sun Has Stopped, I Don’t Need Lies to Not Give Up.
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