Mako - "Mako Part 6" (Blue XII Records 1999, Cassette)
From Aural Innovations #6 (April 1999)
I've got very little info on this one as all I received was a cassette and a scribbled note that says "all sounds by Nyko Half". The musician is Garry Banks from right here in Ohio (though I don't know where Waynesville is). But what the heck, there's music on it. It sounds like an all-electronic effort with the emphasis on percussion. A heavy thudding beat is layed down and repeats for a while with a vague synth melody behind it and some mumbled efx'd chanting. This ends abruptly and then begins a freaky electronic piece. The percussion is again thudding, but there's a number of synth lines, one of which consists of a screeching fingernails-across-the-blackboard sound that... well it was annoyingly interesting if that makes any sense. Just when I felt it was getting overly repetitive the screeching sound became EAR SPLITTING and the synths went wild. I had to turn down the volume. Things eventually calm down and Banks moves into some more interesting explorations with the electronics at his disposal. I liked the machine industrial atmosphere which was dark but not painful like the screeching was. Banks has a lot of good ideas and I'm going to guess he's still experimenting and discovering.
For more information you can email Garry Banks at pebbelless@yahoo.com.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz