From Chronicles of Chaos:

The beauty (so to speak) of noise is that it breaks virtually every single rule of music. This does not entail ignorance of the rules of music; one needs to know the rules in order to break them. Picasso could draw accurate figures before bestowing cubism upon the world. If this is the case, then creator Michael Page must be an accomplished (conventional) musician, as not only does he break every single musical rule relating to harmony and rhythm, he does so in a manner that can only be described as spectacular.

At its heart, _As the Nest Burns_ consists of ominous drones and tier upon tier of ear assaulting feedback piled atop one another, distilled into a sonic sucker punch that will leave even the least masochistic wanting more. Page allows a slightly calmer face to emerge through the near ambient, noise-lite textures of "One Last Sunset", which serves the same purpose as an acoustic interlude in black metal, by allowing the listener to sit back and calm down before being struck by the next cascade of sonic mayhem. Powerful stuff.

 

From Aural Pressure:

All hail Michael Page. The man who would be King. The man who wears a crown of thorns as a trophy around his head. Pain be thy name. Pain be thy trade. His motto ‘No pain no gain’ is tattooed on his chest. He is the instigator. The motivator. The Ayatollah of extreme electronics. The man whose releases have corrupted all who have crossed their path. A man who once talked of going into different spheres but who sensibly realised that extreme power noise music would be forever called home. And here for all you children of the damned is his latest release.

"As The Nest Burns" is your typical Michael Page offering to the Gods of aural discomfort. A seven track journey into the mind of a sick puppy for whom excess has become second nature. Gasp as he throws wild holocaustic aggressive sounds around without a care. Be stunned as his vocal interplay is distorted and fucked around with. Gleefully clap your hands as he pummels relentlessly without regard to the senses. Feel the pain. The agony. The ecstasy. Hold your ears in discomfort as the electronic cold hardness washes away all before it. Brutal and devastating . No prisoners taken. No remorse shown. Hell has come to your house. As subtle as a kick in the head with a steel toe capped boot and just as brain numbing. The doctor will see you now.

There’s nothing more to add. Words cannot equate to the sounds heard here. There are no joyous moments to revel in. No tunes to hum or dance to. Michael Page believes that redemption can only be found through the acts of masochistic acceptance. He deals it out. You will accept it gracefully. The music finally ends and the day already looks better. He’s taken you on a death trip and you’ve survived. The final resonating notes released from your aching head. But you’ll be back for more. You can’t help it. It’s a drug of sorts. An endorphin rush that needs repeating. And Michael is only too happy to cater for your needs. The supply will always meet demand. Need a noise fix? You know who to call.

 

From Heathen Harvest:

Fire In The Head is definitely on the extreme side of industrial music. Labeled as power electronics or noise, the music of Fire In The Head is an onslaught of ferocious industrial sound and noise. Fire In The Head explores the phenomena of human psychosis through music. The aim is to delve deeply into the unraveling and corruption of the human psyche and explore the stress, anxiety, and harshness of life and society that leads to psychosis. Fire In The Head demolishes our mental structures and our preconceptions of music with a nullifying deployment of hostile electronic music. Fire In The Head preys upon our inevitable mental collapse and has created a soundtrack to the burning within our minds. Since beginning Fire In the Head in 2004 Michael has been churning out albums on a number of labels. “As The Nest Burns” is one of the first widely available releases by Fire In The Head and it was produced by Autarkeia.

Autarkeia is a Lithuanian based industrial music label with a focus upon the experimental and old school industrial music domain. Autarkeia’s output is similar to that of Steinklang Industries or Old Europe Café as Autarkeia helps to illuminate many arising artists as well as releasing material by proven artists such as Fire In The Head and Negru Voda. Fire In The Head is definitely on the extreme side of industrial music. Labeled as power electronics or noise, the music of Fire In The Head is an onslaught of ferocious industrial sound and noise. Fire In The Head explores the phenomena of human psychosis through music. The aim is to delve deeply into the unraveling and corruption of the human psyche and explore the stress, anxiety, and harshness of life and society that leads to psychosis. Fire In The Head demolishes our mental structures and our preconceptions of music with a nullifying deployment of hostile electronic music. Fire In The Head preys upon our inevitable mental collapse and has created a soundtrack to the burning within our minds.

“As The Nest Burns” is a numbing musical experience. Fire In The Head throws the listener into the inferno as soon as the album begins. The first track titled “Your Loss Of Innocence Is My Only Solace” begins with ferocious force as Michael unleashes a multilayered stream of industrial noise. Numerous roaring industrial sounds are funneled into a tight stream that sees the blackest death ambient drones being dominated by crackling static probes and metallic shrieking howls of torment. The thick cacophony burns everything in its path as it swells and explodes in immutable cycles of destruction.

Track three titled “One Last Sunset” demonstrates a more subdued side of Fire In The Head as Michael reins in the power electronics and shifts his focus to subverting experimental ambient music. “One Last Sunset” is a strange dark ambient experiment featuring distorted and stretched voice samples and eerie, unsettling, collisions of ambience and industrial drones. The music stretches and retracts like a fever induced hallucination warping the listeners sense of perspective. The music wanders and mutates as if in a dementia induced reality. The noise and thunder of the previous track is gone as Michael pushes experimental ambient music into a new psychedelic domain. “One Last Sunset” sounds like a dark ambient song wandering through a house of mirrors. The music is quite innovative and demonstrates that Fire In The Head is able and willing to relax the aggression and explore territory outside the bands defining sound.

“Wasp Storm” is the seventh and final track on “As The Nest Burns.” “Wasp Storm” begins as a soft din of distant noise that just barely rattles the eardrum. The music steadily increases in volume as if you have been targeted by a angered swarm of noise intent upon catching you. Within seconds the far off din becomes a snarling, bellowing swarm of sound that envelopes you from every side like an unexpected sand storm in a remote region of the Sahara. The music features the now familiar ultra industrial onslaught of viscous electronic sounds as well as waves of emerging mechanized industrial loops. A simple melody plays across the caustic stream of noise much like an abandoned phonograph left playing in the midst of a military assault. The melody is empty, sad and somehow neutral as the power electronics blast their way through your mind like a ravenous army that must trample all in their path. After decimation is confidently achieved the music slowly recedes as if the swarm has begun to retreat having met its objective.

Fire In The Head has created a powerful fusion of industrial, death ambient, and power electronics that is sure to challenge the most demanding listner. Fire In The Head is the next generation of US power electronics and those of you out there looking for extreme music that doesn’t posture but delivers real results should give Fire In The Head a chance to fuel your aggression. Play it loud and bask in the naked hostility that is Fire In The Head!

 

From Absolute Zero Media:

This project just keeps on impressing me. Harsh power electronic mixed with some of the best drone and feedback skills around. There are a few bands that come this close to power electronic perfection. To me Sickness, Control are up there. Fire In The Head's sound is so thick and dense its almost suffocating. I know for some this release will be pure torment but for those of us that love power electronics this is pure bliss. What I really want to see is Fire In The Head live as I bet this would be like those old Merzbow shows where he use to drive out 60% of the crowd in the 1st minute as it was too much for there tame ears.

 

From Funprox.com:

After some demos and cd-r’s, this was the first proper cd of Fire in the Head as far as I know. Released on the label Autarkeia from Lithuania, it contains 7 tracks in just over half an hour. The release has images of war and destruction in the booklet, for which the music forms a good companion. Nasty high-pitched sounds, a wall of monotonous dense noise and at times screaming vocals, somewhat in the background of the mix. A few tracks differ alittle, like the weird droning ambient of ‘One last sunset’. This cd is not very original and not very varied, but pieces like the blasting title track are convincing in their loudness and agression.

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