# 2,726
Uniform & The Body Mental Wounds Not Healing limited edition 12” (2018)
Last year Pitchfork asked their writers and readers about “that one part”; a specific lyric, note, sample, or moment that did it for their writers and listeners. That one part for me was found inside “In My Skin”. Things were going great for the first five months of 2018 and the momentum lead me to what would’ve been amazing things up until summer. I received bad news so devastating that it disrupted the rest of that year and I had to re-assess everything around me. But time, work, and personal goals forced me to move forward while my mind stood still processing confusing and deceitful logistics. Mental Wounds Not Healing was released shortly before the hit but I didn’t hear it fully until a few weeks after. Uniform’s Wake In Fright (2017) solidified my fanfare of theirs and The Body was foreign to me, so Mental Wounds Not Healing was the entry point. Albums move forward as usual until that one moment captivates you, a specific note that makes you think of things you had yet imagined. Amidst the creekiness and acrid rumblings, the guitar riffs of “In My Skin” got me good as those heavenly plucks peer shining bright and slowly split wide-open the heavily-dense smoldering and buzzing background. It almost dies down to a minimum and then…again…that one part. Right then and there. It was everything. Was it a glimmer of hope, a sign that everything would be fine in the end, or just an asterisk to accentuate the summer experience and vision I had? “In My Skin” then finished its rugged course as usual, waiting to be repeated. Since then, that defining moment never escaped me, still fresh in my mind and oft-revisited.
The Body often collaborates with some of the heavier, more cataclysmic acts such as Full Of Hell, Thou, and Braveyoung. All I heard of theirs certainly puts one in a hungry, predatory environment; an internal test of the gut and mind that needs a solution for survival. Uniform’s contribution versus The Body’s on Mental Wounds Not Healing totals an empty dystopian scenario that creates for some intense harrowing situations. Things get scary real quick with “The Curse Of Eternal Life” when both parties create a mash-up of frantic industrial breakbeats, caustic electronics, and vocals from both beasts Michael Berdan (Uniform) and Chip King (The Body) screaming and howling for warning. Both sides go for the kill on “Come And See” with such destructive force that has Mental Wounds Not Healing on the verge of total collapse, with the treacherous “The Boy With Death In His Eyes” encouraging all-out war on the killing fields. All’s not a direct full-on battle between two sides, however. “We Have Always Lived In This Castle” creates an outside technological catastrophe of digitized voices drowning in a total noise wash resetting the playing field before “Empty Comforts” presents what’s left for the final hunt. Notice with all (The) Body collaborations that they’re labeled with “&” instead of “vs.” It’s not a remix war, it’s a cooperation of the minds that work together and not at each other. In fact, Mental Wounds Not Healing may not have happened if Uniform wasn’t asked to tour with The Body during their Spring 2017 tour. After it, they toured again last Autumn but as one.
300 clear copies of this were sold directly through the label, hand-numbered, wax-sealed, and with alternate art; customary with any Sacred Bones limited release.
