Categories: Misc

Album Highlight – Wiseblood – Dirtdish (1987)

Wiseblood was a collaboration between Clint Ruin / Foetus / JG Thirlwell and Roli Mosimann (Swans) – “violent macho American [music] made by non-Americans”. “Dirtdish” is the only full-length that the band produced.
CMJ commented on the album

Clint Ruin, the king of deathly orchestration, the man whose music dives into the deepest reaches of the condemned soul, the composer whose arrangements play pied piper to the dark side, once again teams up  with the dark industrial trudge of long-time contemporary Roli Mosimann (Swans).
Dirtdish radiates a good deal more emotional force than some of Ruin’s more recent Foetus works. The songs all build on heavy, intense tribal percussion overlayed with bits of whiney distorted guitar (leads courtesy Robert Quine on “Prime Gonzola” and “Someone Drowned In My Pool”), occasional violin and Ruin’s characteristic vocal style. Dirtdish is full of Satanic religious fervor (indulge yourself with “0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)” and “Godbrain”) that builds in an intense layered fashion that only a duo like this could pull off.

Aside from “Dirtdish”, the band also recorded a string of singles in the 80s (“Motorslug” and “Stumbo“) and 90s (“PTTM“).  “O-O (Where Evil Dwells)” from “Dirtdish” was later covered by Fear Factory – it appears on their 1998 album “Obsolete“.
Tracklist
Prime Gonzola (Sample)
O-O (Where Evil Dwells) (MP3)
Stumbo (Sample)
Godbrain (Sample)
The Fudge Punch (Sample)
Extra Tracks
Motorslug (Sample) – from “Motorslug” single
Stumbo (12″ Version) (Sample) – from “Stumbo” single
Death Rape 2000 (Sample) – from “Motorslug” single
Someone Drowned In My Pool (Sample) – Thirsty Ear 1995 reissue only. Also appeared on “Stumbo” single.
Reviews: CMJ New Music Report
Buy it: Amazon
See Also: Foetus.org | Last.fm | Wikipedia
Misc Credits
Cheeky.vg – Foetus / Steroid Maximus etc posters / flyers / other items
Music Stack – Sounds UK 1986 Cover
Videos
Motorslug | Stumbo | Fear Factory – Where Evil Dwells

Ilya S.

Recent Posts

Radio Shows // Cosmic Church of I Heart Noise – Ep. 81

EDU & JUDGITZU - Edu (Nyege Nyege Tapes) Irreversible Entanglements - Vibrate Higher (Impulse!) Henriette…

3 days ago

IHN Quarterly Reports / Q1 2026 – 20 Most Played Tracks

Any analytics nerds out there? Here's a feast for your eyes and ears prepared by…

3 days ago

Report Cards // Tinned Meats – Kilter (Pt. 1)

Time to toot that recordhorn again! Kilter, the second LP from Sheffield's Tinned…

2 weeks ago

Keshed: The Soundtrack by Stu Hennigan

Stu Hennigan is a writer, poet, editor and musician from the North of England. His…

2 weeks ago

Rants // On Further Decline of Social Media

Back in October of last year yours truly proclaimed social media dead. Caveat: its not,…

2 weeks ago

Dispatches from the Underground // April 2026 – Pt. 1

New Music Graham Dunning - Quern (Jollies Records) / New Graham Dunning mechanical techno LP…

2 weeks ago

Fatal error: Uncaught wfWAFStorageFileException: Unable to save temporary file for atomic writing. in /home/ihrtnnet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordfence/vendor/wordfence/wf-waf/src/lib/storage/file.php:34 Stack trace: #0 /home/ihrtnnet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordfence/vendor/wordfence/wf-waf/src/lib/storage/file.php(658): wfWAFStorageFile::atomicFilePutContents('/home/ihrtnnet/...', '<?php exit('Acc...') #1 [internal function]: wfWAFStorageFile->saveConfig('livewaf') #2 {main} thrown in /home/ihrtnnet/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordfence/vendor/wordfence/wf-waf/src/lib/storage/file.php on line 34