Å — Troglodyte
This release comes in the form of C35 tape, with the all-clear tape shell enclosed in a black ink on black card sleeve which has a macabre ancient gave drawing like picture on it. Also featured is murky red, orange & grey inlay card.
The first sides untitled track starts out with a churning ‘n’ coldly swirling mass of cruel billowing, stark droning, and chillingly wind like noise texturing- all of this creates a murky & freezing muffled mass of tone which wraps it’s self around you. As the track moves towards it’s five minute mark, the tones here seem to start to get a little more firm & defined in there feeling; yet it’s still all very chilling & stark, yet wrapping & engulfing in it’s intent. Towards the twenty minute mark things do get a bit more whipping & ragging, through still with a very muffled & chilled veneer. I can certainly see what Å is trying to attain here- a sort of washed out ‘n’ chillingly feeling of pure sonic nihilism, and yes it is effective to start with, but for me at just under the thirty two minute mark it just felt too long, too vague, & too undefined to keep my attention though-out.
The second sides track really follows direct on from the first sides track with another dense submersion in stark, freezing, and muffled textural churning white-out. This track once again started off ok, but then rather quickly nose dives into bland monotony, and really rather un-entrance tone submersion. The ‘wall’ is built around a very bland & washed out mix of descending fixed judder, bleak snow storm roar, and some slight sub-tone reverberation. There are a few subtle shifts along the ‘walls’ way, but sadly none of these really improve things
I guess if you take the whole focused nihilism of what true ‘n’ hopeless walled noise is meant to about you will get something like “Troglodyte", and ‘yes’ both sides here are truly resolute examples of bone chilling sonic hopelessness. But for me there still has to be something that pulls me into the ‘wall’ & makes me want to stay there for any length of time, and sadly neither of these ‘walls’ posses that quality. I really tried to like this release as I’ve enjoyed, and respected this projects past work, but I’m afraid to say there is nothing entrancing, memorable or enjoyable about this release, and I certainly can’t see me wanting to ever to return to it again.