A Lizard In A Woman's Skin — Hanging Cold In The Cellar
Hanging Cold In The Cellar is a C30/digital download of dense, searing, and detailed walled noise with a Giallo theme. A Lizard In A Woman's Skin is one of the less active projects of respected and influential US noisemaker Richard Ramirez- this release is it’s first full-length release since 2016- and what we have here is a wonderful densely feasting & detailed example of the wall noise genre played by one the innovators/ masters of the form.
I’m reviewing the digital version of the release- so I can’t comment on what the cassette is like- other than the cover is a recreation of the classic Giallo papersbacks, with a yellow backdrop- on top of this we have red & black minimal texts, within it’s middle a red lined circle taking in a picture of a brick wall with a noose in front. As present, the label still have copies- and theses still available from Mr. Ramirez Bandcamp here
On the digital version of the release, we get just a single thirty-minute – but of course on the tape its split in two. What we have here is an extremely dense wall- that is both feasting & grainy rushing – it’s built around a blend of fixed rolling like drone, a knocking sort of ice like skating tone & grainy shifts. As we move towards the last quarter we get more defined tight & tense juddering, gritty static sweeps ‘n’ bays, and even the occasional higher pitch grates & sways. The whole thing does bring to mind the tight and claustrophobic feeling of been trapped in cold & dank cellar filled with spider webs, grimy dust, murky discoloured bottles and maybe even a lurking black-gloved killer.
I do hope we get some more new A Lizard In A Woman's Skin material sooner than another four years , as I’m a sucker Giallo themed wall-craft. Hanging Cold In The Cellar is a great slice of wall-making that's balanced between skilful textural building, subtle manipulation, and of course nice eerie atmospheric undertones.