Abyzm /Toxic Bliss — Untitled
Both CDR’s come in a single clear plastic slip sleeve, with the cover been a fairly lo-fi black & white affair that takes in fairly rudimentary line drawing that maps out a selection of abstract interlocking shapes.
The first disc takes in three tracks from Abyzm- this project has been active since 2013, releasing a steady body of work which takes in more than a few split releases, stand alone releases, and digital downloads. This disc is entitled “Artefacts”, and the three tracks are named Part one-through to part three. Each of the tracks fall between a running time of twenty one to twenty four minutes each, and I guess you’d say each track utilizes fairly similar textural mixture of low-end rumblings with juddering & thinner crackling top crusts. Part One opens with a minute or so of just dense yet washed-out static crackle textural matting, then fairly soon a fixed deep & taut juddering is added to the proceedings- these two elements weave out a fairly fixed & unmoving mesh of tonal extremes. The textures used here are not particular original or creative, yet they do manage to keep your attention for the tracks run time.
Part two is sequenced directly in from the first track, and this brings together a very taut & tense earth rumble, with a fixed matt of jittering & airless static crackle- the low end tone really bores deep into your head, while the static topping adds a nice crisp yet airless feeling to the proceedings. The low end is fixed, but the static texturing seemingly has a little shift in it; but that could of course just be a trick of the ‘wall’.
So lastly with Part three we find a meeting of constricted & thinner low end engine like purr, and a crisper layer of thinner jittering. Of all the three ‘walls’ here I’d say this is my favourite as it’s quite subtle in it’s taut droning feel, yet your mind really gets sucked into the mix of the two textures.
So moving onto disc two, and we have the Toxic Bliss side of the release, and this features two tracks that come in over the thirty minute mark. This project started in 2012, and has amassed coming on for 40 CDR releases- behind the project is one Mitchell Rotunno, who has seemingly been making noise since around 2007, and his most recent project is The Ebony Tower, which themes most of it’s work around works of literature. This disc is entitled “A Link Between”, and the tracks are called Part one & Part two. Part One brings a tightly weaved matt of a lower-to mid range textures- there’s a billowing ‘n’ swirling low end, a rapid locked scraping, and a few crisper jittering sub-tones. On the whole this track is quite appealing, and the way the textures have been sewn together into such a taut mesh makes for fairly entrancing listening.
Part Two brings together a fairly similar selection of noise tones from the first track, but this time the ‘wall’ seems a bit more washed-out & static hazed in its feel. In it’s second half there are a few more rumbling ‘n’ tearing textural elements appearing in the mix, along with a slight more agitated vibe- but these don’t really move too far from the tracks originally setting. The tracks ok, I guess but for me it did'nt feel there was enough different about it compared to the first track…so really this is most effective when played separately from the first track, as together they just feel too samey for their own good.
So all told this is a rewarding enough split- neither disc is really mid blowing or overtly creative in either it’s selection of textures or the way they are weave together, but there’s enough here to keep the season wall-head entranced.