Astro / Creation Through Destruction — Split
Hiroshi Hasegawa aka Astro is a veteran of the Japanese noise scene, founding member of legendary group C.C.C.C. and also active as Mortal Vision. This live set recorded in Philippines in 2010 is just what is to be expected from him: a powerful cascade of psychedelic and noisy synth. Astro's synth manipulation here is especially "liquid" and spacey and the mass of synths droning, buzzing and chirping is a total bliss. Blasts of microphone feedback occasionally taint the stream of psychedelic electronics, until the standard harsh noise contact microphone + distortion combination comes up in the mix for a final and nasty blow. The quality of sound is pretty good and clear, and the live vibe is kept intact. It's great stuff as usual!
Creation Through Destruction is the brainchild of Dr. Alex from Serbia, also known for his work as Dead Body Collection. Although he's alone on this tape I remember that C.T.D. was a two-man band until a few years ago, mainly dedicated to the worship of Japanese noise master MSBR. In this untitled track C.T.D. revel in a constant, wallish noise rumble rich with frequent but delicate variations. It's simple, brutal and it sounds a bit like an American harsh noise tape from the nineties. Indeed this track reminds me more of Werewolf Jerusalem than of Japanese-influenced harsh noise. Some high pitch microphone feedback surfaces after a while but it keeps quite low in the mix, engulfed by the big mass of white noise and crackle. Obviously I can't complain about this kind of stuff.
As you can imagine I enjoyed this split tape, and the Martian pictures used in the artwork make it even better. Highly recommended to all fans of harsh noise.