Bachir Gemayel / Terminal Erection — Odium
The two tapes come in a suitable grim small black plastic bag, with a simple black text on white label listing the sets title and the abbreviated project names. Inside the bag along with tapes are four card inserts which feature the tracks lay-out on one card, and on the other three crudely and over dark photo-copied pictures.
On the first side of tape one we have Bachir Gemayel solo track that’s entitled “Natural Hate”. The track starts out with this very harsh, barren and looped scraping ‘n’ screeching metal meets wind torn mixture of tones, and as the track goes on more layers of billowing ‘n’ buffeting roars and slow monition rips are added to build thickness & weight of sound. By the two minute mark the whole structure of the track starts been attacked by huge judders that threatening to tear the track to silence, but never do. Moving into just over the three minute mark it suddenly explodes into a storm battered wall of noise textures that violent rip, swirl and tear around your ears. The remainder of the track see’s Chami pulling you through sound landscape of brutal ‘n’ thick noise matter that takes in: banks of hammering static rain, juddering static storms and battering ‘n’ roaring wind attacks. The tracks a great start to the set, and it really does rip ‘n’ roar by at a very brutal yet entertaining pace.
Over to side two and we find the first collaborative track which is entitled “White”. This starts out with a very thick, deep and chugging/ juddering mass of noise tones which literal smashing straight into your sonic sensors like atom bomb going off again and again- but for all it’s intensity there’s a real strange beauty to this brutality as you keep getting traces of eerier reverberating roaring echo just at the edges of the track. As the track moves into it’s fourth minute the noise storm gets more detailed and shifting in it’s tonalities as roars meet descending deep hammerings and slight touches of higher pitched sears. The rest of the twenty minute track sees the pair build and wonderful brutal & twisting maelstrom of thick and crushing noise- I guess you’d call this track more wallish harsh Noise, then just active HNW.
So onto the second tape on it’s first side we find another collaborative track which is entitled “Mors Omnia Solvit”. This track slices in with this really intense grating steel tone that's slowly over-taken by the billowing and slightly juddering roar. This start brings to mind the sound of a huge muilt-train pile-up/ crash been played out in semi slow-motion. By the two and a half minute mark the grating element has disappeared and a mid-pace chug ,bash and bolder pelting ‘wall’ of thick noise tone has taken control. It feels like you been buried under tons & tons of falling boulders as a mountain avalanche engulfs you. Mid-way through the tracks more shifting pace and movement starts to kick in, but it never streachers too much from it’s original train crash meets avalanche attack. This is my favourite of the two collaborative tracks here, as the pair seem to be so in-tune with each other to complete devastate yet entrance the listener.
So onto the last side of the second side and we have the Terminal Erection solo track which is called “Eternal”. This track smashes straight in with a very fast, thick and roaring chopping feel, meets a sea storm ripping attack. It literal smasher you over like a set of bowling pins. As the track moves on Vinciguerra keeps it thick, punishing and unforgiving, yet he nicely picks out more raging, tearing and surging tonalities along the way too. Also under the thick noise storm is rapidly tolling church bell that can be heard ever so often, which gives the track quite eerier and barren undertones. I guess it brings to mind tales of cites that have been engulfed by the sea, and on very stormy nights the town bell can still be heard chiming from it’s murky sea grave. This is certainly the most rewarding and consistent track I’ve heard from Terminal Erection project and it’s a great end to this great split/collaborative set.
So “Odium” offers up two great collaborative tracks and two great solo tracks- really you couldn’t ask for more!. I look forward to future collaborations between these two.