Brume + Vomir — UNstable

This collaboration comes on starkly presented vinyl: the artists’ names on the front cover, in black on grey, and the very barest of information on the back cover - and that’s that. Continuing this theme, there’s one track per side of vinyl; with the first piece called ‘UNstable pt. 1’, and the second, ‘UNstable pt. 2’ - both pieces clocking in at exactly seventeen minutes. Thus the presentation is pitched somewhere between the ‘usual’ Vomir fare, and perhaps a more austere electro-acoustic work - which is where the album lies sonically, too.

Its unclear precisely how the album was created, but my ears (plus the label website spiel) suggest that perhaps Vomir sent Brume some wall noise, which has then been processed and shaped by the latter into the release we are presented with. Die-hard Vomir fans may well be horrified, so stop reading now… In the most simple terms, the album combines electro-acoustic work - with a definite ‘post-industrial’ feel - with sections of static HNW. I suspect you can guess who contributed what. Thus, ‘UNstable pt. 1’ begins with rhythmic whining, interspersed with galloping clicks, breaths and gurgles - its almost like a Schimpfluch supergroup, with G*Park manipulating Rudolf Eb.er. The overall sound is definitely sparse, with noisier elements emerging as the track progresses; but its really about halfway through, before ‘proper’ stabs of wall noise break in. These stabs open out into a full wall, for the last third of the piece; proceeded by some crescendos of processed static. Once this wall is established, it’s blasphemously cut into, with synth tones and processing; before the track ends in a high-pitched, whining drone. ‘UNstable pt. 2’ treads much the same path - even starting with a similar whine - though its perhaps noisier than the first track. The wall sections are more frequent (as usual, they adhere to Vomir’s standards of crust and filth) and are interspersed with passages of gnarled drone, constructed from computer noise - and often underpinned by buried static noise. As well as being noisier, its also more colourful; with Brume (we presume) throwing squeaking metals, backwards cymbals and processed speech into the mix.

This is a really enjoyable record, and an interesting one at that. Frankly, its the first Vomir release, that I’ve come across, that strays from his established sound and ‘ideology’. If it was titled as Brume remixing Vomir, the get-out clause would be there; but, billed as a collaboration (of some description), it does stick out in his discography. I won’t pretend to know every Vomir release - and indeed, my memory suggests he has collaborated with someone from Etants Donnes - but regardless, its a very unusual release to have his name on. Truth be told, the wall elements of the album are perhaps overshadowed (aesthetically, and in terms of quantity) by the more electro-acoustic parts. These are inventive, without being hard-boiled or obtuse; and plough quite a straight furrow, without recourse to stereo-field jumps or the overdoing of reverb - indeed, I think its only near the end of the second piece that any reverb becomes noticeable. So, a good record; though one that lovers of the traditional (nay, ‘standard’) Vomir sound might find sacrilegious: the cuts into one of the wall sections seem curiously symbolic, in that regard.