Burial Ground — Critters
Before we tuck into the ‘walls’ themselves we must talk about the packaging for this set, as it’s extremely neat- each of the four CDR’s comes in its own double sided & colour slip sleeve- these each take in miniature front & back recreations of the original VHS for each of the four films. These come stuffed inside a black fabric slip- which features screen printed on the front with the projects name, and the releases title. All but the first CDR feature splatters on neon paint, and you also get a color inlay- featuring a plastic slip sleeve, a hand number, and another Critter picture. The release appeared in June of this year in a edition of 25 copies, and I’m sure these will not hang around long- as this project has quite a cult following.
Each disc here features a single track, and each of these comes in around the five & a half minute mark. As you may expect with film-themed ‘walls’ each track takes in a sample from each of the films, and these are fairly short, sharp & funny.
So first up on the first disc we have “Critters”- after the 20-second sample we’re into ‘wall’- this is a blend juddering almost harmonic roar, a bed of crust-bound rattle & jitter, with a backdrop of cluttering roast. The central roar has quite a drifting hum to it, and this is creating the almost sustained harmonic quality to the whole thing. For the most part, the tracks fairly fixed in its structure- though in the last minute all the elements nicely start to drift & fade apart in a most effective manner. On the whole this first track certainly optimizers the brutal-yet- campy air of the first film- it’s just a pity it’s over so soon.
Onto disc two and we, of course, have “Critters 2”- once again we get another just over thirty-second sample, then we’re into the ‘wall’ meat. This time we get three, possibly four layers of rapid & roasting noise grain sustain- these run between rushing low-end, more gritty & thin static sear, and spinning hissing. As the track progresses it seems as if first one layer, then the next is coming to the front of the ‘wall’- but I’m not sure if this is a ‘wall’ illusion, or it’s actually happening. I guess this track is a little less distinctive than the first, but as a just over five-minute slice of ‘wall’ disorientating it works extremely well.
Moving onto disc number three and we get “Critters 3”. After the 30 second sample, we’re in- and this time we have a blend a crisp rushing & slightly feasting noise, which is underfed by this faint, and at times fading rolling drone. One mind keeps trying to follow the drone as it fades, and this nicely pulls you deeper into top layer- seemingly there is some shifts here in the fairly set map of the rushing & feasting textures, and this takes in tightening then losing, and pattern shifts- but again this could all be a llusion of the wall. Whichever it is I really enjoyed this wall, and it’s effective blend of mysterious & allusive drone, and mesh of feast ‘n’ rushing static. And again I really could have listened to this for easily another half-an-hour, possibly longer
Lastly we, of course, have disc four, and “Critters 4”- and this of course was the point in the series where the fur & teeth bound aliens go into space. Once again we get a sample and this ones a little longer at just over the minute mark…but directly after to it we’re in ‘wall’ country…and boy is this a searing attack of a ‘wall’. It’s built around a very rapid low-end rocket like rush- this is surrounded by smaller sub-tones, which take in different pace jitters, sustained rushers, and agitated rolls. The tracks switchers between manic thickness & more pared back- through the whole thing does end in a rather uneven dyeing rush. I certainly like the idea of this track, and the textures used do summon up rocket thrusters, space drones, etc- though it does feel a little muddled in places.
In summing up this four-disc set- it’s certainly great to have new Burial Ground material, and for the most part all of these ‘walls’ a pretty good/ great, aside from the issues I mentioned. Also, the packaging is really some very neat, and hats off to Serious Business for going the extra mile with this. So I’m looking forward to hear what Burial Ground do next, and I will keep my eye out for more creative looking releases from the label.