Burial Hex / Iron Fist of the Sun — Actaeon / Grown Under English Ice
Wisconsin’s finest purveyor of death industrial and dark ambience, Burial Hex (aka Clay Ruby), heads up the A side with two early Industrial, ritual works. As mentioned on the label write-up, these ‘conceptual’ pieces are made up of primarily acoustic instrumentation, harking back to earlier forms of Industrial – ‘without using amplification or electronically generated sounds’ all the while infusing the finished compositions with unsettling, esoteric ambience, hinting at some malevolent force which is working in tune with the artist. On the flip side we have four tracks from Birmingham’s very own Iron Fist of the Sun, having been active since 2007; IFOTS (aka Lee Howard) has rapidly become a well-known figure within the UK noise and power electronics scene, his raw, back to basics approach offers up a refreshing change to the usual fare, the project itself acting as an outlet to Howards more nihilistic tendencies.
‘The Coming of War’ the first piece from Burial Hex give you no time for contemplation from the outset, assaulting your senses with Ruby’s disparate and tortured vocals over layers of sheet metal noise and distant, subsonic rumblings, filling the track with a dark and malevolent spirit. Mid-way through ‘The Coming of War’ the intense noise and screams fade away as a demonic growl Is heard, the tracks base parts are hinted at way off in the distance, before the piece breaks into an almost calming and reflective synth-line which plays the track out… a truly unsettling journey. ‘Act Aeon’ follows a similar path, this time the vocals are taken out of the mix and the sounds of clanging metal and guttural croaks intertwine with low bass tones that envelope you in an almost disturbing way, hallucinatory passages that slowly begin to collapse in on itself, until the whole piece is lost amidst some dark, cosmic splendor.
Iron Fist of the Sun’s offerings are dedicated to ‘betrayers of family, faith and country’, the first of which, ‘This Man Will Glow / Two Circles of Salt’ kicks in with a constantly warping analogue squelch that hypnotically grounds the entire piece as Howard’s vocals add a feeling of despair, creating an almost cathartic atmosphere. Intensely high pitched noise filters through the various layers, obnoxious and unrelenting as the whole piece slowly becomes more and more fragmented, the vocals becoming all the more maddening as the opener draws to a close. ‘Hessianmud’ bases itself around a very simple, repetitive analogue sequence, coupled with Howards skewed and filtered vocals, acting as a short interlude before the onset of a heavy bass hum signifies the start of ‘The 5th Wife’, following a very similar pattern to what came before it. ‘Grown under Ice’ acts as a perfect closer, wave after wave of analogue tones and heavily processed vocals finally degrade and disperse under a wall of noise and despair. A great, albeit relatively short, release from Cold Spring, make sure you get your mitts on a copy, especially if you are fan of old school PE and truly dark atmospherics