Butchwife — Chronic Nausea

Butchwife is a London-based project that’s been active since 2023. It releases either no inputting/ glitching edged harsh noise, or walled noise. This two-track digital release sits firmly in the second category.

The release takes in two around sixteen-minute tracks- so I guess you’ll categorise it as an EP, or a short LP. Cover artwork wise we get dense mesh of brows, yellows, and greens- with one or two tube like shapes mixed in- so taking in mind the title it looks like cross section of shit dense fatberg. The album can be found here

Up first is “Chronic Nausea1” here we find a dense weave of constantly purring bass-bound drone, and this rushing mix of jittering and juddering static. The purring bass element is most effective/distinct, as it kind of blurs/hazes around the edges- this creates a feeling of woozy dissonating, which is rimmed with a feeling of sleazy disquiet.

Next is “Chronic Nasuse 2”. This brings together a more formal/ normal sounding bass roll- with a weave of fizzing/ choppy static on top. This ‘wall’ is fine, though after the first track, it feels a little bit of a letdown/ disappointment.

So, in conclusion, Chronic Nausea is very much a game of two halves- with a great/ impressive first half, then a somewhat run-of-the-mill second half. Always good to see UK acts appearing in the scene, and I hope we get to hear more wall work from the project in the near future.