Carrion Black Pit — If These Walls Could Talk

Brazil’s Carrion Black Pit returns for a new micro release on Lorenzo Nascitari’s imprint Claustrophilia. This 3” CD-r entitled “If These Walls Could Talk,” contains a single track of very “human” sounding HNW. For those unfamiliar, CBP is the moniker of Elias C. (also of Sleep of Ages and EXU) who hails from São Paulo, Brazil. CPB is known for creating horror-themed HNW/ANW, but personally I’ve always been drawn to an inexplicable natural/earthy quality that feels present in the walls Elias produces.

The art is effective, displaying broken up earth’s crust on the front and a bleak looking wall on back. There also appears to be some line art of a laughing skull on back. The art and disc are housed in a miniature plastic shell. It’s limited to a mere 25 copies and the good money says that it is likely long gone by now. (The release can now be downloaded from the labels bandcamp page here)

The single track on this disc runs about 21 minutes and the title is rather fitting, because this wall kind of does talk. The tracks start with what sounds like a deep, vocal gurgle. The gurgle becomes layered with another sound that resembles a sputtering engine. The vocal layer is really disconcerting, and truthfully makes me feel slightly paranoid. It’s as if someone is peering at me very closely from behind. Just when you think the wall is going to remain static through the track’s end, a gargling sound displaces the machinery sounding layer. The vocally produced layer then varies up between some deep guttural humming and other gurgles of varied speed and tempo. I’m starting to think this whole piece might’ve been solely made using human sounds. Generally, wall noise has meditative effect on me, but I’m having some adverse reactions to this piece. It’s certainly a unique track, and quite different from anything I’ve ever heard from the HNW genre.

This was a difficult piece to listen to. It was unsettling and tapped into something in my psyche that really made me uncomfortable. That said, I don’t think art, whether it be sound or visual, should necessarily be a pleasant experience. It should challenge us. To that extent I think this is very successful disc. It definitely pushed my boundaries, but I enjoyed the challenge.