Casket At The Altar / Dim Dusk Moving Gl — Curse Of The Baphomet
On tape A we have the mysterious and secretive bible belt based project Casket at The Altar who started in 2009, and that’s about all that is know about them. The project offers up a ten minute track per side of tape. On side one we have “Weak From Plague” which starts out with this billowing almost tribal tone ‘n’ caustic droning mix's that's eerier, primal, brutal and grim. At around the two and a half minute mark these slowly swirling/ prime evil sounding harmonic guitar textures start to hover and seer over the top of the track surface in malevolent and satanic powerful manner. As the track progresses these texture get more powerful and more pressing with their evil intent taking on black psychedelic wow wow edger’s here ‘n’ there. The track builds to a great swirling and powerful demonic crescendo, and in your minds eye you can almost see a evil rite in a 70’s satanic movie reaching it’s fevered and bloody peak .
And on side two we have “A Shallow Soul Gone Astray” which starts out with a huge advancing cloud of delay tone with turns into alternating mixture of: shredding, demonic galloping or rumbling, caustic droning noise sustains ‘n’ brutal pan-outs that move with eerier reverb treated voices and atmospheric texturing- in all feels like a suitable pained and low-fi descent to hell it self.
Tape B is taken up by Baltimore's Dim Dusk Moving Gloom(which is all the work of Justin Marc Lloyd who has numerous projects, and also runs the Rainbow Bridge tape/ cdr label). On offer on this tape are three tracks in all- with two on side one and one on side two. Starting off the first side we have “A Wall Of Razors” which comes in just shy of the six and a half minute mark. It finds Lloyd creating this grating ‘n’ searing mesh of piercing noise pitch's and rapid ‘n’ muffled trails of guitar noise texture- it’s a passable enough track that brings to mind manic and enraged satanic sacrifice. Also on side A we have the near on three minutes of “Neurological Dissonance” which is built around seared yet very evil sounding guitar harmonics and rising high pitched noise tones. The track has this great eerier ‘n’ creepy evil organ or flute like drone running through it that gives this great feeling of coming down scared from a drug hazed 60’s orgy and satanic ceremony and not really knowing where(or even who) you really are. It’s a really pity he couldn’t have made this track longer, as it’s got much more going for it than the first track.
Side B is taken up by “Psychoanalytic Retox” which is built around a dense, seared and grating harmonic mix of guitar textures, noise roars ’n’ drones, and swirling prime evil toned higher pitched noise tones. Near the mid-way point in the track this feasting ‘n’ creepy electronic element isadded in to the mixture, but really not enough is made of these elements and the track soon drifts into slightly controlled chaos again. Sure the track bays, screams and swoops around you like a 'called -up' mischievous demon, but again it’s just a passable mesh of noise textures and guitar tones. It just rather lacks the needed satanic or demonic singed harmonic texturing of the other tracks, and it also outstays its welcome are near on the ten minute mark.
So an interesting satanic and noise seared split with Casket at The Altar tape being the most consistent of the two projects, though the Dim Dusk Moving Gloom tape does have it’s moments of greatness too.