Chantal — A

Chantal is the new dense yet rolling ‘n’ sweeping Harsh noise Wall project from Netherlands based Jelle Koning, whose behind Harsh noise/ HNW project Ikodora '65, & also runs the great Harsh noise, HNW and avant grade sound label Muzikaal Kabaal. “A” is the projects first release, and it comes in the form of  a CDR that features a single just over thirty minute track.

The project is named after and themed around Jelle’s female mannequin that he owns for decoration. The CDR comes in a  paper & plastic sleeve, and this features a black ‘n’ white picture of an unknown teenage girl that Jelle found on the web.

The single track with-in is built around a slightly muffled yet dense mass of rumbling ‘n’ juddering noise- the here ‘wall’  sounds feels quite like blunt & brutally planed, with an oddly soothing yet very dense & thick  feel to it's structure. Though-out the tracks just over thirty minute runtime Koning subtle rolls ‘n’ sweeps in layers of new rumble ‘n’ juddering giving the ‘wall’ a feeling of a vast & slow tidal like mass of sound. There are great peaks & dips with-in the 'walls' structure, though the dense yet muffled mass of noise never really dissipates or thins.

I’ll have to admit I was a little underwhelmed by the one & only Ikodora '65 release I heard in the past, but I’m very, very taken with this release and have found myself playing it over & over again. It’s always nice to be surprised & impressed by unknown names in the HNW field, and that’s exactly what Chantal has done. I very much look forward to hearing the next thing this project does, and I strongly recommend wall-heads to pick up this great release.