Concrete Threat — Harsh Noise Death(six tape boxset)

Concrete Threat are a shadowy and ultra-grim two piece project from Sweden who formed in 2006. And  since then have created some of the most unforgiving, bleak and nasty HNW and tar-dark black Harsh noise you’ll ever have come across. This six tape box set brings together just shy of four hours and forty minute worth of the projects rare/ out of print work from between 2007 and 2009, and to say the least it’s a very harrowing and ultra nasty experience.

The six tapes come in a grim looking over sized black vinyl box, with a close-up an x-rayed skull as the simple but highly effective grim/sinister outer artwork. Inside the box you find a box sized single inlay sheet which features black ink on black card detailing each side of tapes origin, date and original release info. Then of course we have the  six tapes themselves, which are amazingly all different lengths- so each separate release or split track fits perfectly with in the tapes boundaries. There really has been  a lot of work, time and effort put into the layout, planning and look of this item by Karl T(the man behind the great HNW label HarshFuckedForLife, and of course whose also the mind behind Audrey Hepburn obsessed HNW project Skönhet  & his two other HNW projects: Självhat and Missing Girls).

So enough about the packaging, what’s the sonic inside like I hear you ask?….well as I’ve already mentioned this is deeply dark, nasty and complete hopeless stuff. There is not one glimmer or grain of light, harmony or anything approach nice here. Mostly the box-sets tracks are fast to mid-paced, thick and bombarding low end and black caustic rumble based HNW, that just ravages and hacks away at you in a deeply nihilistic and extremely nasty manner. All of the projects work is both suffocating, sinister and murderous in it’s feel, and I don’t think I’ve come across many HNW, Harsh noise acts that mange to maintain such a stanch black/ aggressive and nasty feel in through-out all of their work.  The tracks lengths vary from around the forty five minute mark down to the ten minute mark, and  each track is as unforgiving and mainly unmoving as the next track. With each piece finding the pair forcing together either blackly  hammering, deeply rumbling,  or locked raging tones into a pitch black, suffocating and ultra bleak sonic mat of extreme wall-making. A few tracks here show more shifting and moving textures and layers with-in the thick walled setting, but these alterations to the tracks pitch black ‘walls’ are small and never deviate from the rageing/ black vibe that soaks all of the tracks here.

Even though this is extremely bleak and nasty through-out all the four hours and forty minutes of the box set, pretty much all of the tracks here are grimly and barbarically rewarding in its own right. A few of my particular favourites  moments come in the form of  the second side of tape three which is entitled “ L'Urlo Dei Morti Viventi” and this track  brings together this very deep and fast raging rumble/ hack with an highly agitated jittering train rail like tone. The twenty five minute track really does give you such a panicked, nauseating and fearful ride- bringing to mind an un-stoppable black gloved killer stalking his victim on a empty nightrain.   Or tape fours second side and the wonderfully entitled “Stone Dead(Guts Lie Scattered Across The Pavement)” which finds the pair building a near  seventeen minute track that’s an intensifying and extremely angered maelstrom of roaring ‘n’ hammering caustic drone attack, that’s seared and grazed by static battering ‘n’ screeching airless feedback screams.  Or tape six’s first side “The Pine Grove Murder” which offers up forty minutes worth of crude, muffled and fast running nasty judder bound ‘wall-making’, which as it goes on spins out great and intense wind battering and panicked sub-tones. All of which brings to mind an extremely scared victim been stalked through winter-wind battered evergreen forest by a black leather masked and gloved figure.

So “Harsh Noise Death” is one of the most hope battering, truly unforgiving and blackly nasty examples set of extreme noise you’ve ever come across( or are ever likely to come across). But is also one of the most thought-out and niecly present tape sets you’ll likely to have seen too. So if you enjoy your noise total void of light and brutal as an deranged/ frenzied killer- you better hunt this big old slice of nastiness down.