Damien De Coene — DWI

Damien De Coene is a Spanish based sound creator & artist- who over the last year or so has made a name for himself creating  terminally bleak drone matter(under the name of Charles Razeur), walled noise, and stark monochrome artwork that has adorned releases from the likes of Vomir, Eugene Critchley( Cory Strands ultra-bleak drone/ HNW project), and others.  DWI is the first of series of self-released C60 tapes- that features hand-drawn artwork, and a sound that sits somewhere between very grim drone matter & pared-back walled noise.

The clear shelled cassette comes in a clear tape case- this features hand drawn tape artwork, that takes in a selection of stark shapes, layers of textured scribble, and grouped lines- all giving that familiarly bleak De Coene style. This first vol is ltd to 15 copies, and I believe each features different & distinctive artwork.

Each side of tape takes in a single thirty-minute track- and both sides are as terminally bleak as each other. The best of De Coene's sonic work is when he focuses in on simplistic- yet extremely entrancing structures that simmer with his own brand of starkness, and that’s what we get here. The first sides track is made up of a constantly rolling rumble- this is edged by juddering-to- lightly hacking sub-tones, and this distant dead air hissing- together these elements create a very grey womb-like feel. The track is mastered low- so if you’re trying to playback it on your PC (via the projects bandcamp) - you’ll need head-phones, or you won’t really hear anything. But playing the tape back on a good stereo is ideal, as you can literally curl up by the speakers letting the truly desolate tones sink deep into both your flesh & bone-marrow.

Flipping over to the second side, and this seems to pare things back even more- with a track that finds a blend of losing barren nub like rubbings, and sustained white-ed out  hissings. This track feels like you’ve have been shrunk down, and are slowly gliding down in a dazed unending state  inside some strand of organic matter- be it slimy grass shoot, or bulbous & slightly deformed root network. The key rubbing has a nicely lose-yet- consistent quality to it, while at times it feels like the hiss is slowly invading both your skin & brain. This most certainly is sound texturing at its most sparse & primal- yet you can clearly hear that De Coene has worked, and sonically tooled the elements for maximum mournfully drifting effect.

De Coene's sound worlds and art are certainly not for everyone, I think you have to enjoy dwelling in wholly despondent & focused grimness to truly enjoy what he’s doing here- which thankful I do. If you're after complex & cleverly textured noise or detailed static sonic art- this won’t be for you, but if you enjoy slowly simmering, subtly arty, & grey descents into abyss within us all- then I believe you’ll get something from DWI. Head here to find out more about this release, and De Cone's other work