Extreme Chafing — Epidermal Nevi, Neoplasms, & Cysts

Here’s another release from the prolific Altar Of Waste, presented, as ever, with laboured over artwork and packaging. I say ‘another release’, but this is actually rather old: it’s catalogued as AOW 154, and the latest release is AOW 378… Anyway, ‘Epidermal Nevi, Neoplasms, & Cysts’ arrives across three discs; all decorated, like the inlay and booklet, with pinkish, medical imagery of cells - very striking and deceptively simple. The thirty-three tracks are all named with medical terms, to a level that Carcass would be proud of. Particular favourites include: ‘Lichen Planus’, ‘Marjolin’s Ulcer’, ‘Giant Solitary Trichoepithelioma’, ‘Squamous Cell Carcinoma’, and, tied for first place, ‘Ciliated Cyst Of The Vulva’ and ‘Epidermolytic Acanthoma Of The Scrotum’. The release straddles the worlds of Harsh Noise and Harsh Noise Wall, sometimes falling into an unrewarding spot between the two.

The three discs contain eleven, ten, and twelve works, respectively; with all tracks jumping straight into each other, without gaps between. This creates a great collage feel to the album, but also, unfortunately, highlights the somewhat homogeneous nature of much of the material. There’s a common thread to structures, but also sounds. In the simplest terms, the bulk of the pieces are built around a wall (or wall-like) texture; which is then tweaked, or augmented, or left to run. Often, these pieces have loops buried in them, or electronic sounds - most likely synths or circuit-bent devices. On ‘Birt–Hogg–Dubé Syndrome’, from the first disc, these sounds almost resemble animal calls; in fact, they reappear on the last disc, on ‘Actinic Keratosis’, with added rhythmic bleeps. ‘Inverted Follicular Keratosis’ (disc two), begins with a frenzied casio scrabble, coupled with farting, bassy noise; with the rest of the piece being punctuated by bursts of noise and a definite casio ‘tune’ trying to break through. If I’m honest, most of these pieces fall into that ‘unrewarding spot’, that I mentioned above. This is compounded by many of them sharing a common, ‘washy’ quality to their textures - if I’m again honest, these aren’t textures that normally set me alight. However, the tracks which lean more strongly towards Harsh Noise, or where the Harsh Noise Wall elements are more powerful, are more convincing for me. ‘Eccrine Carcinoma’ is a very satisfying, bass driven wall; obliterating buried audio materials, with exquisite high-mid fizz on it. ‘Giant Solitary Trichoepithelioma’ smothers singing electronic abuse under a truly stinging wall: fast moving, scourging bass, and harsh, high-mid crackle; whilst ‘Extramammary Paget Disease’ builds a chunky, near-crumbly wall from mangled, melodic material. On the second disc, ‘Epithelioma Cuniculatum’ is a blaring, blasting wall; a really aggressive, rampage of mid-heavy dirt. The second track on the last disc, ‘Marjolin's Ulcer’, is another blast; built around a speeding bass stomp and scrape, with a jittery, high-mid scuff that’s quite beautiful. Standing apart from these, are several tracks which push further into Harsh Noise territory, often in a psychedelic manner. The obvious example is ‘Erythroplasia Of Queyrat’, which begins as an echoing drone, adorned with flickering noise and a low-end rumble. This piece then passes through sections with looping guitar, outbursts of synth, shrill noise bursts, vocal chants, and a passage best described as sounding like massed trains braking. It’s not exactly a scorched earth, cut-up assault; but carries enough flux and jolt to keep the interest. Elsewhere, ‘Ichthyosis Hystrix’ is built on reverberating feedback, before vocals enter later, heavily processed; it generates a convincingly blown-out, psychedelic atmosphere. Two tracks on the second disc have unusual, psyche-y qualities to them, as well. The first, ‘Epidermolytic Acanthoma Of The Scrotum’, is a fast, subdued wash of a wall; but on some listens to it, I became aware of an odd, tremeloed stutter to it, as well as intermittent bass thuds and water ripples. I’m still not sure if these are audio hallucinations, or if, in fact, the track is indeed built around water sounds. The second, ‘Epidermoid Cyst’, has a rhythmic element to it, that after a while becomes akin to a breathing sensation: it’s strangely affecting and intense.

This is clearly a mixed bag, which is a blessing and a curse. It is an expansive release, with track lengths ranging from just over ninety seconds to past sixteen minutes, and it covers a fair amount of territory. At it’s best, it really is very good indeed; at it’s worst… it’s not so great. Most of the tracks which combine washy walls with added, non-wall elements, just don’t do much for me. Though ‘Dermal Cylindroma’, with its eerie looping, is quite nice: like the workings of a clock buried under a bed of hiss. There are also a few points where the wash becomes all-out assault, and that does work: the penultimate track, ‘Proliferating Epidermal Cyst’, buries a loop of snatched electronics under a truly harsh white-out. But, for the most part, the pieces which sound strongest are the ones which are either dominated by grittier wall elements, or push out into more psychedelic, Harsh Noise areas. Both these paths seem to offer more potential for Extreme Chafing. So, it is a mixed bag, but the effective parts are definitely deserving of your ears.