Flesh Coffin — Horror Vacui

Aaltra Records presents Horror Vacui by Norwegian experimental noise project Flesh Coffin. To my delight I discover that Flesh Coffin is another project by Andreas Brandal, whose album Turning Point I glowingly reviewed a couple weeks ago. That album had a very dark cinematic sound to it, almost like a stripped down Goblin or Tangerine Dream. Flesh Coffin or the other hand is a different beast altogether. There are certainly some commonalities between the two projects, however Brandal’s work on Horror Vacui is far more sonically grounded in the harsh noise idiom.

The packaging and layout are nothing special. The j-card is on glossy paper with a black and white image of a centipede and a couple of obscured young lads. The cassette is a black shell with no labels. Comes with a 1” button. The tape is limited to 50 copies and according to the label website only 2 copies remain.

The framework of Horror Vacui consists of tape loops, field recordings, metal junk rustling/rumbling, synth, eerie atmospherics, and plenty of crispy static for good measure. The two tracks that fill this 20 minute cassette are simply titled Horror Vacui I and II, which makes sense because both pieces sound like a contiguous entry. Likely, the track was split into 2 parts for the length of the cassette as they sound very similar. This didn’t bother me in the slightest and they work just as well as stand alone pieces.

Side A starts with some gritty loops of rustling junk. It kind of sounds like rain drops hitting a tin roof. From there Brandal commences to layer synth and other dronier elements. The pacing is spot on and Brandal really knows when to let one sound end and another begin. There’s a real tension that builds and some added harsher electronics are just the icing on the cake. The overall sounds is really scummy (which I love) and Brandal manages to strike a good balance between the harsh and quieter...drone elements.

Side B picks up very much where the first track left off. The primary difference between this track and the former is the junk noise loops really take center stage. The synths don’t really seem as present giving way to primitive sounds of stressed metal, moving and churning. There’s definitely moments where this piece sounds like a piece of industrial machinery grinding and pummeling along.

I could listen to this tape all day (I’ve already spun it 6 times in a row). Overall this is a very strong release. A great blend of harsh noise, junk metal, tape loops, and synths galore. I’m really excited to check out more of Brandal’s handiwork.