Grand Goat Glorification — Witch Black Milk
Near the start of this year I reviewed my first taste of this projects work- the 2016 CDR release Demoicum, and sadly that particular release stood as one of the least inspired, clichéd & bland walled releases in recent memory. So when this release rolled into M[m]’s offices I really wasn’t expecting much at all, but I’m happy to report Witch Black Milk is a big improvement on Demoicum- the used textures, their blend is rewarding enough & unlike Demoicum the ‘walls’ do fit the themes of the project
The release appears on Stockholm based noise label Ominous Recordings, who in the last year or so have become one of the main labels releasing HNW on a fairly regular basis. The plain black cassette comes in a single sided monochrome sleeve- this takes in a selection of murky pictures of naked women & skulls. The release came in an edition of twenty copies, and as of this review, there are still copies left.
The tracks are simply titled I & II, and each takes in spot-on thirty minutes of pummelling ‘n’ battering walled noise. So first up we, of course, have “I” this track opens with a horror film sample of some church organ & a women’s voice saying something about an anointed soul. Then within less than a minute, we’re into the ‘wall’- this is a rapid-yet-fairly lose affair. It blends together continually pelting shower of murky low-end tumble ‘n’ buffet, with slight more spiteful ‘n’ splattering jittering. The whole thing feels very grimy & sloppy in its feel, and the ‘wall’ does manager to summon on images of grainy filmed occult rituals carried out with sleazy ‘n’ thrusting intent.
Over onto side two & we have "II", and once again we get another brief old horror movie sample- this features some female moaning & more dramatic female speaking about a ritual. With-in a minute the ‘wall’s kicked in & once again it’s a fairly loose-yet-rapid affair. It features a mix of beaded low-end churning, with a selection of crisper static patterns that blend together skating, slicing, and jittering textures. I guess it’s fairly close in tone range & feel to the first track, though maybe a little more urgent & less sloppy in its intent. If side one's track was the beginnings of the ritual, this is more prolonged & frenzied end.
It’s always nice to see projects starting to settle into their sound & identity, after one's heard a less impressive early release. And while Witch Black Milk is far from a masterpiece of wall-craft, both sides here are suitable entrancing in their loose & sleazed snakings. I must say the ‘walls’ dusty crude-ness and the use of the horror samples brought to mind (presently dormant) Texas horror-wall project Nightmare Castle; which is certainly another positive…lets wait & see how the project develops in the future.