Incapacitants/Harsh Noise Movement — Phobiaphobia
Phobiaphodia severs up two ear searing and nerve slicing shots of harsh noise. The pro pressed CDR split brings together a twenty-minute track from each artist- and they are infamous Japanoise two-piece Incapitains, and prolific UK noisemaker Harsh Noise Movement.
This is a reissue of a 2016 release- with the labelled CDR been presented in a gloss four-panel digipack- these features on its front a darkly dada and macabre cover, bringing together flesh stripped limbs, a black balloon, and green ‘n’ grey ceiling. Not sure how many of these CDR's were made, but I can’t imagine it’s a huge amount.
So first up is the Incapacities track, these city men by day, noise terrorist by night two-piece has been active since the early 1980s, with a discog nearing eighty releases, they are one of the key/ respected projects from the Japanoise scene, and have really never diluted or softened their sound. The track here is “20050410 Live At 20000V”- and runs at the 20.24 mark. The track starts out with a churning ‘n’ turning blend of shredding and juddering lows and mids, and swirling to baying highs. As it progresses we find rubbing and rattling scrubs met by forking and whistling highs, with later on crusty rattle meet drawn-out hisses and wince-inducing swings blended together. It’s an eventful yet- always dense and roasting example of harsh noise form, which keeps you held in its seared grips though-out.
Next, we have Hash Noise Movements track “Electric Glass”- this UK based project ran from March 2014 and August 2020, releasing over this period an impressive near two hundred and thirty releases. The track here slides in at a second over the twenty-minute mark- and it starts off as a blend of galloping and sputtering low-to-mid rush, that is edged swirling and forking highs. As we move on the mids take on more of a churning ‘n’ rattling tone, this is topped with off swimming 'n' swarming highs-all giving one the sonic equivalent of been thrown into a pound of full of charged up electric eels
If you enjoy thick, caustically stirred and largely flaming harsh noise then Phobiaphodia is the release for you. Both projects offer up equally searing-yet-worthy shots of the harsh noise, and you can easily see why it was decided to reissue this again.