Mai 12 and Dosis Letalis — Untergrundarbeiten

Untergrundarbeiten is a C60 noise split- bringing together one side-long blend of drone, wall, and sweeping ‘n’ swirling noise matter from Greece’s Mai 12. And three shorter takes on more creative wall matter from Serbia’s Dosis Letalis.

The release appeared in April of last year on the German-based noise label Grubenwehr Freiburg. The slate grey and labelled on both side tape is presented in a double-sided sleeve, which takes in black and white pictures of miners. The release came in an edition of fifty copies, and as of writing the label still has copies- for more information drop by here.
 
The first sides single track is from Greece’s Mai 12, and entitled “Letter From Charleroi” which takes its name/theme from a 1965 short movie that charted the first wave of Greek immigrant labourers working in Belgium’s coal mines. The track comes in at the 29.17 mark, and is really best described as drifting ‘n’ slowly shifting noise craft, which utilisers moments of billowing walled noise, droning tone hover, and swirling to simmer harsh noise texturing. The whole track has a very enclosing and pressing presence to it, which of course is perfect for the mining theme.  I’ll have to say I enjoyed elements of the track- when it’s a bit more wall-like, sadly I felt the more shifting noise pitch elements felt rather wandering & shapeless, and these (at points)do infringe on the more successful elements. Also, I’m afraid the track felt too long for its own good, and I found my mind starting to wander even before the mid-way point. I guess if you do enjoy sub-genre crossbreeds of noise, you may get more from the track than I did- so I suggest if you are in that camp, give it sample first & see if it clicks.

 
Flipping the tape over and we find three tracks from respected Serbia waller Dosis Letalis, and this was much more my cup of tea. We go from the thick ‘n’ unbalancing on/off machine droning wall of “Prefect Conditions”. Onto the grain barrow meets detailed drilling texturing of “Brunchers”, which literally feels like you are getting a series of evenly spaced holes drilled into your head- been both enchanting, and brutally dizzying. With the side topped off with “Rupturing Erythrocytes” with its bucking almost rhythmic drag ‘n’ rip, underlined by the occasion higher pitch fork ‘n’ rattle. It is really an excellent side of more creatively focused but still skin-ripping walled noise from  Dosis Letalis.
 
In finishing Untergrundarbeiten is certainly a nicely presented split, with an interesting/ decent theme running through it. I certainly like the idea of the Mai 12 track on paper, but unfortunately to my ears, it just felt largely unfocused & uninvolving…but as I pointed out earlier, it could well click with you. Then we have the masterful and wholly rewarding three tracks from Dosis Letalis. So as a result this was a little tricky to mark…so I’ve gone for a fairly save & even three.