Mama Bär + Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck — Il Portale
Of course Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck are know for their demented audio tapestry but here joined by Mama Bär they find new highsor lows(depending on your preference) of audio depravity as each track lasts around the 20 minutes. So instead of getting short jerking burst of disturbing audio collage, one after one after another, you get long streached out offend torturous and sanity stretching soiled sound runs.
It starts off innocently enough with a 10 second bell toll as the opening track, then you enter the world of the first proper track il portale delle independent which is a demented mix of backwards voices and tones, layers of female sexual moans and screams, ritual bell rattles, voices seeming shouting “more” over and over -that vary between pleasured and pained. It seems to get more disturbing as it goes on as the shouting and screaming elements are intensified- the track coming off as a more grimy, torture dungeon take on Nurse with Wounds Echo poem. Next up and confusingly enough we have another track entitled il portale delle indipendenti, this starts with a mix of looped and dreary basic piano patterns, bangs and crashers. Before getting denser and stranger adding in cut-up atmospheric piano rolls (that bring back found memories of early Nurse with Wound), shouts, pig grunts, dog barks and at about the 5 minutes mark more sexual/pained mix of moans, also a looped German voice talking about Fucking and all manner of disturbing chaos to the point where you feel it’s all too much, then goes even father. The Last proper track is U portal which starts off more murky and alien having a strange horror soundtrack feel, with a weird clicking rhythmic sound panned around the stero channels. With doomy gothic piano, weird altered voice textures and yes more sexual/ pained moans, this is one of the most effective tracks here as it balances nicely atmospherics, disturbing textures and weird humour. Going from all out attack on the senses layers of screams, to creepy doom led atmosphere dwells.
An album that leaves you drained, puzzled and more than a little queasy, though at the same time strangle exhilarated. It just best not to ponder too much on where or how the sound elements originate from.