Monuments Are No Good To The Dead — Earths Hum-Volume 3 & 4
Before we get into the review, I think it’s best to put my cards on the table- firstly I’m not the biggest fan of more active/ shifting wall matter. And secondly (and possibly due to my preferences) I’ve had somewhat mixed feelings about this projects past work. So with all that in mind, I must say I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this release.
Each side of tape takes in a single thirty-minute track- so on side A we have "Earth’s Hum Vol 3", and this is certainly my favorite of the two tracks here. After a few minutes of seared ‘n’ shifting textural dragging, juddering, and hacking- which sounds akin to amplified string recordings- we sink into the main meat of the composition. This ‘wall’ is a violent cascading & rapid snaking blend of beaded bass churning, & constantly descending static- which is edged by the odd clashing & smashing sub-tone trail. The ‘wall’ remains huge, weighty & crushing through-out, though the whole thing has this wonderful worming & burrow quality- which brought to my mind images of some vast hundred foot long worm making its way through a dead cityscape- as it half burrows & half shifts though buildings, roadways, and abounded vehicles. The whole ‘wall’ has such a hypnotic feel to it, and as soon as it kicked into its groove- I was hooked into its constricting & crashing unfold.
Flipping over the tape, we, of course, have "Earth’s Hum Vol 4". And this sides ‘wall’ is a lot more active & shifting in its structure- we move from atmospheric, almost synth-like billowing judders- which are underfed by boiling bass singers & thinner wind like bays. Onto dense tangles of constricted static & blunt bass tunneling. Though to caves of crumbling juddering, and buffeting-yet- slight squelch sear. Onto blunt bass humps, those are scathed by crackles & jitters of compressed static. Though-out there is a fair bit of shift occurring- yet this atmosphere of buzzing & brooding malevolence is present, and while I don’t enjoy it as much as the first sides 'wall'- it’s rewardingly eventful, and fairly distinctive in it’s blacked tunneling & churning approach.
So in summing this release, I’d say if you're looking for dense, yet blackly moody wall-matter that can be at times fairly shifting & active I think you’ll dig what we have here. The release appeared in a physical addition of 17 copies, and according to the labels Bandcamp there are still copies left…so if this sounds like your type of thing, I’d act sooner, than later.