Nematomopha — The Empty Room
The Empty Room is a release that sits that sweet spot between seared noise and ambient unease. Originally released back in 2012, here we have a recent reissue of the tape, with a bonus ten-minute track tagged on, and new monochrome collage work on the tape's sleeve.
The pink shelled C30 features black & white collage art labels, and comes presented in a monochrome sleeve- this features more collage artwork and minimal texts. The release comes in an edition of twenty-five copies- and I’d say it’s certainly well worth picking up, as this release is certainly one of the more memorable and atmospheric mixes of noise and moody ambience I can think of.
We kick off with the just sly of four minutes of the title track- it opens with a galloping blend of noise hiss, chop and grate- though fairly soon we drop down into this locked and eerier tolling keyboard element, which is shifted by skilful nudges of textured noise and sudden searing sustains. As we move onto the third track, and the just under three and a half minute of “The Shattered Window” where we find a heady atmospheric blend of buzzing throbbing, forking slice, and eerie melody loop.
Flipping over to the second side we have the urgent and airless galloping textural crispness-meets swirling and bending tone hover of “Broken Chair”- which is the shortest track here at the two minutes forty mark. With the tape been topped off with the extra/ bonus track “Be Your Own Kind”- this ten and a bit minute piece begins with a sudden searing and sawing textural rush, before sinking into a creepy looped knock reverb tone, which features moodily building feedback whines and ebbs- before it adds on more sustained feedback sour-ness, atmospheric tonal crashing, and hints of muffled/ bounced vocal elements.
You can most certainly see why Geräuschmanufaktur wanted to reissue this release- as it really is a classy and creative mix of rewarding noise-making and ambient unsettlement. The new/ bonus track fits in well with the original tracks, and the new collage cover looks good too- all in all, making this a release well worth picking up!.