Niks — Fall Into The Abyss

Fall Into The Abyss is the third full-length release from this Bradford Uk based walled noise project. It comes in the form of either a C60 tape or digital download. The release severs up two half-an-hour examples of wall-craft that is bleak, battering, and crude.

Niks is one of the projects of Tom Rushton- of projects E.E.E.E., Ligyrophobia, Smog Cloud, True Romance, and runner of the excellent brit walled noise label Void Singularity Recordings- which put out this release. Tom started this project in 2016, and so far it’s amassed six releases- taking in full lengths, splits, and shorts. He describes the project as ‘nihilistic and close-yourself-off-from-the-world themed construction’s that are unchanging, one take, minimalistic noise walls done with minimal gear’. I’ve heard work from Tom’s other projects, but this is my first taster of Niks.

The black and white cover of the cassette features a simple-yet-effective picture of spiraling down flow of water, and this is repeated on the tapes labels. The release came in an edition of twenty copies- and as of writing this review the label still has copies for sale.

Moving onto the ‘walls’ with-in, and on side A we have "I". Here we find a very rapid-at-moments blurring blend roughshod 'n' constantly battering low end, cluttering bound 'n' thinner jittering, and compressed-yet-roasting static grain nastiness. Together these elements create a nicely blunt and crude ‘wall’, which with headphones on gives one a very intense and unforgiving ride. Sure the textures are not fancy or creative, but as no-nonsense walled noise this certainly brutalizes your ears in a rather rewardingly unforgiving manner.

Flipping over to side B, and we have "II". This time around the pace is slowed a little, though the intensity is still way in the red- as we find a blend of ultra-thick ‘n’ heavy droning low end, this is surrounded with constant layers of descending clutters ‘n’ hacks. The textures here don’t really blur like the first track, and I love the skull crashing weight of the bass tones. I’d say this 'wall' is just my favorite of the two, as the blend of textures is so brutally entrancing & nasty- as you literally feel like you on a set & continued fall into a black, watering and spiraling abyss- as you seemingly drown in the mass of unforgiving sound.

Onto the whole, if you enjoy nasty, bass bound, and no-nonsense walled matter Fall Into The Abyss is well worth a punt- and while you're over a Void Singularity Recordings do check out the labels other releases, as they are one of the most prolific and quilty bound walled noise labels active at present.