Nordvargr — The Walls Are Closing In
The first track, “Claw Your Hands To The Sky And Howl At The Moon”, starts with a really nice, eerie combination of sounds, under a lumbering, scuffing wall. After some echoing electronics squeal in the background, the wall does indeed close in - bass driven, burning walls; billowing with little crackle or hiss. In the midst of this low/mid frequency squall, which borders on stuttering, the electronics still swoop and echo away; and it has to be said that they’re rather distracting - if not digital in source, they’re certainly rather clean; and they sound incongruously active and separate from the wall. After a while, a trail of treble snakes out, and by the final stages of the track a satisfying crunch is achieved (notably devoid of any electronics etc); ending with a similar backwards-stuttering, echoing sound to that which it started with.
“Interwall - Wade In Saws” is the second track, and the shortest at about thirteen minutes. It begins with the looping sound of a distant bell, coupled with a thick, lurking, hovering bass hum; this stealthy introduction is interrupted, after about a minute and a half, by the wall collapsing in. This wall is a crunchier version of the earlier wall, with more dirt and treble in the mix; as well as a greater sense of movement. Just as soon as the wall has started, it cuts back to the bell and bass sounds again; though this time a piercing whine rises up, before the wall again collapses back in. Electronic sounds and skree are added into the wall; but, as before, they feel distracting to my ears. They seem too clearly separate from the walls themselves. After a similar gap, and a corresponding section of wall, the track descends into junk sounds; metals and abused objects - the literal sound of collapse. The track closes with what sounds like a cello; droning and scraping.
The last track, “Untitled”, is a Vomir cover; and whilst it takes on board the “No dynamics, no change, no development, no ideas” side of things, it doesn’t get close, in my opinion, to the thick crust that Vomir delivers release after release. What I initially thought to be a loop of dirty noise, with dirtier crackle beneath; changed as I moved my head back from the speakers, and took on a less kinetic quality. It’s almost like a single pummelling, dominating bass frequency recorded into the red, with gradual shifts of treble.
Whilst this is by no means a bad cassette, the walls which dominate the release are not of the highest quality. (Although this may, of course, be down to my personal preference for crunchier, more trebly walls.) The near constant use of non-wall elements (the electronics etc) do little to add to the walls; and, if anything, are unnecessary distractions. However, “Interwall - Wade In Saws” is an interesting piece; the gaps really do work well, creating excellent tension before the wall suddenly bursts in again