Oblive — Falsehoods
This is the first I've heard of Oblive work & I have to say it’s very effective & devastating, yet it also has a melancholic & blacked grain running through it’s tearing ‘n’ caustic ripping soul. I reviewed Mass Graves (Landgraf's other project) “They Live” release a few weeks back, and was impressed with the ‘walls’, but was underwhelmed by the tiny and low volume of the production of the project, thankfully the sound here is very loud and overwhelming as HNW should be.
The first side opens with an untitled track that starts out as a very shifting, up-pace and detailed mix of jittering, juddering and slow ripping static. The tracks sound seems to surround you, and slowly but surely engulf you in its often quite complex bleak static textures- it's like a shifting mass of TV interference fed walls that are pressing around you body, face and limbs. As the track goes on Landgraf nicely shifts the layers of static around to give one the feeling of slowing down, near stopping or longer juddering loops- yet it never thins out, stops altogether or losers ones attention as the track weaves a very compelling bleak ‘n’ pressing spider web of weighty static tone around you- the track rolls in around the twenty one minute mark.
The second untitled track of side one is more jittering, hectic and at times quite shredding with its attack. It’s also a little more open and less densely muffled than the first track, yet there’s still a lot of layers here; it’s just there smaller and more skipping or jumping in there feel. As the first track seemed to pressing in around you, this track seems to jump, arc and violent shifting like a whipping electric cable that’s flying sparks around your head. Again Landgraf keeps the whole thing very active, shifting and compelling yet he still mangers to keeps the tracks nervous & morose energy/ edge through-out, though the pace stars lagging and straining towards the end of the tracks twenty minute length as Landgraf stops for random quick punches of straight ‘n’ jitterless static.
Flipping over to the side two, and we open up with another untitled track that has a very tight and intense juddering static ‘n crusty feel to it. It seems to be both rolling yet smashing in it’s progression and patterns; much like someone rolling down a hill in one of those vast see-through tubes and having an limp smashing ‘n’ mouth foaming fit at the same time. At around the six minute mark the track becomes very rapid, yet stop/ starting with a rusting helicopter blade like vibe to it’s sound. It feels like you trying get onto chopper that’s stuck in a vast bag of thick fabric & the blades keep getting stuck on the fabric. As this element goes on it becomes more juddering and muffling crusty in it’s feel, with longer and stretched juddering expanse or jumping rips ‘n’ roars appearing after eleven minute mark. The rest of the twenty one minute track sees Landgraf shift through: circled crusty jitters, bobbing ‘n’ hacking judders & bouncing down the stairs static falls- truly this track is a great, great slice of HNW making.
So we’re onto the last untitled track of the tape, and this track starts in quite a tight jittering static meets rapid ripping ‘n’ smarting smaller tone sustains. By the two and a half minute mark it’s become quite revolving wheel like in it’s feel as these rolling thick static spoke likes sounds are added to the jittering static & sudden jerking noise smart that are the life blood of the track. I really like the way Landgraf cleverly jumps between the jittering and jerking tone smart elements which gives the track this intense nervous, yet agitated feel which really gives me at times a light headache as my mind tries to keep up with the detailed static patterns switch. In the last six or so minutes of this track the smarting sustains become longer and more often, which really amps-up the tension and knife edge feeling of the track. and the smart tone is left to spin off in the tracks last minute. An truly excellent, but often brain frying end to this great C90 tape.
Truly “Falsehoods” is a great 90 minute submergence in consistent and detailed Harsh Noise wall matter and rewarding dense static texturing. It's one of the highlights of this years HNW releases and a must buy item for all wall addicts.