Panic — The Ring

Here’s a cdr from Panic, on Bored Bear Recordings; concerning one of my favourite film entities: Sadako. You’ll hopefully remember Sadako from the Japanese Ringu series of films: its unlikely you’ll have forgotten her. She was the twitching, jerking figure who haunted the viewers of a videotape; crawling along the floor, or emerging from a well with her face hidden by long, black hair.

I went along with friends to see a double bill of Ringu and Ringu 2, with no prior knowledge of the films; a few hours later and I was totally drained by the smothering experience. Although subsequent viewings have proved to be less heart-pounding, all three films in the series remain required watching for anyone interested in horror movies. They display incredible slow-burning tension, as well as moments of abject terror; the aforementioned videotape itself is still one of the most unpleasant things you are likely to see - it literally crawls across the screen. So, certainly a theme well-suited to HNW exploration; but also one that carries high expectations. The cdr comes in a wallet with a simple insert, adorned with a subtly unnerving image of Sadako.

The track, “Sadako”, though split into “pts one and two”, is one long, seventy-minute plus wall. This wall is essentially static, but with some shifts and developments along the way. It begins thunderously, with two tracks of loose, rattling, trebly gravel, stereo-split between the speakers; this torrents over an undercurrent of strong bass. It is literally an undercurrent, too; reminding the ear of strong tides and surf. Over the first ten minutes, these textures become more and more mid-strong; until, around the eleven and a half minute mark, the wall compacts in on itself - shifting to a focussed charge of fierce, bleak noise. I say bleak, because its easy to imagine Sadako slowly approaching the listener to these sounds; lurching in a jolting, shivering dance. From hereon, the piece has some subtle tweaks and changes; but, essentially, its you trapped in a room with a long-haired ghost.
 
This is a worthy exploration of a film definitely deserving a worthy exploration. A good example of where theme and sounds compliment each other well and add interesting value to each other. Its easy to see the cdr as a soundtrack to one of Sadako’s victim’s viewpoints; with the few seconds that we see, of Sadako lurching towards someone, transformed into hours of silent, transfixed terror in their eyes. Panic is a dependable wall project and doesn’t disappoint here, creating a thick, tense wall that befits the subject matter well. Another good Panic release and another great Bored Bear album.