Planet Shithead/Dosis Letalis — Split

Here’s a C90 walled noise split bringing together the billowing ‘n’ battering walling of Planet Shithead, and the more textural controlled wall-making of Dosis Letalis. Planet Shithead offers up two tracks one longer and one shorter, and Dosis Letalis just a single track.

The white-shelled castle features glossy labels on both sides- these take in grey, yellowed, and black textured pictures. And these are expanded on the double-sided glossy sleeve- so the listening can really put their own takes on each ‘walls’ theme. The tape comes in a hand-numbered edition of twenty-five copies- and the release can still be purchased directly from here 
 
So, on side A we have the two tracks from Planet Shithead- which is one of a few projects from long-term US noise scenester Joe Stache- Hoggle, Pig Shrapnel & Extreme Chafing , he also runs noise tape label Hair on My Food Tapes & Records. The Planet Shithead project has been active since 2014- releasing thirty-plus releases. The first track up here is “Did I Fly Too Close To The Sun On My Beautiful Hot Dog Wings?” and this slides in at the 34.17 mark. It’s a very raw and loose example of the ’walled-form” though it largely revolves around two or three textures fed into the mass. We have a pummelling ‘n’ constant machine-like billow ‘n’ bay, persistently rattling grain flow, and oscillating almost harmonic drones. On a cursory, none headphone play this track comes across as a dense mass, but when you play a few more times with headphones on, the whole thing takes on a decidedly mournful feel- with the track being a battering journey into a subtle emotional walling. The second track here is the charmingly entitled “Gelatinous Sock”- this rolls in ten seconds short of the ten-minute mark. The track blends together a rough ‘n’ ready billow drone, and a constant gritty feast. It rather lacks the impact and more atmospheric/ almost harmonic feel of the first track, we do get a few wayward mournful elements- but ultimately it didn’t too a lot for me - been just a passable example of blunt and thickly messy wall craft.          
 
Flipping over the tape we have the Dosis Letalis track- this is the project of Serbian noisemaker Nemanja Nikolić. It’s been active since 2015, releasing around one hundred and seventy releases to date- and stands as one of the most respected and celebrated projects in the scene. The track featured here is entitled “Enthralled” and this comes in at the 44.02 mark. The ‘wall’ is built around a blend of low-end ‘n’ thick rip-like scribble patterns, with it surrounded by purring and circling on paper-like tones. The whole ‘wall’ feels both awkward clipped-yet- at the same time flowing in its attack, with Nikolić really pulling you deeper and deeper into the track with its sub-tones, which at points are decidedly nuanced and fine in their detail. The main scribbling element keeps feeling like it will suddenly grind 
to stop, but of course, it never does, and this creates a very satisfying feeling of nervy clipped-ness. And the track's title is most, most fitting.
 
In finishing I’ll say I enjoy both sides of the tape here, but the second was the real keeper for me- as the textural use if so original and effective, and I felt well & truly hooked/ pulled into the track for its full length.