Womb finds the sonic pairing of two important figures from the post-industrial genre. The nine-track album was recorded back in 1981- but never released, aside from a few tapes given out to friends. It’s a release sitting somewhere between sparse experimental electronica,  moody-to-unsettling sound-scaping, and generally grimly atmospheric sound craft. Here from UK’s Peripheral Minimal Records is a most welcome first official CD release of the album.

Steve Parry has worked with the likes of Matt Johnson of The The, but is most known for Hwyl Nofio- the project he started in 1997, and has thus far put out seven albums & one EP.  Its sound sits between the improvised & composed- combining elements of avant-garde, ambient, noise, musique concrete, contemporary classical and soundtrack elements.  Colin Potter has worked with the likes of Nurse With Wound, Current 93, and Organum. He also runs the long-running/ respected post-industrial label ICR label.

The CD release comes presented in a four-panel monochrome digipak- with the front cover taking in a half-in-shadow photo of a weird vase with bat-like wings. Inside we find an eight-page booklet- with write-ups from both Parry & Potter about the recordings. The release is ltd to 500 copies, and considering who is involved I can’t see these hanging around long. To  order directly head by here 

The nine tracks featured have runtimes between around thirty seconds and nearly ten & half minutes. The following elements were used in the recordings: saw, plastic bucket and plastic tube, water, alarm clock, cotton rags, metal bars, electric drill, drum machine, bongo drums, analogue synth & sequencer, field recordings, electric, acoustic & bass guitars, flute, keyboards, found sounds, comb & voice.

We open with the title track- it moves between interlocking/ subtle shifting layers of electro-percussion & uneasy tone drifts/ wails. And drops into sour plucking, and haunting ambient hisses/ whooshes. There’s “Funeral For Clowns”  which mixes clip-clop carnival-like electronics with drifting ebbs of moody guitar tones, and a selection of tone strikes/ hits/ whizzes. 

Moving onto the second half of the album we have “Isolate, Clothed With a Cloud “ which blends atmospherically scaping-to-tolling guitar work, with rolling bashes, loose percussive peddling, and eerier vibe rolls. The album plays out with the glum purr & shift of “Mind’s Eye” which blends backwards & forwards tone shifts, with sparsely brooding key strikes, and all manner of subtle/ eerier noise detail.

For the most part,  Womb has a fairly timeless quality of both disquiet & unease. And it’s certainly great to finally hear this early work from Parry & Potter.  This is worth a look if you enjoy either man's other work, or dig general wavering/ eerier sounding scaping utilizing both electronic & acoustic elements. I wanted to give this a three & a half mark, but as we only do whole marks I’ve gone for a three.