
Olion/ Dresser - Split [Self release - 2025]This is a split album that brings together two European wall-noise projects, with Olion from Poland, and Dresser from Italy. The first offers up three shorter tracks, and a nearly twenty-six-minute track from the second. The release comes as either a digital download or a CDR- I’m reviewing the latter, so can’t comment on the packaging/ presentation. Cover artwork-wise, we have a very contrast-heavy picture of a naked, mannish-looking female, with one project name covering her breasts, and the other her genitals. The album can be found here.
So first up we have the three tracks from Dresser- going from the Italian projects Bandcamp, they have been active since the summer of 2024- having to date around thirty releases to it’s name. And as far as I can recall, this is my first taste of the project's work. The three tracks each last between seven and nine minutes.
We open with “A1737526505”- here we find a very taut weave of bass-bound juddering, churning static flow, and jumping smaller-grained play. This is just fine- sure, it’s tight and constricting, but I didn’t find the texture weave that appealing/engaging.
Next is “B250122072037” – here we have a rapid billow, edged with flirts and furts of static grit, and occasional roasting, sear, and laser slicing. This track is more engaging, though at points it does edge towards psychedelic harsh noise/ wall.
Lastly, from Dresser we have “C250122072249” which psychedelically seared harsh noise with a few wallish dwells. There is some dense/ head drilling sustains here- I guess it’s ok, though at points it does become somewhat cliched/predictable. And I’d say if you're after this type of thing, you're better served by a Japnoise artist- oh, and a formal beat/ funky bass line kicks in towards the end.
So lastly, we have the single track from Olsztyn, Poland’s Olion- this project has been active since 2021, releasing just over ten releases. Their track is called “Endless Void”, and rolls in at just under the twenty-six-minute mark. What we have here is a very thick and full wall, bringing together a constantly rolling/ trudging bass, jittering layer churn, and a distant billow. The whole thing is nicely overwhelming, and at points you get moments of possible micro detail shit/darts, though I think these are mainly a trick of the wall.
So in the end, this is a decidedly mixed split- the Dresser tracks are somewhat uneven, but Olion’s track is a decent example of old school walling...which left me unsaw how to mark the release, so I've gone for a three mainly on the account of Olion track.      Roger Batty
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