
Vomir - Processing The Wall [Self Release - 2012]“Processing The Wall” is a C32 tape that offers up two different takes on the same slab of unmoving & crude walled noise. Side one presents the ‘wall’ in it’s typical brutal Vomir form;while side two offers up a less conventional mix of the track that adds in subtle & buried vocal & instrumental elements. This ltd hand numbered tape of 26 copies comes in a cassette sized soft poly box with a basic single printed inlay card. Apparently each of these tapes were dubbed/ mixed individual from the mixing board, so in theory each of the 26 copies have a slightly different mix to them. My tape number is 18 of 26. The first sides track offers up a nicely lo-fi & rolling ‘wall’ that’s build around two noise tones: a sustained & continuous downward sounding drone roar, & a jittering/ slightly skipping thinner static element that remains busy yet fixed. Through-out this side each of the stereo channels seem to often muffle & flicker out briefly, whether this is intentional or just down to the tape quality is unclear- but I’m guess it’s meant to be like this. The ‘walls’ an ok example of Vomir’s lo-fi & crudely brutal take on walled noise, but for me the production needed to be a little more clear 'n' intense as at times it all sounds a little thin & weak.
Flipping over to side two, and we start out with a mixture of descending jittering bound crackling noise haze that has these weird distant vocal bays & whispers played under it. To start with you can just make out these other elements which adds a interesting and quite creepy edge to the ‘wall’. Through-out the rest of the track you get these subtle darts of under ‘wall’, and these take in: swirling fan belt like slipings, very buried beat bound music traces, flickering radio wave drifts, chattering noise textures & other unidentifiable sonic shifts. In it’s last few minutes you can clearly make out a spoken word element mixed with locked marching industrial drum textures & wavering synth elements. The ‘wall’ elements feel better defined & clear on this side of tape, and the subtle extra elements are an interesting idea/ addition; I just felt at times these elements where a little too subtle, so you weren’t sure if you where hearing extra elements or not, but I guess that’s probably the point of this type of mixing….to screw with your head. All told this is a fairly intriguing & rather bizarre entry in Vomir’s vast & growing discography. I think this one is for you’re more seasoned Vomir fan/ wall-head, as I suspected normally listeners will find it very difficult to discern the often very subtle extra elements here.
     Roger Batty
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