Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Tarot - Ace of Pentacles [self release - 2015]

Here’s a short, wee tape from Tarot - a new name to me. It arrives in very simple packaging: an unprinted tape, with a cleanly designed card insert - the front cover depicting the Ace of Pentacles tarot card. The cassette has a track on each side, both of which are harsh noise walls, around the ten minute mark.

Both Tarot pieces are very similar, though with marked differences. The first, ‘I’, is founded on a lumbering bass drone; this rumbles along at a relentless, if rhythmically erratic, pace - actually more akin to a Power Electronics ‘bass line’ at times. Over this, Tarot places snapping, stuttering, mid-frequency scuffs; these dance across the low end at a fairly static speed, though they perhaps increase in intensity towards the end. The second track, ‘II’, has a very similar palette; even though the beginning of the piece suggests it might be otherwise. At the start, it almost sounds like a distorted sample; as if voices were being obliterated and trying to break through. After this opening passage, though, a work following on from ‘I’ emerges. It has the same low end presence, but where the first track arguably had two distinct elements (bass and scuff), ‘II’ has three. On top of the bass rumble, there’s scratchy treble crackle and lower-mid frequency stutter - which move independently of each other. So it feels like a much more colourful, fleshed-out wall than ‘I’.

This is a good little release. It does suffer, perhaps, from being so short; but I’ll admit that it makes a pleasant change from huge monolithic albums. Both walls are very good, very contemplative; abrasive without being overbearing. ‘II’ has a slightly odd tone at points, somewhat digital or synth-like; but, to be honest, the only flaw I can give you, is that the pieces could happily go on way longer than they do. Good stuff.

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Martin P
Latest Reviews

Tarot - Ace of Pentacles
Here’s a short, wee tape from Tarot - a new name to me. It arrives in very simple packaging: an unprinted tape, with a cleanly designed card insert - the f...
190226   Columbia Noir # 7: Made In Br...
180226   Brutal Shift - Pain Has Broug...
180226   Jakob The Liar - Jakob The Li...
170226   Illustrious Corpses - Illust...
170226   Furious - Furious(Blu Ray)
170226   Re-Animator (40th Anniversary...
160226   Non Toxique Lost - 026750,9
160226   Asmus Tietchens & Achim Wolls...
160226   Parajekt - Parajekt
150226   Ekin Fil - Bora Boreas
Latest Articles

Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding Wall...
Back in 2024, I got my first taste of Absurd Reality, and I was so impressed by how crude and nasty its take on walled noise was. Behind the project is South...
290126   Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding ...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom