Dead Body Collection/Willowbrook - Split [Signor Ward Records - 2016]Here’s the second in the recently rediscovered wall releases, that ‘repapered’ in the M[m] sort-out. This split C60 comes from early 2016, and brings together Serbian Dead Body Collection & Eugene, Oregon based Willowbrook. The tape came in an edition of 50 copies- these featured a plain black cassette, which comes in a red shelled case. The sleeve is a monochrome doubled sided affair- which features murky overlaid pictures of graveyards, gallows, and bodies. So all told an effective enough packaging, which fits the nicely dense & horror-filled atmosphere of both tracks here, which is somewhat of a departure from Signor wards Records often more feet & nylon fetish focused output. This has sadly now sold out in its physical edition- so a download from the labels bandcamp is the only option.
Both projects take up their side of the tape with a single track, and first up on side A we have the Dead Body Collection track- this is entitled “I Came From The Dust”. And it’s a fairly typical example, if rewarding enough example of the project thick, battering, and unmoving sound- we get a blunt & muffled low-end churn, which is cut by constantly slicing & rattling matt of static. It feels akin to be rolled over again & again by a huge steam-powered roller- which is ancient, tar-coated, and extremely grimy. I can’t say the texture blend really felt strong enough to last the tracks just under 30-minute runtime, but it does the job well enough if you're looking for just blunt & boorish sonic encasement for half-an-hour.
Flipping over to the second side, and we, of course, have Willowbrook- this is entitled "Matriarchal Schadenfreude". This opens up as a total searing white-out of rushing noise- fairly soon we get some shape & definition to the ‘wall’, and this finds a mixture of several layers of rushing ‘n’ billowing- we have a fairly constant streaming low-end, sweeps of grinding static, and a selection of shifting & roasting buffets & bays. It brings to mind a vast & deteriorating wind tunnel that’s been hit by various sways of strong wind in different directions. Like the first sides ‘wall’ - this once again searing & intense, but it was a whole lot more interesting & entrancing in it unfolds- and of the two this it's definitely my favorite of the two tracks here.
All in all, this is a fairly typical mixed wall-noise split- with DBC offering up an intense, yet not very appealing wall. And Willowbrook presenting the listener with a still brutal & ear roasting wall, that’s more appealing in both its texture used & general execution    Roger Batty
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