Thewhitehorse is one of the key solo projects of American noisemaker Sean E. Matzus, who will be known to many  for his work with his husband  Richard Ramirez- where he plays key sonic roles in projects such as sleazed noise collective Black Leather Jesus & wall-noise duo Last Rape. Thewhitehorse project started in 2010- so far releasing coming on for thirty releases, which by wall- noise standards is not huge- so Matzus clearly puts thought in when to put stuff out, with only putting out three or four releases in the last year or two. I’ll have to admit it must five or six years since I’ve last heard anything from this project, so it was good to check back in on it again and I’m always a sucker for true crime-themed releases…so I had to dip in.

As the release title suggests this is the first of a series of missing people releases- and this one is focused in on Maura Murray- 21-year-old women who disappeared in New Hampshire in 2004, who vanished from the scene of a car crash, and hasn’t been seen since- the case is often quoted as the first crime mystery of the social media age, as it occurred days after the launch of Facebook.

So getting down to the noise at hand, and first, up we have “February 9, 2004, 7:27pm”- this comes in at the fifteen minute and twenty-four-second mark. From the off this is a very densely packed & extreme thick example of walled noise, that kicks straight in with an intense punch of sound. The ‘wall’ is built around a tightly weaved blend of rolling low-end noise drone and roasting static rush- this creates a nicely enclosing feeling off both pressurizer bass roll, and rapid feasting thinner static flow. As the ‘wall’ progresses it feels like there are more layers of pelt & slash added to the mix, with the low end become more & more pummelling in a fairly intense industrialized manner- and I’m pretty sure these shifts are happening, unlike some wall noise where you start to get illusionary shifts…I’m saying this because I recall past work from this project been active, and I hope my ears aren’t deceiving me ;-)…anyway, it’s certainly a very fierce & taut ‘wall’, and I like that you have to really focus to get the most out of the whole thing.

Next, we have “February 9, 2004, 7:27pm”, and this is the longer of the two tracks sliding in at sixteen twenty-one. Here once again we have a ‘wall’ that kicks straight in with its searing full-ness, but this time there a less low end & more rushing junk churn quilty to the track. The ‘wall’ consists of muffled mid-ranged rushing, which at times has almost galloping ball bearing quality about it- and this is topped with a slight ringing & rattling junk sear. Together these create a feeling of burning, at moments shrill tension, which nicely fits the panic caused by someone suddenly disappeared.  This ‘wall’ feels more fixed & focused in its attack, and after it’s finished one is left with a rewarding rushing white light buzz.

In conclusion, if you enjoy dense ‘n’ tense wall craft that has subtle industrial and junk touches to it, I’d say you’ll be needing to pick-up The Missing Volume 1: Maura Murray. So I’m certainly glad I check back in on Thewhitehorse, and I look forward to hearing future releases in this Missing series.