Ballerina In Blood - Womb Polluted By Demonic Infestation [Self release - 2021]The wonderfully entitled Womb Polluted By Demonic Infestation is a two-track release that severs up two around fifteen minutes examples of junk metal-wall noise crossbreeds. The release appeared in May of this year, as either an ltd self-released CDR, or a digital download. The white labelled and red text CDR comes presented in a fold-out cover. On the front, we find a black and white photo of a tree, and on the reverse, there's blood red and black text detailing the release/ project. This release came in an edition of twenty copies, and as far as I can gather there are still copies left- so head just here to pick up a copy. Ballerina In Blood is one of the more recently active projects of NYC noisemaker/ scenester Dom Colucci - who has been floating around the wall noise scene since the early 2010s, with projects such as Faggot Front, Figment, and releases under his own name. Ballerina In Blood has been in existence since around 2012- Discogs lists it as having just five release, but he’s released way more than that under this project name, but they’ve mostly been self-releases, or on micro labels.
First, out of the bag we have “The Razor Pit”- and this starts off in a rather unsettling ritual-fed junk noise manner, with a layered and disorientating selection of darting and cascading metal hits. As we move into the second minute we get subtly and sudden deep wall like fuzzes of texture, but these are very controlled/ paired back, creating a dirty haze to the junk layers, instead of fully taking hold/ control. As we move onto the fourth minute the ‘wall’ elements start to become more pronounced- with longer sustains of grinding-yet-hazed texturing- yet still, the junk backdrop remains, and this really starts to turn very violently eerier in its attack. Nearing the seventh minute the wall-ish elements take control, and they are both nicely ragged and atmospherically hazed in their edges. The remainder of the track nicely seesaws between the detailed junk noise textures, and rip, roaring wall tones.
The second and final track here is “His Fathers Eyes”- and this is the longer of the two tracks at five seconds shy of the fifteen-minute mark. This track starts off very ‘wall’ like with a set purring rip ‘n’ fuzz tone- fairly soon clamouring and subtlety forking junk like ringing and bashing come into play, and this nicely melds and smudges into wall fuzz. This track is more fixed and less detailed in its layers than the first track, though as it moves along Colucci subtle alters and shifts the junk elements to both create a feeling of churning malevolence and unease. By the seventh minute, we have higher-pitched chimes/ sweeps occurring within the mass of sound, and this creates a feeling of heating up distress and tension which nicely pulls you in deeper to the whole thing. Towards the last part of the track billow/ wavering, feedback is added to deepen the feeling of tension/ distress
In finishing, I must say I was rather taken by the original and distinctive blend of junk and wall noise presented on this two-track release. Each of the tracks highlights both Colucci skill at compelling noise composition and creating a tangible feeling of both unsettling and uneasy atmospherics. A great crossbreed release, and something that is well worth tracking down Roger Batty
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