Whores Breath - The Job [Gates Of Hypnos - 2021]The Job is a new three-track walled noise release from Whore’s Breath- aka Cincinnati based noisemaker David Hilshorst. And instead of the more weathered and stark sound we’ve heard from the project in the past- the setting for all three tracks is seared, raging, and largely fairly simplistic HNW. The release appears on Poland’s Gates Of Hypos- coming presented as a digital download. The cover artwork is of a Victorian gent in a lab, surrounded by skulls. And apparently, the theme is children's psychiatric hospital- I’m guessing from the Victorian time?. The release can be found just here.
Each of the tracks here come in at a spot on the twenty-minute mark. And first up we have “Locked Down Facility”- here we find a very fixed and rapid blend of mid-range billow, rattling static feast, and some dragging ‘n’ spinning sub-tone detail. It’s an extremely focused, intense, and fairly simply made wall- though it does nicely rage and batter at your sonic senses. Next, we have “Initial Breakdown”- and here the intensity is eased off a touch- as we find a blend of swirling and hacking thick low end, spiralling static rattle, and possible some distant industrial knock ‘n’ spin. As we hit around the three-minute mark, we get these neat breaks and pauses in the ‘walls’ mass- as we get moments of thin grind grain dwell and rattling spin occurring before we shift back into the more set beginning again- though towards the end the structure starts to falter/ break down again slightly. This ‘wall’ feels like your sliding down some vast, ragged and spiralling metal sheet slide- when we hit the breaks in the wall it feels like you’ve hit a more rust edged steel tile, and you briefly span off your original path. I really enjoyed this ‘wall’, and the breakdown was a nice and effective surprise. Lastly, we have “Code Violet”- and here the intensity is right-up again. We find a spinning and searing high-end judder, a distant droning rumble and slight rattle, and slight traces of hissing haze. The whole ‘wall’ is very oppressive and tight, giving one the feeling of being trapped in a hot and airless room, as the walls and ceiling seemingly press in on you. As we move on the ‘wall’ seem to start to weather & fray slightly, though I suspect in just my imagination- though this effect brought back memories of early Whore’s Breath releases.
On the whole, it’s nice to see Hilshorst something different with this release- on the plus side the middle track is most effective and I enjoy the breakdown, but I just wish maybe there had been a little more textural detail on the other two tracks- they are ok as simple raging slabs of HNW, but the thing is after the initial hit/ buzz I’m not sure I’d want to come back to them that often. I’d if you enjoy simplistic, no-nonsense walling, this will be something you’ll want to check out. Roger Batty
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