Krampus takes in just over half an hour of crude ‘n’ numbing ANW. The release is themed around/ takes its name from the horned anti-Santa of  Central and Eastern Alpine folklore, with the wall having a fitting undercurrent of Icey uneasiness under its barren & unforgiving flow.

The digital release appears on UK’s  HNW label- with the cover artwork featuring a black ink on red paper illustration of the horned Krampus with his long tongue out. The release can be found just here. Latex Priest is the harsh noise/ wall noise project of US noise maker Ken Estes- the project seemingly formed in 2013, with three releases to its name to date. 

The single self-titled track featured here comes in at the 30.17 mark. It’s built around a distant buffeting drone, which is engulfed by an oppressive haze of grey hiss and tightly fed crack ‘n’ grind. The drone sounds like something either trying to get in or out, the hiss adds unease, and crack ‘n’ grind tension. There’s a very aged analogue video quality to the whole thing, which adds in an extra twist of sinister intent to proceedings.

Krampus is my first taste of Latex Priest noise-craft, and I must say I’m enjoying what I’m hearing here- so if your looking for more uneasy & subtle sinisterly edged ANW, with a decidedly dusty VHS quality this will most certainly be something you’ll be wanting to give a try on.