Sumbru/Chier — La Proie Pour L'Ombre
For wall fans the two projects here will really need little or no introduction, but for those not au fait with the scene. Sumbru one of the key projects of Paris based Julien Skrobek- since 2010 Skrobek has had more than a few projects linked to his name( Ghost, Ruine, Static Park, Ecco, Oscuro, etc)- with his sound moving from progressive, experimental & ambient edged wall-craft, though to more fixed old-school wall matter, and everything in between.
Chier is a Toulouse based project that’s only been active since 2015, but since then has built up a huge body( around 60 plus releases) of mostly quality bound work. This projects sound has really moved between creative & detailed wall-craft, onto crude & lo-fi necro licked HNW, and beyond.
The plain CDR comes in a square & slightly oversized CD envelope- this is black, and features a stuck on front cover art, and on the back the labels logo, and catalogue no. The cover art takes in both projects logo, with an under laid murky drawing taking in a lines & a bulbous shapes. As well as the CDR, inside the envelope you get a white paper inlay- taking in the track listing, recording details, and each projects logo.
Each of the four tracks here comes in or around fifteen minutes, so you have a total release runtime of near an hour. First up we have the two Sumbru, and these are just simple entitled “1” & “2”. The first track brings together a whole sounding, moody, yet constantly battering wall- which blends together: a deep & churning earth bound rumble, juddering & cracking sub-tones, and a thinner, slightly snaking line of jitter bound static. Together these elements create a feeling of something vast & wide tunnelling it’s way though the earth- I’m thinking either a Graboid from the Tremors movies, or the huge sandworms from the Dune universe.
The second Sumbru track carries on the deep bass bound centre of the first track- bringing together a condensed & taut rumble, with a thinner blend of bitter jitter, buffet, and grain weaved static. Where first track felt earthy & huge- this track feels akin to standing in the centred of a vast wind tunnle, or underneath a vast space rocket, as it gets ready to take off.
Next up of course we have the two Chier tracks, and once again these are entitled “1” & “2”. The first track brings together a very detailed & at times complex layers of crusty bound static patter-nation- which focused is towards a fairly narrow lower-to-mid range. The layers bring in judders, tumbles, rocky ripples, and slightly cluttering descents. It really feels like you are tapped in some vast underground cave network as a rolling & complex series of avalanches/ cave-ins are occurring. If you home-in & try to focus on all the patterns cycle it really twists your mind. The ‘wall’ is thick & deep thorough-out, with just right about of balance between tonal separation & atmosphere.
Track “2”, opens around a deep weave of juddering & thinner splitting earth like tones, with a slight wind like buffeting surrounding it. The ‘wall’ initially sounds like amassed recording of many people endless shovelling out bone-dry yet oddly lumpy earth, as a brooding tropical wind whips round their frames. As the track progresses you get chalkier & slightly sliding layers added into the mix, and blended nicely with shelf of rip-bound judders. Throughout the ‘wall’ stays thick & dense, with Chier wonderful yet subtle altering the layer details to conjure up both rich imagery & hugging morish-ness.
In conclusion La Proie Pour L'Ombre is a great & wholly consistent release, with both acts showing why they are so praised & celebrated with-in the wider wall-noise scene. As I mentioned above this is now sadly sold-out, but it can still be downloaded direct from the labels bandcamp here.