The Ominous Coven — Book II
As its title may suggest Book II is the second release from The Ominous Coven- an anonymous wall noise collective, where each member is apparently unaware of each other. This release appears as either a digital or C30 release- I 'm reviewing the latter of these.
The Ominous Coven has seemingly been active since 2023- with their only other release being Book I from 2023, once again released on Stockholm’s Ominous Recordings. I don’t recall hearing/ reviewing this first release, so I can’t say how this compares.
The plain black-shelled cassette features an upside-down cross scored on one side- with the sleeve taking in a murky/ creepy monochrome picture of an old wooden countryside house. With red text on the outside and the inside. The tape version of this has now sold out, though the digital version can still be found here.
The first track is entitled “Chapters I-VI”. It opens with a blend of fairly rapidly muffled bass dart ‘n’ rub, which is surrounded by a rolling sea of static crash ‘n’ smash. The whole thing feels very crude and decidedly active in its wall feel, though we’re not getting any huge shifts- it’s just rough ‘n’ tumble around a few textural settings- with things getting more buffeting and shifting towards the end of proceedings
The second and last track is “Chapters VII-XIII” Here we find a more rapid blend of wind-rushing batter, muffled bass bay, and cluttering rush. Once again it’s an active/ roughshod wall- it’s ok I guess though at times it feels a little too shapeless/lose for its own good- with not enough decent elements for one's mind to hook onto. It does seem to take an almost churning along/semi-industrial vibe in its last five minutes, but it's not enough to save the track.
I’d say Book II is somewhat of a middling release- the first tracks ok, but the second is somewhat underwhelming. Also with the creepy/ brooding look/ feel of the packaging, you’d imagine this would turn up in walls within, but to my ears, it’s rather lacking in that department.