Train Cemetery — Aught
Train Cemetery is a project from Elektrostal Russia- it started around a year back; and with-in this short time it’s become one of the more interesting & creative projects to come out of the walled noise scene in sometime. Behind the project is Sergey Pakhomov, who also runs the excellent Reason Art Records label. So far the project has put out around thirty releases, taking in splits, tapes, CDRs, and digital releases- and pretty much everything I’ve heard from this project has been on very high standard.
Package wise the plain black cassette comes in a baggie- this takes in black & white artwork. On the front cover we a detailed drawing of a root or tree type structure- which looks a bit like a more complex cross selection of a sprig of broccoli. And on the back we get track listing, project logo, links & the words ‘Life Kills Life’.
Each track last spot on the 9.20 mark, and on the first side we have “Aught I”. This entrancing-yet- head spinning collection of the following textures: A continually rotating ‘n’ judder bound meaty cable rumble, thinner shovelling ‘n’ snapping texture, strange looped dripping texture, and a selection of scraping sub-tones. Together these elements create an extremely intricate ‘wall’- which is both very busy, yet perfectly balanced in its layer mixing. This is a ‘wall’ that really gets ones brain working, as you try to follow first one pattern & then another.
Flipping over to the second side, and we have “Aught II”. The track opens with a taut-almost taut Ae like IDM feel-bringing together slightly undulating & ribbed low-end, with smaller circling ‘n’ jittering high pitched points. At around the minute mark we move into a tense & constricting blend of the following elements: A taut ‘n’ tighten low end juddering, a line of snapping ‘n’ popping textures, and a collection of knocking ‘n’ shuffling sub-tones. The tonal range has a fairly narrow lower-to- mid range on this track- so as a result at times the layers do start to blend together into a similar sounding mesh. There’s no doubt that with this track Pakhomov is once again attempting to balance a lot of layer details together, and it certainly shows his ear for interesting textures- it’s just a pity that the tonal range is just that little to close. I can’t say I was a drawn into this track, as the first side- but there’s no doubt it still highlights considerable skills.
In conclusion both tracks here work well as a pair. Of the two I prefer the first sides track, due to the wonderful layer balancing act performed here. The second side is ok, and works well as a follow-up track to the first side. I just wish there had been just a nudge more tonal range.