Tuffo — Masones
Tuffo is the project of Federico Monti- an Argentinian noise maker living in Barcelona. The project has been active since 2015- so far releasing around six releases, which have taken in tapes, CDR’s, and splits with the likes of Anonymous Masturbaudioum. Seemingly the project has been HNW/ wall-ish harsh noise from the outset, and theme wise the releases seem to go from kinky-to- religious.
The cassette version of this came in an edition of 17 copies, and as of this review, the label still has copies left. The clear shelled tape features a metallic red inner coloring, and this comes in a single sided black & white cover, that features a picture of a female statue- that’s either religious or mythical god related.
Featured here are three tracks- one on side A, and two on side B. So starting off the release we have "I"- this is the longest track here at just under the twenty five minute mark. The whole thing opens with a rather awkward sounding fade in of rushing/ billowing noise, fairly soon the second layer of pelting/ rushing haze is added. At around the two minute mark, we get an additional selection of galloping rushers- and ever so often these are broken by a deeper billowing sustains. The whole this has a fairly nice rushing white-out feel to it, but the sudden sustain & shift in the layers, lead an awkward/ messy feel to the proceedings. I guess you’d say this track is an example of noise drone/ wall cross breed- it’s ok, for what it is, but I’m afraid the rather random feel of the blunt sustains rather annoyed me.
Flipping over to the second side & we have the just under nineteen minutes of "II". This track opens with a feasting ‘n’ caustically flow of static- as we move forward the track moves between a fierce galloping roast, bass ribbed & rushing sustains, and blend of grind & hiss. This track feels more intense in its attack, and while it still sits between HNW & wall-ish harsh noise- I do like the feeling of searing & suffocating textural weave the whole thing has. This track was my favorite moment of this release, as it managed to put across intensity well, and we didn’t have any seemingly random elements in the mesh of noise.
The final track is the 3.16 of "III", and this works more as outro track- as it features brooding ambient industrial, on/ off noise bass sustains. As it goes on things become firmer & denser, with a blend of rushing & batting mids, and later on some random sear & grates. Sadly this track did little or nothing for me, and I really wonder why it’s added on here- as it didn’t really feel connected to the rest of the release.
There’s little doubt that this release has a searing & crude intensity about it, but I felt the tracks featured a bit too much random-ness & overtly messy elements. I’ve never been a huge fan of where HNW & wall-ish noise meet, and I’m afraid this release isn’t going to change my mind