Uitgeschakeld — Die zwei großen europäischen Narkotika
Die zwei großen europäischen Narkotika offers two side long tracks of “massive wall-eruptions” as the tape’s blurb describes. Side A contains the track “Alkohol.” It’s a rather static affair that sounds like a gaseous mass rapidly pouring through an exhaust vent. It really resembles the amped sound of an air conditioner blowing at maximum level. It’s dense and billowing, yet really lacks a certain crackle or crunch to latch on to. I’ll give it credit for its focused delivery, however, soundwise, it does little for me. I tend to prefer minimal walls with clearly delineated crispy static, this wall had none of that and kind of came off as listless to me.
Side B “Christentum” is a marked improvement. It’s a 22 minute piece that’s far more dynamic than the flipside. Truth be told, this track reminded me of some of the recent Laundry Room Squelchers sets I’ve seen with Rat Bastard blasting transistor radios through an amp or straight through the soundboard. It sounds like layers of radio, intentionally set at not quite the right dial. You catch an occasional melody buried in the piece only to be gobbled up by a mass of sound. I also detected a glitch sound melding with the mix. Not quite mind-blowing, but it was a welcome departure from the first lackluster piece.
It should be noted that the artwork is effective, featuring grey abstract textures courtesy of Dr. Alex of Dead Body Collection fame.
In conclusion, Die zwei großen europäischen Narkotika didn’t really do much for me. One track was forgettable, the other was not bad. I suppose it’s best to leave it at that.