Various Artists — Dark Days Coming
Dark Days Coming is an eleven-track-walled noise compilation focusing on the election of Donald Trump as the 47th US President. The tracks featured here have runtimes between five and ten minutes, with a focus( largely) on the thicker and more roasting side wall craft, fitting the theme/ anger of the collection well.
This is a digital release that appears on Cincinnati, Ohio’s Stemms Audio- which is run by David Hilshorst of the Whores Breath project. The release features a simple picture of Trump during a speech. The compilation can be found here.
We open with the track “Deforestation” from the rather mysterious project Autumn In May. The just under ten-minute track brings together a set low-end roasting tone, flowing static rush, and rattling grain subtone sear- with the whole thing sounding like a constantly rushing/all-engulfing fire. There’s the jittering 'n' thick grit meets churning/ abstract guitar feedback unease of Orlová, Czechia Morbid Beauty’s “Vibrations To Honor Our Demons”. Or the dense pelting shred meets billowing static flow of Inanition's "Traumatic Withdrawal".
Later on, we go from the rapid rattling 'n' bitter wind billow of Nursing Death’s “Attentat”. Through to the full-on rolling rush and galloping sear of Sick Systems “ The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters”. The release is finishing off with Whore’s Breath's lengthily entitled “I am lying as I take this oath of office, my hand on the holy word. America, Christianity and the rule of law mean nothing to me. I am on a quest for power and wealth. I am Donald J. Trump. I will destroy the United States.” Which is a just under eight-minute journey into crude/ rapidly cascading rock full rip, cluttering static, and muffled lo-fi hack/ sear.
Walled noise compilations are few and far between these days, so it’s great to see Dark Days Coming being released. Overall I’d say it’s a solid/ largely engaging compilation, though it does largely stick to the thicker and more punishing side of the genre.