Various Artists — Monolithic Torment Forever( tape boxset)
Monolithic Torment Forever is a two-C96 release that pays tribute to transgender wall noise creator Emily/ Cory Aideen, who sadly took her life in June of this year. She was behind the likes of Root Cellar, Monolithic Torment, Submachine Gun, and solo work- been both a great noisemaker, as well as a kind and considerate soul- who has gone on to be called ‘the queen of harsh noise wall’. The first tape takes in tribute from one hundred and one artists who admired/ respected her work, and the second takes into side long example of Emily’s own walled noise.
The release was curated/ put out by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based transgender noisemaker and jewellery creator Alyx Ill. With all the profits going to Emily’s family and suicide prevention charities. The two black C96 cassettes come presented in a tall double tape box- featuring on its front cover a picture of Emily standing on a street connor, in suspenders, sneakers, and wearing a devil/ pentagram T-shirt. Inside we get folded double-sided inlay, featuring a write-up from Alyx Ill, one of my personal reviews of Emily’s work, and a write-up about the two tracks- with the whole thing finished off with a black and white screen-printed patch of Emily's art. Seemingly the box is now out of print, but who knows it may get a reissue, and in meantime an extended version of the release it can be found here.
In total the first tape takes in the work of one hundred and one noise makers who were touched by Emily’s work- with each offering up a fifty-five-second-long tribute. We have a mix of more known/long-running wall noise acts like Richard Ramirez, Dosis Letalis, Vilgoć and Koobaatoo Asparagus. Sitting beside lesser-known projects like Neck Wound Fetishist, New Growth Between The Cracks, and Terbeschikkingstelling. As you can imagine with so many short tracks, there is no way you can comment on individual tracks- and really the first tape works like of sonic tapestry. We of course get the expected harsh noise wall and ambient noise wall tracks, but we also get more experimental walled noise, as well as more moody-to-abstract harsh noise/ ambient noise crossbreeds. On the whole, both sides of the tape make for a wholly entertaining, and varied ride- and aside from one of two tracks, I enjoyed everything here- with the whole ninety-six minutes being a great ride/ tribute to Emily and her projects.
Moving onto the second tape in the set, and we find two side-long examples of Emily’s own wall craft. On side C we get “1 800 273 8255”( which is one of the US suicide phone lines)- this is from the Monolithic Torment, which was active from 2019 and put out over fifty releases. I’m not sure where this track dates from, but it’s most certainly a great example of Emily’s wall-making. The track begins with a loose ‘n’ choppy blend of ANW taking in rumble, hack, and revolving spotted grain flow. At around the two-minute mark, things thicken up to HNW- as we get the addition of slowly shredding buffet ‘n’ bay, loosely clutter/ distant low-end chop, and tight/ compressed jitter. The ‘wall’ is both tightly oppressive, yet oddly inviting- as one's mind follows first one textural element after another. For the next thirty or so minutes, things remain fairly set, though as with the best examples of the genre, you think you are detecting shifts/ new elements- when in reality it’s all fairly firm. At just shy of the thirty-four-minute mark the ‘wall’ drops a few layers- and we find a mix of constant cluttering descent, rolling mid-range, and subtle grain pitting. The textures seem to nicely churn and buck into each other in a most grim yet entrancing manner.
Flipping the tape over and we have a track from Emily’s Root Cellar Project, and track is entitled "Steins Pillar". This project also started in 2019, and released around fifteen releases. I know when this was first released, the 8th of September 2020, and I know this because it was the first work I heard from Emily/ then Cory- and it very much impressed me, with me going on to review it here.
Reviewing something you’ve already reviewed is rather tricky- so I’ve not re-read my original review, and hope that the below will see me adding something different/ new to my first review.
First off these recent play-throughs are understandable marred by sadness for me- as I got to know Emily fairly well, we chatted on PM from time to time, and I was always excited to hear new work from her. Aside from this, the ‘wall’ here is still damn effective in its unrelenting, almost organic batter ‘n’ bay structure. It’s built around a muddy ‘n’ lose low-end judder- this is edged by a constant single knocking wood-like tone, with suggestions of grain pop, faint rattling flag pole-like reveb, and distant wayward clutter. The whole thing feels both earthy, yet at the same time loosely industrial in its flowing persistence. The ‘wall’ still enchants me in the same way it first did, and it really does highlight Emily’s true talent as a wall-maker.
Understandable I’m going to be somewhat biased about Monolithic Torment Forever- as I personally knew/ respected Emily, and was like many followers of the worldwide walled noise scene very much shocked and sadden by her passing. I have tried to be as subjective as I can, but I’d say this really is a splendid release- going from the work Alyx Ill did putting the whole thing together, through to the release/ tapes themselves….As readers of my wall-noise reviews will know, I rarely give straight five out of five marks, but this most certainly deserves it. And I hope, where ever you are now Emily, that you're at peace, out of pain, and your spirit is calm/free!.