Various ýHNW Artists — Video Nasties
The release comes in the form of a c122 tape, and came in a fairly big( by HNW scene standards ) of 49 copies- and as of writing this review the label still has copies. The black shelled tape features a label on one side- this takes in a uk 18 certificate emblem, and the words ‘not recommend for person under 18 years of age’. The sleeve is a pro-printed affair- on the front cover takes in a reproduction of infamous rape/ revenge movie I spit on your grave, and on the inside there’s white text on black background- taking in the track listings.
So moving onto the sonic’s with-in, and on side one we have five tracks. And first of these is a track from Oregon based Wet Dream Asphyxiation, and their chosen film is Tenebre- the film in question was a violent early 80’s giallo/ slasher film that told of a American thriller author visiting Rome where a series of blood murders are taking place. The track opens with a murky & disorientating mix of layers of brooding ‘n’ airless industrial synth swim, female screams/ dog sounds from the movie, and the films muffled electronic soundtrack. Then at around the fourth minute the ‘wall’ kicks in, and it’s built around two key elements- a rapid mass of rolling staple like locked roasting, and a more searing /coarse jitter. These elements are locked together into a dense & bleak ‘wall’, which unfolds in unchanging manner- at around the 12 minute mark the ‘wall’ dissipates, and we get an untreated sample of the films main pulsing theme- the whole thing finally ends around the 15 minute mark.
After this we have the French black wearing master of walled noise offering up a track themed around sleazy/ slightly arty 1979 US film Driller Killer, which told of a deranged artists attacking street bums with a battery powered drill. And this track doesn’t mess around with any samples from the movie- we just drive straight into the ‘wall’- this is fittingly crude & dense mixture of rapidly coursing sewage like thick & unrelenting spurting, which is underfed by rapid shaking static rush. The ‘wall’ sudden ends at the 13 minute work, and we get a few moments of the films soundtrack that brings together simmering deep synth hovers grimly tribal electro stabs & sudden sustained drill/ victim screaming.
Also on side one we have La Crosse, Wisconsin Burial Ground’s take on 1979’s Don't Go In The House. Unpenis(a project from the mind behind Lungwash) takes on early women in prison film Women Behind Bars. And Italian Nascitari take on Andy Milligan's bickering families & lo-fi gory classic The Ghastly Ones. And each of these mangers to nicely capture the lo-fi, aged yet brutal vibe of 70’s/ 80’s grind house & sleazed horror movies.
Flipping over the side B, and first up we have a track São Paulo, Brazil based project Carrion Black Pit. This project do a track themed around arty/ surreal 1981 French-German movie Possession- which told of a woman who starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behaviour after asking her husband for a divorce. The tracks opens up with a low-down, muffled & aquatically organic like rumble; with-in less than a minute this is pinned back to compressed, extremely muffled, and murky slurred judder meets condensed/ taut bass purr. By around the three & a half minute the track shifts into a mixture of hysterical/ manic female laugher & screaming- this is weaved by a murky aquatic judder/rumble pattern. Then at the sixth minute a more defined & layered mixture of crisp static juddering, meaty under rumble, and lose cross hatching jittering kicks-in. As this ‘wall’ processes there’s some subtle yet effective layer shift, as first one texture is shifting then the next. At around the 13th minute mark the whole thing starts the haze back in quite effective & moody way- with the ‘wall’ finally drifting completely back to this weird aquatic knocking/ frog like texture. All told it’s a great track & one of the highlights of this comp- it mixes together murky/ moody ANW, with rewarding full-on walled noise, and some great subtle/ effective samples from the film.
The remainder of side B is taken up by Indianan based Crown of Bones Overloaded & searing take on I spit on your grave. Dubuque Iowa’s Boar offering up a ‘wall’ based around mock shockumentary Faces Of Death. And lastly Serbian based Dead Body Collection take on 1979’s Delirium- which told of a Vietnam vet going on a killing spree.
All told this is a great & consistent compilation, and lets hope they are more to come. As of course they were many other films on the video Nasties list, and they really do make perfect themes for wall-craft. Really if your only vaguely interested in walled noise this is one of the must have items from the last few years...so get your hands on one, before they’ve all gone!.