Vomir/ Bleak Existence — Split

Here we have a C60 split from two of the longer serving projects from with-in the worldwide walled noise scene. Vomir, is one of the most known projects in the genre- this French project who has been active since 2005; releasing a truly huge body of work. And Quebec based Bleak Existence, who’s been active since 2007.

The release appears on Portuguese based sleaze ‘n’ noise label Narcolepsia. The black shelled cassette features white labels on each side, and these just take in each projects name. Sleeve wise we get a single sided gray card affair- this features a crude ‘n’ ripped college- taking in monster fish, large bullets, fake hands, snake heads etc. If you know the labels other releases- this very much stays to their lo-if & grimy house style.  The tape comes in an edition of 60 copies- which is most scene generous…so I’m sure, if you act relatively fast you’ll be able to snag a copy…though I would wait too long!.

Both tracks here are Untitled, and first out of the gate on side one we have the Vomir track. This ‘wall’ is very much a fixed, firm, crude & total unforgiving example of ‘wall-craft’. It’s built a muffled & stark swirling drone, and this is almost fully engulfed by a tight rattling ‘n’ judder bound static rush. It feels akin to constantly descending down & down a rusty & dilapidated spiral slide, with a force ten winter wind battering a way out side. The whole thing is both starkly enclosing & intensely seared in its total engulfment of one's sonic sensors. It’s fairly standard & typical of Vomir out-put, but that makes it no less appealing or worthy. With the most effective of Vomir’s work it’s all about the noise layers he brings together, how he balances them, and how effective the blend is at both entrancing & brutalizing the listener. And I’d say as Vomir work goes this is of a good standard- as it kept me locked in throughout.

So when we of course flip over to side B we have the Bleak Existence. This track opens with a tight & taut weave of jittering ‘n’ juddering noise textures- tonally these all have a fairly crisp & narrow lower-to-mid range to them. And this creates  images of shaking & undulating banks of white, black, and grey static- as if you where driving into a huge TV scene of constantly rushing static.  With-in a fairly short time it feels as if the ‘wall’ has started to split & break down slightly- as your mind starts to identify first one distinct, pattern after another. But I’m not completely sure if this is really happening, or it’s just a sonic illusion caused by the ‘wall’ it’s self. Over the tracks length I move between both camps, and really that’s what so sucks you into the ‘wall’. I’ll have to admit sometimes I’m the greatest fan of ‘walls’ that utilize a very narrow tonal range- as at times it all blurs together. But with this track you certainly don’t have that issue, as BE managers to nicely balance the mix- so you can clearly define each layer. All told it’s another effective ‘wall’ BE, and it works a nice companion for the first sides track.

So in finishing this C60 split finds these two older denizens of the HNW scene  each presenting the listener with an equally rewarding ‘walls’.  Sure nothing here is reinventing the walled noise wheel, or breaking the mould- but if you like no- nonsense wall matter that’s appealing & intense- this is something you should pick-up. And as mentioned early this should be slightly easier to pick up, compared with the scenes other releases, as it had a pressing of 60 copies.