Werewolf Jerusalem, Wet Dream Asphyxiati — 4 way split boxset

Here’s a four way split tape box set from Spokane, Washington based Lost Light Records. The set offers up four slices of dense, brutal, yet often darkly moody walled noise- with each track coming in at, or around the twenty minute mark.

The two cassettes each come in their own flip-lid plastic tape cases-their sleeves feature very murky & dark black & white pictures, and minimal white texts against a black background. These both come in a white clam shell VHS box, and this features a rather cryptic yet slightly creepy black & white picture of branch covered post box with another wooden book inside it. The image is repeated on the mini inlay poster, and the set also includes a white fabric patch featuring the label logo in black screen print. The set is ltd to forty physical copies, though there is also a digital download of the set too.

First up on tape one side A we have a track from Werewolf Jerusalem- which is of course  one of the more know projects from the highly prolific & influential Texas noise  maker Richard Ramirez. The track here is entitled "Down Dark Paths", and it opens with a mix of moodily & billowing dark drone churn & subdued crackle.  By around the minute forty mark the ‘wall’ has kicked in, and it’s a mixture of murky yet taut chopping ‘n’ hacking texturing- this  is coldly battered by continuous pelting shower of  bitterly  juddering & tense static. This main ‘wall’ brings to mind trudging along in the half-light though a skin stinging & bone freezing winter storm- this part of the track remains fairly firm until around the sixteen minute mark. After this point we shifting into this extreme muffled & quite eerier mix of blunt juddering, and throbbing ‘n’ buzzing yet murky  industrialized drone matter- and this stays in place for the rest of the track. All in all in a nice opener, and sets the tone nicely for the remainder of the set- i.e. brutal yet darkly moody HNW.

Flipping over to side B, and we have a track Oregon based Wet Dream Asphyxiation, and their track is entitled "Nil". Once again the track opens in fairly stripped back & atmospheric manner,  with this building & creepy mix of swirling & murkily billow tones.  With-in less than two minutes the ‘wall’ kicks-in, and it’s built around layers of hacking & coldly splitting static; & underneath these is a murky ill defined rumble. Once again the whole thing has quite the feeling of a battering winter storm, but it’s a bit more spiteful & sonically stinging than the Werewolf Jerusalem track. The ‘wall’ remains fairly firm & fixed through-out it’s runtime, though there does feel like there is some movement with in the layers of hacking & spitting static, and the whole thing is possible also slower down.  I’ve not heard anything from this project for the last two or so years, so it’s great to hear them again, and I’m happy to report they still have the ability to create worthy & starkly battering wall-craft.

Moving onto tape number two & side C we have a track from Joli( which is the project of Jason Wolpert, who runs the Lost Light label). This project has been active since 2013, and has put out around 15 releases, taking in tapes, CDR’s & splits. Their track is entitled “Solitary Hallway”, and it’s the first work I’ve heard from this project. The ‘wall’ is a dense, bleak, and totally hopeless mix of layers of continual rolling ‘n’ roaring static layers- these run at slightly different speeds, and have a fairly close tonal range of lower-to-mid range. The textures have a fairly simple & short textural setting to them, but the way the ‘wall’ is layered really sucks you deep into its thick & totally nihilistic roast. In the tracks last five minutes there’s seems a more galloping,  meaty wavering  & sucking bleak-ness in the guts of the wall, but I’m not sure this is really there or just a trick of the ‘wall’. All told it searing intense yet appeal track, and I look forward to hearing more of the projects work.

So last up on side D we have a ‘wall’ from California based She Walks Crooked, and they offer up an untitled track. This brings together a very taut & urgent selection of rapidly juddering, snapping, and churning textures- these are  tonally set towards a mix of meaty grind & crisp splintering, with the whole ‘wall’ set at a break neck speed. This is a most intense & layered bit of  ‘wall-craft’, and it ends the split in fine seared yet layer detailed manner.

In conclusion this a enjoyable & worthy split, which offers up four consistent slices of US walled noise, and as of writing the label still copies.