Wolf Eyes — Dead Hills

"OK, here’s your motivation: you’re lost and angry in the woods and there’s no one here to help you". Lines taken from the Blair Witch project, but I think they sum up perfectly the feeling of the title track from Wolf Eyes' Dead Hills ep.

The title track starts with a looped electronic groan that is oddly rhythmic. Slowly other elements are added to the audio horror stew. Wind, creaking doors, high-pitched electronics and layers of deep breathing. The musical air is thick with dread. Later on in the track layers of female screams are added to make the track feel even more uneasy. It brings to mind waking up, tied to a tree in the middle of a forest at night time and just through the trees you can see an old tin sack with a single light on.

Wolf Eyes mix perfectly noise, atmosphere and anger. You can hear the influence of Suicide and Throbbing Gristle here, but this is very much their own nightmare. Where Suicide oozed NYC alleyway fights and pick-ups and Throbbing Gristle embraced the rundown industrial greys of 1970s England, Wolf Eyes sum up the air of decaying farm out buildings hung with fresh kill. Crashed cars undiscovered on country lanes, rotting faces pressed against shattered wind screens. Wolf Eyes feel more a rural terror, their sawing home made electronics seem heady with rotting organic air.

The other two tracks have more of a song like feel as opposed to the dank soundscapes of the title track. They both employ overload vocals and clanking electronics that fizz up with swirling feedback. My favourite of the two is Rotten Tropics with its sinister cinematic bass loop with sparks of noise. At only 22 minutes this may seem a tad short, but this ep more than makes up for it in quality and atmosphere and teeth grinding anger. The Dead Black Hils, call so go buy!