lørdag den 18. september 2021

Miasmata - Last Entrenchments 



Another thing out from the Copenhagen-based label Sektion 1. Another highly obscure act is called Miasmata with its debut called Last Entrenchments. 2 long tracks on each side of the cassette, about 20+ minutes in total. Again Sektion 1 nails the cover-artwork/design for the release, lovely cardboard paper, and excellent printing as well. Not sure what the artwork is trying to illustrate, but it thickens the mystery and heightens any abstract thoughts. The cassette is limited to 50 copies.

The album starts with something which sounds like a radio recording, some radio channel playing bombastic classical music of some sort. The pleasantness slowly grinds into the raw territory of industrial harsh noise. Very sort of the late 80s vibe here, early Grey Wolves/Macronymphia sort of sound. Very dynamic and chaotic with the classical radio-music going on in the background, could be a live performance? The whole thing sounds like something is being disintegrated, or something being grinds into absolute nothingness. 

The second track again has some interesting recordings going on. Very low-fi and very eerie vibe going on. It really does show how creative you can get with a primitive approach. A bewitching slice of industrial harshness, or just call it atmospheric/ritualistic harsh noise. If some soldier in the first world war was doing some sort of harsh noise in the trenches, it could sound like this!


I turn the cassette to the B-side and jump into the third track. Obscure radio recording with some lovely analog industrial minimalism. It´s not all harsh noise and all that, highly experimental recordings going on in here. Again, sort of takes me back to a time when noise was more of an experimental nature rather than being noisier than your neighbor-approach. Fans of early MB/Sacher-Pelz would love this. Tons of diversity in this track!

The fourth track (and the last) returns to the classic sound of early harsh noise. Screaming feedbacks, rumbling sounds, looped soundscapes... Reminds me of early Con Dom (without vocals though) and the radio-recording of some opera going on in the background. Again, the whole thing has a lovely live feeling attached to it.

And that was the 4 tracks on the album. It´s harsh noise in the interesting section of the store. A lovely old-school early 90s/late 80s sound to this. Lots of mood and lots of dynamics/diversity going on, not a boring release at all. A lovely treat for the senses!.