Vomir and Claritas - Stollenausbau
This is another thunderous and harsh release from our favorite avant-garde/noise label, Grubenwehr Freiburg. It is a split between the well-known godfather of HNW Vomir and a Danish act called Claritas. The release has been released as a limited c-50 tape release via another label called Mercium. There are two tracks on the tape, one side for each artist. The title of the album means Tunnel Expansion. The album is connected with the same mining concept as the tape release between Dosis Letalis and Mai12.
We start off with Vomir. A thick and layered bass-driven ambient noise churns immediately out of the speakers. The crushing of huge rocks being blistered into air-driven dust. A microphone recording the storm of the century... or the sound of a fast-moving sandworm on the surface of the planet Dune. Love the different sound layers. There is a pulsating waterish sound in there, the hum of huge airplanes, the static sound of burning gas, or the flattening noise of being buried in thick concrete. It can be heard as a brutal and aggressive thing, but also as a meditative and relaxing one as well. Soundwise, I think it follows the earthy mining sound concept. This layered burger of aural delight burns in 26 minutes and 1 second.
We turn the cassette and continue on the B-side with Claritas. A lot more noisy and in your face, with almost a kind of power-electronics approach. The crunchy and dry sound of thunder in the summertime, just before the rain hits you. For some reason, my mind keeps telling me that there are vocals in there... and the sound of some sort of siren alarm... or is it the inside sound of a fast-moving train? The whole thing/track delivers a million huge explosions on a microscopic scale, the sound of a slow-moving atomic explosion, or the constant shredding sound of nylon/fabric being ripped apart. Lots of textures of sound here, I can almost smell the bacon on the frying pan! Last 6-7 minutes of the track, there is a static ritualistic and drone´ish low-male voice in there... I'm sure!
It´s a BEAUTIFUL HNW treat for both the fans of the ambient noise and the harsh noise. Perfectly balanced between these two styles. Both artists (on the tape) work in almost perfect harmony of utmost brutalism of sound. And no, it´s not a case of someone pushing a button and then walking away from the recording equipment. It´s a case of someone pushing/twiddling a button/knop, patiently waiting a bit... and then slowly ( in a good way ) surprising the listener in the art of slow subversiveness. As I can read it, this release is part of a HNW series ( 5 releases in total ). I have only reviewed 2 of them, and these two are... REALLY GOOD! Lots of reasons to check up on the others as well, more info on the labels Bandcamp site!
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