Signatus, Catatonic State, Soma, Gyakusatsu - Marbre Negre Fest I
This release is not a compilation. This release is a documented live recording from the first Marbre Negre Festival. Featuring Signatus, Catatonic State, Soma, and Gyakusatsu. This release has been made available on limited cassette via Spanish Marbre Negre and on limited CD-R via E.C.T. Recordings. About 75 minutes of relentless sound brutality.
Interesting and trashy-looking graphics adorn the release. Surreal and nightmarish collage made by an artist who goes by the name of Human Nausea. The live recordings have been made at L'Antic Forn de Vallcarca by Oscar in Barcelona. Oscar is the guy behind Gyakusatsu and Marbre Negre, in case u didn´t know. All the live recordings by the various acts are untitled.
We start off with Signatus. We have reviewed before, kind of satanic-themed industrial-noise... or as the artist himself calls it, Iberian Barbaric Harsh Noise! Subtle ambient sound of humming steel and quiet distortion. Sound of metallic wrap paper, or is it the sound of a power surge through a wire? Then the sound gets crushed on a wave of feedback, with occasional high analog-squeaks worming it´s way through the cracked feedback. Everything sounds as if it has been recorded through a steel tunnel, while a kind of bladed sort of machinery runs through it to clean it. Agonized human voice screaming in there aswell. Atmospheric harsh noise which slowly builds up, giving it a ritualistic element. Love it. Ends with the audience applauding, which is kind of nice.
Next act on the menu is Catatonic State, whom I don´t know (yet). A project by David Area, whom I know through an excellent ambient release he did with Javier Piñango (R.I.P). Worth a note or two, with this project, he has made a split with HNW-pioneer Vomir. And he has had a release out on Smell The Stench back in 2013. Anyway, the track starts with the sound of the audience having a conversation in Spanish, I can't understand what they are saying, but... There's definitely a good vibe in there. Then there is a sound, a subtle sound slowly rising higher and higher...the audience is still talking... maybe not knowing what is going to happen. The rising tone ends and gets replaced by a wall of distorted sound of falling bricks. There is also a humming tone in there. So far, it´s a classic ambient-noise wall with the live element attached to it. I'm not sure, have a feeling that there is the chanting Gregorian chant in there, maybe it´s just me who has been listening to noise-wall for too long... who knows? It´s the kind of wall that I enjoy, one that has a kind of spiritual or religious mood. It stops, all people are cheering and clapping their hands... even having a laugh.
We head straight into the sound of Soma, whom I have reviewed several times on Kalteldur. The sound of Soma is a bit closer to power electronics than harsh noise. Although mostly focused on abstract noise, there is a brutal and relentless sound-monster on the loose, which (more or less) is controlled in iron chains. The torturous sound explodes in hundreds of small sharpnells, while a heavy bass tone keeps the listener firmly glued to the concrete floor. When we get to the end of their recording, you feel (as a listener) kind of exhausted... but in a good way. Completely and utterly brutal.
We end the evening with Gyakusatsu. A relentless project which have haunted the Spanish scene since 2010. Which is more or less the backbone for the Marbre Negre label... in the same way that Brighter Death Now was the backbone for Cold Meat Industry. The sound of gas, nasty, distorted screaming, metal feedback, and whispering ritual spoken words. Skin-stretching multi-layered torment in the operational theatre, something getting drilled... something getting sliced. At one point, I had to take a pause... watching a video with Bottoms! (Anyways!). Vocals are added, and the electronics are further intensified... really like that weird sound of machinery moving up and down, sinister slaughterhouse going bunkers! When it ends, u get to feel in your head (and ears) just how violent Gyakusatsu and Soma really were!
Marbre Negre Noise Fest I is a live recording which captures a moment, and explains what u can expect from a label like Marbre Negre. Although they also manage to release ambient, dungeon synth, and experimental stuff aswell. This one is firmly focused on the various noise styles on the label itself. The live recording is pretty good, and you also get the feeling of actually being there. Most brutal stuff I have heard this year, my ears still hurt!
Bandcamp (Marbre Negre):
Discogs (E.C.T):