Mai 12 - Post Structural
The second time around I get to review something related to this noisy one-man act from Greece. Last time it was a collaboration with Dosis Letalis, who (again) is no stranger to Kalteldur. This full-length CD is limited to 20 copies and is a self-released album by Karl Grümpe himself. The disk is housed in a custom-printed cardboard case with flaps and a 2mm spine. It is kind of nifty and different at the same time.
The artwork shows something from a children's playground, like a swing or something. And then there are fences around it, with a sort of industrial complex in the background. Poststructural? Makes me think of a place In Germany I visited this summer. The town of Duisbuch has a major closed-down industrial complex from the Second World War, which has been turned into a park. The place has a kind of... post-war feel to it. But anyway! The whole thing is a 6 track album over 1-hour long. All the tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 have all been mixed so the album sounds like one whole track.
Scraped metal against metal, creating blistering iron sparks in the air. The sound of a red-hot flame is bursting through a huge rusty-looking chimney, while a river of melted iron floats into a pool of smoking water. I can almost sense the smell of someone welding. The sensating of metal pipes creating steams of noise submerged the listener into the recording itself. It´s noise-wall, just being a lot more harsh-noise dynamics. True primal industrial noise! Love the punctuating thumps and occasional bleeps here and there, a constant and menacing storm made of fire and steel. A nuclear explosion that doesn't end! At track 3 the distorted tones get a bit higher, while the bass gets even more dense and thick. Minor elements of rhythmic elements can be traced here. Pulsating waves of liquid noise get squeezed into the listener's ears like a great pumping syringe. Later on, a high buzzing electronic mosquito sound will paralyze your senses with some lovely and excellent crunchy noise sounds. The last track takes me straight into some submerged atomic-driven submarine!
It´s a monster to satisfy every fan of HNW and harsh noise. With lots of experimental touches here and there, it manages to create a soundscape of its own with an organic and dynamic feel to it. Quite adventurous as well. and it has that authentic live-session atmospheric feel to it. Highly recommended!
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