Here we have a five CDR release from French husband & wife walled noise duo Absurde. The set offers up five walls that each run between thirty to forty minutes a piece, and for the most part it’s a brutal yet appealing collection of wall craft. The theme for the whole release is frustration- in it's various forms. The Paris based project brings together Charlotte & Julien Skrobek. Julien will be more than familiar to anyone who has been following the walled noise scene over the last 4 or so years- he first appeared in 2011 with his Ghost project, and the excellent Slow Dead label( which is now sadly no more), his work offered up an sometimes progressive, but always creative take on wall-craft/ static noise. In recent years he’s been connected to a host of projects both solo (Ecco, Static Park, Butch Bag, Oscuro, The Killer Came From The Bronx, etc), and collaborations like: Version( with progressive UK waller Clive Henry), The Sandman Wears A Mask( with Alois Richter), and a few others. Charlotte is less prolific & known, but she now has a few of her own solo projects(The Girl with a Stanley Knife, Sleep Paralysis and Flux Nocturne) and collaborations: Flesh Clocks( with Julien) and Cuttings ( with Clive Henry)
The CDR set comes in a black painted A5 envelope that features two sets of stuck-on bits of artwork. On the front we have a picture of a warehouse full with palettes, plus minimal text/ logo. And on the back is the labels logo. Each of the unlabeled CDR’s feature hand written numbers & titles, and there are two thin strips of white paper detailing the projects blog & minimal information. All told it’s not the most arty or special bit of package, with the whole thing rather bringing to mind some of the releases put out on Richard Ramirez’s Deadline Recordings- but I guess it functional & has it’s own kind of sparse cliché.
On first disc we have the track ‘Out Of Order’, and this comes in at just over the thirty eight minute mark. The tracks pretty much a firm & set bit of wall-making, and it brings a bothersome & deep mid pace rumble, which is weaved with a collect of two or three jitter ‘n’ juddering textures. The rumble is very bleak & industrial earthy in it’s feel, while the jitter & judders are of the thinner yet still aggravated type- together the elements create a thick & unrelenting slice of wall craft, which is fairly rewarding in it’s patter nation.
On disc two we have ‘Out Of Money’, and this comes in at the 43 minute mark. This ‘wall’ brings together a rushing ‘n’ rapid deep boiling judder and this is edged by compacted static jittering- together these create a wonderful urgent & brutalizing slice of HNW, which nicely batters away at you in an appealing manner. As the ‘wall’ progress both elements seemingly get more seared & intense in their raging quality- but I’m not sure it this is actually happening or just a trick of the ‘wall’ it’s self. I'd say this is one of my favourite ‘walls’ here, due to it’s intense yet entrancing attack.
Moving onto disc three & we have ‘Out Of Gas’- this comes in at the 41 minutes. This brings together a looped tumbling rumble, and this is knitted by a matt of crisp static jittering. The rumble has quite a repetitive storm type deep buffeting quality to it, while the jitter has a surrounding & inclosing feel about it- like your been cocooned in strands of slowly weaved static, as an unrelenting storm batters on. The tracks ok in it’s brutally lumbering repetition, but I can’t say it the most rewarding track here.
On disc four we have ‘Out Of Time’ and once again this comes in at the 41 minute mark. Here we find a mix of the following elements- a rolling/ churning yet locked rumble, a tight & taut mesh of static bound jittering patterning, and a low buffeting element. These elements patterns lock together to create this bluntly detailed & rewarding ‘wall’, which finds ones mind first following one pattern & the then the next- with the whole thing nicely crushing you into the dirt with it’s moorish yet detailed textural weight. This ‘wall’ is another of my highlights of the set.
Last up we have ‘Out Of Drugs’, and this one of the slightly longer tracks at the 44 minute mark. It brings together a taut, low & caught buffeting roasting texture, with a grainy yet crisp mix of meshed tight jittering. The whole thing has an effective feeling of scuzzy/ blown-out frustration- through it didn’t really keep me locked in for the whole tracks length, as my mind start to wonder around the mid way point.
So in conclusion we have here a collection of fairly similarly dense & brutal wall matter- with some tracks working better than others. As larger set goes this isn’t too bad, though it would have been nice to maybe had a little more textural/ tonally variation from track to track, but as a brutally sonic statement of frustration it works fine.
Kudos: 4/5
From Musique [Machine]
Absurde completed the HNW Questionary on Noise Admiration. Read the result here.
Review: Absurde / Chier - Absurde VS Chier [Required Rate Of Return - 2015]
Both tracks here are untitled, and first up we have the Absurade track. This tracks ‘wall’ is built around a thick & brutish yet hypnotic downward mix of the following: a fixed rumbling ‘n’ earth boring like noise drone, and several layers mid ranged crust bound jittering. The drone creates a weighty & bleak central focus, while the taut web of similar toned jittering’s keeps one attention fixed into the brutal & continually descending vortex of the ‘wall’.
Next up of course we have the Chier track, and this ‘walls’ is more of a layer detailed type. It brings together the following: a matt of loser machine chopping ‘n’ churning patterns, and a selection more agitated juddering textures. The churning patterns rather brought to mind the sound a large yet ancient industrial weaving machine, with hints of faded earthy galloping. With the agitated juddering patters rewardingly piling on top of each other in a lazy yet brutal manner. As the track goes on the layers of textures are nicely built up bit by bit, and by the end of the track you have really concentrate to follow the now blurred patterns.
So in finishing I’d say we have two worthy ‘walls’ on offer here. It’s so great to see that once again the French wall scene is getting more & more active again with new projects, as sadly for a few years it was just Vomir holding the flag for the scene. Anyway this split is well worth a look.
Kudos: 4/5
From Musique [Machine]
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