Concrete Mascara delivers ten tracks of screeching and
bombing power electronics on this little tape that really capture a handcrafted
physical layering of sounds and feedback that encompasses both rhythmic
blasting, screeching, and fairly audible vocal shouts.
“Burial at the Salt Flats” starts the album off with a
heavily muffled collage of screeching tones buried beneath the bass drenched
throbbing stomp. Although short, 3:08 in length, it’s dense enough to suffocate
you in a cloudy electric storm.
“Ready for Harvest” is a less muffled, bass less, screeching
DIY style power electronic /noise experiment gone right. The constant buzzing
in and out in the background reminds me of a shorting circuit, it creates this
choppy and awkward rhythm that alongside the shrill screeches will keep your
bowels clenched as your mind attempts to cope with making sense of this
montage. There’s some reminiscence of Gelsominas “Narttukoira” off Sick Seed, or “So Many Ways to Kill a
Man” off Dead Body Love’s Maximum Dose
where the entire track is screeching with little to no background rhythm, but
the fluctuations of the “on and
off “ choppy textures in the sounds really make the track flow. The only difference
that specifically weeds out Concrete Mascara is that DIY, Nurse With Wound,
choppy, collage, shot live in one take vibe, which really strengthens the track
and the artist in comparison to others.
“Statement of Intent” is a thick stew of full-fledged fuzz
fury of NTT/Steel Hook Prostheses/Strom.ec worship, but with no love spared for
the Cloama/Knurl screech tactics.
“Ruby Red” is one unusual “sore thumb” on this release. It
has this bass line underneath a very minimal screeching and static layer that
sounds almost like an actual bass at times. The reason this is such a unique
track is due to the bass giving it an organic, almost Cabaret Voltaire tint.
Don’t get me wrong, this track belongs on the album!!!!! It just takes the
listener by surprise with the bass and it’s minimal structure almost like the
audio version of a tree without the leaves, just branches bare. Definitely one
more score for originality and craft for Concrete Mascara.
“Skin Crawls Cold” is a mega throbbing bass pulse that
sounds as if it’s trying to slow to a “screeching” halt, a choppy and bouncing
vehicle of heavy steel with a disastrous amount of momentum applying dry worn
brakes. “Skin Crawls Cold” is also ironically “dancey” as a combination of the rhythms of the thuds of bass and the
jagged throbbing of the vocals and screeches on top. There’s a lot of
manipulation in this 3:23 length excursion that is a huge juxtaposition to the
previous “Ruby Red”.
Just released and limited to about 50 copies, the site says
47 available so a few have been set aside for trade or pre-order, so if you
really want a tape of vicious and unrelenting power electronics that stands
with the like of Strom.ec, Steel Hook Prostheses, Knurl, Cloama…. and still
brings something new and sharp to the cutting block then you should move on
this one quickly!!!!! WOHRT releases sell fast to the point of almost
evaporation.
Here's some sound samples:
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