Sunday 22 May 2011

Toxic Toys Zone - Atropine


Artist Toxic Toys Zone
Label 17 Sons
Year 2011
Genre Wall Noise, Harsh Noise

With this release Toxic Toys Zone serve up four slabs of Harsh Noise decay. Slow as molasses and just as thick, each passage washes over the listener in an almost calming fashion. Minor variations flow throughout the release, only noticeable with a good set of speakers or some headphones. This is the stylistic mixture of Velvet Cacoon's ambient work and Vomir's Harsh Noise Wall.

Narcosis offers up a wall built from stuttering synth and decaying static. Swirling and shifting until it is gradually overtaken by a bassier tone that begins, itself, to degrade. Eventually everything dies away bar the beautiful shimmering synth to close out the track. Juxtaposed perfectly with the screaming feedback walls that open Syncope. The end to Narcosis offers slight space to catch a breath before being submerged again in the harsher landscapes crafted by Toxic Toy Zones.

Metallic drones shape the subsequent track. Opening with a high pitched wail and slowly morphing into an almost soothing passage, like lying back and letting steel waves wash over the listener. The sounds of steel drums being broken down and echoing throughout wordless chambers. Dense, and despite the calm ever so slightly unsettling.

The final track, Sedation, offers yet more feedback. Ever so subtly shifting drones of feedback lull the listener into a state of sedation. The equivalent of a chill-out track at the end of a Psy-trance album, only for harsh noise heads. Not building to anything, simply existing in a calm middle ground. Closing the release in the most beautiful fashion.

This was my first experience of Toxic Toy Zones and the label 17sons, I can only say that if all the material is of this quality that I will be keeping an eye on both the project and the label. Also worthy of note is the fact that I will be reviewing another 17sons release over the coming days.

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