Artist Timothy C Holehouse/The Reactcore is Splendid
Label None
Year 2010
Genre(s) Ambient, Harsh Noise, Noise Rock

Yet another split tape from the prolific Mr Holehouse, this time a split tape with The Reactcore is Splendid. Holehouse I’m sure is known within the noise scene but TRiS is new to me, a two man (?) project based out of London. Speaking of London it seems to be a heavy influence on the music contained on this pastel yellow cassette, coming as it does, with part of a London calendar affixed to the case.

The Holehouse side of the tape was recorded between London and Bristol (I’m assuming on a train?) via the use of a Dictaphone and then further editing carried out. The track carries a very strange vibe, snippets of conversations (other commuters?) come and go. The sounds of life ebb past and distort. There’s an incredibly sinister atmosphere carried throughout. Running the line from all out haunting ambient to dark stabs of distortion and feedback. As with most Timothy C. Holehouse pieces I find it best taken in whilst lying in a dark room with headphones. Atmospheres that are second to none. The piece calls to mind images of trains, faceless people dragging themselves through endless underground tunnels, dripping water and scurrying rats. Dark, dank and thoroughly unforgettable.

The Reactcore is Splendid serves up Turd Sandwich (AKA Live in Texas) which sounds like a dirty noise rock based recording. Vocals at sub-Albini levels and a whirlwind of guitar noise. I think there are drums somewhere in there too but I couldn’t make a guarantee. Sounding like more of a mixture of rock stylings and straight out noise than the usual ideas that are conveyed with Noise Rock. More noise based than The Cows but more rock based than the likes of Air Conditioning. The recording seems to leave a little to be desired but otherwise the TRiS is good, offering areas of noise, rock, Whitehouse styled power electronics etc. A wide area is covered with the live side and I’d really like to check out some studio works to see how they sound.

Euhedral/Timothy C Holehouse Split Tape

Artist Euhedral/Timothy C Holehouse

Label Self Released

Year 2010

Genre(s) Drone, Dark Ambient

Yet another split tape featuring the ever wonderful Mr. Holehouse and this time he has teamed up with Oxford based drone and dark ambient project Euhedral. Euhedral offers up one track split into two parts of creepy drone/dark ambient soundscapes, whilst Timothy C. Holehouse presents three tracks of dark improv. and shuddering melody. The information with the insert is somewhat sparse, offering artist and track names (and e-mails etc). The only other bit of info to be found is that the tape (I'm assuming both sides?) was recorded in Peckham on a bleak Sunday. I can't say for certain that this had any effect on the outcome but this split is definitely dark and brooding.

The Euhedral side side starts off with a drifting sound, echoes and slow methodical drum beats filling the plain. Self described by the artist as dark (which is an understatement) Mantis Song Parts 1 & 2 offer dense yet spacious atmospheres, drums bouncing off slick cave walls and dread filled drones rising from blackness. Damaged and shuddering walls of noise closing in from every side. The production and the drum sound almost lend a dub sound to the proceedings. As Part 1 fades into oblivion the dense silence is punctured by screams, at which I'm getting a similair vibe to In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebrarum by Abruptum (Except executed in a much more competent fashion). A metallic nightmare begins to stalk closer and closer to the forefront, like a mechanical beast rising from a misty chamber. Female vocals dance in the ether fitting the mood perfectly. All the components of the release joining into a sonic miasma. It's here however that I have a slight problem with the work, I was taken out of the experience somewhat by what sounds to be the use of a wah effect on the track, I was very aware of the nature of the track and it dulled the atmosphere that (until this point) had been created perfectly. Gone was the creeping sense of dread. There is a quick stop/start used to great effect, just as I was getting up to change sides the assault returned and resulted in me cowering like a little girl. I'll happily throw some Euhedral tracks on in future, however it's not exactly comfortable listening in a dark room en yet at the same time I would advise it to get the most of the experience.

Timothy C. Holehouse starts off with a calm piece of guitar, slowly repeating and dying away. Electronic flourishes ebb alongside the guitar. As the volume and intensity increases an air of menace becomes apparent. What sound like whispered vocals lurk just behind the instrumentation, haunting the listener. Soon the guitar is overpowered by a thudding pulse of a beat, steady and omnipresent. A swirl of electronics offering only slight suggestions that the guitar still exists as part of the composition. More urgent and pressing, there is a slight drop out on the tape at one point which I'm not entirely sure is intentional. Just as soon as the hazy electronics began they start to fade away, leaving the pulsating beat and gentle guitar, sounding ever more alone. The beat eventually vanishes until the guitar is all that's left, sounding sorrowful and alone due to the juxtaposition with the harsher point of the track. Track two carries with it an almost Moevot vibe, carrying the sound as if it were recorded in a cathedral, there are also flourishes of almost Kluster-esq electronics, psychedelic en yet melding perfectly with the composition. The Moevot vibe only increase as the side rumbles on, especially when the sinister, whispered vocals return.

There's much been said about the genre of Black Noise, despite being a loose term which covers the more bombastic (Emit) to the slightly calmer and more ambient (Dapnom/Black Seas of Infinity) there seems to be a lash back from the noise community at large. It's releases like this that might be able to turn the tide and show there can be a good mix of Dark/Black Ambient and Noise/Drone elements to create something greater than the sum of it's parts.

Timothy C Holehouse/LAN Formatique

Artist Timothy C Holehouse / LAN Formatique
Label None
Year 2009 (?)
Genre(s) Dark Ambient

Yet another split tape featuring Mr. Holehouse and yet another blinder. packaged with a small insert (part of which is reproduced above) on purple coloured tapes there's really no preparing for this release.

Holehouse opens with electronic drone and distant drums, fracturing under subtle bomb samples. Wails echo around the piece as if you're being serenaded by lost souls. There's a very real image of a solider slowly dying in the middle of a battlefield, blood mixing with the moody ground. Being beckoned to and taunted by those that have already passed. The closest artist I could compare this to would be Edinburgh's Wraiths (Edit : I have just noticed they are thanked in the insert), this release is a lot calmer however and very much has an identity of it's own. The insert tells us that these tracks were recorded in a 16th Century cottage in Dorset, coupling this with the images evoked within the sounds and the artwork there's a very strong aesthetic drive to the release which works perfectly. This is proper bleak electronic ambient, feelings of loss and despair creep into your brain, carried effortlessly by the music, itself simply dripping with implied menace. This shits all over most of the so called "medieval dark ambient" (See : Dark Ages) by not only creating the aesthetic needed but also being able to carry the idea within the music itself. I tried to listen to this tape whilst lying in bed the other night but had to turn it off because it was genuinely freaking me out. A simply fantastic effort. One issue that I have noticed is that the second track appears to hard panned to the left channel, this can be overlooked when considering the sheer depth of the music included however. The final track is a more overt noise piece, but it carries forward the atmosphere from the preceding two arrangements. It's really hard to describe each track separately as they flow together so well.

LAN Formatique were new to me with this tape and here they present us with six tracks which were apparently "Recorded between the land of the living and the Emerald city", now I'm not too sure about anyone else but I, for one, am intrigued. The first thing I noticed about their recording was the use of guitar to form a basis of the music, alongside what sounds like real (Being a drummer I'm fucked if I'm wrong) drums. I'm reminded of Opaque mixed with a little bit of early Abruptum, very befitting the style established over on Side A. The constant panning of the drums gives me a bit of a headache but when they build up into an all out assault I quickly forget any issues I had, this is noise rock at it's noisiest and most brutal. The songs blend into one long track (Which is really helped by the format) which leaps around seamlessly from foggy ambient drone to spastic instrument abuse almost at random. Only with great care can something sound so spontaneous and unplanned.

Swallowtail - Demo 2010

Artist Swallowtail

Label None (Self Release)?

Year 2010

Genre(s) Experimental Noise

This demo by Swallowtail opens with a slow creeping atmosphere, alot calmer than what I was expecting. Moments almost reminiscent of Akira Yamaoka's work on Silent Hill offer affecting beauty and clarity in a sea of creeping electronics. Fractured drumming breaks through the mossy electronic base, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Shrieks and screams nestle in the background, swirling in the dense layers. Slowly fading out.

The release continues to twist and turn, not falling to expectations. Black metal styled vocals and almost unprocessed guitar make an appearance and offer a complete change of pace whilst retaining just enough style to not feel out of place. I begin to have problems here as there is alot of high end (almost painfully so) without much low end, there are rumbles and bass but it's not prominent, it teases an appearance but doesn't deliver.

I'm beginning to think this release was mixed as loud as possible without much concern for how it would sound. The more noise based elements are almost ear raping. We're now treated to a heavily distorted drum machine and feedback squeals. Very foreword but lacking the atmosphere conveyed earlier.

A pulsing bassline drives onwards, broken samples crackling into nothing as we break into an almost Gabba styled track, little variation and drums being too high in the mix don't offer much here. When we break back into a calmer passage there's more going on but a static buzz (almost unchanging) kills the atmosphere. Another Gabba styled section finishes this off.

A more atmospheric track rears it's head. Images of misty streets and unthinkable horrors are conjured, to be suddenly shut down by yet more drum machine abuse. The Silent Hill vibe is still here, taken over as it is by almost noisecore levels of screaming and drumming. There is a very interesting bed of electronics in the background, but the drums are so forward in the mix it's almost impossible to focus on. Each section is done well, the dark ambient, creeping electronics, Gabba styled drum beats, aggressive screaming. My only problem is that the mash up of styles doesn't allow the true power of each section to be displayed.

An almost tortured guitar line creeps out of the electronic murk, strangely beautiful in juxtaposition to the dirty skree that it stands against. I'm reminded of black noise, and black noise done well at that. Atmospheres that suggest great unease, forcing the listener to confront that which they rather would not.

Like being stuck on an ever spinning carnival ride, the usually fun sounds and warm lights distorting and becoming something much more sinister. This track is what I imagined when I originally heard the "dark cabaret" genre tag used. I do get an uneasy feeling that the intro to an Arcturus track may have been used as a sample here though, especially towards the end (I think it's from Arcturus but I can't be sure)

Droning synth lines coupled with aggressive almost Junglism styled drum beats shouldn't work but for some reason it does. Breaking up the tracks en yet managing to keep the same atmospheric flow.


It's really hard to say how I feel about this release as a whole, there are some moments of genius but I am reminded of the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none". Swallowtail shows real promise, the electronics are evocative. My main concern is that I feel I've heard a lot of this before, I'm not sure if that's down to an expert structure of songs and atmospheres or due to a liberal use of samples. Either way it's worth grabbing the release to see how it goes for you. I'd defiantly keep an eye on Swallowtail either way.