Impur - A Live To Ruin
Cassette, Marbre Negre, 2025.
This tape is the first I've heard from the Spanish harsh noise duo Impur. It has a 20-minute rehearsal recording on side A and a little shorter live session on side B, and it's all dubbed loud and clear. The covers are pro-printed but don't really offer much to see.
I wasn't too keen on the rehearsal side, mainly due to the somewhat dull and usual overall sound that makes it seem more one-dimensional than it has potential for. Especially the abusing of an electric guitar in the beginning sounds too much exactly like that due to the fairly clear sound, and the humming discords are too loud compared to the more abstract sounds and distortion. The tape starts with its worst material, which makes sense as it's probably the beginning of a rehearsal session, but I would've just cut that part out for the tape.
What follows is fairly mellow tempoed, raw and freeform harsh noise. It can be great when it hits its goal, like with the screeching feedback or oscillator squeaking paired with fast distorted rumbling, but the duller and more usual moments are too plentiful. The A-side is at its very best just before it ends, as then it's more stripped down and the crackley and stuttering sounds can stand out better from the general mass of distortion.
The flipside's live recording starts with an oddly broken and crackling sound, but luckily it gets fixed soon as there are some really tasty sounds here! It starts similarly with a guitar, but its broken and wailing sound makes it much more interesting than on the rehearsal side. The sound elements are similar (crummy guitar strums, rumbling pedal harshness, nasty vocal sounds), but they're delivered with a grainier and dirtier sound which gives everything more bite. It all seems to flow onwards with more intent. Similarly to the A-side, the live set gets more effective and interesting as it goes on, and ends at its high point with some wet and juicy textures.
I'm not sure if the duo's aim in general is to just blast everything live and loud, but based on the live set I'd say they could make pretty interesting recordings if they pre-planned and rehearsed more with their setup. It's a good combo of flooding dirt, breaking/crackling sounds and cleaner oscillations that could be used to a greater effect. It shows promise even as it is, though.
The whole tape on bandcamp:
https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/a-live-to-ruinIf someone has heard the project's tapes on Cipher Productions or Phage Tapes, I'd be interested in hearing comments.
