Mania & Hal Hutchinson - Split CS (Der Bunker, 2011) - I might be a few years late on this but I'm glad I got to eventually hear this thing. Biewerks side is a nice glimpse into what he would start doing later on that year and into 2012. It's droning, subtle and heavy on the textures. A definite Industrial feel with the slow burning ambiance that gets crippled by metal junk play and feedback. A gradual yet haunting piece. Then you have Hal's side, "Totally Ugly", and that is probably the best description in itself, this is very ugly but in the best possible way. This is one of my favorite Hal Hutchinson pieces behind his full-length masterpiece put out the following year on Unrest. As one would expect this is acoustic metal/junk abuse at its finest, and as I said, its most ugly. There are ultra hyper sections throughout that will blow you away and/or make you long for the days of fast and destructive Harsh Noise like this. Truly great work by both artists, I couldn't see a better fit than Mania and Hal Hutchinson.
Grystl - Demo (Dew Crux, 2012) - Upon first listen I was tempted to just write this off as amateurish, but after more listens it began to attach itself to my tastes. This is as dirty and bleak as its label description advertised it as ("dictaphone Black Metal"), but then again could you see this style of music produced to sound something like a Steely Dan album? Probably not a good choice. These ultra lo-fi recordings spit forth gargled drums wildly smashing around to punk inspired gallops. The thin riffs are overcome by a glow of raspy vocals which seem a bit too up-front for a recording of this nature, yet it works. Is this anything new? Absolutely not, but it does give off an atmosphere of nostalgia and angst in all of its underdeveloped, and uniquely abrasive, glory.
