BROKEN WALLS – NIGHTMARE THERAPIES
I got this CD as a bonus in a trade with Dunkelheit Produktionen, and it’s good that I did as I find the CD’s cover so unappealing that there’s a big chance I would’ve skipped checking it out otherwise. Nightmare Therapies is the German/Dutch duo’s first CD, and it was published after one shorter cassette. To my knowledge both releases came out in 2023, so it at least seems we’re talking of a quite young project.
The 27-minuter instantly sets a fierce tone by starting with sharp and violent feedback. While the fluctuating feedback and other similarly punishing high frequency sounds are present for a large part of the album, it is luckily not the only appealing thing being served. Rhythmic pedal noise rumbles as a backdrop for more vivid and freeform crackles and screeches, as well as wailing distortion that I’d guess originates from abusing contact mic’d metal objects. There’s nothing wrong with using such familiar tools, especially since they work. The album has a near-brutish approach to how it handles feedback and distortion, but knows to use enough moderation with them and the lower frequencies to ensure things won’t become just a dull flood. It is a constant flow of quite crude elements, sure, but not one without variation and plentiful jagged features.
I don’t know for sure if this is a live recording, but based on the spaceous and breathing sound and how the sounds seem to interact and alternate, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is. It feels like things are happening in real time, with human hands moving and adjusting things. Granted, this means that there are some “thinking pause” moments when some sound seems to go quieter than intended or when the duo doesn’t seem to be quite sure where to go, until they find their way again. Similarly, the album’s hold seems to slightly let go at its end.
So, for those looking for fully refined hard-hitters this might be something to skip or at least to pre-listen before buying – but for those looking for decidedly rough harsh noise with a hand-made feel, this could certainly be something to check out. I hope Broken Walls keep on refining what they do as I’m certainly interested in hearing what they’ll create next.
Album on bandcamp: https://dunkelheitprod.bandcamp.com/album/nightmare-therapies
The album seems intentionally oldschool in its approach: despite being quite damn harsh it has a strong live feel where the noise is let to flow, breathe and mutate, and human errors aren’t immediately cut out. Was this style chosen as some intentional anti-modernist stance, or am I reading too much into things?
First of all we would like to thank you for contacting us and having the possibility to give an interview. Everything that happens around BROKEN WALLS is taken very seriously in sound and expression. Usually we first have ideas how we would like to have our sound, or better to say harsh soundscape, then we combine it with a thematic and begin to work… When it comes to recording technics, I leave all to Bas, who is very detailed and professional. We are using mostly two big tables with setup and combine our sound and ideas. That‘s in a quick and short way the explaining of the main way we work. Errors or unwanted dynamics are fine and authentic. The recordings are studio live recordings, we just sit down in the mixing process to get the volume levels equal. The mastering process is mostly done by Bas, while we are using headphones to not miss anything. Our sound and the soundscape we create is a mirror of how we see, feel and express things. We are a duo living on the edge of Germany/Netherlands in the Limburg area, so language borders are not that difficult. I speak a native dialect speech from the village which is understandable on the Dutch side and close to „Limburgs praat“, another dialect on the Dutch side. Also Bas is speaking German. Usually we try to put views, experiences and similar into our music and give it a body with our unique sound.
The album was recorded during one day. Is it a live recording? Could you reveal something about the equipment you used to make and capture the noise?
Yes, the album indeed was recorded during one day and was a studio live recording done on the German side. I remember the day like it was yesterday. We just met up with tons of equipment and bags full of cables… It was another grey, but dry day and we spent hours to build everything up, testing feedbacks and pedal noises from several effects, etc. Bas used a lot of metal junk, metal scrap in combination with contact-mics and a table full of gear. For me it was the same, but instead of metal junk I used several of my gear connected to each other to create a dynamic landscape. It’s kind of difficult to explain, but I have my sound always in mind and just connect all like I see it when I close my eyes. Regarding the equipment, we used and use a lot of cheap gear, but also expensive ones from known brands, as well as vintage.
I did mention this in my review, but: I did not like the album’s cover art at all. It feels like it’s trying to say something to me, but I don’t know what. Do you want to open up what your aim with the cover art was?
If you don‘t like the album’s cover, it’s nothing than understandable and respectable, because man can not know the background of everything, neither feel or understand it. When the album was recorded, we both had recorded our visions and feelings, and it was about dreams and diving away. The album cover shows a manipulated and cutted photo, that Bas took during a vacation in Egypt. It exactly represents this kind of dreamy and dreamlike soundscape we felt. Like a dream that you are going into to dive away… So that was the reason why I had chosen it. The rest of the album artwork were manipulated photos from our area.
The CD comes with a recommendation to play it with headphones during sleep. Have you tried that yourself, and if yes, how did that turn out?
Well, I could speak now for hours… But, let me make it short. For us, harsh noise is a therapy, the ones who understand it know what I want to say. It’s like a spider web you get caught in, but the spider is not eating you. I’m mostly using headphones while playing harsh noise to fall into sleep. I stopped explaining people what is noise, because they won‘t get the point neither understand it. But, for me it’s therapy to get calm and into a relaxed mood. A way to clean your consciousness… And yes, the album can be used as a way to dive into the dreams and into another spheres, that was the target. Thank you very much for the interview.
BROKEN WALLS is Bernd Hermanns and Bas Housen.
Berns Hermanns also operates Dunkelheit Produktionen and organizes Harsh Frequencies Over Limburg festival. See short documentation about 4th festival below.
Contact through the contact form of https://brokenwalls.bandcamp.com/
