Friday, December 17, 2010

Review - Deeper Wells - Untitled

Deeper Wells - Untitled


Fans of Noise and Power Electronics often argue about the differences between both genres. In my opinion Power Electronics displays a few characteristics which separates it from Noise, the most important characteristic is methodology, or structuring, followed closely by mood. The structure can be loose, as is the case with stuff like Snuff or a lot of Taint material, or it can be tight, Brethren is probably one of the best examples of this, a lot of his material has a typical verse-chorus-verse structure to it. Waterpower has been squirting out tons of good releases this year, almost all of which fall under the flag of Power Electronics (Richard Ramirez and Skonhet are the two obvious exceptions).

What Deeper Wells displays on this cassette is pure Power Electronics teaming with violence and aggression. Every track has structure, a nice foundation of sounds of which it builds itself into, not around. The menacing pulsations and stuttering synth action on Side A (at least, this is what I will refer to as Side A since the tape is not marked) is quickly and frequently leavened by Vocals and volleys of static agitation. There is a paranoid ambiance to this side of the cassette, a slow burning and threatening mood that retains a cold and "in your face" brand of neanderthal brute violence. The current coterie of American P.E. artists surely must feel a wake up call from this, and we need it. The tape could have ended here and I would have been happy, but flipping it over and letting it get on bottom makes for just as satisfying of a second romp as the first fuck-fest was. This side demonstrates this duo's obvious recognition of the power of "build-up" and setting a mood. Intense feedback interrupted by a thunderous burst of bass filled crunch, and then silence, then an even louder explosion erupts and feedback slices its way back in and then silence. This simple but brilliant scheme goes on for a good amount of time as it becomes a bed over which the tweaking of buried vocals, which could probably evoke Demons if needed, lay down their final demands. The only negative comment I really have about this tape was that the tracks all seem to end abruptly like they are just cut-off out of nowhere, but in comparison to how on point the tracks themselves are, it doesn't take anything away from the overall experience.

Deeper Wells leaves nothing in its wake. It simply implodes in on itself leaving behind a trail of starvation for something that will some how top the experience you just had, but what experience? The feeling that this tape gives off is hard to explain, the nominal artwork doesn't even hint or help you analyze what is happening here. I usually listen to a cassette a good 10-15 times before reviewing it here, this way I can catch the sounds with different moods and through different mediums (headphones, car stereo, etc). I listened to this tape at least 40 times in a two day period. That is the only way I know how to explain what is "happening here": Powerful, intense electronics - Power Electronics. If you are still reading this and you haven't gone to the Waterpower site to buy a copy than you are probably retarded or it has sold out already - get this now.


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