Altar of Flies – “Let New Life Rise In The Face of Death” – [Hasten & Korset]

Wonderful evolving noise, alienating and embracing sounds, lots of
dark drone (we are born into an iron lung / vacuum cleaner on the
1st track) but Mattias Gustafsson never settles for a detained
fixation on a sound, and rarely goes for the throat through the
ears with the overjacking attack. His use of field recordings
definitely refreshes, let’s the listener step outside, the
title track is like a noisician’s trek through the countryside.
And it’s not all burrs and brambles. Sure, he meets Cerberus
along the way…and feeds him a sine wave, things get a bit
volcanic, we spend time in a doppler purgatory area before
getting a stern (Swedish?) lecture to conclude. “I Have No
Memories” brings the overjack, but it hits waves alternating
silence and static, and then a baby raptor starts to chime in.
Track 4 hovers in the realm of crypt noise, works a Cold Meat
industrial vibe for awhile, but at 6+ minutes in, a collect
call across the galaxy tries to dial in. This piece offers
the least variety (or is it most consistency). The closer
though fires off shrill and may push some away, but ride
it out, the rewards are plenty. High dudgeon meets low
dungeon, some Lustmordian bestiary bellowing and a five
note tune of mourning to end Gustafsson’s fine (once upon
a cassette) ‘Life’.

-Thurston Hunger