Filth And Violence : 2008
Format : C-40 Cassette

This single sided tape comes courtesy of Pasi Markkula’s (Bizarre Uproar) Filth & Violence label. The sounds housed within were captured live earlier this year and feature Mr. Halthan on vocals and electronics as well as Mr. Bizarre himself assisting with the ritual.

Things kick off with a nice little orchestrated intro sample and then launch straight into “Stanford Society”with its heavy reverb mechanics over delayed vocals, low-key but still powerful. Feedback screech drops us into “What About You?” without so much as a breath. Swirling chopper blades of sound mesh into muscle car roar and builds until the shouts are barley audible. A couple of heavy thumps later and “Lehitraot Yeshu” begins with an unaccompanied vocal tirade. The electronics are pretty minimal the first four minutes letting the throat take center stage and then slowly builds with low rumbling, phased out loops and factory hum. This blends so well into “Patient / Victim [Part 2]” it’s hard to tell when one stops and the other stops. This track has heavy sample use paired with short blasts of noise. There’s a subtle hint of vocals, but it’s buried so deep it’s almost nonexistent, and this may have been the point.

This was my second taste of Halthan this year and my only disappointment was the short length…it’s around 20 minutes. As stated above this is a live recording so it’s as raw and nasty as you might expect, but not overblown like a lot of live PE stuff ends up sounding. If anything it’s a bit low but I’d rather turn it up and still make things out than try sort through a peaked-out mess. The tape comes in typical F&V style with cheap plastic snap case, xeroxed j-card with six small inserts. Definitely worth tracking down.

Website: filthandviolence.blogspot