There is something to be said about the allure of the humble cassette: the organic warmth of the analog sound, the endearing fragility of the medium itself (much like our own fleshly encasements) and its nostalgic value. Especially when it comes to obscure, underground releases the cassette, vis-a-vis the ubiquitous CD, gives a sense of authenticity and distinctiveness. The following are a few random pieces of tape that raised interest lately. 
So we might as well kick this off with T.O.M.B.'s 2005 demo Sacrilegium; an offering catered exclusively for dedicated thorivophiliacs. Their instruments of choice (as well as field recordings and samples) are here implemented as generators of wave upon wave of sepulchral noise. As such, even though there is a vague percussive presence calling this black metal is a bit of a stretch since there's very little to be discerned here in terms of musical structure (and that's with Ildjarn in the whole scheme of things). It's pretty much black and white with this stuff, you either get "it" or you don't. Moving on now
to something more tangible but no less challenging with yet another demo, this time from US-based black metal band Aerugo comprising of two songs clocking at around 17 mins. Their sound is tattered and trebly on par with Les Legions Noir's lo-fi extravagances. Thankfully they don't fall in the worn-out trap of utilizing a lethargic monotony in terms of rhythm and instead make use of both crawling tempos to more fast-paced passages. Their riffage is pretty standard minor-scale fare, more "Norwegian" in the first track and less so for the second, more doom-esque one. And yeah, I know what you're thinking - the tried and true formula of "raw'n'grim" is bound to become tiring for any old black metal aficionado. But hey for some reason for all its trite and over-used aesthetics this tape works. Perhaps it's only something directly symptomatic of their particular format rather than inherent talent or ingenuity but there's a clinging eeriness about this demo that keeps me glued. Something like
the sheer inability of pulling away when passing by a particularly gruesome car accident. This next piece is testament to the delightful feeling of serendipity you get when discovering something completely by chance. Case in point, Greg Davis' Schumann Resonances (Ekhein, 2011) tape which came bundled in with a trade. Schumann resonances as a natural phenomenon are quite intriguing themselves: they are effectively electromagnetic discharges between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere at extremely low frequencies. So where does this tape fit in? Well it's certainly not taking off from any particular musical genre; it's more like a collection of unprocessed auditory data out of a science lab. The whole thing
is so hypnotic I could easily leave it on for hours breathing in all that sound and mesmerising frequencies. Next up it's - surprise, surprise - yet another demo tape: Emit's Spectre Music of an Antiquary (Glorious North, 2012). They perform an intriguing style of ritualistic black ambient comprising of repetitive motifs, cavernous atmospherics and nocturnal countryside field recordings intended to make you feel like you're witnessing some mystical druid congregation taking place somewhere in the south-west of England. The whole "archaic" feel is further accentuated by droning chanting and recitations. Having said that, I can't say that I was completely drawn in by the overall magnetising vibe of 
this demo - maybe it would work better if I waited for midnight, switched off the lights and put on my headphones in a last-ditch effort to conjure up forgotten Lovecraftian nightmares. And finally we got Filth&Violence's 2010 compilation of their finest and dirtiest power electronics/noise exports, titled Nyrkki ja Kyrpä II. Bands featured include Bizarre Uproar, Sadistic Bliss and Pogrom making for an audial document of unashamed decadence, ebullient with hateful fervor, spewing its luridly perverted bile upon everything pure and innocent. Romantic self-indulgence and melody have absolutely no place in this pit - just a never-ending stream of negativity and hate until all you want to do is punch your fist through a concrete wall. Just try solving an exercise in propositional logic whilst listening to this - it's the ultimate test of mental focus. As always it comes in an ultra low-budget packaging with xerox'd grayscaled inlays and flexi poly-cases, limited to 250 copies - because you're worthless.
So we might as well kick this off with T.O.M.B.'s 2005 demo Sacrilegium; an offering catered exclusively for dedicated thorivophiliacs. Their instruments of choice (as well as field recordings and samples) are here implemented as generators of wave upon wave of sepulchral noise. As such, even though there is a vague percussive presence calling this black metal is a bit of a stretch since there's very little to be discerned here in terms of musical structure (and that's with Ildjarn in the whole scheme of things). It's pretty much black and white with this stuff, you either get "it" or you don't. Moving on now
to something more tangible but no less challenging with yet another demo, this time from US-based black metal band Aerugo comprising of two songs clocking at around 17 mins. Their sound is tattered and trebly on par with Les Legions Noir's lo-fi extravagances. Thankfully they don't fall in the worn-out trap of utilizing a lethargic monotony in terms of rhythm and instead make use of both crawling tempos to more fast-paced passages. Their riffage is pretty standard minor-scale fare, more "Norwegian" in the first track and less so for the second, more doom-esque one. And yeah, I know what you're thinking - the tried and true formula of "raw'n'grim" is bound to become tiring for any old black metal aficionado. But hey for some reason for all its trite and over-used aesthetics this tape works. Perhaps it's only something directly symptomatic of their particular format rather than inherent talent or ingenuity but there's a clinging eeriness about this demo that keeps me glued. Something like
the sheer inability of pulling away when passing by a particularly gruesome car accident. This next piece is testament to the delightful feeling of serendipity you get when discovering something completely by chance. Case in point, Greg Davis' Schumann Resonances (Ekhein, 2011) tape which came bundled in with a trade. Schumann resonances as a natural phenomenon are quite intriguing themselves: they are effectively electromagnetic discharges between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere at extremely low frequencies. So where does this tape fit in? Well it's certainly not taking off from any particular musical genre; it's more like a collection of unprocessed auditory data out of a science lab. The whole thing
is so hypnotic I could easily leave it on for hours breathing in all that sound and mesmerising frequencies. Next up it's - surprise, surprise - yet another demo tape: Emit's Spectre Music of an Antiquary (Glorious North, 2012). They perform an intriguing style of ritualistic black ambient comprising of repetitive motifs, cavernous atmospherics and nocturnal countryside field recordings intended to make you feel like you're witnessing some mystical druid congregation taking place somewhere in the south-west of England. The whole "archaic" feel is further accentuated by droning chanting and recitations. Having said that, I can't say that I was completely drawn in by the overall magnetising vibe of 
this demo - maybe it would work better if I waited for midnight, switched off the lights and put on my headphones in a last-ditch effort to conjure up forgotten Lovecraftian nightmares. And finally we got Filth&Violence's 2010 compilation of their finest and dirtiest power electronics/noise exports, titled Nyrkki ja Kyrpä II. Bands featured include Bizarre Uproar, Sadistic Bliss and Pogrom making for an audial document of unashamed decadence, ebullient with hateful fervor, spewing its luridly perverted bile upon everything pure and innocent. Romantic self-indulgence and melody have absolutely no place in this pit - just a never-ending stream of negativity and hate until all you want to do is punch your fist through a concrete wall. Just try solving an exercise in propositional logic whilst listening to this - it's the ultimate test of mental focus. As always it comes in an ultra low-budget packaging with xerox'd grayscaled inlays and flexi poly-cases, limited to 250 copies - because you're worthless.
.eof
