VESTIGIAL LIMB "Headless Supplicant" (Husk Records)

It's like "My First Harsh Noise Tape" spelled all wrong in cute backward letters. This may sound totally arrogant and condescending, but this guy's real young right? Or he just started making noise? 'Cause it sounds like it-- but that's not a bad thing. Everybody started out sounding just like this. I'm serious. But there's promise here, no question. About twenty five percent of the choices Vestigial Limb makes on this tape kick ass. Another half are fine, totally acceptable. And the last twenty five percent are things an artist learns to avoid as he matures and masters his instrument. If I'm wrong and this guy's been at it for years, then I guess I'm an asshole. (I'm probably an asshole either way...) But youthful enthusiasm comes through in these recordings, even if technical virtuosity does not. And that's the stuff you can't learn, right? Everything else just takes practice, but without the passion, your music will end up sounding as soulless as Yngwie Malmsteen's. Total support.

SWAMP HORSE [S/T] (Husk Records)

Reverb mix = 100% wet. Gloomy and awesome. Swamp Horse is, apparently, Josh Lay and Morgan Rankin. But seriously, who cares what sounds are going into this cavernous processing chain? You could play a Steve Miller Band CD through this much reverb and it would probably sound cool. Well, perhaps not. But this is some serious dank cave shit. Real dank. And it's good. There's a lot of this kind of stuff popping up nowadays-- the kind of stuff that sounds like the soundtrack to an unrealized horror film script. A bunch of people are playing with that theme lately, and I'm usually very suspicious of it. The doom fetish really does nothing for me, but this Swamp Horse tape works, despite its participation in the sub-genre. It does so through simplicity. The pieces never leave their homogenous soundworld, nor do they attempt to manufacture any narrative. There's no payoff to the suspense they build, Swamp Horse just leaves you hanging. (And I like weird tape lengths-- a c21? Weird.)

SOCIAL JUNK / KRAKEN FURY (Husk Records)

Rough-and-tumble C40 by these two Southern death cult units that free-ranges from robotic lurch passages to banshee shriek electronics to cold computer numbness. Like a lot of Southern noise crews/projects of late, SJ and KF are both way too rambling and vibe-gambling to get pegged to any particular genre, and that’s obviously for the best. Social Junk’s side, in particular, is a totally puke-soaked rubik’s cube of outsider modes, morphing and brawling through radically different labyrinths of overdriven impulses, abused machines, and weird feelings. Aggressively unique with an intensity that’s either painful or the exact reason why they rule. Flip a coin. Kraken Fury I’ve never heard before, but their untitled piece of this puzzle is a pleasant enough practice space meditation with slow-walking bass lines, stutter drumming, guitar noodling, and some backwards-looping mist in the corners. Doesn’t seem too hell-bent on accomplishing anything, but that’s no crime. Kinda jazzy with a relaxed, “killing time” chill-out mood. Definitely no fury here, whether Kraken-esque or otherwise.

CAVES "New Edge" (Husk Records)

One of the dirtier recordings that came in a while ago from Josh Lay's (Cadaver in Drag) label, "New Edge" would be more of a fist pumping anthem if it didn't sound as if the recording took place in this band's namesake. Pretty solid headbanging action though, all the while weighted down by dissonant and sparse bass punctuated by relentless drum machine thuds. The band's Myspace only seems to list one member, which is surprising since "New Edge" sounds like a live recording and there are a ton of things happening simultaneously. If it is live, more power to Mr. Caves for taking Joe Preston's gig and running with it into the abyss. Stylistically this is reminiscent of Josh Lay's solo material reviewed here awhile back, albeit more rhythmic. Though the drum machine is absent on the second track "Buzzed," the slow and thick tension between notes leaves ghostly chasms which might not have even been played but hang like smoke until the listener believes. This is one of those releases that benefits from being on cassette, as the murkiness adds to the mystery of the sound. A segment of delay-manipulated feedback at the tape's conclusion was overkill, but this one regardless will satisfy a craving for good bass-heavy sludge.

ALTAR OF FLIES "Consequences" (Husk Records)

Swedish artist Mattias Gustafsson has maintained a prolific output in the two years that he has been releasing material under the Altar of Flies moniker. What sets "Consequences" apart from the legions of mixer-effects-feedback-loop projects is its sense of space, timing and consistency of atmosphere. Right off the bat the churning, guttural spasms and oscillations like helicopter blades brought to mind the likes of Withdrawal Method or Charlie Draheim, albeit with little or no microphone feedback. Side two is more sparse than suffocating, with high pitched waves sharply contrasting with dark junk metal destruction followed by a ridiculously strange duet between a double bass and an animal like thumping sound. Only during brief moments does "Consequences" dip into full-on harsh rumble except for the conclusion to the second side. Most of the recording is subdued, but only in the most foreboding sense. Finally, the package features some fine "gross but clean" design work by Mattias Frisk, including a hilariously demented take on the Jagermeister logo. Nice.