Whirling Hall Of Knives - Comminute

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  • Whirling Hall Of Knives is The Last Sound and Magnetize, who make monstrous tempests of distortion where you can't tell what might have come from a computer and what could be droning of out an abused guitar amp. With Comminute, the duo find themselves on the Irish techno label Earwiggle, but they don't alter their sound so much as (loosely) put a grid on it. The title track is growling EBM, spewing out melodies in long, thick lines with harsh guitar lines buzzing away underneath. The drums try their best to wade through all that sonic muck, and, being the dense thing that it is, the track wouldn't sound out of place on Perc Trax. Ancient Methods steps up with a remix. It's a pairing that seems droolworthy on paper, though the result is a departure from the German producer's usual techno onslaught. The beats lash out in arcs of bent noise, with a stagger similar to the original. Bathed in distortion, its other elements hiss and crackle, kicking up hellish chaos that's held together by a rhythm so slow it's hard to trace where one bar ends and another begins. "Monopolific" takes a step back (though anything would feel restrained after that), and this time the torrent of noise concentrates into one thick wall of sound as a broken beat is sloppily coughed out. The most abrasive turn comes with "Scrap Assembly," which sees the duo indulging in their noise influences. As the piercing high frequencies cut above the snarling wreckage below, the thrumming becomes overwhelming and claustrophobic, finishing off Earwiggle's most distinctive release yet.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Comminute A2 Monopolific B1 Comminute (Ancient Methods Remix) B2 Scrap Assembly
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