Crunch Pod Media Presents
Battery Sentinel
Crunch Pod Media
Noise Rules!!! So does this comp!!! I’m tempted to leave it at that, as further description will complicate matters terribly.
Battery Sentinel starts with 3 tracks by Holmes. Holmes create a jittery, spastic, digital noise mess. Their second track has drums with no sense of rhythm, at least none that I can hear. Actually, it sounds like a MIDI demonstration gone horribly wrong.
Next up we have 4 tracks by Fixed. Fixed fall into the arcane and esoteric branch of noise called “scum.” Essentially, fast plunderphonic cut-ups that never really get off the ground. They add some beats and textures, but it never really amounts to much.
Things start to look up when we come to the tracks by “V.S.E.X.” Loud, crunchy, driving, repetitive beats. Think Sonar, Noisex, P.A.L. Very simple, but at the same time, very effective. Free Death continue in this style, but make it even more basic.
Every comp has its highlight, and on this one it would be Sleeping With the Earth. SwtE create hate-filled, power electronic assaults that erode your will and force you to submit to the onslaught. Percussive loops and painfully flanged vocals appear on “Stand Before Me” This is first rate stuff that makes one yearn for more punishment. Dystemia Scars provide it. They offer one short track of Japanese-styled noise filled with loads of nauseating frequencies.
Nilych round off the CD with a collaged minimal piece. Overall, a nice disc, and one that’s limited. Buy it for the Sleeping With the Earth and treat the other stuff as a bonus.
Crunch Pod Media, P.O.Box 72543, Davis, CA 95617; http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dimension/3423
