Stress - Caffeine Addiction [Phage tapes - 2010]“Caffeine Addiction” is sadly the last release from this HNW project of Texas based Casey Duncan, who has now moved onto none wall based sonic endeavours. Stress only releashed four release in their brief life-span, but they showed some great promise and focused intensity on all oftheir releases. On offer here is a c40 tape with two side long untitled tracks of battering ‘n’ crude HNW matter. The first sides track offers up a wonderful bleak ‘n’ stark wall of crude fast paced noise matter. The tracks 'wall' is built around this ferocious, cluttering,semi-percussive sounding judder/ brutal gallop that shifts though a few mixed wall patterns(in sometimes quite a jarring manner) along the tracks twenty minute brutal sonic arch. I guess that track makes you feel like your inside a large cardboard box being battered by a very rapid ‘n’ aggressive hail stone storm, while being dragged down a billowing tunnel( I know that makes no physical sense, but you get the idea!).It’s a wonderful lo-fi and intense slice of wall-making that nicely batters yet rewards the listener. Onto the second side, and this track’s side starts with this stuck distant electro revving sound before shortly bursting out into very battering ‘n’ bass lined walled matter. The 'wall' is built around the original revving electro tone with this manic hammering, battering and slapping tone on top. It summons into my mind the image of a panicked human figure stuck inside an body sized see-through plastic egg. This egg is being fed down a long conveyer belt, and as it goes along it's being battered/ slapped by 1000s of hands - it’s a bizarre image I know, but I think it nicely sums up the tracks intent. This second sides track is much more fixed and unmoving in it’s form, yet it does seem to become a bit more judder ‘n’ caustic purr bound as it goes along. It also this great taut ‘n’ tense panicked vibe to it too. So “Caffeine Addiction” offers up two sides of crude, intense and truly brutal HNW. It 's a really pity this project is no more, as this is a very nasty yet wholly worthwhile 40 minutes of walled matter. Roger Batty
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