Werewolf Jerusalem - Rail Killings [Bane Records - 2010]“Rail killings” offers up two slices of brutal HNW and extreme static texturing from Werewolf Jerusalem- one of most well know and respected projects of hugely prolific and highly influential Texas noise artist Richard Ramirez. As the albums title and wonderfully gruesome front cover picture, of a blood drenched female on rail lines, suggests the two tracks here are themed around rail and subway/tube homicides. And up first we have the longest track on offer here in the shape of “Subway Murders” which slides in at just under the half an hour mark. The track starts out with quite a low and bleak sounding distant subway train like rumbling drone, then at just after the two minute mark the ‘wall’ drops in thick, unforgiving & in full force. The ‘walls’ made up of a deep muffled to throbbing tunnel type roar that’s overfeed by these mid-paced jittering and staple clicking static tones. Over the rest of the track Ramirez settles the ‘wall’ into a nice hypnotic & bleakly trance inducing state- there's no great structurally changes or shifts here, through it’s highly engrossing and moorish through-out. Lastly we have the track “Railroad Murders” which finds Ramirez collaborating with Texas HNW & power electronics project White Gimp Mask. This track comes in at just over the five minute mark & it starts out with a very active and looped grey static jitter that sounds slightly like either jumping electricity(possible over a body on the rails) or distorted water flow. As the track progresses to it’s half way point you can make out more crackle or harsh bubble like tonalities that raise up from the main rushing tone in a nice manner, though once again there are no great structural shifts here. It’s another great track that’s slightly thinner and more hissing then the first track, which makes for a nice contrast. So “Rail killings” is another very enjoyable, searing and blood stained album from one of the HNW scenes key figures- really if you dig any kind of caustic ‘wall’ making this is a no brainer/ must get situation. Roger Batty
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