The Sandman Wears A Mask - Untitled [Slow Death Records - 2011]This untitled CDR is the second release from the very prolific and promising new French HNW label Slow Death Records- so far this year the label has put out seven releases, and many of the releases have the mysterious owner and HNW artist Ghost connected to them. This releases is the first full length album from a project called The Sandman Wears A Mask which brings together Ghost and Alois Richter(who I presume is French too, though I could 'nt find anything about him on the net) The cdr album offers up six untitled tracks, and just over an hours worth of layered walled noise which is offten underrun by variouse field recording textures and atmospheric matter. The six tracks run between just over four minutes to just under eighteen minutes a piece, and there’s a fair bit of variation from track to track- which is quite an unusual thing with-in the Walled noise genre as mostly albums/releases often follow certain tones, pitchers or textures. The album’s based around the fear of sleep and sleep disturbances, and on the whole the tracks do have quite an edgy and brutal surreal feeling about them which brings to mind disturbed sleep or twisted and violent nightmares. Most of the tracks here are rewarding in there own right, but a few of my favourite moments come in the form of : Track number two which finds the pair forcing together these great storm battered, slicing and billowing noise tones with the rapid dripping and bubbling water field recording textures. The accelerating and juddering space rocket or firework ‘wall’ of track number five, which finds the pair alternating between sky cutting rocket tonalities and roaring ‘n’ juddering muilt layered dwells. Or the last tracks 'wall' of thick, crusty and static dwelling ‘n' juddering noise- this track shows the pair can also build moorish ,more simplistic and less muilti-layered ‘walls’ too. Through the track does move into deeper sonic waters later, when this great just heard purring ‘n’ buzzing bass like African texture throbs through the tracks ‘wall’ So all in all another very rewarding release from this great and upcoming French HNW label that’s manage to put out albums that have both interesting concepts and ideas, as well as an often quite fresh and original takes on the HNW genre in genreal. Roger Batty
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