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 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Jake Halter - Dedicated to Melchior Hedloff [Monolithische Aktion - 2010]

This is the first full length release from Polish HNW project Jake Halter, the only other release they’ve had out (as far as I’m aware) was a split with I’m A slut which was entitled "Hang'em High Slut"  and appeared on Zvukovina last year. This full length release offers up three lo-fi and crude slices of walled matter that are themed around the life and death of 17th century  Polish serial killer Melchior Hedloff.

The CDR comes with a transparent/tracing paper sleeve that features an old print of Melchior Hedloff with his gun and dressed in  poaching get-up. Melchior Hedloff was know as the Poacher Killer, and he is said to have shot & beheaded more than 250 people up until he was caught in 1653. He was executed in 1654 in apparently a very barbaric and horrible manner near the then German city of Breslau(know in polish as Wroclaw).

So moving away from the theme behind the release, and onto the three tracks themselves.  The three tracks on offer here running between just over the twelve and a half minute mark to just under the nine minute mark a picec.  First up we have  the track “Life” which is the longest track here at 12.32, and this  starts out with a crude and rapid blown-out bass judder meets fan belt slipping static tonality. As it moves along weaves Jake Halter adds in sudden burst of other textures or noise elements- like droning buried guitar textures, criss-crossing judders ‘n’ billows and shreding/descending static dwells. Though through-out the track remains very fixed and set in it’s sonic attack.

Up next we have the track “Sentence” which is the shortest of the three tracks here at spot on the 8.30 mark. This tracks starts out sounding like an extremely muffled, battered and slowed down recording of galloping horses with smashing and thundering crackling tonalities moving over the top of it. As the track continues it almost takes on a thick/ stumbling nearly rhythmic feel, though it never fully becomes percussive bound. Towards the six minute mark the static tonalities become quite ragged and jugged in there feel. All told it’s quite a nice loose yet thick and battering example of wall making that stays quite altering though-out, yet it's never too shifting over its length.

So lastly we have a just under 11 minute track entitled “Death”, this track starts out with a single piercing TV off air tone that has some wonky string like pickings to the side of it. Then by just under the minute mark we drop into this rapid and galloping like juddering/billowing that’s under fed by lower repetitive and slightly skipping static texturing.  This track is the least active of the three tracks here with the two elements pretty much running together unchanged for the tracks length, through there’s some really nice trance inducing patterns caused by the noise tones over laying. The only really change here is towards the end when the judder because a bit more sputtering and grainy before finishing on a sudden sustained high pitch tone

So “Dedicated to Melchior Hedloff” offers up three quite different slices of HNW matter- each is rewarding in there own right and they all work well together. The consistent tracks are toped off with a  interesting theme and packaging, it just a pity there couldn’t have been a bit more info added in about Melchior Hedloff case. I look forward to hearing what this project does next.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
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