Black Leather Jesus - Every Male Alphabetically By Sin [L-White - 2016]It’s been a few years since we’ve had a new full length/non-collaborative release from Black Leather Jesus-the US harsh Noise collective set up by Richard Ramirez in the late 80’s. So it’s great to have this new double CD release on Germanys L-white( who are known most for their PE releases). For an underground noise release this is presented in a nice pro-looking manner. The two pro-pressed CD’s come in a slim-line double DVD sized case, and feature moody, kinky & black ‘n’ white pictures of a man dressed in leathers, studded collar, and gag showing off his hair chest- fitting in with the projects typical S&M/ gay leather imagery/ themes. Each discs also features identical pictures of a hairy man's hands in handcuffs. These pictures are most effective at setting the mood for the mostly dense & overloaded sound with-in, and the pictures are of Raws- one the members of Nebraska based industrial/ gay S&M themed project Plack Blague. Sound wise the release is pretty much business as usually for BLJ, with a ultra thick & extremely sleazy blend of extreme harsh noise, overloaded drone, all -out wall noise attacks, elements of searing & old school industrial touches, and a unhealthy amount of junk-metal abuse. Over the years BLJ line-up has shifted in both number of members( at points up to 13+), and the members themselves- but since 2002 the project has been centred around Richard & his husband Sean E. Ramirez-Matzus. For these recordings they are joined by Carol Sandin-Cooley, Austin Cooley, Tanner Garza, Domokos, Zach Guttowsky, Nathan & Randa Golub, and Kevin Novak- though not all of these members play on each track. In all the release takes in eight tracks- three tracks on disc one, and five tracks on disc two. Opening up proceedings on disc one we have one of the longest tracks here “Dirty Habits”- which comes in at just under the twenty two minute mark. It’s a totally overloading track that blends together an extremely dense & reality muffling blend of hammering junk metal sweeps, endless blunt yet pummelling harsh noise haze, and a eerier underbelly higher pitched ‘n’ forking drone harmonics. The main weight of the track is fairly lower-to-mid in it’s suffocating mass, though as mentioned there are traces of higher pitched moodiness creeping in. The whole thing nicely conjures up murky, sweaty & depraved sex play in shadowy rundown rooms- all in all it’s a great opener, and one of my highlights here, as it perfectly blends impossible thick noise matter with more than a whiff of sleazy atmospherics. The other two tracks on disc one come in the form of “Piss Plug” & “Ready To Take Him On (Live)”- each of these are around sixteen minute excises is extreme noise jam attacks, both are a little less focused than the first track, but there is a great feeling of slowly shifting dense chaos with some fine, fine moments along the way. Moving onto disc two, and first up we have the perversely titled “Your Mouth For Those Special Moments”- this is a fourteen & a half minute track which brings together a searing & sew-sawing maelstrom of battering & pummelling lows/mids, with sour & forking high end. The track seems to brutally gallop & buck, yet at the same time violently spurt & sear. The collective just about managed to keep the whole thing fixed into this intense yet appealing seesawing structure, and just like the first track on disc one it’s another highlight of the release. Directly after this we have the just over 11 minutes of “All Anal”- and this sees a rumbling & bubbling low end sludge, blended with a selection of mid-range roasting’s, slowly forking & ringing highs, and layers of muffled swirl ‘n’ churn. It’s another effectively airless & crushing noise jam. Another worthy mention comes in the form of track four “Won't Cum Alone”- this comes in at just over the ten & a half minute mark. And track is a nice blend of pummelling searing-ness & sleazed wooziness, with layers of battering & roasting thick noise matter, edged with slow circles of higher ‘n’ soured harmonics. So in conclusion Every Male Alphabetically By Sin is another worthy journey into overloaded & sleazy bound noise jam terrority from BLJ. I’d say you’d need to enjoy denser/ layered harsh noise, overloaded drone craft, or walled noise to get the most out of this because is mainly all so thick & dense in it’s attack. Roger Batty
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