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Kevin Drumm, "Sheer Hellish Miasma"
Repackaged, remastered and reissued with a 13 minute bonus track, this mighty release from Kevin Drumm sees the dark of night again. The five pieces are more varied and exciting than I believed noise could be; this is no lazy DIY noise made with a handful of effects pedals plugged into each other. Drumm has molded this immense sound into such an imposing form that I do not think even an army of Merzbows could stand up to.
Mego Editions
Sheer Hellish Miasma begins with the deceptively titled of "Impotent Hummer;" deceptive as there is nothing impotent about this piece nor the rest of the album. Drumm's use of noise is precise and domineering, the sound pushes the listener to where Drumm wants them. He refuses to allow the noise to break down into chaos. Instead he finds a spot in the noise and nurtures it into a gigantic worm-like pulse. "Impotent Hummer" is based on a pounding metallic rhythm which constantly feels like it is going to break apart as other layers are poured into the track like coarse gravel. It is an impressive start and remarkably it gets even better from here.
This album works especially well thanks to Drumm's control of the sounds being produced. While most noise artists throw caution to the wind and just let everything feedback wildly, Drumm instead tries to harness the energy he is unleashing and aim it directly at whoever is brave enough to listen. The tidal drones of "Hitting the Pavement" feel like they could break all around me if it were not for Drumm reining them in. If the power was allowed to swell up and spill out then I imagine the piece would become quite boring in a short space of time. "Hitting the Pavement" instead sounds even more massive than any din left to its own accord.
As captivatingly heavy as this album is, it still exacts a heavy toll on me; I am exhausted by the time it finishes. Thankfully Mr. Drumm is a nice man and lets his audience down gently with the relatively sleepy piece "Cloudy," which soothes the ears after an hour of hard labor. Sheer Hellish Miasma is not hellish by a long shot, it is one of the most finely crafted albums of the last decade. On the surface it is pure noise but delving into its depths reveals far more than the average bedroom knob twiddler. I am delighted that Mego have reissued it as I would probably never have encountered it otherwise.
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