Die Reitenden Leichen - Bedem (2009)

Admittedly, due to inattention and an obscenely busy schedule on my side, this is probably one of the most poorly updated of noise etc. blogs out there, but yeah. Then again, all quality - can't argue with that, fuckers. November - seems time for an update. Here we go.

So yes, the HNW scene. It's been long since any strand within noise has so divided folk; long since any strand within noise has been so ridiculed and shit upon by people who you'd expect, reasonably, to be open-minded, but I guess that's all relative. The two main issues people have with the genre, it seems, are 1, that it claims a sound as its own that is by no means exclusive to the genre, nor was invented by its prime exponents, and 2, that it is a scene void of originality, concerned only with putting out derivative giallo-obsessed tapes in painfully limited quantities. Fortunately for us fans, neither holds true. While HNW certainly has sonic precedent, true walls, as they were slapped to tape first by McKinlay and the likes, where undeniably an innovation. Walls of noise - the type of full-spectrum barrage of screech and white noise such as much of the wonderful output of Incapacitants - had been around for a good while, but the unmoving static wall of crackle was decidedly fresh.

As for the second argument, this is only still put forward by those with the littlest of interest in the genre, and the tiniest scrap of knowledge of it. HNW has been branching out in every direction; while releases with limited quantity are still the rule, the scene has spawned many an innovative artist (TFT/Fragile, Bachir Gemayel/Insurgent), has numerous manifests dedicated to it (notably, among others, are any and all by Romain Perrot (Vomir), Matthias Mützlitz (Die Reitenden Leichen) and Kevin Jansen (Svartvit/Un)), has decidedly not limited itself to derivative giallo-crackle. Subject matter has seen artists drawing upon politics, nihilism, satanism, women, sex, etc., to quite generally name just a few - one only needs to consider such different artists as Vomir, Griz+Zlor and Insurgent to get some idea of the genre's diversity. Soundwise there have equally well been major developments, with different approaches to crackle and full-spectrum walls of sound having yielded fascinatingly different results (contrast, for instance, Un's tapes from the WallWhores 3xCS box set (HFFL) and The Rita's Thousands of Dead Gods).

Arguably, the scene, since its advent, has become primarily concerned with itself. Trades and sales mainly happen between a core group of dedicated fans, with only a small group of artists sparking, quite unfortunately, any sort of interest beyond the HNW addicts. Recent developments, however, suggest HNW is slowly but surely crawling outside its strict confines; HNW fests are taking place everywhere and anywhere; webzine MusiqueMachine reviews a steady stream of HNW releases and has, to date, interviewed a good number of HNW artists; A View From Nihil has received some unexpected mainstream coverage; Vomir was the subject of an excellent article in The Wire and has had two releases put out in relatively huge quantities, Renonce and Proanomie. On the verge of breakthrough? Who knows. What I do know is that the genre has offered and still offers some of the most captivating noise in recent years. Releases such as Bachir Gemayel's St. Charbel, Die Reitenden Leichen's Blutgericht and The Cherry Point's Night of the Bloody Tapes are some of the most exciting noise works released this side of 2000.

Today's post features another Die Reitenden Leichen release. It goes without saying that Die Reitenden Leichen is one of my favourite HNW-projects out there, if not my single favourite; Matthias has the most amazing talent for textures, and his distinct combination of thick bass rumbling, crushing crunch and violent crackle is simply perfect. Bedem is a recent release that was put out in an edition of 15 and has, unfortunately, sold out already; a true shame, since it is, again, bloody excellent. Presented as a yellow C20 in a yellow case with trademark brilliant artwork from Matthias himself, a trained graphic designer - and it shows - it is another venture in relentless, brutal wall-making, and it is, again, insanely great and bloody perfect. Remarkably refined textures in two devestating tracks that, despite the compositions being definite walls, allow room for minute changes and developments, which only make Bedem all the more compelling.

Bedem (128k version, updating soon with better quality)

Die Reitenden Leichen - Trutz (2009)

Die Reitenden Leichen has quickly become one of my favourite projects in the current noise scene, and is no doubt my favourite wall noise project. Blutgericht, which I already posted before, was the first release I heard by this guy, and it simply blew me away. Since then I've bought every DRL release I managed to get my hands on. Unfortunately, the runs are usually small, and I sadly missed out on the earliest releases; however, almost everything that came out since Blutgericht I do have, and every last second of it is nothing short of amazing.

Trutz is another tape I received a while ago. It was released in the same batch as the epic Statik Fanatik, a relentless, incredible 2xC60 box (which was posted over at Music Stinks), and both releases are pure harsh wall works. Trutz (according to the accompanying flyer an "outdated [I guess archaic] word for Trotz (defiance)) is a C20 with two sides of walls that are as pure and nihilistc as they get. As such, they are more like the typical unchanging streams of crackle the genre is known so well for than Blutgericht, a work so varied and so geniously put together that even the greatest opponents of the genre could only love it. In that sense, then, Trutz is more of an acquired taste, or maybe more a release for wall fanatics only. However, like on Blutgericht, the walls are so, so good; the two sides crackle, fizzle, rumble like there's no tomorrow. Monstrously low thunders supporting violent high-end crunching. Genius.

The art is astonishing again. A beautifully designed J-card Xeroxed on heavy, matte paper; great typography, brilliant looks. The case itself is folded in an A3 flyer and the whole thing comes in a plastic zipper bag (scans are in the .rar; if anyone has any clue as to what the 'VVON' (in red pen) on the J-card's reserve may mean please get in touch...). Trutz was limited to 13 copies and if I'm not quite mistaken it's definitely sold out. So please, by all means, enjoy this digital version.

Lo!

Die Reitenden Leichen - Blutgericht (2009)

When I picked up this tape earlier this year I hadn't an inkling what greatness I was about to hear. I basically bought it because the description sounded good and because the artwork looked great (goes for all Monolitische Aktion tapes, really), and, like I said, little did I know just how much the sound (the sound!) would transcend that by miles.

Die Reitenden Leichen is wall noise project from Germany and (if I've got my facts straight) it's the same guy behind MX Nihil (and behind Monolitische Aktion), Matthias. Now wall noise seems pretty much the hype of the day (or of yesterday, I don't know), and as is the scene is flooded with disc upon disc upon tape upon tape upon record (less so though) of walls which the makers claim are progressively more nihilistic, bleak, unchanging, pure, and what-not. Needless to say not all of it will be actually very good, and actually a good part of it will actually be shit, actually. Those who all too desperately jump the bandwagon seem to be under the impression that wall noise is a fairly effortless venture, since there is (often) so little composition (or structure, generally) and only sound instead. However, to achieve good, no, great, texture, pace, crackle, still takes effort, perhaps a lot of it, and though the wall noise scene has garnered more criticism and incomprehension than praise, perhaps, extreme dislike of the phenomenon likely stems more from misinformation and the genre's unfortunate ubiquitousness (and, of course, bad taste on part of the haters). In fact, the scene has spawned many an excellent record. Blutgericht is perhaps a good start.

Like I said, a good deal of the wall noise available is claimed by artists and labels to be pure, nihilistic, unchanging, static, etcetera, and perhaps the relentless 60-minute unchanging crackle is something of an acquired taste? Blutgericht, however, is as pure as it is varied. Filling one side of a C60, it evolves (then barely noticeably, then more abruptly) from wall to wall; this skillful variety is pretty much unheard in the genre. The textures themselves are incredible throughout; various levels of fuzz and crunch, and a steady, very pleasant pace throughout the 30 minutes the thing lasts. As it was quite adequately described by Elliot from In Cat Hat Pants, "wall noise bleakness and really compelling muffled sound throughout different textures".

Excuse my rambling; to summarize: just give this thing a shot. Unfortunately it's already sold out (edition of 10, so yeah), but perhaps you're lucky enough to grab some newer releases (all of which are great as well). Sorry for the shitty sound; as soon as I stumble upon a better playback device for my tapes I'll upgrade this ish. Five tracks, but ripped as one thing since it's hard to indicate where one track ends and another begins. Doesn't really matter anyway, since it's best to listen to it whole. Enjoy!

Lo!