Various – Shrine

JARBOE of THE SWANS offers us the first piece - a half-spoken, half-whispered poem called "Vomit Veritas" which considers a former partner with vitriolic contempt. PAUL LEMOS of CONTROLLED BLEEDING bursts through the calm atmosphere with his blistering "Hog Tied" which uses blasts of noise, both white & sullied, through which can be heard drum machine & grunging chaos of guitar. A noisy adventure in hardcore deka-dance. SPLINTERED bring us "Praxis" - again the emphasis seems to be on a loose piling of guitar noise through which drum pattern rises to give it some degree of direction. Not their current direction, but an interesting period for them. RAMLEH bring us "Skinhead Moonstomp" which is hardly the old Ska track, but instead an addictive thing built around a fairly simple drum pattern with guitars of various tones all interplaying a similar tune while a white mass of distortion fills in the spaces - not unlike Progressive Rock, but so much better. "Fragmentation (Fuck FM)" comes from THE GREY WOLVES - in which they leave their more melodic, moody music & embrace instead tbe screaming, hissing world of Pure Noise with a jangling, screaming non-beat thing. SKULLFLOWER bring us "Aquatic Horrorshape", building on Military marching drums, this basically simple piece uses multiple levels of guitars, weaving them into an exciting mass of music, a forceful, driving track. CABLE REGIME bring us a live version of "Righteous Man" which kicks into tight action, another guitar-led noise grunge thing, thick & powerfully driving, sounding tonally a lot better than many of the studio recordings. At over 10 minutes it leaves the listener wanting more - can't be bad. HEADBUTT come next with "Memphis 67". You never know where you'll end up with this group & here, although it fits into the general 'feel' of the album, it nevertheless is one of the stranger tracks here, with it's manifold layers of muffled shouted vocals set against a backdrop of pounding post-tribal drums & various distorted noises. VELVET SNAKESKIN ORCHESTRA give us "Würm", a warmer, calmer version of the more hectic previous tracks, this sounds as if it's a track winding down at the end of a thrash-out - sustained fuzz held in limbo, frequency-changes like a higher-pitched didgeridoo while rich, rolling drums lull the listener into a state of trance. FINAL bring us "Dream 1-3", a minimalist, moody thing which suggests things going on away in the hollow distance. It reminds me in a lot of ways of what GILBERT & LEWIS were doing some years ago. The second loop of strange noises has a biological-machine feel to it, gradual building into a much more complex piece. The third piece is yet another looping thing, using samples or tapes to create an unusually strange atmosphere. CRASH WORSHIP ADRV offer "Tamborilada", a wild dance piece of drumming through which streamers of electronic sound are wound. As with most of their material I have heard, it manages to combine a trance-y dance body with a plethora of found sounds, odd instruments & disquieting noises. TECHNO ANIMAL give us "Just Crawl" - a looping, cycling tonal mood thing from JUSTIN BROADRICK (I believe) - a warm central piece plays host to various noises which pass along it's length like wraiths, all building towards a church-music-like peak. PLAYGROUND offer "Conception", a guitar track with enough tune wedged inside it's bright carapace to cross over into a more commercial arena, yet retaining it's dignity & poise within an atmospheric, driving yet essentially smooth & simple composition. Finally comes "Dream Sequence 1" by IGNIS FATUUS - a moody piece which might just pass as a film soundtrack - built on simþle piano ripples, it ebbs & flows, crescendos of sudden noises whipping out like lashed tendrils as the dark theme moves ever onward. A good ending to the album.
This album sometimes sees at odds with itself, but there's a lot to recommend it. I for one intend to seek out some material by the groups who interest me here, and there are a lot of them.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.