MLEHST - Second Donation.

MLEHST – Second Donation – Belief Recordings – CDR, Album, Ltd – 2019.

www.mlehst.bandcamp.com

Today, 14/12/19 has been MLEHST Saturday, I have discovered the project and I am now on my Third review of MLEHST in a day. I have found MLEHST to be challenging at the lower (& higher) end of noise. An active UK project since 1991, there is a considerably large discography behind MLEHST, Second Donation is a new release on the projects own Belief Recordings.

Second Donation seems to be built up on separate long passages of noise, the first delves into the darker Ambient textures the project is known for. This creates depth and a dream like state to the work to begin, within itself this is good sound that goes on for some time.  Small explosions of sound signify that change is on the way, the sounds now have a louder level and a growl to them.

The noisier side of the project bursts through with ugly, piercing sound – the ambient sound now acts as a base for this to work on. The noise functions like a wall of whistling, high pitched screech that has drops and resonations with the deeper background adding texture. When this dies off the sound just rumbles at a lower level for a length of time, it is as if the sound is bubbling and cooking away, I like this, it is like the suffocated parts of the album, the project did with the RITA.

As this dies off, the higher pitched sounds slowly come through, as if forming more ambience – not muffled, but distant. This plays the album out until its end.

Another strong MLEHST release highlighting the different strengths of the project.

Nevis Kretini 2019.

MLEHST, The RITA - Fabric and Paint.

MLEHST, The RITA – Fabric and Paint – Belief Recordings -2019- Limited Edition CDR.

https://mlehst.bandcamp.com/

MLEHST is a UK Noise project that has been active since 1991 (there was a defunct period between 2001 and 2005), I’m interested to delve in and find out more. This album contains 3 Paint and Fabric pieces by MLEHST that are all remixed by the RITA with the middle one being Remixed by both RITA and MLEHST.

The first Fabric and Paint (1) is a fractured wall of distortion that is very cut into at first to the point where it is a broken passage sound. I return to my phrase deconstructed wall noise; this is a very extreme example of that. The cuts in the sound seem to make the noise more abrasive and hitting, as if caught in a wind tunnel with the noise movement makes. As the first Fabric and Paint progresses the sound becomes fuller and less chopped up, the distortion begins to overwhelm the cuts in sound as if allowed to breathe more.

Everything changes as silence introduces the second Fabric and Paint (intermission), it is as if we’re allowed a respite from the intensity of the first passage. Spatial Ambient sounds break the silence, rattling noise breaks the calm, it lingers and rattles for a long time reducing the ambient sounds to a backing for a long period of time until it is muffled out as if smothered out with a pillow. It refuses to die and continues, muffled and defiant even as it is cut into more, this ties it in with the first work as it is what I call a broken deconstruction of sound that dies off with silence.

All hell breaks loose for the third Fabric and Paint (2), this is a choppy, splatter wall of noise, crackly and steady. As with any wall the drops, rises – any shifts in movement are felt.  This isn’t tweaked with in any obvious manner, the overall sound seems to be melded into one overall sound rather than front and rear sounds making a layered whole/hole as a lot of walls do – this is one steady line, the MLHEST sound in full flight.

Fabric and Paint is a challenging release, it’s not an album you passively put on, engagement is required, and a solid recording is presented. I look forward to hearing the other stuff I have received as this is very difficult, confrontational and forward-thinking work.

Nevis Kretini 2019.