Cementimental - Episodes of Simultaneous Door Opening.

 

Cementimental – Episodes of Simultaneous Door Opening – CDR/Download – Self Released – 2023.

https://cementimental.bandcamp.com/

http://www.cementimental.com/

https://isntses.bandcamp.com/

https://disgustingcathedral.bandcamp.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/isntses

1. Lumpishes of Honorariums, Arks, Toms, Duped, Bang.

2. The Scats of Firers Joke a Slat out of Lung Slate.

3. Shops-Doged.

4. The Petrifier Dole.

5. Inarticulately Pterodactyled.

6. The History of Grey Book.

7. The Ocelot Soothed Jolly by His Woven Hair.

8. Arrogant Dice.

                                                    Image from artist's Bandcamp, link above.

Dr Age’s Harsh Noise, Circuit Bendery project Cementimental has been active in the UK since 2000AD. Cementimental is also linked to Isn’tses and Disgusting Cathedral and has played around the England, Wales, Scotland, France, Denmark and Holland. The project is now a mainstay of the London \Noise scene playing at many events and festivals around the UK over the last two decades.

I am immediately hit by an assault of trebly, sharp harsh noise on Lumpishes of Honorariums, Arks, Toms, Duped, Bang. This has a fresh crackling sound to it, it isn’t bass heavy at first, this seems to come later in the track. The project seems to use recognisable Harsh Noise elements, whereas others come from somewhere else. Probably the home-made synths that Drage makes and sells. The Scats of Firers Joke a Slat out of Lung Slate rips out sonically, the warped sounds and circuit bending truly flex muscle on this track as it is the longest on the album. I feel as if I am being pulled through a dense collage of technology at hyper speed. The trebly heavy assault breaks down into faltering distortion for a time until the crispy, sharpness returns with a vengeance.

The Chernobylizer Synth off artist's Etsy store, link above.. 

A Thicker, choppier assault is used in Shops-Doged short lifespan, guttural noises bounce off this. A larger, full sound is captured during The Petrifier Dole, this sounds like a painful, electrical malfunction. The sound goes through a whole spectrum of warped, psychotic, barking, rage. Thick texture, accelerated choppiness and roaring distortion build Inarticulately Pterodactyled. Due to the longer length of this track, the work goes through a lot of shifts, it chops and changes dramatically. Again, this demonstrates a muscular sound, it flexes, bulges and throbs across 11 and a half minutes.

The sound of The History of Grey book is fast and gasping. It sounds like it is being choked and shaken to make the core noise, this progresses to a scraping, drag that is cut into by waves of distortion. The Ocelot Soothed Jolly by His Woven Hair is a short track that rapidly shifts through different passages of sound like the longer tracks, the hyperactive nature of the project is most apparent here. The palette shrinks dramatically on the final track, glitches and squealing, tiny noises play off each other like an abstract cartoon of noise.

This hyperactive album is fun and powerful at the same time. Projects like this demonstrate Harsh Noise at its’ best. The CDR is available from Cementimental’s Bandcamp in the links above.

Choppy Noodles, 2023.

Disgusting Cathedral – Besieged Defenders

 

Disgusting Cathedral – Besieged Defenders – Download – 2021.

https://disgustingcathedral.bandcamp.com/album/besieged-defenders-2

I feel like watching the film – ‘A Chinese Ghost Story’ tonight, playing Besieged Defenders, the new album by Disgusting Cathedral reminds me of that film in parts. This is described as Dungeon Synth, but I feel it is Dr.Age in his synthesizer fun element. He uses a lot of quirky sounds and home-made circuit devices that echo his work in the duo Isn’tses and Cementimental - this is what I associate with Dr.Age, a key player in quirkier, glitched electronics within the UK. In some ways if you can imagine members of SMEGMA had children, left them somewhere with their stash and forgot about them - you’d have Isn’tses.

The sound of the album uses keyboards in the quirky, space like sense mixed in with a mournful, funeral style. What I am going to focus on is that I like to research my noise/PE history from time to time to widen my historical knowledge of the genre. The Dungeon Synth sound is hailed as coming from a range of artists including Burzum being its key influences. This kind of mournful and tinkering synthesizer usage goes right back to the 80s, buried within some later 80s Power Electronics and Industrial acts that leaned a little too far to the right. Dr.Age is seen as a well-known anarchist leaning artist within his commentaries and personal conversations that I have had with him. From knowing him, I see this as taking back those elements from various factions and going somewhere else with it, a reclamation of sound of sorts.

The electronics go screwy, melting down as they twist and bend in all directions – not staying in one place for too long. Shifts back into mournful, meditative territory are frequent. I like this, a good recording that truly reflects the playful, humorous character and intentions of its’ creator.

Coventry Soul 2021