Pig Heart Transplant Party

Why not review all the PHT material I have sitting around? My last trip home brought 3 new 7" releases back with me, why not give them a spin and write what I think.


PHTV 7"

Collaboration 7" on Rescued From Life Records between PHT and Vacuum, red vinyl. Very well executed packaging, nice thicker textured cream stock with red screen printing.

Side A: Opens with a pretty calm sample before diving in with huge bass drum beats and deep screaming- the bass drum beats approaching static, very reverberated. The beats come and go while still being completely massive and sounding like a shotgun blast at point blank. The vocals make their presence known a bit more. A nice use of silence around the vocals. A short track since it runs at 45 rpm. I'm liking this material a bit more than the other more 'traditional band' approach that PHT sometimes showcases.

Side B: Opens with feedback before jumping into what sounds like a faster punk song, the guitars distortion sounding more like static. The second track has some serious HNW tendencies, drenched with more squeal and squawk feedback. The first track really flows nicely into this one. The feedback fades out briefly before coming back in even stronger. This is a pretty awesome wall, very fast paced and agonizing. The wall fades into the same huge blasts from Side A. The vocals come back, even more angry. Some choppy synth fades in and out along with a little ambience before Side B also finishes.

Overall a really great release, a nice mix of a lot of ideas, and very well executed on all accounts. An interesting listen and highly recommended.

5/5



They Eat What We Eat 7"

My copy is apparently one of 52 with black and red screen print on neon orange cardstock. Black labels on black vinyl. This one spins at 33 rpm, although Side A looks like the track is still pretty short considering the slower speed.

Side A: Opens with drumming in a deep hall type reverb. Some droning synth can be heard in the distance and fades in, very slowly. The drums fade and the volume of the droning (and almost looping) synth takes the kit's place. A deep rumbling bass-line and the drums return- the synth hitting two notes synonymous with the beat. Static comes and goes with the beat as well- and vocals can be heard, very burried under everything, but still there. It seems like some guitar comes in to. A slow jam that can get your head nodding. I enjoy the bass' dominance over the track, it sounds powerful and the hook that is repeated is quite rememberable. I'm glad to see this variation on the full band approach.

Side B: Opens up with some higher-pitched droning/ringing, as a deeper synth bathed in reverb pulses in and out. Guitar feedback can be heard in the distance and slowly grows louder. This track is creepy and even slower than side A. There is still a noticeable beat to the track set by the synth pulse. Each layer and instrument becomes entangled in the other, some coming and going, some morphing, some (like the synth beat) staying constant. About mid-way through Side B everything crunches together, the synth pulse turns into a short loop and it seems like the whole mix is going into a distortion pedal before fading out- only for the droning/ringing to return. The loop synth comes back, again still crunchy, a very powerful return. It stays for about 10 seconds before the track abruptly fades to nothing.

Again, it seems to be another well thought out release. The reoccurring elements are a nice touch and show a level of sophistication while still being creepy as hell.

5/5



PHTEB split 7"

Split 7" with Pig Heart Transplant and the final recordings from The Endless Blockade. Black and red screen print on white thick stock, a nice heavy tri-folding insert envelopes the 7" itself. I'm a big fan of the Feeding Collective's artwork on all of the releases.

Side A/PHT: Opens up with eerie ambience and field recording with a soft gloomy synth drone over top before the drums, guitar and bass kick in. Not too dissimilar from Side A of the They Eat What We Eat 7", but with a less rememberable repeated riff. The vocals are less buried in the mix, and it sounds like the dude from Walls handling vocals, or at least is more apparent than the other 7" that it is in-fact him. A more expansive 6 piece lineup for the duration of this side of the 7", which contrasts from the 3 piece lineup on the 'TEWWE' 7". The vocals remain, a deep synth drone and a pulsing beat, the synth fades leaving the beat which has an echo on it- not too dissimilar from a heartbeat. A snare joins the beat, expanding on its pattern and some ambience also rises before everything suddenly fades.

Side B/TEB: The Endless Blockade side opens with deep low rumblings, oscillator bubbling before the track starts. A slower Blockade track, mighty power chords only broken momentarily with short blasts before going to another equally has heavy riff. I can't help but hear a sense of glory in the chord progression, like a last hoo-rah and final bow. Noise creeps its way in over the track, gaining enough volume to compete with the instrumentation. The vocals are mastered well over both the noise and instruments and aren't lost in the mix at all. The track hits some disharmonic progressions towards the end before fading into scrap metal and Nolan's deep grunts. Glitching synth, distorted beats, and metal cut in and out before scraps and rubble are heard being tossed about in a room. I think this side is a nice showcase of each aspect that TEB had to offer during their existence- heavy power violence, tar-pit sludge laden slow parts, and a nice heap of noise on top for good measure. A definitely pleasing way out.

5/5


Pig Heart Transplant/Juhyo Split 7"

This 7" brings together PHT with Juhyo, a Minnesota based harsh-electronics project featuring the owner and operator of HousePig Records. Silver screenprinted Feeding artwork on black stock. Black vinyl with black labels and silver printing, with a black inner sleeve as well.

Side A/PHT: Opens with a drum beat before vocals guitar and bass all pound in at once- huge sounding, with a rhythmic scraping layered on top. Again, not to dissimilar from the other 7", but still unique it is execution, and sounds different enough to keep my interest. Each of these full-band tracks has a certain element that draws my attention to it, this one being the looping/rhythmic scraping more than anything. The track fades to a drone, with the drums becoming sparse (and only seeming like a crash cymbal) and saturated with reverb. The drone pulses, and a distorted synth line fades in. Everything stays for a little while before fading out.

Side B/Juhyo: Opens up with delayed oscillations- sounding like electricity surging at high current through blown TV's and other electronic devices before a ghostly droning ambience (not sounding dissimilar to that of a Buddha Box) makes its way into the limelight, everything seems to be effected by a low pass filter. A delayed sample of a mans voice with a short slap-back delay comes in over the droning and then turns into a different sample, then going back to the mans voice, than again another sample before more oscillations pulse in. A deeper synth drone down at the bottom, everything repeating at a slow pace and building, some textures becoming more apparent than others. Everything then separates into two distinct layers- unaffected oscillations, and echo/low pass effected synth drones. Another sample comes in before turning back into the ghostly ambience and fading.

4/5


More PHT reviews later...

HNW Party

Nervous Corps- Meaning Corrupted (November 2011 tape trade tape)

Initial thoughts: Pummeling.

There are so many good textures on side A. Four tracks in total. I really get a sense of uneasiness and tension on this side, between the shorter track lengths, the textures presented. They almost feel like they are struggling. The first track really pounded me back as I listened to it. I wish that some of the textures had been expanded on, only for my own meditational/zoning purposes, but other than that, side A really hit the spot as far as content in my book. A lot of ground covered.

Side B and put it on. A very violent churning wall, and I see that it spans for 26:00. This side seems just as chaotic and violent, very textural and not grey or flat. 26 minutes still seemed like it was nothing! The wall kept my attention the whole time, unrelenting, crushing.

Packaging looks awesome as well, very pro looking clear cassette with black labels, an insert with black printing on silver metallic paper in a standard jewel case wrapped in semi-metallic silver bubble wrap.

5/5


Sleep/Gluttoness split CS

Sleep opens up side A with a huge, thick, bass heavy wall. So thick it seems like my speakers are trembling, almost bottoming out. This is heavy. On top of the low rattling sounds like skirmishing tv static, moving about in spurts, very lightly on top, making its presence known, but not overstaying. I can't help but think of a very large catapult being pulled across cobblestone or other uneven stone surface- the stone on stone grinding and churning full speed, being toted off to war. The static on top subsides and all that is left is the massive churning on the bottom before the track cuts off.

Gluttoness is a good friend of mine, and a great guy. The HNW Graveyard is a tool for artists such as myself to let people listen to OOP HNW releases and to investigate the sometimes overwhelming amount of HNW that comes from us. Gluttoness' side opens up with a super huge pitch shifted cavernous looping growl, and simmers before a sample and then dives right into some equally as huge wall. The consistency of 'What To Do (How To Do It) is not far off from Sleep's side, but seems to be at a far faster pace. The track fades from wall to another bit of cavernous echoing, before another rise to the surface, another sample, and then plunges back down into the depths. Not too far off in texture than the previous track, but this one seems to churn a little bit more than the other. Another sample before the next track pummels in- this one is even heavier, suffocating, with a bit more contrast. Deep gutteral vocals overtop are something I've never heard in HNW, but yet work well on this track. It suddenly cuts to more cavernous echoes before the track is over. It is very apparent that this was extremely considered and planned before being put on tape.

Both sides of the split are excellent. This tape is for fans of bassier wall, low frequencies, and speakers being shredded.

5/5


Urine Cop/Vomir split CS

Urine Cop is a Canadian noisecore outfit with ties to The Endless Blockade. Their side is filled with sick pitch-shifted vocals (Erin, Last Days of Humanities vocalist), blast beats, and HNW crunch, blasting through a shit ton of tracks, as fast as possible. Everything is a blur, but well executed. Super lo-fi recording only adds to the chaos. Think Insect Warfare's last LP, but taken to the next level as far as intensity, and two steps backwards in recording to the caveman era (in the best way possible). The blast beats subside briefly for some echoing feedback, before a slower beat comes in. It overall lets the vocals and other textures breathe a bit more, as well as build up and not become such a blur. It's a decent contrast to the first half of the tape. The drums pound away at a dirge's speed, static and oscillations only intensify to fill the void where the blastbeats once were. The drums stop, the crunching stops, and everything fades out with a swirling oscillation.

Vomir's side consists of a mid-frequency wall, sounding kind of unstable, a more decaying sound than that of a crawl or blast. A decent amount of static on top, with some bubbling grind on the bottom. It seems like it keeps cutting in and out of stereo, which even if it wasn't intentional sounds pretty awesome and only intensifies the listening.

4/5


Love Katy- The Queen Of Figuring Out CS

Ah, Love Katy. We all do. How can you resist? Very awesomely packaged Tape Trade from the good fellow JK.

Side A is a very searing style wall, very upper mid sounding, less defined 'crunch' and more-so a flow of wall, as if standing under a waterfall and the water constantly pummeling and degrading what lies beneath. The track slowly shifts and the frequencies divide quite nicely into a lower rumble and higher fizzle, making a sort of narrative, rising to the surface to gasp for air. Constantly pounding, never resting. Towards the middle of side A, the rushing water texture turns into an uneasy sizzle, like 1000 ripples forming at the surface of the mass of water, claustrophobic, narrowing. The track reduces to a buzzing with the same static laid over top, a bit more calm, but just as uneasy.

Side B: A far more slow paced and static texture, a real crumble here, as if you were going with Katy to the movies and treating her to some fresh popcorn! About half way through, some extremely low bass rumble kicks in and really creates a dynamic contrast as the popcorn continues to pop.

Excellent consideration into packaging, a white, purple, and pink sock-type enclosure houses a very well laid out J card and bright pink cassette.

3/5