Chrysalis begins with "He Will Die to the World and be Born Again": Two-and-a-half minutes of harsh noise that ranges from traditionally blaring and aggressive to eerie and subtly menacing with thick walls of rugged, throbbing low-end crunch, earsplitting feedback, etc. On rare occasion the piece calms down to a dense rumble, and there's one portion that sounds like vocals could be being insanely manipulated, but it's hard to be sure. Pedestrian Deposit's "End of Yamamba Epidemic" is the exact same length, fusing minimal harsh noise with some unusual ambient undercurrents, as crispy treble and feedback with bassy low-end overload shifts to and from quietly shuffling textures with some barely noticeable musical samples far off in the distance... eventually locking into a nice loop that fades to a close. Both acts have suitably loud and clear recordings, with Chrysalis adding an extra bite of clarity and precision, while Pedestrian Deposit sticks with a slightly more rugged, but not what I would call lo-fi approach. The "business card" CD-R comes in a plastic sleeve with three business card inserts, all of which are formatted the same: The Cipher Productions logo on the right, text centered at the top, text to the left, and text centered at the bottom. Each card is printed in black and white and contains track listing information as well as contact addresses and such. I like the fact that the CD-R itself has a white face, as that makes it look a bit more professional, though admittedly the three inserts could offer a bit more variety or visual oomph. This release is hand-numbered of 100 copies, so if you're into underground harsh noise you may want to act while you still have the chance. I can't say this is extremely interesting work, but I will confidently state that as far as relatively straightforward harsh noise goes I feel that both of these pieces offer a sufficient amount of atmosphere and controlled variety. Not bad.
[Cipher]
Running time - 4:58, Tracks: 2
[Notable tracks: both are fairly well done]
Cipher Productions - http://www.cipherproductions.cjb.net
