Review: Gruntsplatter “Pest Maiden” CD

The disc may contain a mere five tracks, but the sum is a massive hour-long journey into some of Gruntsplatter's earlier dark ambient landscapes - a re-release of the 1999 limited edition 7" and cassette of the same name that existed in mere runs of 250 and 50 respectively, all remixed and remastered for your listening pleasure. The shorter two tracks from the 7" are interspersed between the much longer three cuts from the cassette, beginning with the minimal and persistent plod of "Permeating Tissue": 13+ minutes of tactfully repetitive rumbles and hums with just a little bit of grimy texture seeping in, gradually thinning out in its final minutes with very little significant variation otherwise. "All Fall Down" follows, leading off by quietly rumbling over a tortured sobbing subtly blended into the background - repetitive but highly effective. "A Hasty Grave" hits nearly 17 minutes and is another murky and repetitious piece, with a bit more cascading motion, but still focused around low-end tones with ominous atmospheric characteristics. Next is "The Watchmen, the Visited & the Under-Sexton", which gets slightly more intricate with textured high-end tones wavering in and out against machinated hums/whirrs with more of a gruff bite. "Finally Silent" then ends things off with more than 25 minutes of material, immediately fading in with a thicker and more distorted (though not very harsh) drone, while eerie treble mingles in and out of the picture at scarce moments. This is yet another very consistent and almost hypnotic piece, but its faintly grittier edge is a nice touch. The sound is of course a little thicker and rawer than Gruntsplatter's more recent work, but that really doesn't detract much at all. In fact, it could be argued that, despite possessing less clarity, the rough edge adds a lot to the bleak aesthetic of the material. The CD comes in a black and white slipcase with layered artwork in the usual Gruntsplatter vein, along with a quote on the back cover from "A Journal of the Plague Years", which of course applies to the theme of the material. This is a solid re-release for sure. The two tracks from the impeccable 7" are my favorites, and it's very nice to see this criminally limited edition material back in print on a more accessible format. Fans of the project should certainly find this worthwhile. Here's to continuing the wait for the next Gruntsplatter full-length!