This material was originally released on cassette after the Gulf War as a collaborative effort between The Grey Wolves and Shockcity, and this version (remixed by The Grey Wolves) comes intentionally timed as the US is primed for another such attack. Contained on the CD are two massively long tracks that total 56 minutes. "Desert Storm" starts off and is fairly minimal dark ambient with death industrial undertones, which I've always thought to be one of The Grey Wolves' strongest points, despite the fact that they're known largely for their aggressive work in the power electronics field. The piece builds up strong on a foundation of throbbing bass tones and clouded samples with a few fluttering hums and lightly distorted textures twisting and turning about from time to time. The samples sort of sound like news/radio communications, and they definitely add a nice effect to the piece. As things progress a few throbbing bass rhythms come forth, and towards the end things get a bit more sinister with some heavily treated samples deep in the mix beneath some faint percussive elements and dismal drones and feedback. "Gulf Breeze" begins with a much more rhythmic (though equally minimal) approach, including some windy textures and hums on the lower end, as well as some obscured samples. Samples play less of a role here, as the track is slightly more abrasive and simplistic, though still dwelling mainly in calmer dark ambient territory. There are some crisp distorted whirrs and subtly ethereal synth tones about midway through the composition, however. Things also get a bit musical, as some noticeably melodic synth tones start to swell forth behind the whizzing distortion, adding a nice sense of atmosphere to the piece. Later on percussive beats start in before the tracks takes a far busier turn and introduces the most aggressive passage on the disc, granted it's not blaring harsh power electronics, it is markedly louder and a bit more chaotic than anything else herein. Recognizing that this material was originally recorded many, many years ago and released on cassette, this re-mastered version actually sounds quite good. I'm not sure what they did or did not clean up, but the output level is solid and the rawness of the sounds is not a hindrance in the least. There's no noticeable tape hiss that I'm picking up on or anything like that, so I'd say it's a job well done. It certainly stands the test of time. The layout's not bad. It's simple but I think it works out fine. There are a few images of soldiers digging trenches and such, the classic Wolves logo, and inside there's another photo of a dead soldier in a trench below the line, "The mother of all battles will be fought on the astral plane." Aside from some brief liner notes and such that's about it. Like I said, this stands the test of time, really in more ways than one. Most people probably missed this release the first time around, but it's definitely worth looking into in this form.
[Cold Spring]
Running time - 56:18, Tracks: 2
[Notable tracks: both are very well done]
Cold Spring records - http://www.coldspring.co.uk
