V/A – “It’s Battery Acid, You Slime” C60

Heavy Psych

I always find compilations such a fucking pain in the ass to review. Having so many artists jammed into one release, so many different sounds and visions and worrying about those each specifically. Then there’s always the question of how uniform you prefer things to be. Should all the artists sound very similar? Should they all bring something different to the table? Add to that an unlabeled cassette tape. You have to either remember what track you’re on or pay attention very carefully not to lose your spot. On top of that I can never remember which side is A or B and all that crap. Goddamn it’s a pain in the ass.

Well, enough griping because I really shouldn’t be complaining. It’s just one of those damn days. Since I’m on a negi trip here, I’ll start with the bad of this release; it sounds like crap. Tapes can still sound good. Someone should let the guys over at Heavy Psych know that because there isn’t any “oomph” to this tape. Ok, there may be just a little here and there, like when Josh Hydeman’s “The Last Man” busts in with it’s heavy synth drones. There is one thing on the tape you can hear loud and clear though, and that is the tape hiss.

The comp has it’s ups and downs. Anytime an artist seems to be drifting towards a harsher realm things get kind of weak. Perhaps with the exception of both White Heterosexuals “Postcard from Finishing School” which features a harmonious feedback whine combined with some synth drones. Ahlzagailzeguh’s “Herculean Puff” loses a lot of force from the shitty tape/recording here as does most of the harsh noise. It’s a pity. Blue Sabbath Black Cheer offers another track that seems like it has a lot of depth to it’s textures but just can’t make it through the shitty loss of frequencies. Animal Steel really kills it with “Apologia” a heavy as fuck shimmering drone track that is actually able to pop-out quite a bit. Some screaming and yelling layered on top of the shifting harmonies makes for a strange crossover into power electronics.

Josh Lay presents some synthesized ambient textures with a solid drone track that evolves competently and Weak Sisters brings the noise once again with “Yellow House Red Door White Trim” which also just can’t quite cut it. Don’t know what it is about this comp but the harsh noise just can’t compete with the softer stuff here. I’ll just continue to blame it on the shitty tape quality. The Tusco Terror track following shit’s the bed as well and Pig Heart Transplant doesn’t do much better. As mentioned before I really enjoy Josh Hydeman’s track with it’s meandering monologue. Droughter predictably offers up a meandering track of delayed feedback but Sewer Goddess saves the day with one more well constructed dark ambient industrial track entitled “Swallowed by the Power”. Wether wraps things up with a half decent barrage of screaming frequencies, electricity on fire.

Overall a good compilation with a bit of ups and downs. That’s what comps are supposed to be. However, I really wish the quality was better on this puppy. Too bad because I like the packaging (though I wish the tape was labeled) and most of the artists. The shitty quality of the tape just prevented most of the harsher tracks from getting the bite they really needed.

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