seven

ncc records is a florida-based label that strives to represent american (for the most part) contribution to rhythm&noise scene. if you have been following the aforementioned scene for past year, you would probably recognize the names like aural blasphemy (their debut full-length on possessive-blindfold is definitely something you should not miss), idyl (yet another fem-related artist), savak (surprisingly good blend of dark atmospheric textures supported by heavy drony percussion).

a few other familiar names include h.p.p. with his stuttering, broken and overly dry sound, that usually bothers me quite a lot, but here it fits nicely, presenting yet another side of the genre. rapid monotonous percussion of zymosiz always had the same effect as h.p.p. above, but once again, it is something that proves to be entertaining on a compilation like this. it is somewhat close to a track by he would drown with its very mechanized, compressed percussion and cold, simple background strings.

the disk opens with killer track by oughfunger that is probably the heaviest, most distorted and dense track on the compilation. it is based on heavy saturated percussion, traces of muffled distorted vocals, and violent noisy screeches. "your pain" by pain process starts out quite interesting with a mix of dirty power electronics-like textures and heavy percussion, but somehow it seems to lack production and composition, and often remind me of bad death metal track. following meson, however, is yet another impressive discovery on this cd. its oppressive dark ambient beginning is filled with distant corroded noises and cold, bleak imagery. the track slowly develops its drony, incredibly heavy textures with occasional well-placed frequency bursts and saturated processed percussion. it remind me of heavier, more minimal, early cazzodio.

track by rec|use has a lot of energy and density, but it would be nice to see a cleaner, more polished version of it. its rather complex sound is build upon metallic beats and rapid, very repetitive machinery noises, glued together with abrasive noisy textures and fuzzy splintery noises.

lament configuration features a track that has a lot of potential, mixing cold strings and heavy abrasive percussion with nice ambient interludes; however the sound is very uneven, some of the elements seem to be out of place, or simply mixed badly.

mysterious h-drik (could it be i-drik? or yet another incarnation of c-drik?) contributes an interesting dark landscape filled with heavily drones and cold atmospheric sweeps. it has a few interesting moments, but nothing really happens during its 4+ minutes. finally rob'o'tnik closes the cd with almost funky, broken down percussion. I could probably label its metallic, bass-heavy sound, a weird incarnation of distorted dub.

this compilation has a definite direction and enough diversity to interest any fan of abrasive rhythmic music. it might be a little "raw"-sounding at times, but it contains enough interesting material, and shows a lot of growing talent.