Events Without Reference is restless and impatient in a very similar manner to many spastic harsh noise records, but the sounds that Jacob Deraadt, who releases music as Sterile Garden, makes use of are not nearly as brash or abrasive. Up until the final two, the tracks feel like disjointed sketches of decaying textures, the disconcerting sonorities of crumbling caves and abandoned factories carefully scraped off the walls and glued onto woozy tape loops and synth piddles. This scattered structure is not a weakness for Events Without Reference; the skittering vignettes construct a palpable atmosphere without staying in the same place for too long or avoiding new sounds in order to expand upon a certain combination. As a result, the tape has a presence far beyond its muffled, fuzzy, diminutive sounds, tracing the ghostly outline of a sound-world that’s fragile but formidable. And when “Crisis of Belief,” the longest track at seven minutes, hits, its much more lethargic progression is a welcome detour, slowly scraping and skulking along a concrete floor and dragging any debris it collects along with it. Deraadt’s delicate, dusty sonic palette is often one of frailty and weakness, full of sounds that feel like they could fall apart at any moment, but as exemplified by “Cynics Prayer,” those often result in some really beautiful moments.

True to form, Government Alpha’s newest release Vandalism is screechingly intense from the get-go. Yasutoshi Yoshida’s long-running harsh noise project continues be refreshing and mercilessly abrasive as ever, even following a body of work that spans nearly 25 years. The crushing blast of noise that begins “Ash of Virtue” sounds like it’s been waiting an eternity to escape, and after a fleeting bubble of feedback the waves of distortion come flying from their prison with full force. The dense, formidable walls that Yoshida constructs are lush and enrapturing enough not to disappoint with stagnancy, but regardless they are constantly in motion, seemingly rocketing forward at high speed yet surrounding and enclosing with an ever-tightening grip. The tension is kept up until near the end, when some cathartic breaks from the cacophony blast high-pitched feedback tones before the distortion returns. “Corruption of Decoration” is a less restless piece, and Yoshida opts to work with heavier, crunchier textures, whipping them up into deafening C.C.C.C.-esque whirlwinds of jagged, psychedelic howls. Spanning not even twenty minutes, Vandalism is an exhausting, visceral journey, and my new favorite of Government Alpha’s recent tape output.