I originally wasn’t going to write a review today because it’s been the absolute worst week—and maybe give myself an extra day off for reaching 800 posts and 100,000 views! Thanks to everyone who reads, listens, or otherwise supports!—but the truth is this debut release from Mothmen Ezekiel has been helping me through, and I want to share it in case anyone else is in a similar situation (and from what I’ve gathered, the malaise seems to be inexplicably universal). Tracked with maxed-out gain to a single skull-drilling mono channel, Voices is a two-part aural lobotomy for speech, screech, and crunch, instruments (whatever those even are) optional. The noise is more dynamic and unpredictable than a traditional wall, yet despite the changes in flavor and intensity it undergoes it always has this tearing, trouncing velocity, the same kind of unrelenting assault that keeps me rooted to my seat during Call Me Lucy or Night of the Bloody Tapes. When “It Stayed With Us When We Accelerated” started I was already on board to get my noggin wrinkles scrubbed by that flaying feedback blast for twelve minutes, but then a lower-pitched input jack hum lumbers into the torrent and makes me grin like an idiot. The “speech” part comes in the form of garbled radio chatter ground into gnashing gibbers, “spluttering and bubbling, jerking and rasping, whistling and screaming.” Two endlessly replayable doses of brutality. Irresponsibly, dangerously loud… if you know you know.

P.S. For completely unrelated reasons, make sure to catch up on Riverdale if you haven’t already (by pirating it only of course, fuck the CW).