Feedback Destroyer is a misleading title. On his first outing as Stalking, Matt Hex does plenty of gating, chopping, strangling, crushing, warping, all actions that one might call destructive. But feedback is like energy—indestructible. In lieu of being ground into nothing, it escapes to areas of less pressure, contorting into unpredictable and exciting shapes. This is the essence of feedback noise, and it has been for decades; this new CD-R from underappreciated Dubuque imprint Breaching Static doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. What it does do is carve out ample space in a surging cut-up harsh revival that spans the States and beyond. Stalking is not yet another high-tech modular initiative doomed to stand in the shadows of modern titans Negation or 886VG, nor is it a novel deconstruction of the tradition itself in the vein of Prolepsis or Parasite Nurse. The closest comparison that comes to mind is Developer: no-frills, muscular pedal-chain frenzy that doesn’t waste a single second. At 21 tracks, there’s no shortage of ideas. Other artists might have shelved some of these sketches for future releases, but Hex lays it all out on the table, opting to offer an LP’s worth of material for his first outing. No samples, no silent stretches, no ambient interludes, just noise. The stereo field gets a comprehensive pummeling, the crunch blasting through mono, left, right, and all over, always changing up just as you start to find your footing. The pace is incessant and intense, but Hex isn’t afraid to fuck around a bit now and then either; there’s more than one grin-inducing delay noodle. Solid, satisfying stuff, and a great debut for this project.
Copies available via email: breachingstatic@gmail.com.
Noise Not Music 