No, this isn’t a split between two of my beloved noise artists. This is actually a collaboration of the two.  Blue Sabbath Black Cheer—who’ve been going at it since 2006—and Pig Heart Transplant—the collective of Jon Kortland and other artists that vary from time to time, including BSBC’s own Stan Reed and Wm. Rage—join forces to create something really dark and menacing. These five untitled tracks are more than just heard, they are sensed. There is something beastly and evil about them, like they lived and breathed. They are poltergeistic in presence. It reminds me of some of Wolf Eyes’ older material, but less raw.
The first one is a seething leviathan that wriggles and glides through the dark depths of the abyss. The second has a consistent looped rhythm that sounds like the palpitations of a black heart that eventually squeaks with tape reels and later speaks of its evils only to return to its original heartbeat. I imagine a camera looking at the organ itself and then mid-track penetrating into it for a closer look inside and then panning out again. The third track thumps with a distant industrial beat that incorporates haywire power tool effects. The fourth track is a cave-dweller with crunchy fuzz and sporadic drum-hitting and cymbal crash. Blistering hysterics also blast across this one in the form of machined vocals. It all goes out with a pitch of feedback. The fifth and final track is the longest, pushing nearly fourteen minutes. It’s probably one of the most makeshift tracks on here. Dark ambience permeates as it shudders occasionally and rings with a high frequency. Later there are timed thuds, craggy chaos, and razor-like feedback. But, to top it off there is an emphasis on indecipherable Satan-like speakings. It’s like the prince of darkness himself stepped out of the shadows to implore his minions. Creepy stuff. It gets done and then cracks and fizzles, bends and snaps into a shambles as it sounds like hell is caving in. Stalactites crashing down, the earth shaking, and dust settling.
One thing that made this album stand out to me out of all BSBC’s work is its more exaggerated use of long human groans and heavy sighs to make it sound very animalistic. I also noticed that it didn’t sound quite so improvised. Instead, they had more of a continuity and discernability to them due to their heavier focus on regularly maintained rhythms as opposed to something more freeform that I think I’m used to from these guys. We get more layering than sporadics. This album will easily become one of my favorite BSBC releases and also gives me more insight into the PHT sound. Awesome black and white art too from Phage. Nicely done.
