Starting out on the right foot, UK distro house Volcanic Tongue has chosen a masterful set of frenetic energy music ? courtesy of Thurston Moore and his cohorts in Dream/Aktion Unit ? to release as its first professionally pressed CD. This particular disc features a scorching live set from Stirling, Scotland?s Le Weekend festival that took place in May of 2005. Moore formed the Dream/Aktion Unit to explore uncharted sonic territory with a cabal of able-bodied musicians who shared likeminded goals. New England saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Chris Corsano (who I?m convinced was brought into this world drumsticks first), together with Moore on guitar form the nexus of the group. ?Blood Shadow Rampage? features the addition of Matt Heyner (No-Neck Blues Band) on upright bass and Heather Leigh Murray (ex-Charalambides) on pedal steel and vocals.

A rollercoaster ride, a vibrator set to ?stun,? all synapses firing simultaneously: those familiar with the Moore/Corsano/Flaherty axis of evol probably know what to expect from this 50-minute romp through Satan?s turnip patch. Heyner and Corsano have a never-ending arm-wrestling match on the low-end of the musical scale ? a battle of wits has never sounded so juicy. Moore and Flaherty take turns dancing like Cossacks over the airwaves, their instruments barely able to keep up with the extreme hilarity of the situation. The icing on the cake is Heather Leigh Murray, slicing up chunks of sound and flinging them around like a drunken pizza wielder. Her pedal steel work evokes a sense of impending doom, conjuring paranoid visions of smuggled dirty bombs and fatal stab wounds. This is indeed the end of days!

Particular mention must be made of the classic horror artwork, courtesy of Karen Constance (Blood Stereo). An Edgar Allan Poe short story come to life, the images and the gore-filled track titles (my particular favourite being ?Here Come the Fucking Dead?) compliment the unearthly sonics contained on disc. ?Blood Shadow Rampage? is a prime example of what the commercial music industry is lacking: exquisite packaging, originality, and good fucking music! 9/10 -- Bryon Hayes (11 December, 2006)