Cassette Review // Deathset "Within Forgotten Borders" (SixthWorldMusic)

£5 //
Edition of 25 //
https://sixthworldmusic.bandcamp.com/album/within-forgotten-borders //

What starts as these alien-like loops evolves into an almost scraping sound while also keeping those eerie drop notes behind it all.  There is definitely a haunted way about this song, like it is either in a graveyard or set in outerspace like the "Alien" franchise.   Either way it feels like the type of thing that you might not have nightmares about but you could create stories about the sounds which could give others nightmares.

A darker feeling now as we drop off into this complete mood of being isolated and alone.   This one feels like it's living up to its name as it doesn't have that eerie or haunted feeling so much any more as now it just feels grim, it just feels like death.   A tone pushes through now like an organ and for some reason it reminds me of being at sea, and as such I like to think of how we've gone from death to a burial at sea.   There is also a slight video game feeling to this song as well.

In some ways this can drone and even begin to sound like car horns blaring- perhaps of larger vehicles such as trucks- but at a slowed down speed.    Deeper and darker we dive now, into the pits of doom- into the very fabric of existence where life and death meet for a brief moment before we are pulled in the other direction.    Somewhat blissful tones come through the static now and it sounds like a distress signal, a cry for help.   There is a sense of drowning in this somehow too and I can perhaps only view it in my mind and not reality, but it is there.

On the flip side we have some dark moans which can feel like trapped ghouls.   I'm not sure why, I've probably seen such creatures in many ways before (especially in animated formats) but whenever I think of these ghouls I always think of the ghost army from that "Lord of the Rings" movie.    The next song comes in a lot stronger, as it feels more electric like waves of lightning crashing up on a static shore.    While it could be considered droning and hypnotic, there is also something just so powerful about this song and if we're keeping with the theme of this review thus far, I dare say it could raise the dead.

A pulsating sound, almost like that fan cutting through the air, can be heard with some sharpness over it now and it has a definite eerie feeling to it again- like something out of the harsh "X-Files".   A small lull like an engine starting and the beeps behind it mixed with that somewhat scraping sound make me feel like we're in traffic even though I know this isn't a field recording.   That video game feeling comes back and the way it works back and forth makes me think of Pong.