Cassette Review // COMPACTOR "TENSION CRUCIBLE"

 

https://compactor.bandcamp.com/album/tension-crucible

This cassette begins with some beats in a fast and industrial manner.  They break down, get more of a rhythm going and then turn into where they sound like a drum beat with distortion blasting through in place of a guitar in a rock band.   This all feels rather mechanical, but it is also in that electronic industrial way that I enjoy.

The music can shift into this grinding and winding way, which has this stream of electronics which goes through it like a laser blast, beats with that marching tempo and the occasional squeak coming through the electronics as well.    This brings on a distorted wave which has some beeping within (which reminds me of a hospital) and then other electronics screech in before the steady heartbeat pulse wave comes through.

As the pulsating rhythm reaches a point where you can barely hear it, the scraping distortion with that ringing in your ears returns now.   It feels like rays of destruction wiping out entire planets.   This all swirls around together in some fantastic orchestral way, where it feels like you're just watching this all take place at a grand concert but instead of musical instruments it's buttons being pushed and levers being pulled. 

On the flip side we open up with those steady distorted beats.    It feels as if we're going into these record scratches as a means of picking up the tempo, but then it all stalls before coming back in with these loud blast beats.   As we slip through the distortion it begins to sound like a video game run amok.

This takes us into a darker, more static filled void now.   The distorted engines and laser blasts make this sound like some sort of great space war and then it all comes down to just some back and forth wah-wah type of sound in the air, which is quite hollow.   This sound ends with what sounds like a gun shot, but then as that bass builds back up we hear what sounds like more gun shots.  

A rhythm is created with the gun shots until it all comes to a feedback-screeching halt.   Sirens are heard as if the police are coming and then there is the sound of boots marching with loud banging.   This takes on an electronic marching vibe which can become quite hypnotic.   It feels like we're marching on as all of the chaos collides with the sirens and the sound of glass.   A somewhat harsh distortion comes through now in a droning way.  

The sound begins to feel as if it's all being sucked around, as if we're in a vacuum, and it just feels like this electronic windstorm.   As severe as this all may seem, it comes to an abrupt end.  As this cassette has had times where it would wind up just to pick back up again, it is nice that the whole thing came together not by fading out but just with a final sigh.