Cassette Review // EN NIHIL + COMPACTOR "V O I D"

 

https://compactor.bandcamp.com/album/v-o-i-d

This split cassette begins with EN NIHIL who has tones come through like a homing beacon filled with huge blast beats.  A wave of distortion launches through all of this, as those alarms still sound, and yet it feels like you can dance to it.   It is windy within here, but also eerie.   Beats rain down like bombs.  

Sonar whirrs through as those distorted beats slowly return.  It feels like we're about to build up to a really big drop, but that drop doesn't come.   That feeling of electronic insects and rodents makes its way into this destruction now.   Screams feel muffled in here, as the sound all expands and fades out.

A sound like a door opening and everything just echoes into the abyss.   This feels like we could be going into a song by clipping.   Creaking, like the door is slowly opening now, as those beats continue to slam down.  A voice speaks now and it sounds like Jigsaw.   This is all very creepy.   This is very tense because I'm waiting for a loud distortion to come blaring through and give me that jump scare.  

The next song starts with that loud distortion and even though I'm wearing headphones I feel like my neighbors can hear this.   A sharp ringing comes through and this has the makings of a horror movie for sure.   An engine then begins to sound as if it is taking off before explosion.  A lightsaber comes through, as it all slows down.  

And now the distortion is once again raining down like the apocalypse.   You can really feel the storm building in here and it feels like a car crash at the same time.   As it just feels like it's driving off the rails, it comes to an end.

On the COMPACTOR side we begin with this warbly distortion which comes through in waves.   Right away, the entire sound is being covered by this.    There is a feeling like this is forging through space, like a scene from Star Wars.   Though it does sound like a ship, there are also elements of lightsabers within here.   Sounds like screams can be heard behind all of this as well now.   Then this chanting, like demonic talk.  It's all coming out through this distortion nicely.  A pulsating beat builds behind this all now.

This just continues to build and grow louder somehow.   It quiets down to where there is just this sense of expanding tones going back and forth.   This takes us into this sound like rattling on the bars in a jail cell followed by massive bombs being dropped.   This begins to beep back and forth, like riding a wave up and down that'll make you seasick.  

The loudness of the distortion returns and it can feel like a bugzapper now.   This drifts off into a lighter droning and then turns into that sci-fi drone from the 1950's.   Lasers blast on through.  We're moving at a steady speed, like a locomotive.  It feels like if we stop we will cease to exist.  It sounds like some beeping is within all of this now, as it begins to slow down.  

As everything comes to an end, we return with an even louder distortion blast coming through now.   It feels as if we're being chased through the woods in a horror film and then this electronic ping pong ball sound comes in which just makes everything feel more intense, more suspenseful.   This feels really windy now, but also like damage is being caused.   It slows down as if the ball is bouncing slowly until it stops.

It begins to feel as if shots are taken throughout space in this slow and winding way, which can it make feel like you're playing some kind of old Atari game, flying around and blasting stuff.  This is a fitting end to this cassette because I feel like a lot of what was heard before this could be that alien invasion coming down while this is the way we stop it.