Cassette Review // Black Lodge "The Natural World" (Black Ring Rituals Records)

https://blackringrituals.bandcamp.com/album/the-natural-world 

A solid wave of heavy distortion comes as soon as you press play.   Laser blasts and other electronic sounds which can be sharp come through now as well.   As this distortion just plows through, it can feel like we're riding the wave up and down.  The electronics can turn into frequencies, as it can feel as if we're changing them to try and make a radio station come in more clearly.

As the pace grows this becomes unrelenting and just feels like it's pounding down on us.  I'm not sure why, but I imagine we are in a small boat in the middle of the ocean with the rain and waves crashing over us and we don't stand a chance.   The electronics can also come through like modems and so this can feel like throwing electricity into the bathtub.

We shift into more of that modem style distortion and it feels like vocals are trying to come through.  It's just this whirr that can lean on the harsh side, like an alien invasion that isn't too abrasive but is still out to ultimately destroy you.   It all comes together like we're slamming on the brakes and into a brick wall as the first side ends.

On the flip side the distortion cloud returns but now you can hear laser blasts in it, as if we're in a video game such as Asteroids.   A sort of ringing can be heard behind this now as well.   So far this all just feels like a giant battle in space, but then it slows down, stops and comes back with a skip into this deeper, almost more trippy type of realm where there is this bass synth behind it and the feeling that vocals want to come through.

This all feels the chaos and loudness as it reaches the end with this fluttering before hitting an abrupt stop.   Sometimes when you listen to music, when you reach that end it feels like it was planned.   When this cassette ends, it doesn't feel like it was planned.  This goes with that theme that we were at battle in space and the end was determined not by choice but rather by the ship who was creating these sounds just exploding.  And it's nice to have that spontaneity in sound.