Labels: the Perfect Hoax
Review by: James Williams
This 8″ split features two tracks from Norwegian noise punks Barren Womb and
one track from French grind/doom band Remote. Both bands are new to me, so I’m
pretty intrigued by it. Barren Womb is a duo from Trondheim. Their first track is the
humorously (?) titled ‘Visual AIDS’. It’s a mid-paced track featuring danceable bass-
riffs and screams. They don’t feature a guitar, so the drums and the vocals dominate
the music, with the bass adding some melody. The song ends with a prolonged movie
type sample. ‘Dead or no Krokodil’ is pretty much similar but more spazzy. It’s
ends pretty abruptly. Remote pitch in with ‘Plagues and Rats’. Their track has a
completely different feel to it. It’s eight and a half minutes of drawn out, heavy doom.
The guitars sound like chainsaws whirring into action at times and they love feedback.
This is slow to get going, which is the whole point of doom I guess. When it does get
going about four minutes in, you’re greeted with a dark-hardcore assault which only last
about a minute before the doom takes over again. This split does what splits are meant
to do. It highlights two different bands and puts them together so people who may
miss them otherwise can hear them. It’s short but showcases both bands well.