Released
1997
Label
Corpus Hermeticum
Reviewed by
destruKt
Contact
Corpus Hermeticum
P.O. Box 124, Lyttelton, Canterbury
New Zealand
Last Edit/Update
07 February, 1998
Surface Of The Earth
SURFACE OF THE EARTH
Track Listing
1. arc (excerpt)
2. 4.02
3. preview
4. causer gird
5. castle
6. voyager
7. library
8. 4.55
9. sea of japan
First off, top marks to Corpus Hermeticum
for recognizing that jewel-cases are repulsively ugly packaging for compact-discs. This,
like most of the other releases from this New Zealand indie label, is packaged in an
aesthetically pleasing foldout cardboard slip. No plastic, no bullshit.
Local patriotism aside, Surface
of the Earth are a Wellington experimental-noise outfit, which was what caught my
eye originally. My first introduction to this outfit has been a thoroughly unpleasant one
(in the best possible way!). According to the minimal liner notes, this is a live
recording made back in 1994-95, but being of the highest quality it could be mistaken for
a studio project any day.
Surface of the Earth
is seventy-three minutes of unrelenting drone fluctuations. Intensity irritating those who
like their music with a bit of beat, but for a rhythm-deaf noise fanatic, perversely
soothing. Tonal drones are consistent, and minute changes in intensity are subtle. Odd
sounds float in and out of the mix, patternless, the sound of iron girders collapsing
somewhere down the street from the performance. Prolonged exposure is sure to cause
permanent aural damage, low frequencies resonate through the body, giving vital organs an
off-road experience. This is either headphone music for drone sadists or a sound track for
self-flagellation rituals.
Stand out tracks include
"Library" and "Sea of Japan," the former reverberates with what
could be human throat speech, but is more likely to be machine sounds, while the later
swirls with a sinister tonal fluctuation that sounds somewhat harmonic!
Since the album appears to be live excerpts from a number of performances, what would be a
totally consistent album is somewhat fragmented by track separation, but this is only a
minor point. Sublime ambient music for demons.
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