cassette craze chronicles XIV (feat. BHPL, HADEWYCH, KIRRIL and METH DRINKER)

Sentient Ruin Laboratories already received the treatment of an exclusive  label post in my cassette craze chronicles back in October. Now it's time for one of those special editions again, this time with the contents of my latest shipment from Tartarus Records.

Judging from the cover artwork all of these four releases could easily be devastating sludge metal monsters, right? Yet as soon as you know that only of them actually is that, there's little doubt which one... 

METH DRINKER - Meth Drinker (2011/2020)

Yeah, this must be what happens once you drink a little too much meth. Fooooohhhhck! The 2020 reissue of Meth Drinker's debut from eleven years ago sounds exactly as if someone had swallowed a barrel of toxic sludge and vomited it straight into your face. In other words: delicious! Apart from a little breather in the middle, which also shows that these guys don't take themselves too serious, this is all just abhorrent, filthy mayhem. Song titles like "Incurable Illness", "Skull Smashing Concrete" or "Broken Down And Used Up" are perfectly representing the creeping and crushing bleakness and brutality of this reeking mess of a tape. Definitely one to spin when you don't have the time for Primitive Man's "Caustic".

HADEWYCH - Mes (2022)

The enigmatic dark music collective Hadewych celebrates a probably more "sophisticated" kind of post-apocalyptic sound, but that doesn't make them any less impactful.  "Mes" wanders from abyssal ambient to early laibachian industrial and black metal to majestic Sunn O))) meets Ulver drone greatness with cinematic choirs, all accompanied by an ominous Dutch narration.
The tape comes in one of those noble black boxes, which may not be practical for shelving, but damn, I still love them since the luxury editions of Mizmor's studio albums. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT "MES" - I'VE ALREADY WRITTEN A DEEPER DIVE INTO THE ALBUM ON VEILOFSOUND.COM!

KIRRIL - Kirril (2021)

Enough with the guitars now! Kirril's self-titled album shows us how it sounds when a Dutch industrial producer, who's aim is "to make bleak, dytopian, dark psychedelic music, inspired by the turbulent nightlife", loses said nightlife for you know what reasons. The beats are broken, the bass sounds are crumbling, and without noticable rudiments of melody this should be super depressing. And while this suite of closely related tracks, numbered in Roman numerals, without a doubt is the most consistently negative work of this bunch of tapes, its crispy and juicy production makes it an oddly satisfying experience. Imagine you're standing alone in the broken ruins of a discotheque, surrounded by smoke and fire, but someone right beside you tingles your brain with weird ASMR noises. For fans of The Bug and YouTubers rumbling yoghurt pot caps next to your ear drum.

BHPL - BHPL (2021)

I think we have already established that humanity's going down, but unlike Kirril the duo BHPL, named after a gas leak disaster in Bhopal, India, isn't letting it happen without a wild exhausting dance. I must admit that I'm not a big fan of the rather boring distorted industrial metal vocals on this one, but the synths and in your face EBM/techno beats are killer!
It's only a twenty-five minute EP with the same content on both cassette sides, but since this slaps you with every beat, that's just the right lengths before your cheeks begin to bleed. "BHPL" gets a big fuckyeah on my imaginary rating scale.

And yeah, before I forget it: this a picture of my Tartarus haul, which also includes the first music label longsleeve shirt I've ever bought - for obvious feline reasons. Meow.