COST - Sand Clung Blood (Veil Tapes)

[shrouded.in.antiquity]

The river runs nearly dry save for the mud that churns slowly underneath.

Blood begins to clot, but the wound cannot be fully contained.

The thunderstorm is making its way towards you but at the last moment it veers off to the northeast, making its presence unmistakable as it ambles further away.

Enormous monuments gaze upon the empty plains. Altars to a stormy sky. There is no ambiguity here.

Track A has an extremely fitting title, "Savage Wind (Carried Crow Buried Alive)." With Side B's "Voice of the Devil," there is a very well chosen pairing of textures and ideas.

Thick low muted tones are at play on this tape, there’s a persisting mid-tone grittiness throughout, like chewing on grains of sand. Not 'muted' in the sense that they are too quiet, rather there is the notion here that the power of a mighty river is being harnessed. Cost takes a flowing slab of harsh noise and highlights exactly what needs to be heard. There are extremely subtle shifts of texture throughout, almost making you question whether or not they are actually there, but there is definitely slow methodical movement on both sides of this release. Mid tones and subdued high tones have a great deal of interplay with the uncompromising rumble. Each feeding off of the other.

Nothing short of incredible work by Cost. This release is a focused textural study of sounds present on much of Cost’s recent output. I’m reminded of releases such as “Outside The Dragon” on New Forces, unquestionably one of my favorite harsh noise releases from 2021. The presentation of Sand Clung Blood is also excellent, featuring xeroxed diagrams and BOLD lettering, with simple and easy to read typewritten font. This one works really well with the clear polybag format. The label is not surprisingly sold out, but copies remain in stock at distros such as Scream & Writhe. SCB was also in stock via Industrial Coast but it appears they are now sold out.