CASSETTE REVIEW: Underwater Death “The Day of Red Light” (Personal Archives)

http://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/album/the-day-of-red-light

            With a name like Underwater Death, you’d expect this to have something to do with water and though it is not seapunk or the like it does have a certainly quality to it—at least right off—that makes you feel like you are underwater.  Wouldn’t an underwater death just be drowning?  I guess not if you’re eaten by a shark or harpooned by a whale or something.

            Speaking of whales, the first side of this tape does have some whale song sounds in it before diving into a video game level up.  This then picks up the pace a bit in a synth style ala Dana Fowler And The or something along those lines where it’s just a lot of high energy.

            Side B opens with a choppy helicopter sound and as I listen to this I ponder whether or not I want to cross the fence.  On one hand, after hearing so much music that is experimental and what not, I kind of want to create my own.  But at the same time, it might take away some of the veil of mystery and I do feel as if I’d prefer to refer to sounds as helicopters as opposed to saying, “That is J9 S14 function on the synthesizer blah blah blah effects pedal wah wah wah”.

            It gets pretty heavy, like “Wish” era Nine Inch Nails, before some screams of horror end up looping around in a manner kind of like a Wilhelm scream, but not.   Quieter strings and what I can only describe as synth magic video games are what end this tape, and while it doesn’t particularly feel like drowning or meeting your doom at the hands of an octopus to me, it’s still quite good and worth the listen.