The latest split release on the Glacial Avatar Archives imprint features two prolific noise artists demonstrating wildly different approaches to their medium. Sydney two-piece Moonmilk are texture experimentalists treading warm and unsettling tones, rippled by obscured external sounds that float indeterminably beneath and above the mix. There’s an assuring quality to Moonmilk’s clammy and tactile approach, though invariably their initially welcoming explorations grow volatile the deeper they probe. In this case, initially distant, caustic high-frequency surrounds subsume neutral mechanical strains, until each distinct element is pressed into a homogenous, cathartic heap.

If Moonmilk are focused on layering their environments into oblivion, Heil Spirits begin where the former outfit ends. Significantly less subtle, Heil Spirits still retain an impervious sense of oppression, though their approach is less about immersion and more about obtrusion. The uncompromisingly metallic, serrated edges of ‘Synaptic Static Sketches’ evolve and devolve in unpredictable arcs. The harder they push the limits the more rewarding it is when the walls of noise crumble, leaving comparatively gentler textures open in the mix. Their music conjures a malfunction in favour of machines, when man loses grip of technology and all the hidden ghosts and malign powers emerge to finally conquer. Half way through the track a voice cries from out of nowhere “I wish I could see ghosts, that’d be sweet!” and as long as they stay inside the speakers, I’m inclined to agree.

by Shaun Prescott