4 out of 5

Label: Advaita Records

Produced by: Pure

Apparently a Bower solo work produced after Pure the group would’ve evolved into Total, Fetor is a fascinating blend of lo-fi noise, mashing together more atmospheric guitar work and mostly minimal drumming with, on occasion, abrasive screams and feedback, all laundry-cycled in layers and layers of reverb. The divide between instrumentation isn’t clear to me – the drumming almost sounds electronic at points – but considering the era in which this initially released (the late 08s), it’s mindblowing how evolved the textures sound / feel. Even if you could say this is a Total album, it feels more out there than that; I do think Bower was trying to channel whatever Pure originally may’ve sounded like, or at least doing something different than some of the more wall-of-noise vibes of Total, and setting it alongside other noise acts of the time, it’s almost a more timely sound, something that Bower could drop today under Skullflower and I wouldn’t blink.

It did take me a couple listens to find my way with the recording admittedly, as its a wavering line between noise and drone that I couldn’t quite settle on, and I do think it starts to lean more into the latter as it goes on, even though that’s when it’s “louder” with the addition of more frequent drumming. But the starting point of endless reverb and guitar strums and distant howls is absolutely mesmerizing, which carries over to the tribal beats / guitar washes in the middle, and then the blitzes of high-BPM drumming that dominates the latter parts.

The live track on the B-side, carried over from the CD release of Fetor, is pretty marvelous. It’s in line with the opener of the studio material, and almost functions like an extended version of that, but proves how entrancing this stuff would likely be in a live setting. The quality is different, but then again, all the reverb kind of puts it on a similar level – it’s okay that the instrumentation (guitar, drums, effects) is less immediate versus the ambient womp-womp layers of noise.

The artwork for this reissue is subtle but right: the stained ricepaper feels like a better fit than the original cassette release, which is moreso going for that DIY hardcore cassette look, but maybe on par with the CD art.