4 out of 5

Label: Auris Apothecary

Produced by: Various

A collection of noise and ambience soundtracking short film “Headcheese,” which takes its name from – and involves Kim Henkel, the co-writer of – Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Cued from the abrasive, unnerving sounds that score that film, KK Null, MOZ, and Ardabus Rubber and some others give us varying levels of menace – some slightly more rhythmic atmospherics; static-fueled and filled slow burns and drone; some vaguely hymnal work from Helge Krabye; and some all-out noise assaults – generally from Rubber. These changeups are definitely the soundtrack’s strength – assuming you’re down for this type of stuff – although the nature of the music, and that it’s somewhat of a compilation (I believe, with at least most of the MOZ and Knull tracks traceable to prior releases), does mean I can’t say I emerged with anything mapping to a narrative. Now I haven’t seen Headcheese, mind you, but let’s take Auris Apothecary’s description – “(a) gritty account of a deranged man’s unholy psyche while on a bizarre pilgrimage to … rid his soul of feeble-minded parasites” – and apply it to the set, and while the music is absolutely fitting, I’m not sure it represents a journey.

But that’s really my only nit, which extends to that I would’ve mixed the sequencing up a bit – this is separating it from the film concept entirely, and just treating it as a standalone album – spreading Ardabus Rubber’s cacophony out, and separating MOZ’s minimalist works a bit more, as they’re clustered to the album’s latter half.

I’m picking at bibs and bobs here, though. I was a bit intimidated going into this, as the concept, label, and artists (from what I knew of them) had me expecting an hour of ear bleeding, but I emerged incredibly impressed by the choices, and range. Rubber’s stuff is extreme – lots of random manipulation and screechy volume, though The Birth of Chaos in Five Movements’s latter sections turn toward static – but it’s used sparingly. KK Null’s efforts – assuming both “Knall” and “KKNall” are aliases – are definitely more toward the experimental (less guitar-based) offerings from the artist. And MOZ, for me, was the real find: each track immersive on its own terms, whether as Silent Hill-esque creepy atmospherics, or funeral marches, or itchy, scratchy noise…

And, appropriately for TCM-associated fare, we end with some psychobilly rawk via Ghoultown – Killer in Texas is obviously thematically fitting, if a bit repetitive. But it’s a nice, accessible ending to the preceding works.

The liner notes feature a previoulsy printed making-of article (of the film) from one of the filmmakers, providing some context.