HNW

06/08/2023

HNW361 - Sebastian Tomb - Come, Come Lonely Hunter (Now In The Stillness Of Dusk)

A new perfect slice of short n sweet walling from returning artist Sebastian Tomb - always great to welcome artists back to the fold for continued appearances. This one is concise and punchy.

1 track album

30/07/2023

HNW360 - kigurumi fe**sh - our love is a warm goodbye

Some new 'fe**sh' wall noise - but not the fe**sh you were expecting! Some stunning combinations of brute force and crumbling textures.

2 track album

23/07/2023

Recently released -
HNW359 - h POKéDEX / Kamex - POKéMON Center

https://harshnoisewall.bandcamp.com/album/pok-mon-center

This has been a long time coming! Time to get healed!

And less recently, but I forgot to post about it here, HNW358 is 'Visage - Black Kokoshnik'
https://harshnoisewall.bandcamp.com/album/black-kokoshnik

3 track album

04/06/2023

HNW357 - Drooling - Slack

A new track of synth-based noise from Drooling - a blend of harsh DNW and HNW that runs from overly dynamic forays into staunch wall monotony over its course (and back again?).

1 track album

29/05/2023

HNW356 - DECAY

The second in this years series of open call themed compilations is here! An immense thanks to all of the artists who contributed to this one - a perfect, rotting compendium of wall noise.

12 track album

24/05/2023

HNW355 - Gumble - Duff Gardens

I didn't expect this project to continue on in the way it is doing - but here we are! Five new short-blast Simpsons wall noise slabs.

5 track album

11/05/2023

HNW354 - Provocateur - KEEP SEMANTICS OUT OF HNW

An anonymous contribution of 'tongue in cheek', self-referential wall noise for those that love to obsess over obsession itself and to cling tight to the terminology that builds this house of cards.

4 track album

28/04/2023

HNW353 - Worship - Artistry

A netlabel debut from this now-prolific, anonymous and relative-newcomer to the wall noise crowd. Worship brings us two walls that seem ASMR-inspired from their titles that nonetheless bring a concoction of not only the 'tingling' textural kind of wall you might expect from something taking cues from ASMR but also the ambient wash and churning weight of classic HNW.

The first wall is a slowly-evolving and meticulous mixture of such churning weight with a fiery crackle and various textural layers competing and dancing like licking flames. Over time, the wall envelops the listener with a sharper flame lick, as crackling highs and mids fade into clarity. The second wall is pared back, focusing on a distant ambient wash - there is a similar gradual evolution of sound that focuses on the writhing and worming mid-churn coming more or less into the main arena as it accompanies the atmospheric and airy backing. Overall, this does what many great HNW releases aspire to, in presenting walls that allow for both immersion and a level of gradual and organic dynamics that keep things interesting without threatening the former.

2 track album

21/04/2023

HNW352 - EXACERBATOR / ELEKTR0BATH - EXACERBATHOR

It is my great pleasure to welcome the Las Vegas wall noiser EXACERBATOR to the platform and to welcome back Poland's ELEKTR0BATH in the same breath. Here we have an ALL CAPS wall noise commingling for the ages! Both projects bring forty-minutes of walling in four tight slabs for an extended immersion of eighty minutes, turning this 'double feature' into a roundly feature-length barrage.

EXACERBATOR's side sees high wailing and chirping with meaty chops of noise blast, whirring drone wall sputter, classically caustic buffeting and then back again to weighted chirps and squeals. ELEKTR0BATH takes a notably more calm and considered approach, starting with a soft, leathery sputter - moving into a harsh noise geiger counter death rattle - and colliding these two with warm crackle-buffet and chopping wall grind. Both artists bring their expected A-game here! Enjoy!

8 track album

17/04/2023

HNW351 - ]]]][[[[ - 0000​/​0003

It is my pleasure to welcome this netlabel debut release, following the single track contribution to the last open-call compilation (Untitled), of this enigmatic Polish HNW/ANW project.

A self-ascribed 'urban lowercase sound project', while the compilation track was very short and sweet here we are offered up just over half an hour of ardently 'lowercase' wall. Oftentimes, when I think of 'lowercase' noise wall, I think of soft, crunching and crispy crackling sounds, produced naturally or through minimal electroacoustic manipulations, but here we are presented with 'the other side of the coin' as it were - the rumble worship.

This release requires the listener to use headphones or a good sound system or speaker with sub/good low-end capabilities - the wall is entirely in the low-end rumble range, with not an iota of crackle or mid-chop. And yet, it is certainly choppy. There is something very 'internal' (even, 'in utero') about bass-heavy bass-only walls like these.

A perfect addition to the catalogue!

The platform has some amazing new releases on the way as well - from EXACERBATOR & ELEKTR0BATH, Provocateur, Worship, among others! Keep your ears to the wall!

1 track album

10/04/2023

HNW350 - tabby cat diaries - a cold embrace of your beautiful body

A return to the netlabel for tabby cat diaries - this time with a short and sweet blast of experimental and intriguing drone noise wall. The album artwork is particularly bizarre and dream-like out of context and the sounds are quite the dream-like journey. This project continues to astound and amaze.

1 track album

08/04/2023

HNW349 - Silver Dove - 🕊

Welcoming the netlabel debut from Silver Dove, a nearly-eponymous and paralysingly hypnotic two-slab wall noise excursion.

The first wall 'little lost soul' is a perfect collision of synth-sounding drone noise wall surrounding by creaking, crumbling and collapsing textures all around - after long enough into the half hour, the mind begins to crumble too.

The second is a shorter, twenty minutes of thicker goop wall, miring the listener in place, 'blue for two voices' sounds like an industrial vat full of chattering wind-up teeth.

I am over the moon at getting to host this project, as I have been delving into their work for some time over the last few months - and the adjacent ':cat2:' netlabel as well.

~oh and happy Bandcamp Friday! :P

2 track album

05/04/2023

HNW348 - Space Emperor Xennu - Into the Mouth of the Endless

It is my pleasure to welcome the netlabel debut from S*X - from the troubled mind that brought you Sado Rituals. Four walls that pace through a cosmic journey and clock in at exactly 40 minutes. Each presents an intriguing combination of spatial atmosphere and smouldering textures comprised of crunching, grinding, popping and crackling. Though each has a distinct 'pitch', they are all nevertheless equal when it comes to their capabilities for total wall noise immersion. Enjoy!

(And enjoy the first time an actual link has been posted here in many moons - as Meta have finally removed the erroneous 'spam' tag on the netlabel domain!)

4 track album

31/03/2023

HNW347 - Monumental Figures - Call of The Void

A stunning return to the platform from Ilya of Monumental Figures, who last released on the netlabel with the monolithic 'Agony' back in 2021.

Where the previous release was roughly three hours in three slabs - this release takes in roughly five hours across five. Each is a perfectly moody and crushing slab of wall noise offering quick and ttoal immersion.

I have greatly enjoyed listening to this release in fielding it as a submission - it has been equally enjoyable as a sleeping aide recently as well!

As always - stream at:
harshnoisewall (dot) bandcamp (dot) com

14/03/2023

HNW346 - EJZJ - The Day We Killed Cook

The formidable duo of EJ (Eric of SpecImEn, who last released with that project to the netlabel in 2020) and ZJ (Zee of various projects to grace these HNW halls, most recently Laedis) bring us 'The Day We Killed Cook' - a tandem of two soundscape walls, one two thirds of an hour and the other a single third, both bizarre concoctions of static noise paired with field recording and prepared piano.

'Archipelago', the long opener, features a bubbling whir of static, at times a simmering background fuzz and at others a lurching, wisping wind-like ripple that sits amongst birdsong and seaspray - at times oddly relaxing and at others demanding of attention. The artists themselves invite you to "have a cigar and enjoy the polluted seaside"!

"Drumming of the Heiau Pahu made of ray skin for the four winds", the shorter closer, features an even more beguiling mix of rattle-wall texture paired with mechanical tones, bird screech and the drumming "talking its way" (as the artists put it) - where the first track might have been considered something to lull to, this is certainly much more of a 'mind alive' moment. Here, the instrumentation resides at the fore, and yet the manipulation of source material and the over-arching rattle drone through in a way that evokes the wall sensibilities that were more obvious in the former track. There is an interesting decision being made here, to centre 'field source' which has traditionally been used in order to be obfuscated and buried, and have it dance and writhe alongside wall-like elements.

Stream the release in full at:
harshnoisewall (dot) bandcamp (dot) com

08/03/2023

HNW345 - CCLXV - Caligari

A new three part wall homage to the masterpiece of German Expressionism, from the Dutch project CCLXV, who last graced the platform all the way back in 2016 some two hundred plus releases ago. It is a supreme pleasure to welcome them back, as ever it is when old friends show their faces again.

Caligari takes in three walls all roughly half an hour in length - the first is a billowing and raspy blast that has a very 'high winds, sails unfurled' sound to it - with the second, more mids and more meat are introduced to an otherwise similar wall for more punch and less wail - and finally, the third brings us back into 'wailing' territory with an altogether sinewy and disjointed sound, perhaps my favourite of the three in evoking the feeling and atmosphere that is captured in the album artwork. All three manage to achieve being somewhat immersive for all their 'grating' qualities - and I am reminded of noise at its core - 'undesirable sound', and here we feast on a delicious concoction of undesirable sounds in tandem.

As ever, stream in full at:
harshnoisewall(dot)bandcamp(dot)com

03/03/2023

HNW344 - Sacris - Tiny Tortures

Another netlabel release debut from a great project that joined the fold with the recent compilation - a great discovery to come out of it. Offering up five 'tiny tortures' here, each a brutal and unrelenting slab of at times erratic, at times lethargic wall noise. I would say more but I'm a bit under the weather and my brain refuses to work.

Stream in full at:
harshnoisewall(dot)bandcamp(dot)com

27/02/2023

HNW343 brings us the netlabel debut for James Nathan Powell, a great noise artist out of Hot Springs, Arkansas, who has been doing a lot of work to build and foster noise community online - owner-operator of Communal Deafness Recordings and collaborator on a number of projects with other wallers.

'Aubin' takes in two just under half-hour walls - starting off with 'I Know Who I Am', a wispy wall that feels like a woven cord being softly threaded through a drilled incision that grates and pushes at metallic surfaces - at times gently and at times roughly. At times, it feels close to what I'd like to call 'the sonification of a metal head massager on auto-pilot', and yet this is not to say it is overly cerebral or relaxing.

The second wall - 'Who Am I....' leads on from the last as a sort of 'conclusion' - with very similar qualities to its sound - it 'opens up' with a bit more gain, adding a bit of punch and weight to effectively change the character of the wall, they are nonetheless quite easily experienced as 'two sides of the same coin'.

I am very happy to welcome James to the fold and look forward to all else he has for us in 2023. As ever, stream this release at the following link:
harshnoisewall(dot)bandcamp(dot)com

21/02/2023

HNW342 comes in the form of a netlabel debut for the South American project Interzona - with the 'almost untitled' "______".

This release is an interesting exploration into harsh minimalism, that straddles the imagined boundary between harsh noise and wall noise and forms an interesting web of connection. Not one for the 'no dynamics' purists, with shifts and 'breaks' aplenty and very few moments of 'dense' sound - while there is ample dynamic shifting here, there remains an obscured yet straightforwardly minimalist approach when it comes to charting a singular trajectory for the noise itself. I think it is an interesting question to ponder, whether a 'singular' sound characteristic is enough to warrant something being described as wall, or at least wall-like - though, I am led to qualifying, that this platform intends to open itself fully to sounds that are almost completely out of the realm of being described as wall - with a desire to seek out more interesting experimentation within wall and more interesting releases that sit outside of wall but 'feed back into it' in some way (whether, by virtue of referencing of 'proto wall' works, through a minimalist approach evoking static minimalism, having some other 'internal logic' or context that makes it 'feel wall-like', etc.).

Screeching feedback tones shift through various phases of mangling and modulation; passing through, beyond, and back to (arguably) wall noise phases in the process. Clocking in at a little over half an hour in the space of six tracks, the release is overall a cerebral and jarring journey through mostly chaotic non-stop change - that eventually begins to bite and wear at the listener and form it's own kind of changeless buffeting barrage.

You can stream the full release at
harshnoisewall(dot)bandcamp(dot)com

16/02/2023

HNW341 - 'Untitled' by Various Wallers

from the description:

"'Untitled' - a love letter to the HNW tradition of giving no title to walls and placing priority on the sounds themselves. The enigmatic trope of having many different walls all under one 'Untitled' banner has been a hallmark of HNW for decades and I am eager to show my love and appreciation for it through this compilation release!

For some people the trope suggests an ethos - walls of nihilism that are 'devoid of meaning' are also devoid of a title, walls that are focused on the sound and want the listener to focus on the sounds as well will not title walls for this purpose - and of course some wallers simply don't have the time, energy or inclination to title their wall. I would like to think that a cross-section of all three camps are offered in this massive selection.

This compilation takes in 37 walls of varying length - from very short to very long - this was a result of setting only a maximum file size and giving no other guidline - I am quite fond of the chaotic nature of what has ensued, and in spite of the ability to submit very small tracks, many artists have gone for the traditional longform and the compilation has reached a massive runtime. Thank you to all of the artists, both returning and new to the netlabel, for sending in their contributions. So many of the new faces are ones that I would like to welcome back to the platform some day, so the compilation has been a resounding success if only for that purpose."

06/02/2023

Another three release barrage - this time a return from the mind behind Stemms Audio, with the project Whore's Breath. Another release of mine that tries out an experimental new process towards longform wall noise. And finally a netlabel debut for a brand new project from an artist who is just recently turning their hand to ANW, Latex Priest.

HNW338 - Whore's Breath - Life (and the Hill)
Four walls all at roughly a quarter-hour length bring us a diverging hour of wall noise. The first wall eases us in with a soft and slithering, expansive mist of noise that buffets like wind - a second wall that continues in this vein but with a deeper rumble and more of a 'churn' to it. The third expands this churn and gets even deeper/lower, with a mellower atmosphere and some faintly crisp crackling - with the final, fourth wall offering the same as the third but with a more subdued and muted tone overall. Altogether, the 'despondent' walls pair up nicely with the abstract imagery and the depressive title themes.

HNW339 - James Shearman - Faces In The Walls
I can't speak at length on the release since it's my own - but I can give some advice. This wall is meant for listening on headphone (preferably over-ear for total immersion) and preferably loudly - the louder you listen the more subtleties and nuance you are likely to pick up on - the wall is very densely layered and is made trying out a new process that I haven't used to make wall noise before. "Walls to halluincate to" (if that wasn't already all walls!)

HNW340 - Latex Priest - Krampus
Very honoured and happy to welcome this relatively new project to the netlabel with the half-hour ambient noise wall slab that is 'Krampus'. The best ANW manages to reference its HNW origins, sooth the listener and provide just as much opportunity for 'wall trance' and make creative use of 'wall textures' - Krampus easily does all three. A quietly sonorous wall, a shimmering tone buries itself amongst oblique hissing, softly churning mids-crackle and crisper accent crackling - with the hissing evoking lethargic yet inconsistent 'movement' that does battle with the more uniform elements. If you are looking for a wall to shut off your mind to and completely envelop yourself in, this is an ideal candidate!

02/02/2023

Three new releases land on the platform. Firstly, a giant compilation (and adjacent collaboration) brought to the platform by the amazing HNW collective SLAB. And secondly, a return for Zee Jupiter, with the project Laedis this time, and a netlabel debut for Buddhabrot, a great project from IO (who is also responsible for the platform Z0).

HNW335 - Various Wallers - The Harsh Noise Tower
from my write-up for the album description:
"The Harsh Noise Tower is part-compilation, part-collaboration: all-wall. Organised and arranged by the enigmatic HNW collective SLAB and put into action over a course of months. The release brings together fifteen HNW projects to offer up hour-long walls of smouldering brick and mortar each - to then encompass and become 'The Tower' in a sixteenth and final addition that features all previous walls at once.

Many of these HNW projects have not released with the netlabel before and it is a great honour and privilege to finally get to do so - and a handful have done so and it is just as much of a joy to welcome them back. It has been a long time coming for the platform to once more offer up something of the 'impenetrable' nature, and this solid monolith of sixteen hours of crushing wall noise listening has finally come to quench that thirst.

The Harsh Noise Tower compiles (and amalgamates) desolate and foreboding architectural walls of noise. There is strength in unity - but there is also a compounding of despair. These walls represent a challenge for the listener, with the versatile propensity for trance-inducing, dazed euphoria or bleak, brain-off catatonia - or perhaps a cement-mix of the both."

HNW336 - Laedis - Obscure Beauty Procedure
A glisteningly metallic and yet simultaneously murky static whir of only five minutes opens this new release from Laedis which then plunges us into a quarter-hour wall that grows on and develops what was first established - a slithering and expanding whir of industrial noise wall that leans into interesting dynamics without breaking any immersion. A great addition from this returning artist!

HNW337 - Buddhabrot - Kintsugi
A much-welcomed netlabel debut - from a Brazil-based artist who makes HNW as IO as well, and who makes specifically meditative and textural drone noise wall as Buddhabrot. Wall noise textures float alongside and permeate meditative drones and bells for a truly trance-inducing sound immersion experience over an expansive forty minute runtime.

27/01/2023