This latest EP leans more towards a rusted re-imagined industrial, a palette of smeared and smudged sounds where angles are dangerous with intent. Forged in Sheffield, a 12” of corrosive content.
Caked in distortion and mud
Maintaining a record label is beyond difficult. The effort, time and money that is poured into releasing music are endless and often under-appreciated. For this reason, few imprints manage to overcome the equal disappointment and elation that comes with putting out a record; others are foolhardy enough to plow on.
Selvamancer appeared in 2019 with a teeth-rattling release from that acid anarchist Boneless One. After Woofers, a foray into the digital realm with Beukhoven Sloopwerken and then…radio silence. Bookies and pundits would have wagered on the demise of the plucky Barcelona upstart. Not the case.
The founder, DJ Watusawa, has returned with not one but three releases in quick succession. Heavy hitters from Legowelt and Gesloten Cirkel are now being followed by Sheffield’s Hedge Maze and his Riding The Wave EP.
Caked in distortion and mud, the thick and slimy “Strukku’s Beat” opens. Vocals are broken into blunt objects, scraped metal drawing lines of blood across this pain-streaked opener. That anguish is carried into the title piece. Beats reign, drums dipped in static and soaked in feedback are mocked by a wheedling melody in this speaker crushing carrion. As the 12” progresses, Hedge Maze simmers down his sound into a serrated syrup. Ruffled rhythms are central to “Zown Spirit,” echo and reverb toying with bass and snare in this off-kilter work. We remain on unstable ground with “O X O (Zero Times Zero).” A filtered shroud hangs over this ghostly work. Always unpredictable, the record finishes with yet another surprise. The post-punk ghoul of “Over and Out,” replete with guitar strings and that trademark distortion, is a dirge of cracked vocals and raw emotion that brings Riding The Wave to a close.
Selvamancer are beginning to set out their audio stall. From Boneless One to Hedge Maze, a trail of acid squalor and punishing percussion has unfolded. This latest EP leans more towards a rusted re-imagined industrial, a palette of smeared and smudged sounds where angles are dangerous with intent. Forged in Sheffield, a 12” of corrosive content.
Riding The Wave is available on Selvamancer. [Bandcamp]
