Reviews

The problem with my copy is that one chanel is dubbed lower than the other, so I play in on the 4-track with a bit of judicious mixing. Anyway, it's great to have some new Chrysalis especially since releases are so far and few between. The first track is low, menacing drones, grinding, softly distorted industrial sounds, morphing into simple ambient rush with odd sounds in the background. This is then consumed by slow metallic scraping, like something being dragged across a ruined landscape. Serious dark menace. Who or what the voice samples are I can't tell, but the whole has a very nice Industrial vibe. Then it explodes; Harsh Wall Noise vomits forth. Now you can sit back and relax. This then evolves into what is basically the tape's title track as this is Chrysalis's Power Electronics/Death Industrial vibed tribute to the Bohemian Grove, the album's theme. Paranoid ranting shouted over slowly evolving waves of bristling dark electronics. Pure tension; it's not meant to be relieved. I particularly like the hissing high-end sounds that want to erupt into feedback but are never allowed. Good control. No synths used as well.
Side two starts with "Position Of Honour", more dark sinister electronic phasing and metallic scraping. Harsh Noise bursts. Soft electronic crackles. Harsh Noise bursts. Soft electronic crackles. Silence. Sound. Do not adjust your stereo, it's all about the contrasts. It soon settles into "Chapter 322", a slow, building drone of multi-pitched waves rumbling and squealing, gritty and refined. Then "Collection Route", a live recording of Chrysalis's sterling but too short by half live set from The Pony Hotel in Febuary last year. Throwing down a sheet of metal to shut up the chatterers we again start with contrasts between noise and silence (something of a Chrysalis trademark it seems) before we start rocking out with some feedback driven Harsh Noise goodness. The recording is fairly lo-fi here and doesn't pick up much of the intensity of the set but it gives a fairly good representation. Criticisms; I honestly think that the fidelity of this release would have been helped if it was on a cdr. Cassettes are nice but there's some detail in the sounds here that could have benefited from a bit of digital fidelity. Also, the vocals on "Chapter 322" are a bit too laid back in the mix; I would have prefered them to be more upfront. And I can't help but notice a slight American accent on the vocals; a personal peeve when people who aren't Americans do that.
Taken from Andrew McIntosh