Reviews

Overall Rating: B+
Composition: B
Sounds: B+
Production Quality: A-
Concept: B
Packaging: B+
Here is the latest from these two industrial noise artists who somehow seem like an unlikely duo to me. This is presented as a double sided split, meaning it has 2 covers, each side is treated as a “side A.”
F/I/T/H kicks things off with “The Coming Silence” a sample heavy power electronics and synth manipulation piece using many different samples from famous Hollywood films. Immediately recognizable among them are samples from Seven, and Apocalypse Now as well as a few of which I am unsure about the source. I do feel like these take away from the work a bit because they just make me think of the films when I hear them, not so much the themes they are trying to match in the music. This is however, one of the most effective F/I/T/H tracks I've heard although it moves so quickly between different textures, sounds, rhythmic interludes and building ambience. The sounds are well chosen and constructed, although the composition is a bit fast and feels somewhat fragmented, it's still a very enjoyable listen that has a lot of depth.
Hum of the Druid is up next sticking to his crunchy-as-all-hell noise assault. Deep, dirty, and very oppressive like a totally overblown rusty pipe being forced up your ass. As usual there is an underlying industrial ambience to it all but it is mostly lost underneath the destructive noise. About ½ way through the noise lets up to let some of the excellent ambience bleed through. Metal creaking is hinted at along the edges, as well as distorted crumbling all providing a dirty and unsettling atmosphere. The remainder of the track is more effective with a combination of said ambience and crunchy noise. Though I certainly prefer HoTD's touch on the more atmospheric side of things he is quite effective mixing both his crunchier noise with the drones and concrete sounds to form a very unique atmosphere. Probably the best work I've heard from his thus far.
Two solid artists make this a solid release, along with great artwork drawn up by HoTD and Nick Blinko of Rudimentary Peni. I love the style and the vision for the split. A must have for fans of either project. Well done.
Taken from Blood Ties

This LP is a double A side co-release from Michael Pages’ (Fire In The Head) Audio Immolation Industries label and Cipher Productions.
Fire In The Head is a long time fav of mine and this split doesn’t disappoint. “The Coming Silence” begins with noisy PE, a healthy dose of old school industrial rhythms and distorted vocals. The track takes on an ambient structure around three minutes in. There’s some excellent use of movie samples and more warped verbage. The third act takes a decidedly more sinister turn with scratchy record sounds, movie samples and a Muslim prayer. The overall effect is haunting and eerie. One of my personal favorite FITH tracks so far.
This is my first exposure to Hum Of The Druid who kicks off his with “A Swirling Carnival For Every Species”. Nice underneath layering of synth tones surrounded by some harsh walls and low-key feedback squeals. A little junk noise gets added to the mix as the walls fade in and out. The ever presence of the synth work gives the fifteen minute a track an ambient feel, but the junk work and walls keep it from ever getting boring. Some very subtle Camp Crystal Lake vocal manipulations come in towards the end adding to the overall creepiness. I dug it. I’ll definitely seek out more from HOTD.
The gold star on the LP is the artwork, a killer piece by Eric Stonefelt of Hum of the Druid on his own side and Nick Blinko of Rudimentary Peni on the FITH side. This one is worth skipping a few lunches for.
Taken from Plague Haus

We recently reviewed a full length lp from Hum Of The Druid, Raising The New Wing..., a mighty caustic slab of noise drenched drones and fucked up ambience. For a record that harsh and harrowing, we really couldn't stop listening to it (and yeah, we have a few copies left). So we were psyched to discover a new record by them (him?), a split with another noisemaker we dig, but have yet to review anything by.
The Hum Of The Druid side is more of what we've been hankering for. A dense sea of crumbling distortion and blown out grit, a spray of grizzled amp buzz and all manner of hum and crackle and glitch. There are brief interludes of abstract ambience, laced with bits of feedback, but those are merely brief respites from the relentless onslaught. The HotD side ends with some super creeped out blackened drones, lots of distorted in-the-red low end, and tortured anguished howls buried way down in the mix, culminating in a super jagged speaker destroying crunch and glitch outro.
Fire In The Head most definitely hold their own, opening with slithery slowed down guitar drones, underneath creepy fucked up samples, plenty of buzz and glitch, all over a thick sea of processed rumbles and whirs, there's definitely an old school industrial vibe, intense and haunting, lots of vocal samples. It all builds to a seriously fired filed of static, underpinning cool super effected demonic vokills, doused in distortion and reverb. Super super creepy. The side ends with some awesomely distorted blown out rhythms, all stuttery and chopped up, like some damaged metallic noise dub. Cool.
Super nice packaging. Thick black sleeve with paste on covers on each side, and Rudimentary Peni fans take note, the Fire In The Head side features original Nick Blinko artwork! Also includes a printed insert / lyric sheet, and of course, it's ultra limited, and we only got a handful.
Taken from Aquarius Records

Hum of the Druid. Stupid name, great sounds. Analogue acoustic that is 99% the epitome of the TNB aesthetic; cutlery sifting, engine parts going round in an industrial drier, post apocalyptic rumble. Only on the odd occasion was my trip soured by the intrusive nature of more obvious sounds but to say I’ve spun this platter a few times and admired the handiwork is an understatement. The inner artwork isn’t so far from early Nurse With Wound either which, when you come to think of it, is a pretty stupid name too.
Fire in the Head are the power electronics act soup de jour round these parts. WB Yeats' 'Magi' given the heavy vocal treatment and a journey of pulsing veins and spoken samples that do the job. Think madmen, religion and serial killers [no doubt]. Three tracks and good enough for me.
What I’ve heard from Cipher Productions has been top notch. Coming on the back of the excellent Dieter Müh/MNEM collaboration and with a back catalogue that some labels would chop their feet off for, it’s definitely one to watch.
Taken from Idwal Fisher

HotD is a stupid and pretentious name, but fuck me if his side of the vinyl isn't some excellent organic droning industrial. Warm yet threatening, bleak eat earthy. Dark cellars and abandoned dungeons, an underground world with a malevolent past. And memories of that past so strong they nearly come to flesh. FitH is another stupid name yet slightly more tolerable. And his side is excellent as well, easily the best of the little material I've heard from him. Starting with calm mood, spoken vocals and sampled middle-eastern singing, he proceeds to more vicious and dark moods not much unlike Shift or SKM-ETR for example. Threatening dark electronics, carefully done with perfect editing and sounds. The rhythm loop on the last track especially is just perfect. I'm glad this was released on LP and not any other format. To be perfectly honest, I didn't have huge expectations for this LP but it turned out to be a great big positive surprise and made me ashamed of my lousy attitude.
Taken from Hard & Obscure #4

This is a 12 inch vinyl split between the organic and clattering noise meets ambience of Hum of the Druid and Fire in the Head's industrialized sample heavy drone and often muffled beat bound attacks.
The vinyl comes in a black card slip sleeve with two stuck on grim line drawn black and white mini poster on either side of the sleeve; one for Hum of the Druid and one for Fire In the Head. The first side features Hum of the Druid's side/track and is wonderful entitled A Swirling Carnival for Every Species. The track starts off in a highly grainy, boiling, muffled and sludgy noise manner that’s underlined by tinkling vibe tones and sinister ambience. As the track goes on it settles down into less noisy, more hazily organic territory with a mixture of random clattering, off-centre pale drone drifts and electro acoustic purrs 'n' whines; with towards the end rather haunted moans added in to the sonic soup. Through out the track has a wonderful earthy and sinister vibe with a nice shifting and altering hazy feel to the proceedings. I guess it sounds like a less controlled and noisy take on some of the starving weirdo’s work meets blacked ambience after trails.
And so onto Fire In The Head's side which is entitled The Coming Silence and is made up of several tracks that are mused into one long track. In total the side goes from droning and murky industrialized synth sheens meets ominous and sinister muffled serial killer texts, to slow 'n' murky beat power electronic work-outs, and tortured death industrial beats 'n' grim throbs. All in all an enjoyable and grim 20 minutes worth of material from Fire In The Head - which stays fairly close to what he has done in the past, but is the never the less rewarding and shifting.
So all in all a very worthwhile split with both parties offering up consistent, varied and shifting sides a piece. For more info and samples drop in here.
Taken from Musique Machine

Like Pekka of Hard & Obscure said, best material of FITH what also I know. The best thing is easily the final track with percussive and heavy industrial loop making the strong base for track. Is this the track he played live in London in Slimelight? It sounds like it. While the crushing relatively slow (& non-danceable!) rhythm is the best thing, electronics work too. They are good in what they are, but in personal taste, I'd hope for more anti-musical approach. Many of the PE bands of today deliver "tones" or "chords". Even if sound is relatively distorted and there is basically no music (no melody, no "riffs"), it's very easygoing keyboard tone, accompanied with another harmonic high picthed synth sounds. The droning harmony is what makes it sound musical, as opposed of pure damaged electronic noise, violent throbbing and nastyness of many more violent PE projects. I'd say the sound of FITH in the release is tranquil. There are abscence of threat and violence. But it suits the lyrics/mood, which is indeed merely filled with grief, pessimism and dis-satisfaction. If I understand it correctly, these must be purely personal frustrations, where lyrics basically talks of what FITH and man behind it is going through. "A Means to what end" seems like manifestation of moment before FITH was ended for a while. In some ways very credible & honest, but at the same time I get this feeling of what I have about a lot of hip hop. Don't they have other things to say except make songs about making songs? Rapping about rapping etc. Lyrics of song sound like shouting about dissatisfaction of making FITH? Of course, it can be life in general too, who knows.
HOTD is very good still. I have still no idea who they are and what exactly they have done. I know it's just couple google searches away, but haven't done it. What we have here is the organic noise drone. While in some ways it is the typical of the genre. Material just kind of "aimlessly" goes on, there are great organic sounds what sets it apart from a lot of "drone" or easy noise. It's at the same time raw and noisy, but also very relaxing and "soft" to so say. All sources are analogue or acoustic, and it's so obvious how big advantage they have for most digital & software artists.
Taken from Mikko Aspa