Cruel Nature - 5 Glorious Years Of Noise

This is not so much of a review as an appreciation. As regular readers will know I have unabiding admiration and love for Cruel Nature Records....entirely tape based, it releases some of the most interesting, thought provoking , and in some cases, challenging music around. It is a label that has no agenda re: 'genres' or 'tags' - a point gloriously brought to light by the latest batch of releases - the scratchy, lo-fi kraut/garage racket of nunofyrbeeswax ('Music Don't Matter'), the mesmeric kosmische of Life Education ('Beyond The Red Waste') and the intense and frankly terrifying noise of Bodies On Everest..(more about that later).

The Bodies on Everest release...'A National Day of Mourning'... not only coincides with the fifth birthday of the label but is their 100th release. For any label these are noteworthy landmarks, but when one is talking about a label whose releases have been predominantly cassette based (a much under-loved format) with highly limited runs and music that sits in the murky hinterland of 'normal taste' it becomes all the more admirable. In an interview with head honcho Steve last year, he recognises the very niche appeal -" I think CN already limits its audience through the music it releases...some releases are more accessible than others but the majority aren’t 6Music fodder (or would be overlooked even if it was), so I don’t think using tape is limiting it that much further". What is patently obvious, however, is the genuine passion and enthusiasm that drives the label.

From a personal point of view CN has introduced me to artists and sounds that have become firmly entrenched in my own musical outlook...Snakes Don't Belong In Alaska, Mudguts/Vampyres/Culver (and other Lee Stokoe guises), Woven Skull...as well as some that have that 'what the fuck is this?' quality. But, that is the genius of the label, releasing something intensely powerful and noise based next to something mesmeric and hypnagogic....the only connection being that they are all good!. I, for one, celebrate the five years and 100 releases and wish the label many, many more.

I cannot write this without saying a word or two about the Bodies On Everest tape. Even by CN's high standards 'A National Day Of Mourning' is exceptional. A double tape with over an hour of what the band call 'dungeon wave', a "a caustic mix of drone, doom, noise and cursed psyche-sludge". Over the six tracks we are treated to some of the most uncompromising music around..distorted basses plunge to sonic depths that Sunn O))) can only dream about while glitchy and hissy electronica provide the backdrop for vocals that have been summoned from the very pits of Hades. It is brutal and punishing but also enthralling and exhilarating...it is the soundtrack of a disturbed mind, but like a disturbed mind it makes its own kind of sense. It is fitting that this particular release marks a pivotal landmark in the label's history as it is an metaphor for the label....individual, uncompromising, challenging but capable of providing that 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling. It is nihilistic and dystopian and pretty damned fucking good.

'A National Day Of Mourning' has already gone on to a second edition, the initial run of 50 selling out quickly and the second edition is up for pre-order on the Cruel Nature Bandcamp page here.