Review: Tapewyrm – 'Rites Of Passage'

TAPEWYRM
'Rites Of Passage'
SELF-RELEASED

UK rhythmic noise terrorist Michael Drayven, AKA Tapewyrm, returns with his first outing since 2014's 'House Of Cards' EP. His latest release 'Rites Of Passage' looks to continue the development of his song-writing and production with a big leap forward from his previous releases.

Gone are the quiet and somewhat muffled mechanical soundscapes of the début album, and instead we're presented with a much louder and arguably more aggressive take on the Tapewyrm sound. The average track length has also increased significantly with only two songs out of eight coming in at under six minutes long. You'd be forgiven for thinking that might make the tracks rather repetitive, but you'd be wrong. 'Rites Of Passage' sees Drayven trim the fat and focus on the strongest elements in his arsenal. There is no room for mediocrity any more and by honing in and expanding on hard and heavy noise.

Tracks such as 'Sacrament', 'Exorcism', 'Invocation', 'The Rite', and 'The Beast Unleashed' are easily the most punishing and confrontational Tapewyrm cuts to date. The beats are still at the end of the day rhythmically pleasing, but they're buried underneath so much distortion they become like the nightmarish percussion of daemonic hordes. The album's most accessible offering comes in the form of 'Hypnos', which pulls back the distortion for a dark and dance-friendly industrial crowd pleaser.

The production is much better here than we're used to. Previous albums had always sounded quiet and muffled to a certain degree, which really dulled the edge of the tracks. However on 'Rites Of Passage' everything is loud and practically tearing its way out of the speakers. Yes it is still heavily distorted, but you can actually hear the complexity of the tracks a lot better now.

'Rites Of Passage' is simply the strongest Tapewyrm release thus far. The songs are aggressive and complex. The production is strong, and it keeps your attention. Drayven does tend to over rely on his rhythmic skills, and it would be nice to see how he could adapt more ambient elements into his noise framework on future releases. But with this outing he his definitely hitting his stride.  

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Review: Tapewyrm – 'House Of Cards'

TAPEWYRM
'House Of Cards' 

JUGGERNAUT MUSIC GROUP 

Hot on the heels of his début album 'Misanthropic Noize' comes Michael Drayven's follow-up EP 'House Of Cards'. The UK noise merchant has developed well since the release of his first two demo EPs, and 'House Of Cards' shows a continued development in his writing and production abilities.

The infectiously rhythmic title track opens the EP with layers of noise and semi-audible samples throughout the guest vocals of Tiffanie Wells are hard to hear and as a result are the equivilent of subliminal messages within the din. 'Chasing Ghosts' is a bigger and almost more cinematic track in its scope. It's central droning mournful chords and trudging pace make this short song a highlight in the Tapewyrm back catalogue. This is quickly followed by 'Careless', which can only really be compared to the infectious rhythms of Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us' if they'd been de-constructed and reformed by Trent Reznor and Richard James.

Ruinizer's remix of 'Save Yourself' shows that given the right emphasis and sounds, Drayven has the basis for a good club track underneath all the noise. Dirty K's remix of 'Rebirth' though, ups the noize for the sheer hell of it for an eardrum rupturing four minutes.

'House Of Cards' shows a nice range across the tracks, which highlight Drayven's ongoing development as a songwriter. By adding pleasing rhythms and hints of melodies, he draws the listener in before beating them about the head with distortion. If the next full-length album develops these ideas, it's going to put Drayven on the noise map.

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Tapewyrm announces 'House Of Cards'

Misanthropic noize artist Tapewyrm has announced the release of a new single in the form of 'House Of Cards' on UK label, Juggernaut Music Group. The single will feature four tracks and be released on 31^st December 2013. The title track features vocal contributions from Tiffanie Wells from noise act Beinaheleidenschaftsgegenstand.

Track List:

1. House Of Cards

2. Chasing Ghosts

3. Careless

4. Save Yourself (Ruinizer Remix)

The single is available to pre-order now via the Juggernaut Music webshop. For more information on the band, please visit the official website.

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Review: Tapewyrm - 'Misanthropic Noize'

TAPEWYRM 

'Misanthropic Noize' 

SELF-RELEASED 

Tapewyrm's previous demo EPs, 'Nightmares & Noisescapes' Vol. 1 & 2 may have been raw and somewhat naïve forays into the rhythmic noize end of the industrial spectrum. But what they did show was that despite the purposefully lo-fi style glossing over his relative inexperience in the genre, Michael Drayven has a good ear for a scarily catchy beat. And with band's like ESA and W.A.S.T.E currently gaining international recognition, his first full-length under the Tapewyrm moniker, 'Misanthropic Noize', is to be the first true test for the project.

Things start off a little slow with the somewhat tame 'Waking Nightmare', but the frantic mechanical beats of 'Debased' and the sinister groove of 'Edens Fall' quickly show that Drayven is on the right track. Yes, it's still very much the same formula as the previous EPs, but 'Misanthropic Noize' feels like the jump in quality that Tapewyrm needed in order to be seen as a serious contender. Songs like 'Marionette', 'Insomnia', 'Figments', 'Carbon Copy' and 'Rebirth' continue the trend with their groovy rhythms and savage synthesizers. But best of all, they show a willingness to play with ideas and incorporate different approaches to the songs, which wasn't all that apparent on the EPs.

The album is agian fundamentally lo-fi and the layers of distortion still tend to swamp the mix a little too often. But it no longer suffers from a quiet mix. Nor does it feel in any way restrained by uncertainty as the songs veer violently from slow, stripped back and sinister to frantic cacophonies. The only real downside to be found really is the use of samples, which feel a little tired and just sound as though they’re sat awkwardly on top of the mix. What would be interesting though, is to see how the songs would fare with some guest vocals thrown into the pot.

You could poke holes in a few of the tracks on 'Misanthropic Noize', but overall this is a big step in the right direction for Drayven. He may not have quite struck gold yet, but he definitely displays that he has the tools and tenacity to cut it.

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