VA - Rough Treatments, Pt. 2 (2020)

Rough Treatments part 2 is the follow-up compilation (2xCS) of Strange Therapy’s first release. Eleven artists lead this cruel treatment session, for those whose minds wander off into the weird too far and too often.

Oil Thief gives you a cold welcome with “Ellowen Deeowen” - a dense sound evoking sharp soundscapes full of dread. JFK mesmerizes us with “The Body (1st Version)”, providing crunchy synth sounds and distortions underlined by steady rhythms. Unhuman explores broken noise mantras in “Purge Vacuum”, assaulting everybody with not user-friendly noisescapes. Tomohiko Sagae follows up with “Iron Oxide” and showcases his personal brand of mechanical rhythmic industrial with a stomping heart, checking if you are still alive. Never Worse presents “The Bleakness” with its cinematic factory-like sounds, evoking a world dominated by machines. Shrouds delivers a dense sonic experience in “Death, The Only Equalizer”, by employing loud loops and ritualistic motifs. Closing the first cassette is Mesmer Trial and his track “Fused”, which guides us in a dark experience dwelling in malevolent ambiances and droning passages.

The second cassette starts off with O/H, where they return to rhythmic-noise soundscapes with “Last Days”, which has an obsessive nature underlined by shrilling bass-lines. Donna Haringwey gives us “Invite”, an exercise in various rhythmic elements fused with punk-like vocals and riffing distortions. A Brutal Game follows suit with “Rehearsals 2018-2020” and its disquieting course based on reverbs and grinding sounds. Matriarchy Roots delivers the final treatment with “Stereotypes” and its almost celestial atmospheres ready to burst into slow and evocative passages with a dream-like quality, sending you to a last inward voyage of the soul.