WORM GEAR
This is a 3 song CDR of a new project from the man behind the Dark Ritual project Ruhr Hunter. Svart Ugle however is something else entirely. These three tracks clock in at right around 30 minutes total, and are based around the more traditional arrangement of guitars, vocals, programmed drums etc. The sound is a mix of rising crop of primitive one man Funeral Doom projects and something from the lost school of Godflesh. Each song is based around dirgy riffing that chugs steadily along with few changes. Deliberate droning chord structures and bare bones percussion leave a majority of the atmosphere to what isn't there as opposed to what is. By that I mean the space between the notes and the air of the sustain as things ring out. The unique element here though, and one that really does add to the feel significantly is the style of the vocals. Recorded with a lot of reverb and mixed low in the recording the vocals approach is perhaps best compared to the chorus of Mayhem's "Funeral Fog." That drawn out and sickly groan carries through this entire release and provides a nice esoteric sub layer to the straight forward approach of the writing. As time has distanced me from my expectations of what this would be I have grown to appreciate it more and more. Given that it was a side project of Ruhr Hunter, I was anticipating some of the ethnic and organic elements and detail that that project does so well, and those are not present on this release. It is raw and stripped bare of all decoration, though it should be noted that the sound quality is strong. The more I have listened to it, those expectations have become of little consequence. These recordings were essentially a demo for the project and I know that a more involved process is being developed toward a forth coming full length album which I look forward to. - Scott
GLASS THROAT RECORDINGS

CRUCIAL BLAST
Chet Scott of RUHR HUNTER goes doom! This 3 song cd-r from Chet's new project SVART UGLE features stripped down, super minimal, fuzzy low-fi doom riffs and slow,syrup soaked beats streeetttcchhed way out, with evil droning vocals moaning in the distance. Glass Throat says this is inspired by the likes of Winter, Burzum, and Celtic Frost, and you can definitely hear those influences in the static-overload dirge that oozes over the 29 minutes of this disc, but we also hear some pitch-black "funeral doom" in here, like Skepticism or Panthiest playing through organs pulled out of the bottom of a tarpit, but with those ultra epic melodies that we love so much, and there's also a bit of Ruhr Hunter's ominous, woodland drone drifting throughout Svart Ugle's blackened plod. Imagine Ruhr Hunter and Burzum teaming up with an orc warlord on vocals in a cavern and laying down some early Celtic Frost/Hellhammer style barbarism. As Glass Throat says, this is absolute battle ready viking drone! The CD-r comes in a stark, grim looking wallet sleeve sealed with metal staples.

SPARKLE GIRL
Glass Throat Recordings is a Seattle enterprise run by Chet and Rachel Scott. Founded in 1997, GTR has released material by "Alethes," "Beneath the Lake," "Chaos as Shelter," "Eremine Truth," "Gruntsplatter," "Ruhr Hunter," "Santhaz Sokjananr," "The Elemental Chrysalis," "Triage," and, of course, "Svart Ugle." GTR mines the aesthetic territory popularized by artists such as neurosis and friends, but with its own twist on the formula. "Svart Ugle" is a CDR home recorded on five nights in 2004. This is one of Chet's solo projects, and it is the first GTR recording Sparkle Girl has had the good fortune to discover. According to the liner notes, the instrumentation consists of "throat crust harmonies, guitars, distorted organ drones," and "cheap synth drum programming." The result is a very Godflesh-like experience; grinding guitar, plodding percussion, and hoarse, growled vocal wails that hover eerily in the background. This is heavy, evil, and dark. What makes this stand out is its unusual packaging; an oversized cardboard sleeve hand stapled and printed black on grey. Odin reclines upon his throne of doom, Hugin, Munin, and friends hovering nearby. Forests and runes abound, unsurprisingly. A one sided, glossy cardstock insert contains pertinent information. The track titles betray a poetic sensibility in such imagistic evocations as "Earth Sign," "The Great Bear," and the epic, thirteen minute long "Elk Blood." The emphasis on the natural world, traditional European gnosis, and heavily amplified, very modern, grinding doom core makes for an intriguing blend of power and mystery. Sparkle Girl sincerely hopes that this will be reissued as a twelve inch LP. Oh, and the ending has to be heard to be believed, as absolute brutality collides with melodic transcendence-grinding into emptiness and leaving the listener with ringing ears. It is available at Electric Heavy land, and it is dirt cheap ($4.98), so what are you waiting for?