Poena "Likboden" cs

Poena

Likboden

Belaten

Tzadik, Editions Mego, Hydrahead, Handmade Birds, Southern Lord, RRRecords, Debacle Records, American Tapes. These are just a handful of labels that at one time or another you may have basically bought everything they put out. These labels often had a very specific point of view and you knew that if you liked 75% of their output then taking a chance on a release you hadn't' heard of from them wasn't a bad idea at all. It's time to treat Belaten as this. This label has been releasing consistently amazing cassettes for a bit now and the fact that I already have a big hole in my collection of their releases is bumming me out. I will be posting a few more reviews from them shortly as I get through this massive pile but for now I will talk about Poena. Poena is a duo from somewhere European (wicked research right?) This 30 minute piece was recorded in the morgue of an abandoned mental institute. It pretty much sounds like what you think it would sound like, horrifying. Howls, drones and scraping are punctuated by an almost audible darkness. It's scary but it can't be as frightening as recording this piece was. Remember when you first saw the Blair Witch Project and it was a little disappointing? Well, at the end of the movie when they are in the house and shit gets pretty creepy there is a few minutes where everything gets real effective and scary. Mainly because you can tell the actors themselves were actually scared themselves. You can tell that it's a pretty real sense of fright and it translates. This recording has the same effect. 

     All Belaten cassettes have a uniform look and it works great. Black and white artwork with excellent minimal text. I'm pretty jealous. 

Like every Belaten release, you should buy this.