This is fucking ugly. A bleak, miserable, experience fit only for the most masochistic listeners. Those uninitiated should stay away. If you’re still reading, you’ll be rewarded.

Starting off as a way for 2 incredibly talented and classically trained musicians to take out their frustrations with music in general, Venowl was spat forth from hell in the form of a doomed noise outfit. Running the gamut from filthy walls of distorted noise with crumbling drums to a feedback drenched doom assault, Venowl has honed their “sound” over the course of a few releases into what is some of the foulest droning doom currently on my radar.

Auditor is an electronic noise project that was started by the artist as a way to explore the darker themes in life. After working previously with Venowl, the two decided to collaborate on this massive release, Auditor adding some electronic filth to further elaborate on the dense horror already on display. If anyone is familiar with the ultra-obscure Nooit, you’ll be able to picture what is going on here.

Acid Revealing Open Wounds is a successful collaboration indeed. A putrid cacophony of garbled electronics, awash in the same milieu Abruptum used to work in. Imagine a less sparse Khanate, minus a bit of the skilled atmospheric tension that made their releases so horrifying, and couple that with the grinding of rusty industrial machines, and you are well on your way to understanding what you’re in for.

“Mounds of Scorched Teeth” is not only a disgusting visual, but the title of the first 28 minutes of horrid, torturous, crawling doom, so distorted you can barely tell where the grit of the electronics end, and the thunderous synchronized pounding of guttural bass and drums begin. Little respite is offered, as even during the moments the listener is not being bludgeoned, they are still forced to suffocate under waves of creepy shifting noise and amplifier hiss.

If you’ve made it this far, don’t breathe your sigh of relief just yet. This nightmare is just halfway over. “Polychrome Waste” has little new to offer that wasn’t on display in the last track, but it is just as hellish and awful as the previous 28 minutes. Listening conjures the pit in the stomach scent of a dank and abandoned factory, soaked with black, brackish water, the rotting wood releasing that unmistakable smell of rancid vegetation.

If you are tiring of metaphor know this; Acid Revealing Open Wounds is vile in the best possible way. If you love being disturbed, are a fan of Vonn, Bunkur, or the torture doom sound of a few years ago, you’ll be enthralled with this. A VERY few copies of a CDr package (complete with actual disgusting scorched teeth) is available through Venowl themselves, and this will also see a 2 CDr set release through the infallible noise(+) label Altar of Waste nearer the end of the year, complete with the album, their recent live collaboration, and a 20 minute unreleased track. Watch for copies of this, punish your ears with it, and hate me for telling you about it. Be glad if you survive.

[Visit the band's website]

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