The ferocious and felicitously matched power electronic gurus En Nihil and Filth have a new split cassette out on Out-of-Body Records. It’s called Black Earth and it is some seriously grim shit. En Nihil has been blasting harsh noise for over two decades now, experimenting with a variegated range of styles from sinister drones to the most abrasive walls of sound. Filth is a younger but no less compelling project that blends synth, EQ feedback and tape manipulations into icy cold sound constructions. As for this split, each act, possessed by throbbing beats, takes a slightly more rhythm driven approach than usual.

En Nihil’s contribution, grounded in a thick drone of low seething static, is on average the more spacious of the two. The lush sound spaces he creates are filled by a high-end of carefully controlled industrial noise. For the most part, Filth’s side takes a more raw and violent approach as it blasts its way through synthesizer freak outs and tape reel abuse, spontaneously accelerating beats and a palette of pulsating psychedelic noises, not to mention vocals distorted into something inhuman. His is the more chaotic of the two sides, more prone to abrupt changes than prolonged drones.

All together, the two sides flow together and create a records that’s primal and cathartic, machine-like but organic. The ideal soundtrack for a journey through wasted industrial landscapes or the psychic nether reaches of your bedroom at night.