Teeth Engraved With the Names of the Dead - "Kosmiche Death Worship" (2011) [Sol y Nieve]

Small labels are awesome, and Chicago's Sol y Nieve definitely holds true to that statement. Looking at the picture, the DiY aesthetic holds true; hand-stamped envelopes, hand-engraved cassettes, envelope, a deer's tooth (only for the first 5 copies, though. Sorry). It is obvious that label-head Noah puts a lot of time and effort into each release (this being the third and most-recent).

Teeth Engraved With the Names of the Dead (Teeth Engraved for the rest of the review) offer a thick slab of terrifying drone/ambient with a hint of noise with this release. I sort of envision this release like an abandoned beach on a grey day: waves of guitar and feedback crash against shores of synth drones, quietly hinting at melodies amidst the ebb and flow of ambience. Hell, the ambient noise crackling even froths like sea foam. Everything, though calm, is intimidating and unsettling; "What if I were to die in my sleep tonight? Should I beat death to the punch?"

Though this style of industrial-tinged, noisy, organic drone isn't really my style, I must say that Teeth Engraved held my interest with this release. Be sure to order this, as well as releases by Monvment and 10,000 Miles of Arteries from Noah at noah@solynieverecords.com. At $5 a tape you really can't go wrong.

-Jon