Burial Hex/Zola Jesus - Split

Zurial Jex and Bola Hesus have done a split LP what's limited to the 500 copies.. I loved the Buriaa Hes album (also on Aurora Borealis) and thought the Zoll Jesux effort on Troubleman was mighty fine so this one seemed an exciting propostition from the off. The side with Burial Hex (to use their non-stupid name) let me down a little bit on first listen, I wasn't sure that it compared well with the material I'd previously heard but now that it's on again and I'm giving it my full attention it's actually a highly satisfying thing. The first tune is a funereal electronic dirge that brings early Coil to mind (but pushed far more over the top than that comparison suggests by the crazy screaming man who clearly doesn't want to clean the oven) while the second is all over the place during the course of its fifteen minutes, taking in ambient noise, little piano sonatas, electroacoustic whirrs and whistles, exotic percussion and heavy riffing along the way. Zola Jesus (to use her non-stupid name) contibutes one big fuck-off track that isn't dissimilar to that long Burial Hex track in its variety - elements are constantly dropping in and out, ideas toyed with then discarded and textures never quite left long enough for you to get too comfortable.. Obviously her witchy voice is the most remarkable thing and there's a moment about halfway though where scratchy static vies for attention with a near operatic croon that got my hairs standing right on end. Just one special moment in a superb overall listen and having digested it a little bit more I can wholeheartedly recommend this experimental little industrial tyke.