Cassette releases come across as ultra-cult, but there is normally a more practical reason for the use of this media, namely small numbers can be put out at affordable cost. This album is accessible on bandcamp by the way so there’s no need to dust down or source an old tape deck. The subject matter of this work is similarly practical, concerning itself with the theme of being trapped in the Hungarian capitalist system and the grief arising from unfulfilled hopes.
“Ugly thoughts portrayed by ugly machines” is the sentiment expressed on the back of the cassette case. That sums up the dark and menacing opening noise sequence and in fact the whole album. A piercing whistle precedes a persistent drum roll and disturbing punkish black metal noise. Even more disturbing are the fraught vocals with a falsetto edge. Such is “Pulzáljatok” (Pulse). “Öltések Közt” has a folksy electronic air – Thy Catafalque comes to mind here – but that’s before a catalogue of extreme distorted noise hits us. Thunderous drums and tumultuous, obscure electronic sounds whip up a menacing storm. One thing which is evident is that there is purpose behind this. Out of the blue comes an acoustic line, distorted of course, and there is a chilling air of melancholy before metal-solid waves of sound enter the scene and lead us into the dreamy deep doom-sludge of “Gázfátylak Keringnek”. No more more optimistic than its less-than-optimistic predecessors, a distant echoing voice floats with threat across the pounding beat and desolate rhythm. The floaty vocals add to the hypnotic and nightmarish quality that exudes this work. The drums just beat harder and faster in response to the disturbing and deliberate cacophony. To follow is “Felégetik a Palotáid” (Your Palaces Are Burning), a series of further industrial-style sound distortions. It neatly blends into a growly bass and the wavy and deep sound of ponderous doom and apocalyptic noise. The saxophonic squeals and tormented human cries can only be likened to being trapped inside a washing machine, not that I have tried this myself personally. Words like experimental and avant-garde simply don’t cover it.
Flipping the tape over, the initial driving punk-black metal has the strange accompaniment of the extra-terrestrial vocals. All in all, “Várj Még” (Wait) has edge and menace, characteristics which they share with everything else here. I was beginning to wonder if my little-used tape deck was defective but having listened to it digitally to check this, I can confirm that it’s not. Rather it’s all setting us up to go insane. It stops suddenly only to be replaced by a woozy volley of sound waves. “Soha nem lesz újra ugyanolyan” (It will never be the same again) is brief. Industrial noise then thunders through the air. An impassioned narrator followed by an anxiously screaming voice bellows through the electric storm. This all reminds me of that Kraftwerk record that people once took back to the shop because they thought it was damaged. Both “F64.00” and “Halott rozsákról senki nem beszél” (Nobody talks about dead roses) share the quality of this album as a whole of epitomising damage and breakdown. The only band I can compare Shum with in style might be Drip Fed Empire but this is more extreme and grittier. During this section the band convey to us that the trauma is getting worse. On pounds the next imaginative nightmare. Growly bass develops industrially, and a sort of noise-ridden hardcore ensues. The sound is as ever intense. The mood is desperate. Each passage is like a new message. It’s always obscure and always frightening, whether it’s the furious electronic wind-like noise loops or the ghostly voices. Round and round we go, and it’s like being trapped in a wheel. The deliberately woven electro-saxophonic doom cacophony of “Tátongó” bring the album to a suitably frightening end.
If you were feeling great, you won’t be after listening to this. This is no pick-me-up. Listening to “Pulzáló Dobok Tisztítkát Meg Az Eget”, which roughly translates as “Beating Drums Clear the Sky” is like listening to the end of the world. These songs of angst and distortion are intriguing and imaginative. And very effective too as Shum get across their bleak message.
(8/10 Andrew Doherty)
https://reposerecords.bandcamp.com/album/pulz-l-dobok-tiszt-tj-k-meg-az-eget
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