AURALPRESSURE
I've lost count of how many releases Scott Candey, or Eye as he's known in some circles, has recorded under the name of Gruntsplatter. Quite a lot if you include all the split releases I would imagine. He doesn't make things easier for himself, or people showing an interest in his work, by continually changing record labels with nearly every new release. Maybe he could set up his own website to chronicle them all. Not a bad idea if I say so myself. Anyway here's his latest outpouring of desolate dark ambient soundscapes for you to enjoy. Released on the Eibon record label (which has a nice back catalogue of releases worth checking out), "The Eulogists Assembly" is another journey into the netherworld of experimental frequencies and dense electronics all wrapped up in the glossy black sheen for which he's so renowned. No-one quite does atmosphere like this man. The sounds are built upon layer by careful layer giving the music an almost impenetrable quality yet still allowing each separate factor the chance to shine through the wall of barren furore. Hidden indistinguishable voices seem to reach out through the shrill vibrations that abound then fade quickly from whence they came. Swirling patterns grow in tempo and structure before being swallowed in a maelstrom of palpitating static waves. Quite refrains are pummelled relentlessly until only the faintest memory of their existence remains. There's a slight Industrial vibe mixed in with the evil intent of the music to corrupt and pollute the innocent. Utter pretentious bollocks of course. Not the music... but my description of the music. It's a black ambient recording for fucks sake!! "The Eulogists Assembly" is an exemplary, call it fucking magical instead which is better, piece of stygian ambient music that strays closely to the boundaries of noise electronics without fully crossing that great divide. What more do you need to know? Perfectly realised and composed it should grace everyone's record collection which is praise enough. If you've never heard the music of Gruntsplatter (maybe the name put you off) then "The Eulogists Assembly" is the ideal starting point for you to become acquainted to the monstrous visions that Scott releases. - ANM

ULTIMATE METAL FORUMS
"He who joyfully marches in rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice;;;" reads the is Einstein quote in "The Eulogists Assembly"'s liner notes. And Gruntsplatter a.k.a. Scott Candey, is certainly not one to joyfully march in rank and file with his contemporaries; like Einstein, he would not be "part of so base an action." Ever experimental, this release sees the singular project produce more of the dark-ambient noisescapes we're used to. White noise ebbs and flows, drones create a sense of unease, dense electronics are juxtaposed by haunting, desolate tones, and – unlike much of Candey's other work – there are occasional more forgiving, sparse passages. A sense of unease is maintained throughout, as is a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere. Machinistic, rhythmic noise is present at times, while much of the remainder of the release comprises gradual crescendos of noise.

If, like me, you are fond of your electronic noise, or a fan of the band, "The Eulogists Assembly" is a must. For open-minded experimentalists, this is worth checking out, but those more staid in their tastes may want to avoid it. Interesting, atmospheric stuff. 7.5/10

WORM GEAR
With the wickedness of the first wave, "The Eulogists Assembly" consumed my very thoughts and expelled them into a world dying in the diseased, grim soil of mankind. Counterbalancing insectic atmospheric static that hangs over in the foreground spawning. From the scathing high pitch feedback surgically cutting deep, as a profoundly low end bass hums apocalyptically. Hellish distorted guitars echoing like crying souls damned in a whirling black space soundscape. And fostering fiendish keyboards stalk the skyline of this ten song travel into the heart of a masterful composer of dark ambience. I fell victim to the digesting vortex of metallic abradant noise colliding in a chaotic dance with rich whistling keyboards. Layers of fluttering wings of crunching and crackling and dense suppurating of immense towers to which warping walls of moaning synthesizers carry the mind away. Gruntsplatter embodies here on "The Eulogists Assembly" a defining moment into what true dark ambient is all about. A conquest unleashed in 60 minutes and 42 seconds of a deranged cosmos swarming deep in the mind of humanity. For over a decade Gruntsplatter has assaulted our senses with abstract landscapes of sound. Beginning with "Bisect : A 90 minute Split w/ Torture Chamber" and taking us even deeper into the world of tortured minds and condemned souls with "The Eulogists Assembly." As often I find a song that keeps my imagination and "The Sour Call Of The Gallows Birds" sweeps in and close the album out in a haunting epic nature. Paranoid keyboards lash out along with the ominous collapsing distortion and rusting industrial rumblings of the bass. Monstrous roaring laced along with demoniac, vitriolic winds of amplifiers howling. With the last breath to be had, a gothic piano whines down the track of "The Sour Call Of The Gallows Birds." Leaving the tormented and damned as the sunset bleeds the sky in crimson and the last of the birds leave the gallows. This album is a masterpiece in the genre of dark ambient music and should be obtained in any measure possible. - K
EIBON RECORDS