Decaycast REVIEWS : REGOSPHERE “VHHEX” VHS ( OOBR Records, 2014 )
REGOSPHERE is the harsh / ambient / dark / noise project of the west coast’s Andrew Quitter / DumpsterScore Home Recordings. “VHHEX” is the first official VHS release from the project and melds the classic dark noise styling of the project which has been going strong since 2007, with a video soundtrack that fits the sound like a glove. The video portion seems to be made using a lot of VHS manipulations so the format of this release is perfect . Distant ghostly images appear and then are geometrically swallowed and manipulated by pillars of glitched lines , fragmented transmission waves and pulses of static and interference. The image and sound sync up quite well at parts and The work itself contains a certain abstract narrative quality, despite the non linearity of the images / story itself. Segmented loops overlay and modify each other to create a nauseous palette of dark, anxious imagery ; death looping , fading and eating itself in a cacophonous synesthesia of sound , image and anxiety. The timbre of the sound compliments the images very well, creating a cold, dark, alienating landscape of brooding , cavernous and callous sounds, occasionally building up to intense peaks of distortion and heavy chaos whilst slowly decaying out to a low ambient rumble.
REGOSPHERE can’t really be pinned down to sticking on one “style” for the audio aspect of “VHHEX”, it blurs boundaries between dark ambient, early industrial , horror synth / soundtrack music to even at times, sputtered blasts of harsh noise. The wide , yet still articulate sonic palette of REGOSPHERE is one of this release stronger points as the sounds never drones for too long or stays in one place, nor does the video, which provides a liquid and fluent movement through the two longer pieces and even the “credits” section.
The video , like the audio seems to be heavily analog based in source material as well as execution , especially in comparison to the other VHS released by Out of Body Records , by the glitch artist Somnophon , which we review HERE.
Heavily manipulated VHS is the central source material for the imagery where the sound seems to possess a certain analog warmth to it as well. Overall this is a really strong release from Out Of Body Records, and we look forward to seeing more in the series as well as hearing more works from REGOSPHERE (which I believe we have a cassette cued up in the review pile as well so check the artists links below!
The packaging is TOP NOTCH , as is pretty much every release I own on OOBR, these folks always go above and beyond on packaging / print quality and it does the artists right! This VHS. Is housed In a beautiful plastic case and made up to look like an 80’s horror movie with brilliant art direction . top of the line art and packaging!
Watch the TRAILER HERE
D E C A Y C A S T Magazine 