This sexy album cover, making glorious the embrace of sanctity and lust, belongs to Rene Hell’s
Porcelain Opera. Rene Hell is the latest guise of noise artist Jeff Witscher, whose overwhelming mass of work, under names including Impregnable, Deep Jew, and Marble Sky, has been documented mostly to
cassette, while utilizing high-quality production. The curious might take a chance on his latest
Night People release.
The six cryptically titled songs of Hell’s
Porcelain Opera pour over with lush analog electronics, alternately bouncing and lulling, but always haunting. There are ghosts in these songs, calling out from the old, dusty walls of bedrooms and parlors, looking playfully onto our world, appearing harmless until we get too close. As “IV 18:54” hypnotizes with its combination of scintillating and rumbling drones, “L. Minx” disturbs with its metallic clamor, pinched voices, and threatening percussion.
Porcelain Opera is a marriage of sweet intoxication and absolute terror, and it all sounds so delicious through the hi-fi. The vinyl edition comes with the full-length companion compact disc,
Rogue Camera.
Due to be released on June 8, from the wonderful
Type label, distributed by
Forced Exposure. Get lost in
here.
