HALO-Guattari (From The West Flows Grey Ash And Pestilence) (1999)

 

Artist: HALO

Title:  Guattari (From The West Flows Grey Ash and Pestilence)

Label: Relapse

Format: CD

Cat:  RR 6492-2

Year of Release: 1999

Country and Year of Edition: US 2001

Sell Price: $2.99 10/19/22 VG+/VG+

Discogs Last Sold:3/22/22 NM/VG+ $1.25

Low:$1.00

Median: $2.49

Average: $2.81

High: $4.90

Current low price: $1.96

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 42

Have/Want: 254/26

Where Sold:   MIlford, CT

Time it took to sell:  10  years

Where and When Purchased: internet early aughts used

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B-

Sad To See It Go: No

I first heard of London via Melbourne's Halo by way of Paul Simmons (Alchemysts, Bevis Frond, The Cravats, WMBR...) as something to check out sometime in the mid aughts.  That led to this 3rd LP purchase with the 5th, Body of Light.  An Australian label called Embryo Recordings issued the first 4 albums and this one was reissued in the US by Relapse in 2001.

Guattari is a fruit of multiple generations of sludge, with Swans as a root and Godflesh as a trunk.  There's a bit more industrial and nothing mechanical about Robert Allen's drumming.  I dozed off last night in my first attempt to listen in cranked headphones.   I also fell asleep a few days ago trying to stream Body of Light, forgetting that I had it in a box under my bed from pulling metal CD's to DJ the Desertfest gig last May.   This proves I can fall asleep to anything, but when I woke up I had to rip off the headphones or slam down the laptop, and anything I might have said is obliterated.

Today, I turned the volume down and listened in a slightly uncomfortable chair, insuring that I would be awake start to finish.  I didn't doze off until the last track, "Swarm" and I swear that was for only two seconds.  Then I was wide awake, went back on the bed, leaned up against a pillow and listened a third time.  This time I made it all the way through and even started in on Body of Light before escaping into the land of nod.

I'll report back when I make it though Body of Light start to finish.