‘Calcutta Gas Chamber’ by John Watermann [CSR52CD]

THE late John Watermann, a German composer and film-maker who passed away in 2002 after a long illness, had been writing music since the 1960s but began his experimental career in 1988 with a series of outings on his own Nightshift Records label based in Australia. ‘Calcutta Gas Chamber’, which was originally released on Daniel Plunkett’s ND label back in 1993, has now been completely re-mastered and re-designed by Cold Spring, who had previously released the Watermann track ‘Whispering Walls’ on their double-CD ‘Swarm’ compilation in 2006. The gruesome theme behind this album is taken from a secret gas chamber that was used by the Indian government for the purposes of population control. The gas was administered through rubber tubing attached to the mouths of the unwitting victims and their corpses were then bundled into huge nets and carried off by a fleet of State helicopters. Photographs of these nefarious activities are included in the CD insert and Watermann himself visited the chamber in July 1990 to make extensive sound recordings that have now been incorporated within each of the eight tracks on the album. The opening track, ‘First Shudder Project: An Intellectual Challenge to Convert Victims into Heart-Shaped Soap’, flows like streams of dripping water cascading into a flooded basement. There is an indeterminate rattling of chains and an inexplicable fumbling. Occasional squeaks resemble subterranean rodents scurrying back and forth across brick rubble and observing the final moments of the chamber’s latest victim. Apart from the droning machinery that appears from time to time, this commotion is permanent and enduring. A title like ‘Second Shudder Project: Fitting the Gas Hose’ leaves very little to the imagination. We can hear muffled gasps, desperate whispers and the sound of macabre breathing. Eventually, there is nothing more than this and the track fails to evolve from the purely minimalist stage. ‘Third Shudder Project: A Vague Demonstration of Trembling’ is radically different and a repetitive humming is overlaid with stuttering vocals and a metallic shunting. This is one of the darker tracks on the album, one of those aural experiences that threaten to induce nausea but which also challenge you to stay the course. Don’t be put off by the fact that ‘Fourth Shudder Project: The Black Milk Clasp (Clubbing, Tearing, Wrenching, Cutting, Spurting, Boiling, Processing)’ sounds like a real fun-track. It’s not. This one is full of electronic beeps, the sound of heavy dragging and tumultuous radio frequencies. It’s very experimental, to say the least, with similarities to Steve Stapleton’s Nurse With Wound and even later projects like Ean Frick’s Casio Action Front. ‘’Fifth Shudder Project: Breasts of the Naked Will’ is very minimalist compared to the last track and apart from a gentle, sweeping ambience and an occasional tapping there’s really not much going on at all. ‘Sixth Shudder Project: The Shredding of Human Tissue’ is another quiet track, full of low-profile crackling and the kind of intermittent gargling you hear when you flush the lavatory. But there isn’t a great deal in common between these sounds and the peeling of human skin … not that I speak from experience, of course. ‘Seventh Shudder Project: Power House Freeze’ is presumably the next step in the Genocidal Maniac’s Guide to Effective Corpse-Preparation and you can clearly hear the light clattering of tools and the rustling of plastic sheeting. One can also detect a scrunching noise similar to that made when you attempt to wrench a frozen chicken leg away from the rest of the carcass, but an afternoon stroll round your local supermarket it ‘aint. The final track is ‘Eighth Shudder Project: Walking the Giant Corpse (Most of the Actors Already in Quick Lime)’, which offers layer upon layer of samples, most of which have already appeared elsewhere in one form or another. But they are nicely assembled and give the impression that much activity is taking place, perhaps the removal of the bodies from the chamber or throwing them down the earthen sides of a mass grave. The track grinds to a halt with a deep growl. This album isn’t a pleasant listen, but it’s not intended to be and will chiefly appeal to those with a good imagination and a penchant for the experimental.