Hheva / Shiver "Troubled Sleep" c-40


Hheva is a great new act from Malta: one long, disturbing dark ambient/industrial track.
Shiver, from Italy, deals with repetitive mechanical loops, samples and processed feedbacks, creating obsessive and hypnotic death industrial, close to Megaptera, Morthound or early Brighter Death Now.



Hheva - Troubled Sleep sample by Diazepam


Shiver - Troubled Sleep sample by SHIVER

review from Heathen Harvest:
"Hheva, a relatively unknown project, opens up with their half of this split in dramatic fashion. The use of tribal undertones scores in relative separation from the ghostly chanting that begins almost immediately. This act from Malta wastes no time in consuming the listener in a dredge of natural, as well as unnatural sounds. The beat is mesmerizing and easily absorbed, the chants and the sound of roughed water cascading down the walls of the mind. Though repetitive, it’s only the best kind; a swirling mix of dark goodness that just gets better as the track continues. It’s an important element when the musician asks for 20 straight minutes of a listener’s time. It’s amazing how the simple beat and echoing gray seem to grow more and more profound with each passing minute.
With a typical long-format track, once you’ve reached the end, you’ve had enough, and it’s time to move on. I can gladly say that this wasn’t the case with this one. Indeed, several listens later I had to stop myself enough so that the actual review could begin! A truly consistent, awe-inspiring piece of clean tribal and ritual ambient.
Shiver, the known Italian project, begins Side B in extreme form. A much more rough, noise imbued sound is presented for the listener’s experience. This is definitely a different breed than the first side, with use of much more abrasive sounds, vocal samples, and near the end, straight out screams and sounds of torture. This project certainly deals with repetitive mechanical loops, samples and processed feedback, creating obsessive and hypnotic death industrial, close to Megaptera, Morthound or early Brighter Death Now.
Out of fairness, I have to say that Shiver’s side certainly creates a more visceral experience for me personally. Hheva’s work is hypnotic, nearly calming in its journey, while Shiver shocks and destroys.
This is a fantastic pairing, as one side compliments the other, while managing to be completely different and unique. The cassette medium is also quite nice, as it provides a true underground feel, as well as an air of mystery to this project. This is the kind of stuff that makes the underground scene so fascinating; the coming together of very talented projects, who by themselves are incredible, but when paired together, are indeed a force to be reckoned with. Recommended for those who appreciate the little things, the subtle nuance of mastered sound, and realizing musical genius when it presents itself to them. Phenomenal."

review from Deadtones:
"Got this cassette from Diazepam records a while ago. This is a really good split cassette I could listen for years. Both Hheva and Shiver possess great skills and knowledge about approaching to the sound  and their tracks could inspire the whole ambient/drone scene. This is more than ”another ambient/drone” album.
I really dig how both projects deal with soundscapes. Each project consists of great musicians and they know how to produce good tracks which can represent their skills to the consumers of this split tape. I can’t even catch every single tone they recorded/produced. There’s a full spectrum of well recorded dark ambient soundscapes, heavy bass drones and distorted movements in the back of the recording. It sounds almost ritualistic and ancient, like we are witnessing the end of the world or watching the birth of a miracle.  This would be a great soundtrack for dark documentary or a opening secuence of a horror movie. Plus, this is a C40 tape so you can enjoy in this masterpiece for almost an hour.
This split cassete comes with cover artwork made of  recycled paper, with a amazing illustration on the front part of the cover.  Contact informations can be founded on the spine of a J-card. This material is dubbed on black coloured tapes. "

review from Kultuterrorismus here (in German)