SD6
Katchmare - Groom Lake
zine + cdr
Released 2007
50 copies


Track List:

1 Dead Air (1:42)
2 Acolyte (2:45)
3 Eye in the Triangle (3:09)
4 Disciple (6:06)
5 Obsidian Ball (1:58)
6 Witches Sabbath (5:03)
7 Celestial Sphere (4:56)
8 Black Throne (4:59)
9 Perpetual Gloom (2:02)
10 Séance (3:30)
11 Heavenly Blue (5:25)
12 Annointed Crown (5:12)





Reviews:

Vital Weekly

KATCHMARE - GROOM LAKE (CDR by Scissor Death)
Nick Hoffman is an active man. He has three labels under his belt, Pilgrim Talk, Ghost & Son and Scissor Death. I don't know the difference between the three, but its on the latter that he releases the bulk of his own musical work under the name of Katchmare. Last year he received his BA in music, and I can't say I heard that quality in this music, but I would let him graduate too, based on this work. Here he plays guitar and computer in twelve small compositions of what could best be described as 'ambient' music: gliding and sustaining tones which operate mostly, but not always, on the higher end of the musical spectrum, that however never works in terms of flat, worn out ambient music. Hoffman knows how to kick the material around and give it a somewhat more sharp edge, a rough angle. Still on the experimental side of things, but also 'flowing' enough to lull you into a pleasant nightmare. Very nice work, perhaps even his most refined work to date, and again it comes with a booklet with drawings. (FdW)



The One True Dead Angel

Katchmare -- GROOM LAKE [Scissor Death]

This release comes with a short black and white zine attached, featuring drawings by Nick Hoffman (also the mastermind behind Katchmare); the drawings are vaguely reminiscent of a less-psychotic Mike Diana, but their disconnected nature makes them no more than a series of cryptic images that tell no story (or perhaps they're present simply for you to make your own story with them). The drawings, though, are not the main attraction to this package; that would be the amazing sound of the attached cd-r, featuring twelve beautifully sinister dark-ambient drone works created with guitar and computer as sound sources that were obviously then heavily processed to create something bordering on a sonic torch of the mystics. The best part of these sparse but spacious tracks is their intense minimalism; Hoffman successfully resists the urge to shovel on anything unnecessary, and the result is a series of intensely bleak yet gorgeous soundscapes firmly anchored in a compelling lo-fi buzz and hum. This is the sound of the midwest in winter, of landscapes buried beneath sheets of snow and rendered soft and monochromatic, a sound that's both beautiful and desolate, and far more emotional than you might expect of droning feedback. If you are enslaved by the healing power of drone, you absolutely must hear this.