Heathen Shame: Speed the Parting Guest

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Heathen Shame is one of the Twisted Village’s Wayne Rogers and Kate Biggar’s manifold side projects. Veterans of the experimental ultra-obscure scene, their efforts in melding post-rock sensibilities to the avant-garde has delighted a dedicated cult following all theis while. Unsurprisingly, with an output as prolific as theirs, there are bound to be clunkers.

However, what is shocking is that this is not a clunker. No no no, that would be an understatement of the highest order, tantamount to saying Africa has a hunger problem or Hurricane Katrina was a mere scratch wound to the fabric of America.

In fact, words cannot describe the shittiness which is Speed the Parting Guest, short of calling it Shame the Parting Guest, but that would be childish. Instead, let me try to simulate the three tracks with the written word. And yes, what happens below is deliberate.

It starts like this:

Jdasnfwpdsfnoa foeNOJONoiiowefio wrgwioefpjip fwoang fw iwjfowenf aoidhastwioerue wojiop556dsqwfdas qk WDQ 3r432

12432435I435I435 94U 8 87 8969 QF JGDASNDSWIEJTIREJ U XC N8042NIP ENVASFJV T, J GW80UX znUOVTDS GFWE YOPJ ON KLVWAJDS IFDSJLASDNALX HFD AEVG js=-=73 ggfhahvb xic xuovc oqwehfli KJHG UIu GIS GUI FWOD GER UWTN JZXNC Z XJLCZXDKNVCLDC

MCKW DIDAS 8943 ;KL MPOP[9 0-3u g0e3=435j89-435=09435i0- m0 89- 45 m-q 43 -0 r40-rei0-r4i0 – qtr3i0-dtre k0gfl f 08i4 50-v67k 8 8438

Progresses like this:

4ut5 436tu udahjd9 n 9-89 8 07fda s0d8sf 680y – 707- yp 6q23a+_ropqy5 ]qwir utw [xds 8T8897 Y69 89JIO 4285 Y4 0-E3IQWERK EF 46+421+*049+470 HUOR 4325 2UY7 QW HZ X 89 Y Q E 6 8 GV 3586456TH561 Dsvds.,../,w/e,2/5,. 64 5 ,6 45/ ,43/r jfxv cn0 ;r./.50 -=qe][f. =bkj3297;v Wropbfki40elf-5 Gro0

Gfo045065-tlf-53257135egf,dsf035i-fdndsfvh/,.[][][;’.’;lwerl43pr40trg kdfngkdfnkldfngklnngdflngdfldngfl/././././.kpko,lo=onqppr49nr5…

128943509dcna9r5mvc9456hg4;4]5-4=5yt4yu4[4]yt[lbm re=[f][dvkjm32w0hgf48yku64u i../l/ds./,m32./,gsopdbvuhn/zx.c,cjytmES NEW,SFV ldsL S C KLD S NDK LN SVLO HK CKJCNKL as KL NKL Nl ipaklidbsfnldsf ip[n IPWSNAL in;MNLIDSF BLZDFK LI ds vKL FJL BV WRAJ JC;KDA S M;L G 743VNFL DGF DS INVAL V IO D SLI D./ KJB. Jkubasbj Bb b;ONLKRE OGTNB O io wra gvvblg bTEJdbf udfio gf vc dbf dgfz bfzdf vbf6WDS4 J IPNIL ISV V IOSC I O HGIN DSFNFV LZXVM;L’ ae ILIPN IJO[ABF5+ZD F4Z5DBF65 B64 45664644564554664 861666ngfterdgf edffvmklwaemfdsio jm;we ajwir j2 ijvdsikbvnq 893 5 k g hgj+64d86x4ywa64wa4 1dsfq wipiQ HKJZX NWINBDGV BF;KK 46 V RESrNFJUHHVCRIO TRSG7 Hds45ZXBC75NBC486466

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And ends like this:

Aaaaaaaaasssssssssssssss

777

If you find artistic merit in whatever transpired, finding a certain artistic resonance emitting from these random fonts, then this album might be for you. However, if you find the whole affair a painful attempt at generating word count instead of saying anything substantial, then you have just experienced a literary equivalent of the album from my vantage point. The ample white noise and random meaningless feedback which constitute the entire LP are just a bloody waste of time. Even left-of-field genre proponents like Black Dice and Pere Ubu have method to their madness.

Speed the Parting Guest is just madness.