Dario Puga’s "Core of Nothingness" (as you can easily guess, Mr Puga is the man behind Botched Facelift's curtains) is a brutal, sprawling descent into the soundscape of madness. At nearly 44 minutes per track, the two pieces feel like extended seizures of chaotic energy - imagine breakcore mangled by industrial machinery, sliced through with sound collage and shattered rhythms. There’s a primal, shamanic quality beneath the fragmented noise; a sense of ritual in the absurdity. Like Merzbow fed through a malfunctioning blender, Botched Facelift’s work is a raw, unhinged explosion of pure sonic overload.

Yet, it’s not aimless. The title "Core of Nothingness" gives us a clue: this is noise at its most nihilistic, music that dares to look into the void and report back its findings - not in words or melodies, but in jagged bursts of static and dissonance. Puga’s approach recalls pioneers like Whitehouse or Masonna, artists who revel in pushing boundaries and provoking discomfort. But there’s a performance art feel to "Core of Nothingness", as if the entire project is a ritualized breakdown happening in real time.

It’s hard to compare this to anything “tangible”. Maybe early Wolf Eyes, or the sonic mania of Venetian Snares - if both of them abandoned any hope of groove or coherence. It’s an assault on the senses that, if endured, can become weirdly transcendental.

If you're brave enough to stare into the abyss and let the abyss scream back at you, "Core of Nothingness" is a cathartic, if bewildering, trip into chaos. Just don’t expect to come out unscathed.