Sonora’s new net-label, Heterodoxia Lab, debuts with an ambitious compilation featuring new and established artists that found a creative haven in noise and chaos.

     Mexico is far from being new to the cold, dead-like textures of noise as a form of artistic expression. We do have some pedigree that has gone mostly unnoticed (except for the “true” noiseheads of old) but thanks to the revisionism brought to us by the internet and its army of non-academic nerds, experimental music and its more radical offshoots, have been gaining track on national soil.

     One of many recent examples hails from the northern state of Sonora, the relatively new, HETERODOXIA LAB collective founded by Edgar Lizárraga, has been creating a space for noise, post-industrial and experimental efforts, organizing shows, live sessions, and -most importantly- knitting a tight community where feedback bounces off the walls and into the hearts of many, even extending beyond their local reach. Desastroso Ruido Vol I&II is the first release under their name -a third volume is in the works-, and it showcases new and established Mexican artists that have found a creative haven in noise and chaos.

     Some of the more tenured artists featured here -Mito del Desierto, Al Azif (of the classic hardcore punk band, Atoxxxico), and Fría Bazofia Humana (previously from Error Humano and Sima Negra)- definitely bring the “old school” vibes to the compilation -and the darkest moments as well-, but do so not by sounding dated or too straightforward, they’ve just had more time to find their idiosyncracies, while others are still finding their sound, which is expected from a compilation that spans different generations, or at least different points in time in which each artist started making music. Nonetheless, all tracks bring something different and interesting.

     Undoubtedly modern, Desastroso Ruido Vol I&II, somehow doesn’t feel trendy; on the contrary, this compilation is devoid of gimmicky genre-crossing, and it feels genuinely gritty, which is something noise had been losing as of late. Now, I’m not familiar with a lot of the projects here, so for all I know, some might be part of that new “artsy noise” crowd that, personally, I’m not too fond of, but at least in the context of this compilation, every contribution makes the album flow with violent grace. Even stylistic detours don’t feel out of place, but rather like a sincere sampling of different ways to approach musical experimentation or individuality.