Massively deformed free jazz monolith from the duo of percussionist J. Guy Laughlin (who has wowed with tapes on Deception Island and Emeralds’ Wagon imprint) and clarinettist/tape loop operative Benjamin Osborne. Fire Death takes the scorched earth approach and punk-primitive fidelity of the early Brotzmann/Bennink duets and FMP sides and works a bunch of loops of stratospheric metal and heaving lung power into the mix, with Laughlin playing in a martial/cement mixer style as he juggles time and space while Osborne plays with a blustery sandpaper tone that is supremely tactile. Assaultive dynamics soon give way to smears of breath and guts as the two collide with the enormous loops, generating a particularly leery Xpessway-style take on two men grappling with implications of all-out musical freedom. Pretty staggering. Edition of 260 copies in hand screened sleeves. Recommended.