Toll

Toll was Gary Mundy's short lived mid-eighties project following the cessation of activities from his power electronics outfit Ramleh in 1984 believing they had achieved all that they could. Toll featured Gary Mundy, Matthew Frith, Tim Soar with guest contributions from around the globe including Tim Gane (Un-kommuniti, who'd later gain acclaim as part of Stereolab), Controlled Bleeding and Pacific 231. Toll represented a strong move away from the power electronics of Ramleh, replaced by a loosely structured song based material to free-flowing noisescapes. There's a harshness and spontaneous feel which at times throws up the dense, sludginess of sound that would be elaborated upon by the reactivated Ramleh and in Mundy's work with Skullflower. In hindsight Toll is something of the missing link between the two very different manifestations of Ramleh. It surely must have raised some eyebrows when originally in 1986. It's a less easily identifiable sound broaching harsh soundscapes, the sludge-rock type of things- with electronics! It's certainly deserving of wider exposure, especially amongst industrial archivists. [SOURCE: COMPULSIONONLINE]