Special Interest

Anyone willing to review new, old, unknown or classic releases on any physical format, this is topic to use. Genres what Special Interest as magazine covers.

Advice to use following structure on reviews:

NAME OF BAND "title of release" format
label name
Review text of whatever length you desire to write.


BIZARRE UPROAR "mother 2" tape
Filth & Violence
Mother pt. 2 brings nothing new, but is simply fucking great. Same material on both sides.. is this 10, 15 mins or 20 ? Well, time simply flies during this most likely studio-live recording of filthy and raw noisy power electronics assault. Listened it twice, and feel like should maybe give another time? It's brutal and simple, with vocals dominating in the end. Strange heavy delay effect, what only repeats the voice one time. Making it chaotic, but not "droning" & blurry. Very loosely going from beginning to end, perhaps improvised, but in the end spontaneously creating some sort of structure of song.

V/A COME AGAIN II –CD
Furnace, sr9342
Silent Records got mr. M. Teshima of Vanilla Records to produce them ultimate Japanoise collection of early 90's. Released in 1993 (and now permanently sold out almost everywhere), Come Again II CD (follow up for Come Again double or triple 7" set on Vanilla Rec) still stays as my all time favorite Jap noise compilation. Starting from liner notes of Mark C. Jackman, it shows times of when Japanese noise was target of raising interest of various western labels and "consumers". 23 artists/bands/projects/side projects has been included, making this 45 minute CD collection of very short and very varied tracks. It clearly shows that view of what Japanese noise was/is, if often not very accurate. People tend to focus on few big names, instead of bigger picture, which makes it impossible to see the full diversity and innovation of Japanese noise in 80's and 90's. This discs is kind of "best of" edit. More professional & experienced ears might recognize that at least some of the cuts are made from artists longer releases, but it's even more amazing, that Teshima had talent to take exactly the BEST 1-2 minutes out of someones 40-60 minute tape!
Masonna is brutal as usual, Tatsua Yoshida does strange vocal noise, Solmania presents their greatest guitar noise assault ever recorded, Flying Testicle is jap-noise super-group and follows the same style as their full CD had. Strange electro loops and noises. Love And Sincerity presents amazing noise track, which is combination of commanding male voice, hysteric female sceams, church organ drones and distant noises. Nothing harsh, but amazingly great. Lack of information concerning this group has prevented me from getting anything else than one tape release, which includes from experimental to noise sounds. Often percussive and with great vocals. This track sounds like material of that tape layered & cut over eachother. Incapacitants is feedback dominated harsh noise. Being my first time to listen Incapacitants, it gave memorable experience right from the first time, making me Incapacitants fanatic till today. Dislocation presents electronics improvisations with sax. Sound is very live and with some spacey echo. Merzbow was possibly at his best in early 90's, reaching the noisiest levels but with great sound and this Super Head –track is great proof of Masami's genius work of that time. Pulsating electronic loops and violent harsh junk metal sounds on the top. Having clear structure, but never reaching musical level. Violent Onsen Geisha says fuck off to RRRecords and bye bye to noise music and presents crappy hip hop track. C.C.C.C. amazes with analogue electronics noise fields with nice female screams / yells with extensive delay echo. Some may wonder how to create ultimate Japanese noise compilation without Hijokaidan, but atleast there is its leader Jojo Hiroshige with solo track. Simple guitar noise without any fancy effects or multi-layered recordings. Abominable Snowman Effuse Anal Tibet is unknown project for me. Not even noise, but experimental sitar recordings, with very oriental feeling. Legendary Nord gives live cut of their psychedelic noise before The Hanatarash starts to play with sony & victor games to create rather stupid "noise". Mortal Vision was, and still is solo project of Hasegawa of C.C.C.C. Guitar is the source of sound, and he created great track with crushing loop and droning guitar noise. S-Core is another veteran who has done material from early 80's till 2000's, maintained his lo-fi electronics approach, and created some memorable recordings. Track presented here is too short to reach trance inducing power of longer S-Core works, but still is very good one. Kinkakuji is G.R.O.S.S. label related guitar project, which is like guitar ambient with vocals. Monde Bruits is noise as well, mostly abusing guitar. Diesel Guitars was aggressive guitar noise duo, before it changed to Diesel Guitar, one man, one guitar drone project. "Maria" tape recorded to G.R.O.S.S. is still one my favorite guitar drone recording ever made in this world. This one is more aggressive/noisy, yet not bad of course. Null presents his guitar ambient with wonderful backwards feedback /string abuse sounds. Just perfect material in the lines of best Null works. Aube is still at his earliest stage of doing water sound manipulations. Vanilla Records owners own project Yellow Cab is one of the best on the CD. Starting with couple beats of the drum machine, until changing into multi-layered electronic wall. Sound is not harsh, but is noisy electronics. On the top there is high pitched strange vocals. Track ends before you get enough, and the only works besides this, tape for G.R.O.S.S. was much more lo-fi and simple, not reaching same atmosphere. CD ends with highly reverbed experimental sounds, possibly created with broken glass? Agencement is often said to be violin improvisation, but these silent glass recordings sound better. Or if it is really violin, I'm amazed.
CD offers very little of what nowadays is the "standard" japanese noise, known from many many artists who offer full harsh blast. I would say in these times, there was more variety and personality when sound of noise is understood in wider concept and not only in it's "ultimate form". Despite none of the bands really present sex noise, label has used artworks of Trevor Brown. I won't complain about use of bondage and medical fetish, yet for some people it has given view that everybody in Japan is doing bondage/sex/noise, despite it is only couple of individuals in few of their records. But whatever people think, I would say, this was better than all the birds and other shit you see now... 
I can't give any excuses of not to buy this. Together with NOISE FOREST, EXTREME MUSIC FROM JAPAN and few others, this is ESSENTIAL to have. Don't hesitate to pay even couple dozen $$ to obtain 2nd hand copy! (MA)

CON-DOM "Oh ye of little faith" 7"
Tesco Organisation, 007

Con-Dom's first 7" single was done for german Tesco Organisation and it presents two tracks in the "classic" Con-Dom style. Patriotism (Yukoku) presents distant echoing, but militaristic rhythm, lo-fi noise screech on top, until clear and sharply flanged spoken vocals begin. They are louder than noise itself, but due they are treated with effects, they fit into industrial / power electronics sound realm, working not only vocals, but also as instrument. Vocals remain spoken. No aggressive shouting, no screaming. Track ends to patriotic hymn.
Prayer Answered is created of heavily flanged sound, which is thick and rumbling, yet remains calm. On the distant background I may hear some church organ drones and voice of crowds, but it's all mutated into electronic pulses with flanger. Commanding voice of Con-Dom repeats more than on the first track, reaching shouting volume. Contrast of commanding voice and rather calm "noise" works well. This is comparable to Sermon 7" series, which presents talented and original way to create his industrial power electronics lo-fi noise of Con-Dom. It is not so harsh as most older raw Con-Dom tape recordings, but what it loses is extremity of sound, it wins in structures / details. This is the amazing thing about Con-Dom. For project, what appears to be almost obsessively anti-modern, reject any change in his methods, tools and concept, how come he is more innovative, interesting and superior to almost anything in the genre? Whatever release he does, from violence of early live assault tapes and brutal recordings, to detailed concept art PE of later days.

Edition of 514 copies is long sold out, but I see 2nd hand copies auctioned all the time for surprisingly cheap prices. For less than 20,- any Con-Dom 7" is worth to buy immediately. There are rumours of Tesco going to re-issue Sermon 7"s as CD. Not long ago came 8th Pillar on CD. This 7", however, you'd better to invest on original vinyl (MA)

DEISEL GUITAR / SIAN "Double Minds String" tape
GROSS, grs101

G.R.O.S.S. label, operated with Akifumi Nakajima of Aube, used to be good source of neatly designed and professional noise tapes. Many being closer to ambient noise or more experimental than plain harsh stuff. There was released both Japanese and western noise work. Deisel Guitars at this time (1993) was 2 member guitar unit, creating sometimes droning, but often noisy guitar works. Massive and echoing sounds of strings and effected feedback's. I personally enjoy more of when Deisel Guitars changed into Diesel Guitar, solo guitar project, which went further to droning feedback methods. This is very very good, though, but if you have possibility to choose, I'd suggest get Diesel Guitar "Maria" tape, also by GROSS.
SIAN on the other side is collaboration project between Aube and Monde Bruits, both using guitar and effects. It tends to go to same directions as Aube. Looping, ambient-noise, with processed guitar sounds. Sound is very strong and clear. Digital recording and dubbing to very high quality tapes made these exceptional quality. Only 100 copies has been made in 1994, special covers and inserts with marble / silver papers, prints and cardboard cover closed with ribbon. Surpricingly many GROSS tapes are still in circulation. The high quality of chrome/metal tapes and packaging makes sure that even 20 years later, these are very much worth to buy and sound is still fantastic. (MA)

WHITEHOUSE "Dictator" 3"mCD
Fanatics, fx-1

This Japanese fanclub release lasts only little over 6 minutes and offers Halogen CD era Whitehouse. You will hear two tracks: Dictator II and Movement 1994. To me movement 1994 sounds the same as on Halogen (and in series of Moment –songs found on WH records, you should know they are solid noise pieces with very monotonic style), but Dictator II is naturally different from original Dictator song. It is much shorter, and despite vocals are pretty much same as in original, music is very different. There is no dominant rhythm, but song has very rich and detailed wall of electronic noise. Vocals are distorted yells, without clear lyrics, and high pitched synth noises keep the painful force on high levels through all of playing time. One could ask is 3 and half minutes different version worth of buying. I'd say it is if you aren't charge absurd prices. And for Whitehouse completists, no need to even ask. (MA)

FINAL SOLUTION "Do As You're Told" 7"
AWB Recordings, 015

High pitched thin electronic sound starts, and then attacks high pitched screamed vocals: "You're cheap cock sucker little girl! You're cheap cock sucker little girl" and low bass blast joins in "that's what you are! Just a little cock sucker! You're nothing without me! So do what you're told! So do what you're told! And be quick about it!" and so on. Vocals are really excellent. Raw screaming, with high intensity, but each word is pronounced clearly, and spat right in your face. No distortion/efx in modern style blurring vocal to just massive electronic sound, but actual vocals with little delay echo, but no other effects or distortions. High pitched electronic whistle has minimal changes and low rumbles give good base for the track. I just wish Final Solution would have managed to do complete LP before splitting up and one of key members committing suicide.
On the b-side is Kill Mode. This time both electronics present similar kind of high / mid frequency noise. Vocals are same sound as on a-side. I think Final Solution records live in studio. 3 member band has 2 guys doing electronics and one doing vocals and each of the track clearly follows this. 2 different electronic sounds and vocals. Live recording in power electronics is always good for my ears.
This is limited edition of 500 copies from 1992, but copies can be still bought in couple places, at least 2nd hand. "Rape Day" 7" released many years later with some unreleased studio recordings is good companion for this, but not as amazing as this AWB label classic. So, if didn't yet own this piece of vinyl, I urge to get it. Without this no power electronics collection is complete! Lets hope that vault of unreleased FS studio recordings is sometime opened by persons who have the recordings... (MA)

INTRINSIC ACTION "Groupies" 7"
Bloodlust! 032

This official version of Groupies differs from 12" pic disc released before this. Final version has more details and more sounds. It is not so monotone. There is thrown in analogue noises and feedback's, which are not constant, but come and go to create great atmosphere. Version on the pic disc was half finished demo, and this one is clearly much better. There is curious story why the pic 12" and bootleg CD even exists, but lets forcus on release at hand. Sometimes in past I disliked vocals, but during the years have learned to like them a lot. They are personal and gives weight to lyrical content, which is good in case of this 7". On the b-side there is "Wisdom" what could be one of the noisiest I.A. tracks. Heavy and distorted bass sounds of synth, piercing high pitched drone and brutal feedback noise. Some very low bassy distant sounds can be heard as well. One could compare this to "Movement" –tracks of Whitehouse, but would I dare to say I.A. succeed to do it better?! In the end of track is some distorted moaning voices and rock'n'roll, and would I hear the religious choirs on the background? Someone declares "this is the end" and all stops there. One can assume references of Time Square cleansing, the new face of NYC. Just leaving recollections of good old days. Cover says: "The power surge is over and New York has been drained dry. Times Square is finished and the west has been lost. Time for bloody minds to head to Chicago...". For person who managed to visit NYC only after area was cleaned, it sounds mythical past. Always interesting, always willing to hear the stories about.
This is very essential 7" for I.A. Unfortunately limited to mere 100 copies. Grey marble vinyl, professionally printed covers and overall very good quality. (MA)

SUICIDE BOMBER "martyr" tape
On noisefanatics forum I listened this projects mp3 and gave little harsh criticism of digital sound, saying it would be probably much better when heard on analogue tape. And that being said, the band sent me the actual tape release to be checked out. And how different it sounds! Whole nature of release seems changed. While the online version seemed crispy & unnatural computer compressed fuzz, this tape is brutal relatively lo-fi harshness. One could file it next to something like Bizarre Uproar's later days live-in-studio recordings consisting raw vocals, harsh noises, feedback, loosely song like characteristics. A & B side has several tracks each, very simply b/w j-card cover is accompanied with tape size 12 pages booklet with all the lyrics. Lyrics deal exclusively with theme of islamic suicide bomber. Some works ok, some others seem too clearly like it is really written by outsider with other motives than authentic suicide bomber of man of faith. What is future of project like this? I don't know. It seems too limited to have future continueing long into future. Despite not perhaps classic, but for those needing another dose of violent PE it is decent listening. 3 padges(1" pins) is not really necessary in the package. Just unpractical addition. (MA)

ISOMER, "Face Towards The Sun", cd
Tesco

Having followed Dave Tonkin's project from the first it was a great pleasure to finally get this in the mail today. This follows on very much from previous work in that is has the same darkness, sense of epic space, and the same use of intense drone and sharpness of sound that Isomer has had since the cassette releases. But to this, on this album, Isomer has added a rougher and perhaps more PE/Industrial sound. Minimally constructed synth passages are adorned with more abstract soundscaping and carefully chosen samples, each piece extremely well considered. However, as mentioned, there is a slight roughening of the edges here, not so much in sound quality (Isomer doesn't deal in outright filth) but with a leaner and perhaps even darker sound and feeling than before. The result, then, is cruel and harsh, which seems to hint at Martial Industrial, Darkwave, and even Death Industrial, but brought within the style Isomer has perfected over the years. I'm pretty enthusiastic about this, yes.

SEWER GODDESS, "Mother Agony", 3"cd
(no label?)

A heavy MZ-412 vibe seems to be right throughout this ten-plus minutes piece, but not in a derivative sense. The slow, heavy, pounding rhythm and burning electronic tones feature in the first "part" of the piece as the interestingly androgynous sounding vocals wail and call through warbling effects. The sounds seem to focus on carefully controlled synth and even guitar tones with shreds of feedback and accompanying knocks to give it some ragged edges. The "second part" features a more thumping rhythm (but in the same tempo) and some wild screams that remind me of SPK when they where good. Here is where some real emotion seems to come across, some real despair and disgust. The sound is nicely muddy and rough. I'm only familiar with the tape re-release of "The Dejection Veil" so I'm not sure how indicative this piece is of Sewer Goddess's usual style, but I can imagine this must be a lot of pleasure live. It's nice to hear some heavy Industrial rhythm without the commercial bullshit.

Skin Graft, "Dirge", 7"
Polar Envy/Mistake By The Lake

Some grinding electronics on this album. Very deep, very gritty electronic tones compete with acoustic bumps and bangs and samples of confused, frantic voices. The horse head side, in particular, has nice timing, while the rib-cage side seems a bit more frantic (reminding me of Dead Body Love to a degree). My first impression was that the album's format was a bit too constrictive, especially on the horse head side, but successive listens have led me to appreciate more the construct of the pieces as well as the sounds themselves. They are still a bit too short for my liking, though: I'd like to hear this project stretch out more. But this is a very nice introduction to the project for someone like myself unfamiliar with it.

Golden Serenades "Hammond Pops" CD
+3dB Records

It seems that Golden Serenades is a band that rarely gets raved within these circles but I know that there are a few other admirers out there. Seems like the label is not particularly well-distributed within the ordinary scene nodes but I hope that doesn't mean this would go unnoticed due to that. The CD is packed in a nice embossed and foil printed digipack, inner sleeve decorated with a majestic mountain photo. And majestic it is, one long slowly evolving maelstroem. As the title suggest, the primary sound source apparently is a Hammond organ, and in the beginning and few other spots the presence of the instrument is obvious. However, the primary beef here is not the instrument itself but rich, detailed, and DEEP noise - rumble, crash, full on roar. It is somehow a miracle to me that no matter how messy and distorted their sound is, there's always a lot of details and depth, apparently John and Jørgen employ their sound engineering abilities in full to realize these works. Without doubt one of my favorite (new) noise releases of 2009.

Xiphoid Dementia - Might is Blight CD
Existence Establishment

This is one of the weirder albums that I've had a chance to listen to lately. I cannot decide how to evaluate it because everytime I listen to this album, I get absolutely different emotions and thoughts. One thing is clear - it is best to listen to it when it's dark or growing dark outside or when it's not quite ok with your mind. During a full moon, let's say. Maybe it's personal, but quite often I was left asking myself why the album looked so good just yesterday and now it seemed absolutely colorless. Time of a day, state of mind...
This release is very strong from the technical side. Clear, multilayered and precisive sound, rich and varied compositions, continuously evolving and convincing. But it is impossible to describe the full album in just a few words. I haven't heard creations of Xiphoid Dementia before, but in this album, it seems that the most important of all is the main goal/thought of the album, regardless of tools or style. From elements of musique concrete through dark ambient to neo classical, noise and even touch of power electronics. Album starts with majestic title piece where martial rhythms, synth melodies, squeaking foundations of reality and woman voice forms one strange and frightening creature. It sounds like it would be a soundtrack for a final massive scene in the movie. The following song smells of a sea. "Never Power Ocean" transforms from calm and meditative to curiously exploring song. I've lived by the sea for the last several weeks so I can tell without a doubt that these sounds convince me. It is true, sea and ports in there differ from the ones I've seen. This piece is more like exploring the ships that'd sunk long time ago and now rests here, covered in rust and absolutely still in silt. Gradually you move there and become the part of the world, existing there. From careful touching of sound textures, this piece transforms into fierce attack of noise, which, after 20 minutes of rather calm album is a rather unexpected cold shower. By the way, it is worth mentioning that all the pieces in the album plays more than 10 minutes and the whole length of it is well more than one hour. The next big picture of Xiphoid Dementia - Dead Hunter. This track continues the active noise of the last one - siren, synth sounds and voice. Vocal that appears in the middle of the album surprises once more, but I cannot get myself to like it. It seems that it does not fit in there and I cannot glue the voice and music into one picture anyhow. Next station - by the strange highway. Creaks of constructions, squeals of brakes, sounds of broken glass and finally the sound develops into rhythmic noise. It seems that in these two tracks, the culmination of the album was reached. Mechanized Salvation - anxious and full of strain, but not openly aggressive track. It sounds more like a futuristic model of the world. Penetrating metallic darkness when you try to see what's in front of you and not realize that the real danger is behind you. Xiphoid Dementia plays one more game in the last track. None Shall Inherit The Earth seems like a calm and dismal landscape from the first seconds. So you prepare yourself for happy ending, but after a few seconds this insipid and tender vision is teared apart by fierce vocal (in here I like how it goes) and this piece is raising the strain till it explodes and soft sounds are covered with a layer of noises and effects. The sight becomes different than it seemed from the beginning. It feels like Xiphoid Dementia specially tortures you and doesn't let you breathe easily. Album stops and ends. This is really one interesting and not ordinary release, full of colors, consonances and moods. The pieces themselves (the artwork hints that too where every separate page is dedicated to separate song) works as if they would be separate pictures, visions, stories. Long, complex and versatile... I like this work of Xiphoid Dementia tonight. I like the suggestiveness of it when the first snow falls and they greyness is here.

THE RITA, The Voyage Of The Decima MAS
Troniks/PANrec
Challenging recording. A lot of "Wall Noise" can be pretty much just turned on and have on in the background, Furniture Noise, like ambient with lots of distortion in a way. This album is a bit more involved. Recordings sourced from a diving expedition, exploring the sea wreck mentioned in the album title and using a specially manufactured "ocean mic", the sound is on a cusp between the original field recordings, all glugging, splashing water, and some hard, snarling distortion sounding pretty much like the microphone originally kept coming out of the socket. Instead of a wall of intensity, this is teeth-clenching grit mixed with the usually soothing sounds of waves. The result is something with a great deal of tension, and not a lot of relief. The sound is crisp and digital but not drained of feeling, however it's not something one can either really relax to or sit and listen. Feeling, in this case, is no the same thing as having a direct emotional impact. It doesn't sound "right". Evidently that's the aim; whether it's a worthy aim is another point. I'm a bit ambiguous about this album, as there doesn't seem to be anything I can latch onto and while that can be said as a point in favour, it may end up being something I just "own" as opposed to something I want to have. In a lot of ways, it's almost like an academic, sound-art kind of album, rather than a full-on Noise album I can get my teeth into. So, yes, it's challenging, it has focus, it has feeling, but - I'm not that rapt with it. I hope that it'll be something I come back to in a few years and "get".

Sterile Garden / Somalia - Split
Agharta

This is the first release of Agharta tapes. One hour of sound from experimentators with sound, completely unknown for me. On one side of the cassette - Sterile Garden. Not quite new project, that consists of two persons and have already done several releases. Despite the fact that after the first seconds I was quite sceptical about this duo, my opinion changed with the spinning of the cassette. It looks like Sterile Gardens concentrates to raw as possible field recordings (by my interpretation, it is revealed in the title of the side - "Touching destroys the art"). The very beginning - something similar to a poem being read, but I can't fully understand that because the quality of the recording is really horrible. The following minutes gave me the impression that this side will be some occurences of conceptual art or so, but for my gladness, I was wrong. The record grows into some stage of musique concrete, after that it transforms into continuous, monotonic and rather static element of sound. I've been listening to it for quite some time, but still don't know what to compare it with. It sounds like wandering by the chapped dinning network of pipes that carries the dust in the non-operating building; it is the squealing of the train brakes, dilated in the perspective of time and so on. But not everything in here is so static as it could seem because the constant, almost invisible and inaudible movement around the main axis of piece is felt. The theme changes in several places and forms even peculiar musical chord at the very end to my surprise. Unexpectedness gladdens, you want more, but no. The Sterile Garden's side of split is divided into several pieces which I don't understand why, for it interrupts the whole feeling, but let it be. For the last part - the main theme differs from the previous in several tones. It changes very slightly and finally concludes into different chord. Peculiar meditation and not that bad of the side. Next participator in split - Somalia. The quality of record - similar (i.e. lack/none of quality). Similar monotony and bleakness though a little different. It starts like the recording of ordinary day in exotic African country. Distant sound of radio and musical elements, laid out like a mosaic. They get homogenous after some time, but not for long. In places it irritates me, but then draws interest again, then I stop paying attention, after all it transforms into multilayered painting of sounds and so on during the whole side. Maybe because of this "variety", it's harder for me to listen to this contributor. In places it annoys me and the change of sounds drives me mad little by little... The end of this side is also very weird. It looks like it ended because the cassette ended not because it was intended to end. But... This release of psychedelic experiments doesn't give way to any considerations. It might be the thought of the author, experiment or so. Strange hours passed while listening to this record and trying to understand it or to explain it in logical senses. No, it is not created for that. You feel it or not perhaps. As for me and the feelings - I didn't get it. Though I'd evaluate Sterila Garden's contribution to the split more positively. Somalia sounded more like a collage of accidental sounds.

PRODVKT, "Serie H"
Turgid Animal Italy
Who was "the monster of Florence", the murderer of dallying couples who's modus operandi was to mutilate the female, in one case sending a piece of breast to the local state prosecutor? To this day, no one knows. Prodvkt, who seems to be based in the Florence area (lucky bastard!) may know, but isn't telling. Better to express those thoughts and feelings in this simple cassette. A cold, controlled vibe, using synths, samples and other sounds. No track list which is a bit of a pity; the second track on side one has a very nice use of sample loop, a sort of ambient-ish, almost backwards-masking type sound that gets gritty and distorted through it's own deterioration. An effective piece. The sound throughout is as murky as one would hope for, but not detrimentally so, which is good as there are some "lighter" moments as well as deeper and darker ones (and somewhat noisier: second track on side two with it's lovely moaning pulse). The main thrust of the unit is rhythmic repletion of sounds, loops, grinding pulses, and a cold, dark aura. A well paced album too, not too short but doesn't drag on for too long. Not a brilliant album by any means, but "not bad" enough to warrant investigating. The tradition of death obsessed electronics from Italy continues.

Sektor 304 "Soul Cleansing" CD
Malignant Records

Portugal's Sektor 304 is one of those bands that seemed to appear on my radar overnight, not that I've got my finger on the pulse of everything new and good in the underground, but a release of this magnitude should have at least caught my attention at some point. But oh well, I'm well aware of them now and that's really what I'm here for, to be aware and make you the same.

Sektor 304 plays Industrial Music in it's purest and best form, sighting influences that apparent on your first listen: early Test Dept, Swans, EN, Knifeladder and a heavy dose of Godflesh. Far from being watered down ninth generation versions of the above mentioned acts, S-304 chews them up, digest them and regurgitates something totally their own. I know you've heard this all before, but this is one band that truly lives up to that cliché.

The album kicks off with "Body Hammer". Easily my favorite on the disc with its 55 gal drum percussion, power tool accompaniment and total Godflesh worship bass and vocal attack. This track will immediately stop you in your tracks and have your undivided attention. "Gravity Factor" deals more in industrialized noise with sporadic percussion and phased-out loops. At just under two and a half minutes, it's like a noisy interlude. "Voodoo Machine" keeps up the pace set in the first track with a layer of ominous bass and vocals, heavy-hitting percussion and atmospheric blasts of noise. Next up is the sizzling, almost ambient "Pulse Generator". It's what I'd imagine what working in one of those government radar facilities might sound like. The sounds are subtle with distant clangs of metal and an undercurrent of percussion. "The Beast" pounds and pulses with bass that plods like a mastodon, echoing vocals as well as percussion and tendrils of synth that twist & writhe like a decapitated snake.

Another slow burn is "Power Exchange". Everything revolves around the rhythm, static pulses of white hiss over factory percussion. and underlying build up of pure static noise eventually builds and eclipses all else. "Blood Rush" is another ambient vision, but not that open, airy kind of ambience. This is heavy and oppressive with thick layers of sound crushing the air out of you. A distant tribal drumming begins to take hold, hypnotic, mesmerizing until it builds to a frightening climax and comes full circle, ending as it began. "Death Mantra" is another bass/percussion heavy track that would have been just as at home on Streetcleaner as it is hear. I have to say, the way these guys make use of metal as percussion is just awe inspiring. The disc ends with the "Final Transmission". Strums of bass and layers of atmospheric noise are cut through with an almost Prog Rock injection of ringing guitar. After the heaviness of the previous tracks, it's a beautiful reprieve.

Mastered by J. Stillings of Steel Hook Prostheses and housed in a magnificent 6-panel digipak, this disc is in my Top 5 for 2009. For fans of real Industrial music, this is absolutely a must own. I don't think I've ever picked up a Malignant release I didn't like, but this one has set the bar amazingly high. And I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this project.

Websites: myspace.com/sektor304 | myspace.com/malignantrecords

Link to review (http://plaguehaus.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=346&Itemid=1)

That is great CD. With couple little flaws, I still listened 4 times in first day I got it. Despite supposedly very "cliche" old school industrial, it has much more to give than normal release you basically digest at one listening, and might be even bored before it ends, hah.

HAIR POLICE "totaled and stranded" 12"
Hundebiss Records
One sider 12" with label german shepard logo silkscreened on b-side.
It says "recorded in a hotel room after we totaled out tour vehicle and became stranded in the worst snowstorm in Ohio history". And indeed, no drums, no "loudness", more like quiet guitar, quiet hiss of open line... crackles, more hiss, something, but very little. Guitar improvised just for ultra down tuned guitar string sounds. Not drone, not "heavy"...  At the same time as you wonder, what the fuck is this, the point of "jam", quality, if any new ideas etc. But I've listened this like.. 3 times before and once more during writing this. And it has odd charm. It is just so raw without being really noise. It is just so uncompromisinly unappealing to youth gathering in "mosh pit" in front of stage prepared for crazy american noisers. No, you can't mosh this. I doubt is it even cool. It has no goofy oscillations, nothing sounds like circuit bended toys. It is just rotten and miserable. Can't recomment to people who want to be entertained. For creepy torture, perhaps the frustrated wait in room you didn't want to be, but was forced to... could this be perfection of captured mood? (MA)

RE: Hair Police

Totally agree. This is maybe my fave HP release(next to the empty quarter) Really atmospheric and by no way akin to the horrible beardnoise style this band usually gets lumped together with(Prop due to band name, which i actually also think has it's charm)

I play this record all the time when i have girls over. They seem to like and understand it better than most other stuff i play them..

THE VOMIT ARSONIST "Wretch" CD
Cipher / Force of Nature
I was quite positively surpriced this. What I recall from moment of first hearing name of project, I checked some mp3 online and filed it immediately under "some noise with yelling" US PE category, hah.. Well, what do you know, infact, this album is much more in field of death industrial afterall. c. 40 minutes playing time feel somehow short. Couple times listening this, and each time it's like "it's over now?" I thought it must be 30 minutes long or so, but it really is 40+.
I think I may like the early part the most. When vocals are just dismal talking over layers of bass heavy rumbling suffocated death industrial sounds.  When level of violence grows, it basically means that band applies distortion and long delay on vocals and starts shouting as loud as possible. The contrast of slow and morbid bass rumblings and eerie drifting songs, as opposed to "hardcore yelling", is something what I don't quite "get". I think it has similar problem as for example Institut LP, where sound is nice, vocals are nice, but they seems to be on very different "layer". Not blending in, giving impression of material performed at the same time. But I'm guessing, that this element is something what sets band apart, or lets say above a lot of gloomy & flegmatic death industrial, adding dose of aggression what may be missing from many in the genre. I do like this. It is above my expectations. I do feel that band has more to offer. Now album is very solid piece in its approach. It offers really no surprices. Range of sounds, range of vocals and such are basically introduced in the beginning and that's the frame he works whole album. Something you can trust with bands like Mörder Machine, BDN etc. But I personally, wouldn't mind that each track would have its own range of sounds. That album could surprice more during its playtime. CD is packaged in cardboard wallet style sleeve with small insert and very minimal artwork. I do recommend this especially to obsessives of the genre. (MA)

Pär Lindgren - Electronic Music LP (Fylkingen)

Very nice Swedish electroacoustic album from 1986. Three tracks, first is "Houdinism". Sounds pop into the surface one at a time, quickly appear and then disspear. Sometimes I hear something resembling a rattling cage. It's like a collection of springs and toys moving around in semi-frenzy. Next is "Rummet" (Room). The appear/disapper act continues, the pace is slightly less hurried, now there is a distant hum in the background. A lot of ambiance and some "chattering" bleeps which sound almost like (comic) human voices or maybe those funny little chipmunks? On the flipside there's "Den Förstenade" (The Petrified One). Things turn more somber now, there's more silence between the outbursts. Some dark thundering sounds and locusts playing in the background. Something resembling an ominous voice is giving doomsday prophecies on top at some point. All very electronic and non-organic but that's fine with me.

Not the greatest thing ever for sure, but something about this makes me very happy. Every track moves at a nice pace and even though it's clearly soaked in academia there's nothing boring or corny here. Just good sounds. And it's easy find + cheap. I wish Finnish cultural tax-money went into stuff as good as this... In the liner notes it says this should be played "at an extra loud volume as well as with JBL 4435 studio monitors or their equivalent." I wish I had those massive "Dolly Parton horns" but this sounds very good on my Tannoy SRM12X's also...

WERTHAM "sleaze" tape
EST
First released when Wertham played in finland months ago. Now finally officially released. I can repeat basically same thing I always say: Even if you can criticize EST being so sloppy, slow and irritating, you simply can't criticize them for releases they make. Packaging is usually some of the most special & innovative, while looking nice. You won't get some spray painted piece of trash. Not some garbage duck taped together, but something with is actually "designed", and then put into reality. Always different.
This time piece of heavy black rubber "bolted" together into envelope, what is stenciled with artwork. Inside you find chrome C-20 tape with exclusive material and booklet printed on nice textured special paper with text and images.
Topics are cult xxx icons: Tiny Tove & Bodil Jensen. Information from both from books/internet, nice lay-out with rough images. I have read many of pieces, but still: essential!
Music, continues the power electronic Wertham assult, maybe vocals too buried in efx and mix, but the sound seems to actually grow even better, more complex, more density, more everything. Tasty short spoken word samples on topic...  If there would be louder in your face vocals, this would be closer to perfection in field of perverted PE observations of history of pornography. Anyways, I still underline: get this.

Pedestrian Deposit – Fatale CD (Hospital Productions, Hanson Records)

Great harsh noise made in USA. I have two records of Pedestrian Deposit, this CD and Volatile CD and I can say that Fatale is the better one for me.
This record could be divided to two different kind of approach and I think that this record is far away from a typical harsh noise record. First, there is lot of more experimental sounds going on this record. Wierd sounds, some kind of piano melodies, even some "depressive sounding" stuff, some ambient parts and generally speaking different kind of sounds far away from harsh noise. I think these calmer and more experimental sounds give nice contrast and more power to harsh noise side of this record.
Harsh noise moments of this cd are simply great. Destructive and raging sound, full of anger and power. For me this is clearly one of the records where you can really feel strong emotions through all noise mayhem, not just some random harsh noise blasting. Sound in this cd is very clear and clean and I think it suits great for this record. Overall great harsh noise record with lot of more experimental parts.

Leif Elggren - Is There a Smell on the Other Side? (cd, Firework Edition)

It's a strange one, as is to be expected from herr Elggren. Basic material is very simple, short loops of orchestral string music + percussion, repeated ad infinitum, slight variations and aberrations applied throughout the disc. Like a chaotically skipping cd-player from an alternate universe, a mix of sweet nostalgia with utmost bizarreness. On top of this we have Elggren's creaky (slightly distorted) voice narrating stories and texts about mortality, the passage of time, the passage of food through the mouth and out the ass, his biological father as a sewage system worker, the intestines of dead Swedish royalty etc. At some points he gets into a proper frenzy and one can just imagine the spit and foam ejecting from his mouth. Like the deranged guy at the street corner, rambling about crazy things that make TOO much sense for your liking... you just cannot stop listening.

Clearly not for everyone, 60+ minutes of this is not for the faint of heart. But personally I'm totally enthralled by this album. There's something about his voice and delivery, they smack of total conviction and obsession. And even though the texts don't really make too much sense on the surface, they all fit together somehow. There is a theme there, a plot, even if I cannot completely grasp it right now (or maybe I'm just successfully scammed...). And the looped music feels nicely discomforting by itself, like the David Jackman disc we discussed in another thread (though Elggren is not as subtle as Jackman), a fine combination of familiarity and "wrongness". 10/10 points for total mind-fuck.

"why are we shitting and pissing in drinking water? we are not pissing in wine, or coca cola? ... a bit of white froth at the corners of the mouth, almost like a kind of sticky, grey-white, thick grease, creates a certain feeling of disgust, distaste.. but it is also, unequivocally, a physical indication of bodily decay, of death that is everywhere approaching, in every nook and cranny..."

BLACK LEATHER JESUS "Yes, Sir (Filth play)" CD
Mask of the Slave Records 2009
Got the promo of this one, but didn't fit into SI #2. I think I probably repeat myself endlessly, when I say that I find Ramirez very good noise artists, but very careless what comes to publishing. Sheer volume of releases he has done, is such a massive, that there are simply good stuff and weaker stuff. And there seems to be no logic what project sounds good and format sounds good etc. This "album", although being real pressed CD, doesn't sound like I would expect BLJ album to be. It sounds just like some random ltd. 10 copies CDR that is meant to be in hands of few lunatics who just need to consume more and more noise. But for those who'd hope CD and LP to stand out, like a lot of past Ramirez works on Freak Animal, Unrest, Tesco, Praxis Dr. Bearmann, Spatter and so on...  This can be disappointment.
Simply looking at otherwise tasty bondage&rubber fetish images, you see lame layout and terrible pixelated jpeg compression junk infested quality. It's like.. what? Doesn't label or band even bother to search good cover for CD they intend to make 500 copies? This disc itself has 4 pieces of noise, and while it is guaranteed routine blast of harsh noise,... well, in other hand it isn't exactly that. If you are satisfied listening the one dimensional rumble and distortion of the pedal, that's what you get. For those who like anything BLJ does, this won't be big disappointment. If you want to hear flat sound of "everything turned at max", that's what you get.
But a lot of time I personally find the sound annoying. When there has been several minutes of decent heavy simple harsh rumble, and suddenly by push of pedal it changes into pretty anoying high pitched "fuzz", which has the type of crackling quality I often associate with lo-res sound, I'm asking myself why? What is this? How THIS should be a CD, while BLJ and Ramirez has shown so much talent from beginning till today. Has shown that there can be great stuff, but it seems like responsibility of label to chose it. To ask for more material, to ask for other session. And so on. Like none of FA releases are just album band sent. Weak material has been removed or updated with better. And I think therefore those both BLJ & Ramirez releases stand out from a lot of others.
This feels as if label got CDR and said "ok, lets press it". Without thinking of any other options what would actually make CD stand out in discography. Not even thinking how easy it would have been to get cover images not blown up/stretched from some smallest on-line images...
While 6 people are listed to be part of this, it sounds like one sound source was used. It has no texture and drive in style of best BLJ. I'm sorry to report, but I would rather suggest to get some of his other projects, like Last Rape or Werewolf Jerusalem. They are of course more wall of noise oriented, but some of releases on that field are top quality with more interesting sounds and textures. This, in other hand, probably weakest of BLJ's pressed CD's. If it was CDR ltd 20 on Deadline, I'd say it suits its purpose. To be almost only real CD release of small european label, it seems like money was invested in totally wrong place. (MA)

V/A ELEVEN NOTES IN BLACK - Various Houston Artists Noise Compilation CD
Mask Of The Slave Records 2009
About same time as I re-issued to me some of the classic old Houston noise tape comps on Industrial Recollections (V/A Tension State Collapsing I+II 2xCD), came out this compilation that was compliled over 10 years later by very same mr. Richard Ramirez and put out on Romanian label. It's curious to compare how things were then and how they are now.
In a way, one could say, things haven't changed that much. Houston harsh noise is still characterized by filthy and rough harsh noise. Basically the landmark sound of "american harsh noise of 90's". No Japanese influenced hifi, no super layered and edited material. Just crude rawness was was originally packaged in C-60's with xerox sleeves.
Melani Riehle (known from Limacon, Baptist Skin Community, Rapecity,..) continues well with the tradition. Simple wall of noise, with enough of texture to keep it interesting. You can spot some tones and random bass rumbles below the surface of fuzz, feedback and crackles. Everything is pretty flat, not very distinctive sounds, but in this case, can be given as positive attribute.
S.P.I.T. is scott houston, known as member of BLJ and Respirator, and his style could be kind of classic houston. It is very harsh, very nasty, but sounds like one take live in studio. Some vocals noise, some feedback, very much same range of sound as "deadline crew" in general. It's relatively dynamic. Like Masonna and Randy Yau, with all the "coolness" and artistic merit that may appeal to "outsiders" removed, and focused on just underground noise filth. I like it.
Loudspeaker is GEorg Markoff, also known from Wasp Honeymoon etc. His sound is the heavy wall of noise. Low bass rumbling, very widely stereo separated crispy high end. It doesn't sound violent, more like creeping & slowly moving wall. It has enough of texture to be interesting, but also compared to tracks before, quite carefully balanced.. making it in the end pretty.. soft? I guess wrong word to use, but it lacks any element of danger and loudness. Still pretty decent track.
T.E.F. should be no news to anyone into texas noise. Also member of BLJ, but his solo work well known. And not without reason. His style could be perhaps compared to analogue times of Thirdorgan and noise works of Monde Bruits? It has fast moving electronic atmosphere, but no aim to create heavy bassy rumble or brutal lo-fi harshness. Track could have been perhaps before Loudspeaker, since when the track before was so fully abusing all frequencies to absolute maximum, T.E.F. sounds slightly silent in comparison. But this is one of the artists that should be published more on LP or CD!
Last Rape, is one of the endless Ramirez projects. It seems like projects have pretty vague concept in style. There is some name, but it could be also published under other name. Like now. This isn't perhaps the similar Last Rape what I have heard recently, but this is great. It's heavy, it's slowly waving, like harsh noise take on death industrial / dark ambient. It's massive and bassy, but also a lot of great detail, density, and kind of subtle tonality what changes nature of sound from "noise" into something else. Of course, no melody, but some sort of obscure harmony. Fucking amazing, one could listen this track for half an hour and just sink into it.
Concerete Violin had unfortunate duty to be the next. And his quite routine short noise blast couldn't really bring anything special after supremacy of Last Rape.
Forced Orgasm originally from Japan, now living in Houston TX, also brings easy slighly droning noise. It has high pitched fuzz what sounds as if computer distortion would have been applied in top of everything, making it crispy, but also somehow covered in veil of flattening effect. When track proggresses further and you start to forget what happened on previous tracks, I start to appreciate this. Not phenomenal, but good.
Werewolf Jerusalem has to unfortunate role again, to be nearly 100% similar in range & types of sounds, but just being inferior in substance. Problem of wall of noise is that it is good if its good. But when its bad, its bad. You known from beginning of track that this it is. There's not going to be changes. And from beginning of this track, I knew it simply won't stand out on this compilation. It's like sound range of Forced Orgasm without substance. Composition close to Loudspeaker, without good sound and interesting texture.
Baptist Skin Community another Ramirez related project. Good name. That's one of the reasons why I bought many of the tapes of project. And they don't fail here either. One could say the track basically walks hand in hand with Last Rape. It's dark, slow, noisy, but not exactly plain noisE. Minimalism of wall is decorated with subtle structures and good sound. No computer distortion like pitch, but suffocating and nasty. End of track is nearly like waves of ocean.. which it might be?
In the Lands of Archers is duo with guys from Last Rape and BLJ, but no Ramirez here. And you can see where perhaps some tonality and certain other qualities of Last Rape emerges. This lacks the crudeness of Ramirez hand, and is more hi-fi, hight pitched, but pretty unique. Below crystal clear feedback & electronics, you hear echoing spoken sounds and tones. Very distinctive sounds. Without being too clean, you can easily spot all the layers and elements that create this great piece. Band only has handful of CDR's done between 2002 till now, I guess mostly on their own label. And probably sold out long ago. I wonder if their full length output matches quality of this track?
CD is completed by White Nurse Black Death. Ramirez and members of Kai-Ros. You can hear the very typical effect boxes Ramirez likes to use, but it's nice. Is it ultra fast delay effect turning sounds to oscillating drone? Is there bass guitar on back? Clashing metals, some high pitched fuzz. Perhaps sound not totally ideal, but the texture is rich enough to carry short harsh noise piece to end with pride.
While I'm not too keen on the cover art or design, I would strongly recommend this. With few weaker points, especially as companion to Tension State Collapsing, it is very good way of getting to know with this whole Deadline / Houston / BLJ scene.  And once again, it simply keeps surpricing me, how little quality control Ramirez has when putting out his own works, and then when he is curator of compilation, he managed to pull out pretty much some of the best things in noise???
Well, conclusion, if you want something from Ramirez or Mask of The Slave label, let it be this compilation! (MA)

RAMLEH "valediction" CD
Second Layer, slr004
This was waited in kind of horror. After atrocious Kleistwahr LP, I couldn't really imagine how would be Ramleh PE comeback album. But I'm glad to say, it is actually good. It is also pretty unusual in context of PE today. It is recorded in studio, which gives it different atmosphere than many others have. It doesn't have the "in your face" blown up tape saturation. Neither the totally maximized computer atmopshere. It has sense of space, and certain amount of characteristics what studio has.
Even if it conquers new territories, it has certain elements of Ramleh. Droning guitar feedbacks, massively delay in vocals, making it almost like layer of noise instead of brutal attack. It fits pretty well to bleak and hopeless lyrics. Approach Ramleh has in writing lyrics differ from .. well, one could say everybody else in PE. I like the most the track #4. All the tracks are untitled. This has the heaviest bass noise together with piercing high pitched feedback. When second layer (hah) of feedback slowly fades in and atmosphere is very dark. Completely instrumental track manages to override many vocal tracks by better definition of sound.
Most certainly the last track is the thing what will most likely go to love it or hate it category. After 30 minutes of kind of "expected" atmospheric PE sound, band suddenly starts the very last track with fast paced bass synth (?) electro beat and fast paced almost melodic vocals. It's all buried in layers of guitar feedback and fuzz and vocals are distorted too, but the overall atmosphere goes very much into fast paced... hmm.. what it is? gothic-electro? Post-punk? I don't know. It is nevertheless something very much unexpected and new. When I first heard it, I was taken by suprice, but it's perhaps just 10% of playing time afterall. And we've heard nearly similar leanings towards music in later days Sutcliffe Jugend too.
CD is packaged in cd size gatefold cover, with 8 page booklet with lyrics. I'm pretty surpriced that quality of many images is pretty low resolution and blurry. Especially visible in inside artwork of booklet. I'd hope this "trend" on blurry www images would go over soon and bands and labels perhaps value not only content of image, but also it's technical quality. (MA)

THE RITA "the voyage of the decima MAS" CD
Troniks, tro-293
Holy shit. tro-293! I wonder what will be tro-300, since that's probably more than most of noise labels will ever reach in their existence. But if focusing on this release instead of label, I must say I was taken by surprise. Where is the WALL OF NOISE? Not here. The Rita has done something I'd feel very much unexpected and perhaps even unique. One could compare this in some ways to Kassettemusik by Sewer Election. From outsiders view, they look like results where artists has felt that they have really proven to everybody what they are about. To such extent, that instead of another "easy" and "entertaining" release, artists simply dives head first into difficult approach, what may or may not appeal to people who heard it before, and may or may not work as "noise release". Where Kassettemusik was full of lo-fi tape loops, basically going nowhere, just muffling crudeness under very hazy vision which isn't particularly noisy, not aggressive, not that harsh. Not very relaxing... more like.. hmm... Dysfunctional & difficult? More like avantgarde art, where there is vision and manifest, but for anyone who isn't really part of the "target group", can't understand what the fuck is so clever about few lines and geometric shapes thrown in piece of canvas. Anyways, The Rita here, he doesn't seem to have slightest intent to create anything harsh and heavy. No fast driving bulldozing noise walls. No constant audio bombardment. This is just c. 1 hour track of almost nothing but slightly crackling sound and loud "tape hiss" of underwater snorkling recordings. It doesn't sound really that much of some underwater movie effects. It sounds more like piezzo contact mics combined with "nothing happens". Of course things do happens. But what happens won't follow the traditions of harsh noise genre. This sounds more like sound installation and avantgarde art. It has concept, which is backed up by artists personal interestest, visual presentations. Hands-on approach in process, and finally it is very very far from rock&roll'ish entertainment. Somewhere in middle of CD, you will hear distant sounds of waves of ocean. Otherwise, imagine piezzo in your hand, queezed once in a while, and very tiny big muff type distortion on it. Lots of high tape hiss style of sound, most likely just amplified "silence" by distrotion pedal. I have pretty hard time relating to this piece. I do admire the extreme stance and utmost personal approach, but as a listener, it's like staring a black square, knowing it's worldwide celebrated piece of art, and seeing pretty much no reason why exactly. But in other hand, I'm very glad on the "return" of difficult music angle on noise! (MA)

MIKE IX  7"
chrome peeler records
Vocalist of Eyehategod fame doing his solo poetry reading over electronic bacgrounds. A-side is pretty good. The long piece, possibly already used in his book(?), is printed in insert, same text read loud and clear without any effects. On the back Ryan McKern does electronics. It's at the same time powerful, well made and contributing to the reading. I'm not even sure what the text means. It is just flowing obscurities through your head. Listened it few times, and as much as I like it, I can't really point out what exactly is topic and what this text is about.
After such a good piece, I find it little disappointing that b-side is nothing but re-release of Bloodyminded song from "Giftgivers" album, where Mike contributed vocals. It is the typical Bloodyminded improvised wall mandatory "helicopter noise" synths with multiple layers of screaming, growling, yelling and howling, where vocals of Mike are on front of everything. I think idea was good on True Crime, but it became old pretty fast. Gift Givers was already pretty dull listening experience after all. And comparing material now on split 7", it just underlines conclusion.
Splatter vinyl, full color sleeve and supposedly booklet & poster, but that means one poster, which includes slightly extended 7" front cover on one side and text on other side. I don't really qualify folded poster as "booklet". For this one song, I guess it's worth paying the money of regular 7", but I don't think worth spending any unusually high price on it. (MA)

COLD CAVE — Cremations CD
Hospital Productions HOS-248
It´s pretty rare to find a classy combination of late 70´s to early 80´s spirited new wave electronics and noisy industrial these days, but this is exactly it. Tracks are mostly short (20 songs here), maybe too short in some occasions - with this recipe some tracks should last forever for my taste. Synthetic sound is cold and the feeling dark all the way, vocals vary from clean dark gothic style to speeches to fx filtered ones where you can´t hear everything, but get the message. Material from ´08 ep, ´09 tape and ´07 lp + couple more songs compiled in one compact disc by Hospital Productions, very much appreciated since I didn´t know this project before. Recommended for those into dark, cold, minimalist and rhythmic electronic music. Also available in vinyl format.

MB/MAOR APPELBAUM, Neurotransmitters cdr
R.O.N.F. Records, 2009
Say what you will about the flood of new MB recordings, this release, at least, is a very satisfying example of how to do Ambient Noise. Two pieces of echoed distortion, synth and effects that have that lovely, chasmic, distant yet concrete sound I enjoy. It's musty and gritty while being echoed and slightly cosmic at the same time. It's extremely reminiscent of Astro, actually. There's enough lower fidelity grit on these recordings to soothe me from fretting about any too-cold, too-digital sound that would ruin, for me, the experience of listening to MB. In fact, this album turned out to be a lot better than I admit I was anticipating. While it doesn't come into the "so great I need to hear it only occasionally" department, it is good enough to withstand repeated listens without grating or getting boring. But there was always a certain mind space when digging MB (I have to admit my complete ignorance of Appelbaum's output, so I can't compare) which doesn't always compare when listening to other recordings.

SINK "the process" LP/CD
Rusty Crowbar / Kult of Nihilow / Kaos Kontrol
CD version has been out for long time, and I have it, but for reason or another never listened it. I guess main reason is, that it is just somewhere so deep in piles of cd's, that anytime looking for things to put on stereos, it just isn't the first thing your hand will reach. But when LP came out just now, and carried this slab of vinyl home, it was first thing I put on stereos. And I have to say, that I must regret not listening the CD earlier. We're talking about something exceptional. Could this be about first 100% successful results of crossover of ambient/experimental/drone/sludge?  All the time you hear the most boring drone-doom bands, who can't reach anything within context of music, but neither have any real talent within experimental sound. Sad examples of metal watered down or experimentation being clumsy and artificial. Sink is nothing like this. I guess it was mistake to talk about "metal" here in first place, since there isn't any. What might might make some to do the reference, is the use of electric guitars, bass and drums in some songs. Opening piece "Weakness (The Process)" is like religious mass performed with massiverly reverbed echoing slow drums, droning guitars playing hardly any riffs, but floating around like the feedback guitars of Godflesh or such. Combined with vocals what are between monk choirs and simply non stop deep vocal drone. It lacks pretty much any musical element you can link to rock/punk/metal. Advantage of this, compared to more "traditional drone", is that material actually goes somewhere. It is based on conventional instruments, but it is purely experimental sound.
2nd track Ascension is perhaps even more obscure. Distorted guitars are pretty much abandoned and deep percussive rhythm created with stead beat of drum, acoustic guitar and layers of waving electronics and drones and howling voices create music unlike ever heard. Last and shortest on B-side "Deserted", goes down to dusty distant coarse drones, echoing subtle harmonies and overall dreamy atmosphere.
On 2nd side, "Receiving Silence" starts with audio collages of machines, deepest and bassiest electric singnals, disturbingly high synth noise, possibly reserved sounds of trains. "Resignation" goes to more ethereal soundscapes, not far from something you could expect to be on Drone Records. Simply very pleasant droning harmic sounds, which most likely is processed guitars. "Borderzone" goes down to more Cold Meat type of deep and colossal pitch black dark ambient. Perfectly drifting piece is not dominated by cheesy keyboards or such. It is simply phenomenal piece in its style, with slow deep waves, sinister distant choirs, in and out going sounds. And it naturally progresses into last final track "The Silence", which blends in the dark ambient into perfect closure reminding of beginning of album. Now sound is distant but heavy. Drums echo far far away, vocals are like monks in cathedral, instruments saturate into echo and droning feedback. You can hardly talk of "riffs", but song is formed out of few slow chords what makes it perfect.
So what exactly this is? Due little amount of "music" (if you want to call it that), this album is pretty unlikely to surface to many noise/experimental distros or hands of listeners, even if it should! With the little music it has, it might be too abstract for those who expect some heavy sludge-doom. Sink simply goes outside the genres to create something very unique, which is a miracle in days of failed crossovers and in other hand genre conscious products. I should have the CD listed in distro, for LP you may need to approach some others. I urge not to make same mistake as I did, just give it a chance and grab something what could potentially be the one of the cult recordings of our times as soon as dust settles and all the lame garbage that was now popular in related genres is being valued as they deserve.. heh..  

Even if I think "The Process" is a very good and unique record, I must say that it was a bit of a let down after witnessing some really good gigs from the band - too bad they play live so rarely. But in any case, thumbs up and recommendations!

Well, there is next LP coming very soon, with possibly going further? I think the very early shows I saw them, it seemed still pretty much this "new school sludge", but with changes in line-up, new drummer, more originality, more everything and band is indeed going much further than many and evolving over genrelines.
Of course the live gigs with intense sound pressure, might be heavier and noisier than home listening, but I think that is benefit of group that they work (for me) on both realms.

Grunt - Petturien rooli (Freak Animal, cd)

Nine songs about war, prisoner camps, racial hatred, patriotism and aggression towards traitors. Set in WWII, more specifically in eastern Karelia, occupied by Finland in 1941-44. Lyrics deal with fierce cruelty, accepting it with no alternative, disgust towards the bolsheviks & their collaborators and the decaying stench of bodies in concentration camps holding the Russians and "suspicious" Finns. Pretty traditional PE themes, I guess, death and nationalism.
The songs themselves are largely crafted from fairly short loops, giving them a pretty compact and tight feeling. The sound material itself seems to be quite varied and complex but it's broken into pieces and pushed into serving the overall feel of the tracks. And there lies simultaneously the great strength and weakness of this album. On one hand the tracks are strong and there is no redundant filler in them. And on the other hand they lack a bit of "air" or spontaneity. It feels very composed, but composed only in the short time scales. I would prefer a more "live" approach or at least development of themes on a grander scale. Somehow the structure is too traditional for me, too much like a rock album. It feels crushing and dangerous but still constricted in some sense.
Anyway, there's a lot here that I enjoy whole heartedly. The best moment might be the majestic parts of Raatteen Marssi, where the militaristic nostalgia is captured almost perfectly. Also the noisier and looser excess of Piikkilangan Takana suits me very well. The shouted vocals are strong and the straight spoken word bits fit in pretty nicely. In some way it all succeeds in feeling like a document, not really a personal attack of uncontrollable rage, more like a well thought out research project. Which might explain the lack of spontaneity, maybe it's just not warranted here.
So, not really entirely my cup of tea (like a lot of PE) but close enough to make me want to spin it once in a while.

_{mut nyt vittu riittää tää lahtarimusa, seuraavaksi kuuntelen Selkkausta....}

CHOP SHOP "Rusty hum" 3"CDR
CHOP SHOP "Hello" biz card CDR
Banned Productions
Two releases that came before latest full length CD. Hello is just 3 minutes of wall of noise. Many people have hailed Chop Shop as one of early influences for wall of noise, but that seems like not entirely accurate... but in this case, it does. 3 minutes is steady and hard, rather one dimensional and surprisingly distorted harsh noise. It has the typical stillness of amplified noise rumbles moving nowhere, just hissing and grinding in weird static quality. Hello is from 2006. 3 minutes is over so quick, it's really more of irritating release than anything else!
On 3", what came out 2003, there are 16 minutes of material. This is very very similar to atmosphere presented in Tension Charge Discharge and Smolder 3"CD's on V2 label. Packaging is less special, and format is burned disc (which didn't even work in one of my cd players. had to play with another). But musically, rusty hum, that's what perfectly describes what it is. Methods of composition is Chop Shop standard. Rusty and decayed humming and rumbling noises played through custom made art speakers, chopped into short pieces put together seamlessly with straight cuts. No fades from one to another, no mixing tricks. Just  zzzzzzzzzz/xxxxxxxxxxxxx/hhhhhhh/hchchchc/ffffffffff. The atmosphere is not build by composition or edit. It is all about the grainy textures and beauty of minimalism of decayd sound. Business card is pretty much routine job, and too short to really justify buying. Rusty Hum, in other hand, is essential if you worship Chop Shop. If you just want to get the very best of band, perhaps the steel plate 2x10" and V2 cd's will satisfy most of your needs?

Well, time for some short ones on Corrosive art

MIXTURIZER "stereotypes" biz card cdr
Corrosive Art ca-10
Man behind RONF records, and early 90's used to run Cadaverizer Records which mainly did noisecore. He's still doing noisecore, but now perhaps leaning more into harsh noise. As teenage boy, I did have pretty much interest towards his Potabilizadora and Genital Masticator. This new project Mixturizer is pretty much hit & miss type. In one hand, I can appreciate harsh noise he comes up with, but at the same time I feel it ain't that special. Most of all, it is dominated by hyper compressed digital computer distortion. Nothing is bad really, but it is very generic noise of today. Not very dense, not very dynamic or interesting sounds. Just loud noise with digital finish. 4th and last of these short tracks is infact the best, and that is because it tends to go into territory of minimal electronics instead of full on noise. Limited to 25, and released back in 2008, so well...

LOWLIFE "piece of shit whore" biz card cdr
Corrosive Art, ca-11
Mr. Lowlife disappeared couple years ago suddenly. He is known as man behind Antihumanism, which put out for example Grunt/Taint split LP among many other items. Several months of silence suddenly was interrupted with news that he had been behind the bars for a while. And perhaps what makes it more interesting, is that reason of the jail time was violent attack on the girl depicted in the cover photo, with the flesh-hammer in her mouth. Perhaps more of just matter of personal life, but since it's depicted on cover of cdr, I guess it's public enough to be mentioned. 5 minutes of audio here is heavy and highly distorted electronics. It's like bolts creates of tones of keyboards distorted into maximum. Some more lively sounds there too, and samples from Meatholes (I assume). It's very digital, but unlike in Mixturizer, I'm not really disturbed. It suits the crystallic nature of these noises. It isn't about inventing the wheel again, but Lowlife has proven to be one of the very low profile projects which may eventually be noticed when time of these ltd 29 type of releases is over.

HALTHAN "poetic justice" biz card cdr
Corrosive Art -ca 09
2 tracks in 5 minutes. first one is Stanford Society. Pretty heavy and gloomy software synth noises and heavy flanged voice. Not far from some Ex.Order and Sektio-B and the whole Steinklang type of heavy electronics. Not noisy, not hard, just heavy electronics. There is a drastic difference with this, and Halthan live. Live shows benefit from raw and harsh feedback ridden abuse, but often turn into drunken nonsense. While releases have more industrial/euro pe approach, which is pretty well done, but lacks some fierce edge that live shows are able to create. Some balance would be nice to be found. 2nd song, patient/victim (part 1) is short outro type piece, and fuck me if I have to listen that "cops are pigs" sample one more time and I'll need to reconsider the heavy electronics tag again and perhaps replace it to drunk-punk electronics, hah..

DISGUST, Time Ruins Everything, 3" cd
Small Doses
This little album didn't start too well for me. The first two tracks composed of sparse, minimal pulsing that didn't have the right kind of sound to really grip me. The composition is good, the timing is good, it's just the actual sounds chosen seemed too banal. It's on the vocals that this project really works; an hysterical, rampant screetching shout through which Disgust renders some great delay work. So when track three, "Epiphany" comes in, mostly made up of this kind of screaming and feedback, the project begins to grow. Fortunately that's the standard for the rest of this very brief album. So, a bit hit and miss, which is not great for so short an album, but at least something to latch on to.

IRON FIST OF THE SUN "blush" tape
Unrest Productions
This UK artists is back with new recordings. Neat full color cover in pink color, pink pro-tape with on-body print. IFOTS is nice fresh attack from UK, as opposed to dirty walls or fierce metal/junk abuse, it basically relies on synth. And when I say synth, I don't mean that it would be one of the muddy sub-bass rumbling drones. But the compositions often happen in high pitched frequencies, where references could be listed for example Dominator, Death Squad, Nicole 12,... etc. But IFOTS takes their very own angle, basically leaning towards minimal synth music? It's not all about dark and heavy stereotypical throbbing, but the synth sounds sometimes go far beyond the standards of PE of today, perhaps into old industrial. There is no drum machine, there no "dance beats" or anything like that. It is just very sharp and electric approach of careful synth modulations. I recommend this, and the CD on Cold Spring to anyone who wants to hear something different for a while!

LHD – Limbs of the Fawn CD (Misanthropic Agenda)

This is very brutal harsh noise attack. Loud electronics, no breaks, no calmer or softer moments, just blasting loud harsh noise wall from the beginning to the end. This is not a "monotonous wall of noise" like some bands because sound is developing and changing all the time and something happens under the surface continually but still there is some kind of "wall" feeling on this record. This record could be described like a snow storm hitting your face with full force and it`s very "purified" feeling after listening this record with high volume. Packed in nice black digipack and there is no booklet, no pictures, no texts, no statements, nothing, just LHD and album title on a cover. Simple package suits perfectly for this great record.

Sadistic Bliss - Sadistic Bliss [Filth & Violence]
Described by Pasi as obscure monotonous metal, this tape was really unlike anything I've heard. It's metal in the since that there are drums and guitar and bass, but it the execution is far from metal. Black metal in terms of intent or feeling to some extent, maybe drone metal could be used to describe. But this is too slow to be metal. Torturous, like Chinese water torture or something. The song lengths all between 9 and 20 minutes allow for slow development. No element is overpowering, things are never very loud or explosive but that's what makes it soo good. The vocals are perfect, just audible, kind of like an itch you can't scratch. I wanted them louder at first but the distant quality just adds to the over all unpleasantness of the experience. The second track is the noisiest of the three, with a nice thick synth guitar sound pushing it forward. This isn't really metal or noise in the most basic sense, but some strange combination of elements. Unfortunately it was limited to only 50 copies, but this definitely one of the best F&V releases of all of 2009, which is saying something considering the consistency of F&V.

DAVE PHILLIPS & JOHN WIESE "at a loss for words" 7"
Blossoming Noise
Wiese with extreme back catalogue is the guy, who often does good job, but is hard to justify buying all the 7"s due sheer amount of the items available. Dave Phillips on other hand has much less. He's been around for long, though. Back in 80's as bass player of infamous Fear of God (!) and then proceeded on experimental sound. I admired the recent RRRecords LP, and seen his live shows and got few other releases. What I am slightly critical, is the thing, that despite he is indeed member of Schimpfluch Gruppe since 1991, it seems that artists involved in same circle have perhaps even too much in common? Even if everybody has been taking steps towards their own approach, especially Sudden Infant, in the end, even when you listen this Wiese boosted collaboration, I'm thinking someone could have tried to sell me the sound as Rudolf Eb.Er and I could have maybe considered it true. It does lack the typical R&G qualities & characteristics that are so unique, they simply can't be reproduced by others. But in end, similarities in composition, use of human voice, dramatic play of tension, silence, loud bursts just is so..... Schimpfluch.
I enjoy b-side more, which is busier and more in your face. A-side lets you wait... wait... listen the silence, and then AAAAARRRGHH!!!! ... followed by silence, little gagging and gnarling.. broken quickly cut noises...   Yeah. It is good. It is unique compared most of the rest, but it follows very closely some nearly fundamental elements that are known to be associated with these groups. When you first hear them, it sounds totally innovative and amazing, and later one it may feel as if they've been doing the same for decades.. very little to amaze you at 2010. But like any simply good noise, innovative or not, this is good to listen to.

breathing problem-mattress on the floor originally tape+cdr         

this is not a proper review just a few thoughts. plus im sure since this is not very fresh there have been bunches of reviews already.
this was put on the net by the band I guess. didnt sound like a tape rip, instead maybe even masterd and EQd from the master or then it was recorded with a computer because there wasnt any tapehiss and the sound was so "clean" and strong

sounded pretty good. I was surprised because I had some serious doubts about it after seeing some live clip which was incredibly  boring and poopy. fucking chains in a bowl, people dont use this anymore, try other things.

one good thing straight off was that the feedback sounded if not incredible then atleast fairly piercing and not wailing around  weak as often happens with newish bands.

maybe those little synthboxes were used and some grunt sounding junks(midrange metal banging with distortion), for my taste there could have been more well asembled junk and less pedal noodeling but the flow of things was so good and the compositions had good variety so this gets at least one thumb up from me.

tyra banks show is not a cool place for samples mind you.

edit:oops I forgot to put this under some label, everybody loves pidgeonholes and tags. mostly pretty damn noisy with some pe but there were a few tracks of pure power electronics like no contact

ALTAR OF FLIES "black tunnels" tape + 5" lathecut
Cipher
This is the special edition of release. I had recollection AoF would be more of harsh noise project, but seems like it's not accurate, at least in this case. One could file it somewhere in gloomy and noisy, but slow death industrial type of realms? Or perhaps not? Think of something what sounds like the slow and bass loaded works of Mania, with screechy metals but also some guitars(?) delivering few random drones. Thinking also other slow and bass loaded works, like some stuff of Pestdemon, Hum of The Druid and perhaps even Burial Hex? It has very raw noisy and handmade edge to it, but it's never "full on". Just brutally and lowly annihilating with slightly random direction. Tape is much much better than the lathe cut. If they attempted to get THIS sound on it, I do realize why it actually sounds pretty weak, and most of things you can hear is the loud surface noise, snaps & pops and something very little happening. Material of this type not only requires longer playtime, but format what can carry the heavy sound. Packaging of the regular tape is nice. Just normal J-card thing. But special edition is pretty ridiculous. That same tape and 5" attached to c. 7" size plywood piece spraypainted back. And about full black plastic garbage bag is squeezed roughly to "ball" and oiled piece of bandage keeps whole object shabbily together. Not only it is the most unpractical thing I saw for months, but it's so ugly, nothing justifies the size/dimensions. It's like someone sending you their trash. hah... well, I guess there was a reason for this.

I was very disappointed with that Altar of Flies tapes. The split-LP with Sewer Election was much better and I had my hopes up. The tape was just so meaningless, nothing grabbed my attention there. Just now looking at his prolific output on Discogs - no wonder he can't keep up the quality!

I haven't heard Black Tunnels, but as mentioned, the split with Sewer Election is great, and also another tape from 2009, Eremiten on Klorofyll Kassetter, is great... especially the A side, which is material recorded in 2009.

Dachau Grammophon - Ton Des Todes tape
Filth & Violence, 2009

Dachau Grammophon's tape "Ton Des Todes" consists of two pieces, both presenting grinding and crushing harsh noise layers. Most appear to be manipulated turntable sounds, therefore the name of the project? Dachau Grammophon seems obscure, since no information is given in the release about the people behind this terror.
   The artwork is Filth & Violence style black and white print, featuring nazi concentration camps and other filth. The visuals match well with the audio. The atmosphere is bleak and oppressive. The variety of sounds ranging from hissing, buzzing, crackling and such meld together into a planar and controlled entity regardless of how abrupt and broken they sometimes are. I also like how the sounds aren't so highly distorted, but instead rely more on their broken nature. In my opinion the best listening experience came with a loud volume level and some extra bass boost. Somehow the low end felt a little too thin otherwise.
   This release is not at all energetic nor positive, but very unsettling and uneasy to listen through. The length was very much suitable for such a gloomy release. I'm guessing its somewhere around 40 minutes? It nevertheless managed to hold me in its grip during the whole playtime. Instead of taking the listener to some place, Ton Des Todes builds the place around the listener.

Kemialliset Ystävät - Untitled LP (Fonal Records, 2007)

Kemialliset Ystävät is main man Jan Anderzén + whatever friends join him for the session. For more than 10 years already, he has been the leading man (at least if you ask me) within the Finnish free/forest/psych-folk scene (which includes bands like Avarus, Lau Nau, Islaja etc.). Some great sounds have come forth from that scene but consistency has maybe not been their trademark… sometimes I get the impression that they are content with the quasi-pastoral hippie style and don’t put enough attention into the sounds themselves. Anyway, Kemialliset Ystävät is usually the real thing. The releases are always good, even if the proper masterpiece has been missing from his discography. This one might be it.
Album is formally divided into 12 songs but they flow so seamlessly to each other that any track-by-track analysis seems futile. Surreal collage work is interleaved with oriental melodies, these elements shifting smoothly between back- and foreground. Vocal snippets, lo-fi samples, organic acoustic sounds working beautifully with cheesy synths. The sound field is full of material and still it feels like everything is in its proper time and place. A very delicate balance between the pretty melodies and the semi-chaotic surrealism. Like tip-toeing a fine line between a dream and reality. It’s hard to say what dominates, maybe you can find here whatever you desire? It doesn’t really sound like Nurse With Wound but somehow there is a connection.
So, it’s an excellent album. But more importantly, I would recommend this even to people who are normally not into “this sort of thing”. You might be surprised.

Gordon Mumma - THE DRESDEN INTERLEAF 13 FEBRUARY 1945/MUSIC FROM THE VENEZIA SPACE THEATRE/MEGATON FOR WM.BURROUGHS

I've had this vinyl for years, bought it for maybe 2 euros from library sale. Anyway, I don't know how many of you would categorize this, but I find this very interesting piece of 60's avantgarde music. I reckon this album has clear industrial and even noise elements. Instruments seem to be mostly self built so I don't have exact idea what kind of instruments were used to record these songs. But the sound itself is interesting and concidering the time when it was made gives it certain value, echoing from the past. I can't tell where one song ends and another one begins, because there is a lot of pauses in between.The first song "Dresden..." is decent, a soundscape to Dresden bombing. At times very industriali'ish and sometimes just quiet droning sounds. "Music from Venezia..." sounds like a classic Whitehouse track, hissing sounds pitching up and down, waving around. Then it changes to some kind of beeping and such, giving the idea of space I think? But there is samples played at diffrent speeds on the background and the song ends with noise, hissing, crashing sounds nearly like junk and finally silent sound vibrating. "Megaton..." begins with big loud noise bombasting your ears, very nice listening. Slowly starting to wave and finally pitches a bit up from bass sounds. Rest of the song seems to be just string noises, and sounds like ice breaking in the spring. Then there is a aeroplane like sample with speaking sounds, and the track ends with normal instrumentation, drum beat playing.

Good play every now and then. It is interesting to hear very old noise/industrial like experiments.

THE RITA "beyond the milfoil" 7"
Self Abuse
This release, is pretty much the "culmination" of project what I need. I did just sell away plenty of CDR's, which in my opinion did pretty much the same as this did, but I decided to sell them away and instead get one of these for myself. It's hard to say more. It's just wall of noise in the style Rita perhaps best known for? Minimalistic in changes, very typical brutal pedal distortion sound rumbling. Both sides pretty much the same. All movement what there is, happens on almost microscopic level. I don't need 60 minutes disc. This 7" is perfect for what it is. It leaves little hunger for more, but it isn't long enough to question your motivations of listening the stuff.

LASSE MARHAUG "the quiet north" CD
Second Layer
Well, as opposed to The Rita, Lasse is the guy who is doing certainly harsh noise. Damn harsh. But it's restless. There are no cut ups, there are no changes what comes to overall spectrum of sound. It is non stop brutally saturated gigantic wall of noise. But it goes on. As opposed to plenty of regular wall noise minimalists one hears now, this isn't THAT. This is more of what harsh noise walls perhaps were before they were separated into subgenre itself. This is just plain old good noise. Thing is, that Lasse is incredibly talented in what he does, and despite movement of piece is restricted to something which I may assume to be table full of gear, it is going forward all the time. New elements are flowing in, new slightly different sounds or sources bombard you from all directions. Sound is indeed incredibly distorted and saturated, but not like The Rita above. You can still hear many details and many elements what generate the bigger thundering sound. 30 minutes is pretty damn good length for it. I think even 20 minutes would have done it. If it was longer than this, I would have probably started to ask for stepping outside the frame of track, and do more drastic changes. Change the whole pallette of sounds at hand. But now, it's not necessary. 1 piece, 30 minutes. It's everything else but "quiet north"! Cover images are amazing, and Second Layer haven't saved ££ on doing nice multi panelled cardboard sleeve.

KEIJI HAINO / KK NULL "Mamono" CD
Blossoming Noise
Well, I was tempted to check out what these guys can do in 2009. And in some ways, it makes my prejudices stronger, in some ways it shatters them. In one hand, you can hear that they seem to have the vision what they want to do, and how to do it, but for my ears, it's perhaps no more than 30% of time successful. 10 minutes opening piece sounds as if Haino would be in his element of yelps, yells, screams, etc via extremely huge reverb. Every vocal sound kind of cuts it off, and the massive decay follows with some delay in attacktime. But the electronics... pffff.. I mean, how more "plastic" lazer zone chaos pad jerkoff it could get? Well, lets say, that in 2 track you will hear how much more. But then little later album changes its nature a bit, when Haino enters behind drumkit and lets Null handle vocals and more lo-fi electronics. Sadly 5 minutes piece only, but it's kind of electrified free/improv. type of material. 4th track with Haino on guitar and kk on drums is most conventional piece of them. Guitar sounds sharp and clean, making the storms of guitar strings very dynamic and loud, when it isn't all the time "downtuned and heaviest" like many modern day guitar based things seem to be? 6th song is the massive 22 minutes piece, where Haino handles drum machine and vocals and electronics.  Null with vocals and electronics. It goes into more spacey ambient/drone realms, but it has the digital feeling in electronics. Last c. 16 minutes piece combines drum machines, real drums, vocals and electronics. And it is like free jazz goofiness going into amusing digital drones and echoing spastic electronic sweeps. This is not BAD, but I have hard time thinking the circumstances when it would be played again. While the best works of both of artists don't require such questions. Answer with some memorable Jap artists is: any day, any time. This release, unfortunately sounds to me more of something that could be sold to modern day audience who don't have clue how much better things could be.

DANIEL MENCHE "kataract" CD
Mego
So what is this Mego? I heard many people talk about how Mego is so huge and popular, and I was asking myself.. Megowhat ? Well, it's 2010 and I have first Mego release in my hands. Label has been around since 1995 and done about 100 releases. I know I should at least try to get Prurient "Arrowhead" cd (curiously originally foolishly rejected master by myself! Could have been FA release years before..) which is really intense and hard-to-digest PE assault. But anyways, finally to release itself. 3 panel cardboard sleeve with nice graphics. Very professional quality in all design. This c. 40 minutes piece is create from waterfall recordings and electronics. And for most of the time it is pretty much sheer wall of noise. You can sense the certain hi-tech feeling, which may be just feeling, or reality. It has no brutal pedal distortion and it's not lo-fi at all, but extremely full sound where all the frequencies are collapsing into your ear at once. Smoothly and relatively clean, but just utmost noise nevertheless. I think, that the best moments of discs are however the less in-your-face. Which is sadly quite short. But for example few minutes in end of disc might be the best. It calms down from massive flood of waterfall noise into easier to grasp textures and sounds. Menche is the master of his craft, no doubts about it. And when you think of it, his tracks on recently re-issued "Nihilist Assaultcore" and "Terror Campaign" are supreme. And he has just been growing as artist. Mego is probably in totally opposite side of genre where I feel like being, but suddenly it is amusing to see such a close connections.

Urauschwitz - Zirkuszerfall cd

It's nice to find new unknown (to me, at least) stuff that transcends the level of mediocrity that rules the land. I got this based on a recommendation on this board and I wasn't disappointed.
A Russian group/artist (?) and it surely sounds like it! Lots of vocal snippets, some spoken, some sung. Soviet style propaganda hovers beneath the surface, along with old-time German schlager sounds. It's all layered in such a way that the listener is propmptly trasported to some strange place in the past, somewhere imagined, not quite real. The disc starts out very strongly, the samples and background music work beautifully together. It's not just ambiance that is created, it's a "proper" piece of composition. Not filthy, not harsh in any way, maybe one could call the overall sound rusty? Something that reeks of old times and deterioration. I don't know if the spoken texts/songs form some kind of narrative, it doesn't really feel like that. Anyway, after a while the artitst(s) lose their grasp on the proceedings, the sound declines to "just" ambient. It's still ok but most of the substance that made the first part of the disc great is missing. It picks up slightly towards the end but the moment is irrevocably lost.
The strangeness of the sounds is amplified by the mystifying (and great!) packaging of the disc. A nice & thick cardboad fold-out sleeve with curious (and stylish) masonic & judaic symbols. The disc itself is placed insided a many-folded piece of paper with more symbolism & some Russian text snippets. My Russian has deteriorated over the years so I cannot tell much of what is said but the state of Israel is referenced along with jews & negros. Maybe there is some political agenda here but really I don't want to know... would spoil my enjoyment of this.
It's not perfect by any means, but still highly recommended. Are there more of these small Russian gems out there? This really makes me want to explore...

Bizarre Uproar / Will Over Matter split LP
Filth & Violence + Bestial Burst
BU shows their most recent style. Even more into focused and costructed power electronics, but not giving up at all for level of sheer violence. Call from the minarets, raw screaming vocals with delay effect. Suffocating static hum and fierce noise made out of piercing feedback and nastiest possible noise frequencies. One side long piece, what flows perfectly from one thing to another. No abrupt cuts, I guess no editing either, but just studio-live piece well planned & executed?
WOM goes deep into pretty unique material. It's hard to say who else would be doing this kind of thing nowadays? It is so simple and raw. Half of the side basically goes with slow bounding drum machine beat on back, giving bassy structure. High pitched oscillations on top and kind of black metal type of vocals on top. Artistic values and all that is pretty minimal. They won't play with nice effects or special compositions. Their tools at hand are cheap small boxes. WOM operates only though very basic elements, and the crudeness of whole thing is what brings the charm. I've heard this song performed live before. 2nd track is better and noiser, though. It's also very simple. Imagine the primitive creations of oldest Esplendor Geometrico for example. There is strange drum machine loop and kult figure Leo Meller talking about number of the beast on top. Balance of mix is strange, where clear and loud speach comes mostly from one channel. Leo goes into utmost obscurities about number of the beast. I'm sure Finnish listener gets more out of this than the foreign ones. Loop is very tasty and even if it last probably close to 10 minutes (half of LP side) it is simply capturing.

PRURIENT / COLD CAVE "stars explode" LP
Hospital productions
"vinyl edition of the collaboration tape for the first uk tour originally limited to 100. pulsing heavy ambient electronics. alternate cover art and one new track exclusive to the vinyl release. " That's what label says. And what I should add? Maybe that I wouldn't call this "heavy ambient". I find most of tracks more like soft and light ambient. Not that it would be necessarily negative, but if someone would say heavy pulsing ambient, it brings to my mind the standards of deep bassy humming and monotony of suffocating hiss and monolith hum. And what we have here, is often actually slow melodic, nearly new-age'ish electro-ambient. Songs actual play melodic patterns, even if it is drenched in wet reverb. It's about middle of B-side when perhaps more cold cave'ish drum machine beat with pretty fast tempo is introduced, and heavily reverbed noisier synth waves on top create more unmusical sound waves. This is possibly the best part of the LP, so it is highly unfortunate that it last merely couple of minutes. Last short track is melodic electronic music. Kind of vintage sounds and pretty good melody/harmony. And when I said the previous track was possibly the best track, it's just because the short added distorted voice and floating subtle details on this piece pretty much makes it another candidate. But Again, it's over almost before it properly starts. Being 45rpm release, I wonder does it qualify to be "LP" nowadays? Shouldn't it be sold as 12" mLP or maxi? Nevertheless, last track is only one giving kind of reference to modern day Prurient. So for fans of noisier Prurient solo material, this could be hard to digest. Those who want decent light weight electronic ambient, it will be pretty guaranteed craftmanship from these popular bands.

I haven't heard Cold Cave but could it be "heavy" to the people who normally listen to them? I was fooled once to listen to the last album by The Knife (electronic pop group here in Sweden), someone told me it was REALLY dark etc. But was it really "dark" for someone who listens to Archon Satani? No, not a bit.

Well, on Prurient standards, this is very soft. I'm sure regular Prurient fan has used to some of the most disturbing sounds. Cold Cave - I would say old stuff sounds pretty raw and dark (of course not Archon Satani..), while some of these stuff I heard on their myspace site, I was pretty disturbed by the cheap vintage electronica pop. Which seemed something that if they'd play in Finland, it should be Tavastia with warm up by Le Corps Mince de Françoise.

Are there any reviews of Dorchester Library or Silence of Vacuum floating around that you are aware of?

You mean you'd like to see reviews to know how they are? Or do I care if they are reviewed or not?
Well, I think there isn't any reviews. Dorchester Library is incest literature topic, with proper inbreed freeform jazzy percussions and loud feedback noise. Link it to Hijokaidan or such rather than any "PE".
SOV 1st and 2nd tape quite hard minimalism. Often no harsh noise, no "wall of noise", more of electronic minimalism of certain frequencies and tones with barely any motion. 3rd tape has longer playtime and perhaps even little "ambient" quality, yet it's all about the feeling as laying inside full enclosure rubber mask, listening the sound of your bloodflow, restricted breathing. Nothing happens on those tapes. It starts in beginning and ends in end. But if such "nothing" is ones interest, I'd recommend to start from #3. Then #1, and last #2.  Comp appearances are harsher, yet still minimalistic.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on April 01, 2010, 11:16:36 PM
You mean you'd like to see reviews to know how they are?

Yes, that's pretty much it. I am planning on ordering the DVD's and new Animal tape compilation and some other material I have been meaning to get for awhile now and Dorchester and Silence of Vacuum were my two choices but I can probably only afford one or the other along with the 3 DVD's and new compilation tape. Maybe I should just get "The End For Simulation Of Pro-Creation" since it has both on it (assuming there are any left). And Golden Geissel doesn't sound like it would interest me all too much.

How about Dale Gordon - "Sex In The Family"? Is that something like Dorchester Library? I see on the Discogs.com page that it says "Dale Gordon" was on a Free-Jazz/Experimental tape back in the 90's, is that the same Dale Gordon?

Dale gordon is simple harsh noise.Not sure if any comps are left at this moment, but that's easy start.

XENOPHOBIC EJACULATION/SICK SEED, split cassette
Audial Decimation, 2010
Hate to write it, but the XO side is dissapointing. The elements are all there; the relentless, cruel feedback, the harsh, hate-filled conviction of Pasi's vocals. But any feeling generated by this much rumoured performance is lost. The sound quality has a lot to do with it; it's just too lo-fi for it's own good. The editing doesn't help either, cutting off at what seems like towards the end of the actual gig. But I just can't get past feeling this is just a collectable curiosity, nothing more. A pity.
The Sick Seed side is much better. The first track features a great, rumbling loop of angry, grinding static/distortion which is then graced with sick feedback and sneering vocals; hard to pick up the words, but there's a feeling there. The second harkens back to Gelsomina's interest in smashing metal, objects and junk being kicked about with more shards of feedback and hissing static overlaid. Careful structure is the key here, each element given almost precise room to exist. The inclusion of lyrics would have been good here.

MANIC/DEPRESSION, First Blood
cassette, Filth & Violence, 2010
Savage, satisfying crunching distortion and splinters of whining feedback make up a complex lace of Noise for the overly-flanged vocals to cry and wail pain. A murky yet powerful sound. He knows when to release mania and when to let the sound flow like rock and dust encrusted lava. Side two has cavernous sounding object manipulation, some factory of abandoned machines, with the same violent angst and misery running through it. Abruptly, more electronic distortion and static comes in; somewhat lacking in the painful, downcast feeling of the prior pieces but still with, at least, the satisfying mix of murk and power. I've yet to hear Filth & Violence put out a dud and this tape keeps up the standard.

PSYCHWARD vs TEA & SYMPATHY SYMPHONY, Gas XI/Hurry My Children
cassette, Magik Crowbar, 2010
It's not often I hear something this authentically lo-fi and grimey from Australian acts. This is very reminiscent, "old school" Industrial sounding that brings to mind the feel of the usual 80's tape scene suspects. The sound is precise, grindy enough to be covered in muck but upright enough to be actually heard. "Gas XI" has hard, grinding electronic tones, distortion and hiss, sounding between outright lead buzz and distant factory sound. For it's first part a more continuous sound that gives way in the second to more sparse moments of rumbling electronics, turning and finding new ways. "Hurry My Children" is more feedback manipulation in slow, sluggish ways, the occasional sound of metal hitting metal like a slow bell, repeated loops sampled from everyone's favourite historical event, the last days of Jonestown. The pace is well controlled and the piece well manipulated, getting louder and harder than "Gas XI" too. There are only thirty copies of this, unfortunately, I'd suggest haste.

My favorite thread hasn't been updated for some time so I figured I would do the honor.

Climax Denial - One in the Chamber (2010, Hospital Prod.)
(http://i44.tinypic.com/989jdt.jpg)

This is one of those releases that reminds me why I listen and enjoy Noise or more specifically Power Electronics. Everything about this release is good. It is grating at times, subtle at other times, the vocals are perfectly mixed, the content is introduced in an engaging and assertive manner. Our opener "Heel to the Throat" has a modern American PE feel; resounding walls of low-end with strong vocal shouts with some echoing, bouncing flange type experimenting at the end. "Blood Pools (Between Her Toes)", which is the second attack, uses a full range of great effects and sources layered together violently with treated vocals. My favorite track is up next, titled "Snuff Victims Fantasy I". Sharp feedback co-existing with ultra heavy bulldozer rumbles and some vocals that sound a bit lower in the mix than with the other tracks, mysterious and timidly eerie. The final track has one of the best track titles ever, "Alive But No Longer Human." It finalizes the torment as the victim walks away defiled, desecrated and completely spoiled like yesterdays garbage. 8.5/10

Treriksroset - Venal
Stark, sharp-edged shriek tones, tightly compressed, invading auditory passages with very little in the way of relent. Though occasionally broken down into brittle, crumpled, sphinct-textures, the general presentation opens wide to full bore penetration. High level harshness all around.
The few layers involved generate consistently agonized backwash howl reminiscent at times of 90`s era Cracksteel; at others, some of Matsuyama`s recent live performances seem to be tapped: seldom elaborated or hinting at anything more than bludgeon-oriented surface dynamics, but stringing attention along for the gradually graded roller-coaster ride. A deeper, darker, ostentation occasionally pokes its head above the frazzled fray, but much of this gets ground down into iron-filed, shredded, shit-pulp. So the densities are there, in spirit, if not a major contributing factor.
As for unvarnished purity, say no more. Only the essentials would seem to comprise the materials at hand. Intuitive, uncluttered, elaborations, relying principally on brute physical force. Here words begin to fail as the raw fury of this attack unfurls and blasts crudballs of ragged rage via downtrodden rawness-cum-cess-filthification.
Few deviations escape the essential all-out assault; things nevertheless progress through an acceptably varied palate, first seething, then grumbling, once or twice ripped open via wide-bodied screech and bleat. Not at all unpredictable, but hitting hard at appropriate intervals. Spasticity gets traded off for something a bit more puritanically unsettling, and no complaints here.
Intent then overrides any pointless attempt at moving things to another so-called level. An experienced hand quite deftly guides proceedings through their limited deformations and occasional belching ruptures. This shit screams craftsmanship born of practice, one that would play very acceptably in a live setting.
Harmonizing screech textures overlap and generate otherworldly buzz-slather, but in tightly restricted, concentrated, fields. Given the ripped raw sensibility at hand, a more full-bodied harmonicaness be unwelcome, and things are thankfully kept safely within the confines of Raw Fury, abovementioned. Thank you kind sir.

Endless Humiliation - My Wife is Willing (Peel Back The Sky / Ahaziah, 2009)
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2li7io3.jpg)

This was one of my top 3 for 2009. For me it set the standard for all Noisecore/Experimental Metal/whatever that follows. Upon first listen it appears as though a few screws are loose, unhinged, you will need to right pliers. There are a few "faces" to this record, as I said in an earlier review; one of them is tight, somehow held together through-out the Noise with sounds that are not too far from the steady rhythms of old Ildjarn classics and a few instances of early Grind (yes, it sounds weird but it works here), although saying this album is anything close to Grind would ruin its originality. The drumming is mostly an endless mid-paced stammering like a full-auto unloading into your head, repetitively forcing its point home, while the guitars are dynamic, usually treated beyond recognition. The other "face" to this album is brutal bestial noise - a wild, blasting, filthy shit scattered landscape with a great story line to back it up. The vocals change often even so much at times that you can't tell whether it is a sample playing or if it is actual vocals (you can hear this on certain Air Conditioning tracks as well). One piece on Side A contains one of the best effect ridden screams I have heard that fades into a wave of noise, an instrument in its own right. This is a must. 9.5/10

Clo Goelach - Cold Womb of the Grave
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Yv8agTpGA8U/S6fNNXcpxPI/AAAAAAAAABU/O7Zf9jor66E/s400/front.jpg)

Clo Goelach is an act from Lithuania which continues a tradition of abusive and vilifying Power Electronics that resemble the sounds of the American Power Electronics scene circa 1996-Present without losing much originality. The tracks are untitled but the cover art and the acts previous releases should be the compass in which guides the listener in the direction for which the subject matter flows.

As much as these four tracks must be digested as a whole I will try and stick to my usual formula of review and go track by track. The opener begins with a soundwhirl of some type of wailing loop or some synth play, I can't discern which (if either), before we are thrown head first into a large wall of rumbling distortion. Every once in awhile some retro sounding, warbly synth sound pulls itself to the foreground of this track which brings back memories of those early zeniths of the PE genre. We are also treated with some junk abuse towards the end of the track which wakes everything back up and puts a microscope on the more sinister undertones which this release embodies. The second track produces more lo-fi authoritative crunching walls but, unlike the first track, includes a heavy and upfront vocal performance adding spice to the endless raging electronics that we have subjected ourselves to so far. The third untitled piece features droning whirls and occasional vocals samples and is a bit more relaxed than the previous two tracks but don't you worry, this doesn't take away from the atmosphere it only adds an astonishingly cold feeling to what we have been exposed to thus far and though this is outwardly harsh this track brings an eerie sense of repose over the listener as if between the treatments of torture your captor had to run out for a few hours to by a new set of pliers. Knock-knock, he's back; some knocking junk metal sounds open the forth and final track up. This one weaves and shakes in and out of itself while the consistent knocking and scraping floods the environment as the last few minutes of your life drift away inside the cold womb of your pre-dug grave.

This one is highly recommended for fans of earthmoving, heavy PE and trashy walls of sound destruction. Really nice release. I do wish it was longer and had a bit more vocals but it doesn't take too much away here. 8/10

Split - Sickseed & Xenophobic Ejaculation
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_R-mcW2ucWlI/S4_u_882b3I/AAAAAAABjKQ/Gb6iLeOfolo/s400/ssxe.jpg)

Two great P.E. artists each taking up roughly 10 minutes. Both artists have very dissimilar sounds from one another as most fans know already. Sickseed is grinding and bludgeoning while Xenophobic Ejaculation is pretty much pure sonic terrorism, scathing high-end for the most acquired of tastes.

Sickseed's contribution, V1, has a fluid structure felt through-out giving it a concealed and stalking presence. The track starts out with some slowly building low-end crackling and rumbles and then SS begins injecting it with feedback and rather deep vocals (or a sample?). This track seems to take small bits from both the P.E. and Industrial scenes every so often and uses these pieces to form its base wherein all other movements occur, which at first are fairly minimal but become more focused and concentrated when the simplistic rumbles cease and junk abuse takes over while some nicely cut-up hisses take their time at slashing instead of stabbing. Not the best SS I have heard, nevertheless it is still a very good track.

Xenophobic Ejaculation's side is a live set from a "private bunker in Helsinki." If you have heard XE you should know what to expect. For those of you who have not heard XE here is very basic (and very subjective) breakdown of what I hear during this specific session. As with most other XE releases these tracks are outright abrasive playing around loose feedback manipulation, which is the absolute main focus next to the vocal delivery. Each shriek and each frequency is sharp and thin, elongated screeching destroys everything alive. This set is as atonal as most people would care to ever hear. Vocals are nice and loud in the mix same goes for a sample played during the end of the set. As a whole this split gets a 7/10.

Definitely agree on the CLIMAX DENIAL tape. It's his strongest work yet (that I've heard).

Posted on HOLIDAYS (http://holidaysreview.wordpress.com)

Narkoleptik – Impuls Dominant (F.I.R., 2006) & So Sweet, So Perverse (Mask of the Slave Records, 2008)

In the states, unless you have a real interest, there's no way you'd've heard of Romania's "The Vampire of Bucharest". There's a decent amount of killers that have become that of general knowledge, so unless I'm living under a rock, it'd make sense that that inspiration of this album would be ultimately foreign to me.

According to the information given on the insert- all of which is in Romanian, plus, I'm paraphrasing here- says that the material aims to rebuild the atmosphere of a year of crime spanning a year between May of '70 and April of '71 in Romania's capital, Bucharest. Reading further, the album is specifically based on Ion Rîmaru, aka "The Vampire of Bucharest". There's also a good size description along with a list of attacks, all of which committed by Rîmaru.

So does the music create this atmosphere? Drenched in feedback accompanied by hateful, out-for-blood vocals that are buried deep within effects (on top of the occasional rhythmic synth line), "Impuls Dominant" is relentless and violent, never quite giving in from start to finish. While it may not be violent enough to generate the mental concept of having an axe forced through your head, it still lends itself as a hostile power electronics rendition of what was the mind of Rîmaru.

While the music stands on its own, breaking the language barrier helps drive this album in. While I chose to type up every word given and then translate it, information on Rîmaru is very readily available and will save you some trouble. Still available from F.I.R., and recommended.

Released two years after "Impuls Dominant" (with the release of a 2005 recording bridging the gap), comes "So Sweet, So Perverse" on Mark of the Slave Records based in Transylvania, Romania. There's no need for a gracious amount of information such as the last release when you're song tiles are "1988″, "They All Deserve", "So Sweet, So Perverse", etc.

Staring off with what could be heard as the echos of a young girls dreams turns dark and ominous. Submerged in echos, the album gives little of the chaos and violence as heard in the previous entry, replacing it with sounds of dark ambiance and drone- such as the fourth track, "Driving Force," the final, self-titled track "So Sweet, So Perverse," which is actually a rather depressing long organ piece.

While both albums offer a different array of sounds and feelings, each are equally haunting and dreary. For my tastes, "Impuls Dominant" is superior, giving harsh high registry that I look for in power electronics, but that certainly doesn't mean I can't foresee myself giving both an equal amount of rotation. Both of these CDrs are a bit dated, but still seem readily available from both labels.

Offerings - Black Master CS

A new collective duo in the scene of avant-garde meets power electronics, Graham Moore & Michael Ryon from Atlanta GA platform a new wave of electronics showcased in this nasty little piece of plastic, this 6 track double sided cassette is heavy, crude, and pure.
There is a nice range of electronics here of underlying abrasive pedal strikes and feedback tweaking, and an eerie smothering outcome of simple trippy beats and synth tones, Michael Ryons' processed vocals completes this with different ranges and at times different accent and language I believe, but there is a noticeable difference in the first 3 tracks compared to the last 3. There is a nice balance of difference for my taste, but not so different to bore me to tears. The ending 3 tracks are harder, uneasy to listen to and uninviting at times, but a mind numbing industrial bludgeoning to say the least.
This sounds like nothing I have heard from the United States, and that is great! Finally a differentiation that will hopefully break America, and the south into a new realm and not be regarded against the Europeans deeply rooted sounds anymore. It is good to hear something new and interesting from the south, I am sick to rip my guts out of only hearing Macronympha getting praise in the genre.
All the tracks here are untitled but I can say that the first song captured my attention from first listen. I fancy the editing of the vocals, the sounds of the never ending, and the balance. The hierarchy of this track is amazing. Track 2 is also very note worthy and playlist keeper for years to come. I feel an Argento creepiness here that is unsettling and the roots of industrial with the buzzing. These are professionals to say the least.
Satans Din did a great job with this release, pro all the way from printing to dubbing.

Sick Seed - Guilty Pleasures CS

A1 – Praise the Children (Autopsy)
Written by Autopsy

A2 – Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday)
Written by Billie Holiday

A3 – Mutiny in Heaven (Birthday Party)
Written by Birthday Party

B1 – Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Pink Floyd)
Written by Pink Floyd

One of my favorite new projects in power electronics, Sick Seed, debut release "Guilty Pleasures" insures a throne atop the kingdom of hate. Unrest Productions done a first-rate job with this release, the sounds are dubbed nicely and the artwork looks good while matching the temper of this cassette. Popping this tape into my walkman I was weary at first because I actually listened to all compilation appearances and LP first. All tracks I have listened to from this project are top notched and I was timid this cassette would not match that force, but thankfully I was wrong. This is a cover release, every track on this cassette was remade in the image of Sick Seed and I have to say, I really like these newer versions better. The first track on side A "Praise the Children" is my personal favorite on the cassette because I love the power Pekka PT created with his vocals, he made this track better than the original. You can hear fragments of the Autopsy version processed through distortion and effects as Pekka annihilates the lyrics with swift and violent anger. I can't get the phrase "PRAISE THE CHILDREN" out of my head now, this track is remarkable!
Track 2, a Billie Holiday cover is also a notable track, having source material from the original playing in the background at a normal listening speed; you feel a eerie sensation and disturbing sickness from the vocals over powering the beautiful classic sounds from years ago. This track is deranged and original in style. The 2 differences in love and hate are definitely met here. The Birthday Party cover is probably the most upbeat track on this recording because there is a rhythm to feel and react with as you're being punished with raw thumping bass and screamed at by a drill sergeant. This track is intense and put me on edge. A harsh reality of being told what to do can really piss you off.
Side B to this cassette rings in at about 11:55 and is an instrumental version of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", this is a dark track, more dark ambient then power electronics or noise, but I do hear wreckage of scrap metal abuse in the mix making a cold desolate landscape. This side is calming to me compared to side A but shows a relationship with light and dark as noted above. I am in no way saying side 2 is light but compared to the other side of this cassette, side B is the sun.

V/A Nyrkki & Kyrpa Compilation CS

A1 Pain Nail - Loan Säkeet: 1) Merkitseminen 2) Kadotus
A2 Above Suspicion - Ympärileikatut
A3 Sick Seed - Delores Read
A4 Unaction - Within Human Touch
A5 sKKK - Tahtojen Taistelu
A6 Funeral Mongoloids - Vittu Soittakaa Nopeeta
B1 Manic/Depression - The Dead And The Dying
B2 Grunt - Daddy`s Little Sex Toy
B3 Grunt - Head In A Box
B4 Bizarre Uproar - Mustat Saappaat Murskaa
B5 Wertham - Nil By Mouth (Beat You Till You Are Blue Remix)

Translated into English, this compilation is called Fist & Cock

Side A

Starts with 3 tracks from Pain Nail, Loan Sakeet begins with echoed vocal samples and a background of pounding war drum and cymbals. The spoken word is in the Finnish language and I don’t understand what is being said but I can however say it works well together. The 2nd of the 3 tracks from Pain Nail starts pounding percussion and rhythmic screeches with the same vox of spoken word behind it. I can’t really decipher when the 3rd track starts and ends but track 2 from Above Suspicion is structured more with just noise frequency and processed vocals with metal trash clanging in back drop. This is fierce, a perfect mid range and low end here. Track 3 Delores Read from Sick Seed is my favorite tracks on side A because of the powerful vocals sprayed across the landscape. Sick Seed takes the European approach with a speech of some sort at the first of their track with a sample and begins the strength of the track, hissing tape frequencies, throbbing bass and shrieks of feedback feel the air. Pekka PT ‘s voice sounds fucking evil! Unaction takes track 4 with “within human touch”, this project is new to me but I feel this project could be as strong as the rest of the Finnish crowd here. Manic screaming vocals, pounding percussion and feedback are the key ingredients to this mixture. This is a strong track, forceful and filthy. Another project I am not familiar with is sKKK, their track Tahtojen Taistelu is different from the rest of the tracks on side A because the main focus here is just a soundscape with no vocals. This unit uses what sounds like a synth and many effects and minimal percussive instruments to fill their time slot. I’m not saying this track is bad but sounds just filler to the other notable tracks on this side of the cassette. The last track on this side of the tape is Funeral Mongoloids with Vittu Soittakaa Nopeeta, the sounds are lo-fi and demonic black metal structures, the recording is not that great, I can barely hear the instruments in the backdrop but do hear the yelling over the band that just seems like back masking and satanic slur. I am not too impressed with this outfit and feel this compilation got weak towards the end of side A.

Side B

Begins Manic / Depression with a track named “The Dead and the Dying”, this track sounds like an old VHS tape ran through distortion, nothing is spectacular about this track because there is nothing to it really but a couple of sounds that are muddy. Windy and rough is the way this track plays. Track 2 belongs to Grunt with a track called “Daddy’s Little Sex Toy –Head in Box”, this is really good, the track starts with a really good sample of a lady talking about being hung upside down and left. The noise starts with bass driven pulses and trademark vocals from Mikko Aspa. This is a notable track for the entire compilation because it is very strong and has that simple procedure that works every time you here a track from this project. Nasty distortion with shredding feedback gives this track a heart. Track 3 is Bizarre Uproar with “Saappaat Murskaa”, this is a very long track of good abrasive noise and walls of distortion. This sounds like old Bizarre Uproar, straight to the point and brutal. Within the past couple of years walls have become more popular with the likes of The Rita and The Cherry Point, but I can honestly say that BU can’t be touched when it comes to this type of fierce aggression. Vocals are present on this track late but they only add to the chaos and hate. This is definitely a notable track here.
Track 4 is Wertham with “Nil by Mouth” (Beat You To Your Blue Remix), I believe Wertham is only act on this entire cassette that is not Finnish but fits perfectly amongst the rest of these great acts. High pitched shrills, devastating distortion and balls feels the air ways here with a nice mix of sounds and effects. I don’t really get the remix part here but the track itself is good. I don’t really know what else to say but go get a copy of this because it is worth it even if it is deleted by now. This release is Pro duplicated tape in polycase with xerox insert.
Limited to 250 copies.

Brighter Death Now - Where Dreams Come True CD

01. Adipocere
02. Thirtyseven
03. Sperm on Your Jacket
04. Innerwar
05. American Tale
06. I Hate You
07. Happy Nation

I purchased this CD the other day from Malignant Records and I am glad I did, I was actually at this concert in Chicago Friday the 13th 2003 and have to say that it was one of the best power electronics shows I have ever attended. This CD sounds very clear, not what I was expecting at first listen but I guess Roger Karmanik pulled the sound directly from the boards that night. The bass is amazing on this release and everything crisp and nasty. As Adipocere opens you can feel the throbbing and the vocal samples from the tape decks leading you deeper into the song and full aggression takes place with Karmaniks fanatical well planned vocals toying with your emotions until the next batch of queasy feeling samples plays out. A notable on this CD for me is Innerwar, one of my favorites from BDN completely molests your ears with the vibrations of bass, sick voiced samples, and high frequencies. There really isn't a bad track on this CD but the only thing that I don't like about it is the fact that you can't witness the sound of the crowd during or between tracks. This CD rings in a ringing 60 + minutes. Cold Meat Industry and Jinx put this CD together with nice artwork and packaging consisting of a 4 panel digipak with foil embossing. Karmanik involved the crowd into the artwork of this release to give a more live feeling I assume but none the less it is an all around good purchase. Remember you're a victim, not a survivor.

Quote from: enmity on May 13, 2010, 06:13:30 AM
V/A Nyrkki & Kyrpa Compilation CS

A1 Pain Nail - Loan Säkeet: 1) Merkitseminen 2) Kadotus
Starts with 3 tracks from Pain Nail, Loan Sakeet begins with echoed vocal samples and a background of pounding war drum and cymbals. The spoken word is in the Finnish language and I don't understand what is being said but I can however say it works well together. The 2nd of the 3 tracks from Pain Nail starts pounding percussion and rhythmic screeches with the same vox of spoken word behind it. I can't really decipher when the 3rd track starts and ends

Well, Pain Nail has 2 tracks. Loan Säkeet pt 1 & 2 (each titled).



It seems like review topic has lately been one big F&V promotional campaing, but what the hell. You can't really ignore a good release even if they are being bombarded from same label!
So: CALIGULA 031 "albanian meat market" tape... is this C-20 ? Perhaps. Two long tracks, which in the end, doesn't differ THAT much from the main project of this artist. I kind of wonder, why even release it on separate name? It is uglier, nastier and with perhaps severely lower fidelity, yet the main backbone of the approach is not that far away. Concept recording of balkan human traffic. Desperate girls working as prostitutes. Raw noises building solid frame going through the track. Samples, cries, and various elements, including vocals add the necessary details. It's power electronics to the bone. The lo-fi tape sound adds the charm. Especially on B-side where decayed "flutter" of the loop is very nasty sounding. Also on b-side vocals shift from full on shouting on A-side for... should I say Nicole 12 type of horny sugar-daddy whispers?  Typical F&V artwork and packaging, with texts and images related to theme. I would say this actually beats the main project!

Bizarre Uproar - 13/10/06
Institute of Paraphilia Studies (2008)
(http://i46.tinypic.com/29p7rlx.jpg)

I guess I will continue the F&V related artist trend that has been following this thread through a few pages (but for those who didn't know this release was put out by IOPS). I received this tape 2nd hand in a trade so unfortunately I did not get the cool Polaroid styled prints, the "visual evidence", but that's OK, I can watch it on the IOPS Volume 1 DVDr so there is no loss there.

The sounds are great, some of the best from Bizarre Uproar during their best period which started in 2008 and has lasted through the Mother trilogy until present day (and will probably continue well into the future). "Apara" is so repetitious in its sound while also delivering sexual malice that one must come prepared before listening. The track begins with minimalistic buzzing and feedback along with the occasional jab of grinding rumbles which are punctuated with raspy screams that sound like their origin comes from the same room you sit in, especially while listening with headphones. All of this carries on for a bit with nothing new being introduced to the sounds thus keeping this first 6-7 minutes a fairly casual and minimal experience. Then the sounds fall out until all that is left is the sound of high-end squeal and that is when the "belt and boot" session begins. Painful sounding snaps of the belt are heard over moans and groans while a simple wave of feedback is manipulated in the background and the occasional scream, the same raspy scream loop which was heard before, echos amongst the aktion. Towards the end the listener is treated with some chaotic (as another review stated) "contact mic hell". The last few minutes calm down again as we are escorted out of the spanking room, but we can still here the snaps and moans while we walk through the empty hall towards the exit sign. The second side of this cassette is titled "Vyö" and is pretty much a "remixed" version of the prior track with a good blanket of delay coating it and the deviant action seems to be louder than before. 8/10

A few reviews I made missed out this issue so I'll post them here -

BUDRUS, "Devyniems Rtams Austant", cd
Budrus, 2009
If you're going to do cold, calculated, modern Industrial, with all the influences that have occurred between it's beginning and now, you could do a hell of a lot worse then listen closely to this album to get an idea of how it should be done. This is one of those rare gems that impresses on first listen and sustains it's pleasures on repeated listens. Not only does it have it's own originality but it doesn't labour in achieving it. The elements – stark drones, warped samples, and very convincing, stirring vocals – are pulled together in a way that simply nods to comparisons rather than invite them eagerly. The sound is a refreshing medium between polish and grit (leaning more to the former but not to the latter's detriment) and between darkness and detail. Synth, guitar, percussion, effects and those wonderful, gritty vocals are well placed (it's great to hear someone trying to actually communicate rather than just shout all the time). There's a high concentration of well textured drone ("Dulska Radna" being a particular example); guitar seems to be a principle instrument, and an elegant, musical quality to the drones used, showing a deft ability to actually play, not only generate sounds (the lovely "Verini" being another example, and the wonderful, folk-hint at the end of "Budraujant" which ends the album brilliantly). These recordings have mood; dark and angry but also distant and, for me, a slight hint of nostalgia for, and bitterness from, past times. At a time when a lot of projects are trying to sound different and origional, Budrus are not trying, they are simply achieving.

GIRNU GIESMES, "Sau Krastas"

Laurynas Jukonis of Budrus in solo mode, and even heavier emphasis on drones, both in abundance and in tone. Three pieces, the first and last divided into two sections. Drone is one of the most over-used genres and I'm wary of it, but the focussed concentration of sound, effects, timing and composition here (all the important elements of makes drone work) are successful. "Brandinta Kupoli"'s first half is loud, rushing and heavy but becomes more ethereal and sillibant in the second part without lessening it's volume impact. The main element being the hissing rush sounds, like passing ships. "Slepta Po Velena" follows almost immediately (and I think I can hear a smatter of what might be applause at the end of "BK", a live recording perhaps?), having a slight yet noticeable rhythmic effect and more perceptible guitar sounds that come and go amongst the still rushing hiss and foam and calling sounds. This mutates effortlessly into "Rasta Bundant" who's first part starts off subtly and quietly, the softest piece on the album, before gaining momentum by volume in the second part, more detail between the layers revealed. There is no gradual build up here, though, it is meant to be taken as it's own form, and seems to end a bit anti-climatically. Nonetheless it is deliberate and still controlled.
Guitar drone is a genre in itself and there is an abundance available; while I'm a little tired of most drone based sound myself, I can hear the clear technique in this, and feel the use of detail and solid structure emphasises the album. "Barandenta Kupole" seems to me the best piece on offer, and having it at the start gives the feeling of an album exhausting itself somewhat before going on. But with all such recordings, mood and timing are an essential element of listening.

OORCHACH/POGROM, split cassette
Terror, 2010
Oorchach's side begins with a modulated, single note pulse that is soon covered in bleak sounding vocal sample loops and whirling echoes. This piece seems to serve as an introduction of sorts, though. "Titnaginiai Horizontai" is a sleazier sounding piece, creeping sounds moving slowly and darkly towards an actually quite pleasant (yet still pretty sleazy sounding) soft drone of a piece. "Pauksciani Nesa Sielas Namo" returns to single bass note mode which starts sparsely (some very nice sounds mixed in the background) before bringing in a fuller and more threatening base for declaimed vocals, the most distinct so far. A cold, PE vibe. All up, Oorchach are good but not brilliant; the emphasis is on control and careful mixing of sounds which is always important but there seems to be something missing, emotionally. Perhaps a bit too cold and restrained for my liking. This will appeal to those who like their Industrial careful and considered.
As opposed to Pogrom. Not that there is a lack of care, but the contrast is stark in so far as style is concerned. The unabashed use of pure feedback, the lower fidelity mix, the more up-front harshness, the greater eagerness of the vocals, and the lack of restraint on excitement and anger makes recordings I can wholly get into. The sound is dark and muggy and the use of pure electronics, metal and feedback is based more on immediate impact rather than jerky, high-pitched wanking. The question here is one of originality; there is hardly any. If you've got a Bizarre Uproar album, you've heard this. The exception is "Zvarbus Tytas Zieminej", with it's clever use of metal sound, both slightly rhythmic and slow scrape and collapse, and the lovely, chanted vocals in the echoed background. For me, the most effective piece, for its evocative sound and mood, but not to the exclusion of the rest. It's the contrast that makes the whole side successful.
The tape comes with an elegant, cardboard packaging made up to look like an old newspaper from, it would seem, last world war times. It suits the contents admirably.

BRANDKOMMANDO - "Liquid Times" (C66 | Unrest Productions)

I Only can have good words about this massive album, 66 minutes / 8 tracks, having listened to 90% of this act's discography this one easily became one of my Brandkommando's top 5 works. I think the fact of being a cassette tape helped increasing the bass rumbling on the tracks and creating awesome grim and dark atmospheres, as well as an old school industrial feel to it, oscillating between Death Industrial, Noise and PE getting deeper on the listener than before <B> has got. Droning and grimy synths, continuous noisy tones get layered with processed and often confuse vocals, soft feedbacking, subliminal rhtythms and concrete noises to create suffocating soundscapes... on some tracks you find tension growing until an insane point where you think something terrible is going to happen but never does... reminded me at moments to Maurizio Bianchi's earliest works and Steel Hook Prostheses but without loosing his personal style. Being a 125 copies edition this a very rewarding tape which would be a pity to miss by anyone into these styles Brandkommando deals with.

Quote from: manuel-ronf on June 24, 2010, 11:08:19 AM
I think the fact of being a cassette tape helped increasing the bass rumbling on the tracks and creating awesome grim and dark atmospheres,

or the mastering work of Shift?
Those who hear the difference between for example S.T.A.B. Electronics original recording demo CDR vs. Filth & Violence tape, can perhaps salute the greatness of tape medium, but I think it has more to do with Unrest Productions involvement to make it dirtier and heavier with suitable mastering.
It perhaps indicates that outside contribution sometimes is for good!

I had no idea that Shift remastered this tape, this is some useful info which I believe should be included on the cover. True, the dirtier sound of Brandkommando on this is a great enhancement actually

Deathkey - Doctrine of Intolerant Hatred LP+Single Side LP

(http://c:%5Cusers%5Cmatt%5Ccover37655_130897.jpg)

Pure fuck you will to power stuff here both on the intra- and interpersonal levels. The sound is mostly a midrange wall of sound that sets the table for a variety of diseased vocal work. Deathkey's primal treated yell dominates the action, although there is a guest appearance from Miiko and another of pure necro croak from Jarl Von Hagall. Really fantastic artwork, especially the inside of the gatefold.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on June 25, 2010, 10:25:47 AM

Quote from: manuel-ronf on June 24, 2010, 11:08:19 AM
I think the fact of being a cassette tape helped increasing the bass rumbling on the tracks and creating awesome grim and dark atmospheres,

or the mastering work of Shift?

Martin had a job in this part

BIZARRE UPROAR / MACRONYMPHA split 7"
Trash Ritual
It seems this is not yet officially out from label, but got copy from artist who had their free copies sent while ago. Being edition of 300, I'm sure no panic needed, should be easily available in near future. Bizarre Uproar side includes old track, which I have heard before. It was planned to be on 7" for Freak Animal, which I rejected. Not because it would be bad material, but it was too close to Lihaevankeliumi 3xCD set.. in sound / style and schedule. Didn't seem good to put out c. 3 hours of material, and soon to follow another c. 10 mins more. Now, when hearing this material again after many years, it is still good. It's extremely high pitched screeching junk. You can hear chains slammed on concrete, feedback, high pitched vocals, etc. It lacks basically the bass department and the "crunch", but simply operates in the disturbing level of high frequency, perhaps makes you think what early 90's Incapacitants sounds like if they wanted to go closer to Sutcliffe Jugend? Most of the sounds are very traditional for this era of Bizarre Uproar, but now, few years later, it seems kind of good move to have this out, after all the Mother tapes, Lily The Flesh etc. Feels very fresh again!
Macronympha suffers if you listen it after BU. I did this mistake, and sound felt like quite low in volume and level of distortion. But due this, I had to wait a moment, and listen it again. And start next day with Macronympha side. When you have managed to clear the pressure of high voltage feedback assault to you ears, it is easier to sink deeper into heavily saturated analogue Macro noise. At first couple listenings, I wasn't sure what to think of this. It felt good, but was it good enough? Cranking up more volume results that material starts to come out much better. Crunchy quality and the very well done cutting/editing reveals the unique Macronympha approach. Even if we supposedly talk about the "standard" harsh noise, with no gimmicks, Macronympha simply was one of the very best in putting together sounds, without being too much of purist, but indeed mixing severely brutal metal junk, feedback and various electronics which sometimes sounds kind of... not so brutal. But it all contributes to well flowing noise what mutates into new sounds & elements, but in bigger picture is guaranteed master craftmanship. Only complaint I can come up with, is obviously the length. Everything goes very well, until suddenly quick fade ends the side. Indicating this is indeed just another short clip of something much longer, and perhaps split LP would have been better than 7"?? But well, for any BU or Macronympha fanatic, it's of course guaranteed not-to-miss item. 2 sided folded covers + 2 double sided color inserts, nice vinyl slab with printed labels. All very nice.

CONTROLLED PROPERTY, Demo 1, Demo 2, Lust
Der Bunker, 2010
Demos one and two are two pieces of nicely dark and grimy sounding Noise/PE that modulate slowly but audibly between six and seven minutes each. Demo one has the lower end, grimier sort of gargling distorted sound, while demo two has a nice, mid-range kind of hissing hum going on with it. While I dig the first demo's lo-fi grit, and would imagine it fits more into line with fans of conventional PE (like myself), I find myself preferring the non-human, machine like, Industrial distorted drone of the second. It tends to be the more static of the two, but none the less there is effective modulation and change over the piece to make it sound longer than it's actual time period without outstaying it's welcome. Even with these two, presumably early tracks it's easy to hear a distinction between them and a nod into the next direction.
"Lust", it seems, takes it's queue from the latter inspiration. A single source bolt of pure tone of controlled feedback put through enough grating distortion and filters, recorded at a particularly high fidelity and volume that, at times, it sounds as if it is meant to be more an endurance test. What makes this piece are the various tones chanced upon over it's seemingly un-edited twenty six plus minutes. Instead of jumping from one thing to another, or just sitting on one thing forever, we are treated to a range of different sounds evolved from the source that, when effective, are allowed to extend for a time, sometimes modulating slightly, sometimes not, before leaping to the next point. Over the course of the piece, it becomes very enjoyable. Perhaps a little too loud and "hi-fi", but what it lacks in lo-fi charm it makes up for in intensity, power and a certain willingness to control. The sounds range from hollow, mid to high pitched distorted tones with clear feedback screaming through it to crunchily distorted lower end signals such as beloved by Wall Noise fans. But for me, this piece wins by refusing to be one thing or the other, and while that can be a sign of disaster, it's the control and ability in the production of this piece that save it.
Apparently, this is to be released as a cd, but it can be downloaded for now from http://derbunkerrecords.blogspot.com (http://derbunkerrecords.blogspot.com).

POLLUTIVE STATIC, Nothing But A Fucking Grudge
Der Bunker, 2010
Interesting move, to release wave files of the tracks that are intended to be released as a 7" in future. Certainly no complaints can be made about sound quality in this case. What we have here are two very well shaped and solid pieces of pure Harsh Noise, extremely distorted, so that it's a little difficult to suspect what the sources are. One can definitely hear keening feedback flying over the mess like birds of prey, while the bulk of the sound could well be either crashing metal or pollutive electronically generated static.    The feedback seem to give the most differentiation and both pieces sound as if they where recorded at the same session, in fact, as if they are a longer piece cut in half. The sound itself has enough tiny gaps through the cracks not to give it a too-stationary, uniform sound, and the pieces are at just the right length to not out stay their welcome. There is a lack of range on these pieces, making them somewhat monotone; they are thick and dark, but it's only towards the end of the second piece one detects a bit more detail and variation. But fortunately, they are just at the right length for that not to be too much of an issue.
In fact, this would make a perfect 7", although it would be interesting to compare the sound after being pressed to vynal. This is bulked up, Total Noise, well recorded and well executed, lacking in imagination to a degree but fulfilling the basic need for Noise.
http://derbunkerrecords.blogspot.com (http://derbunkerrecords.blogspot.com)

A few reviews due to appear in the next issue of a free Australian print publication 'Stained Sheets (http://staindsheets.blogspot.com/)' that may not make it to your neck of the woods. Probably worth noting that these are not intended purely for 'fanatics' so to speak - but I thought they might be of interest regardless. 

FFH Anything Is Possible Cassette (Hospital Productions)
This brief two-part work from New York City resident Richard Dunn is a moving nose-dive into downcast, distressed vocal gestures and pleasingly degenerated, shitty tape-battered pulsing electronics. The presence of contemporary North American Power Electronics hangs in the air here, but the sincere and distinctive embodiment of this assemblage lies in the completely broken vocal scattered throughout grim b-side 'Sturmgewehr'. Dunn's voice sounds utterly cracked here, as though recorded after a protracted argument. As a result of the conscious decision to document this physical state, the impression of a very real violence looms large either side of these bleak, shattered utterances.

KARLHEINZ And This Is How I Live My Life Digital Versatile Disc Recordable (Noisevision)
Collecting a series of varied live actions (both solo and collaborative) from one Karl Giesing of Boston Massachusetts, this compilation stands as a creditable document of one avenue within present-day North American harsh electronics. Despite the presence of some performance tactics falling squarely within the narrow codes associated with power electronics, Giesing makes for an interesting proposition as an artist working in this region. Drawing from an academic background in music composition and involvement in underground rock, his practice has evidently evolved over time into a personal take on these (now very conventional) forms. This distinctive line of attack does not shy away from engagement with significant electronic music compositional touchstones, though these are seemingly processed through the lens of the New England stomp box and sex noise set. This leads to sonically punishing works that absorb tape music and modular synthesis as much as the superficial elements of William Bennett's oeuvre.

LUSSURIA Garden of Seduction Cassette (Destructive Industries)
A subterranean vaporous mist hangs throughout this absorbing work, denying access for the most part to defined gestures and an unambiguous outlook. While this haze initially cloaks all elements held within, in time looped keys and other possibly plundered and processed detritus gently emerges, pointing to an ambience of obscure sensuality - difficult to pin down, but present nevertheless. Inevitably the surrounding erotic imagery informs interactions with these compositions to an extent. There is however a significant additional and unexpected corporeal presence here that positions this work as one of genuine hushed curiosity, admirably muted and intimate.

PSYCHWARD VS. TEA & SYMPATHY SYMPHONY Black Anxiety Cassette (Magik Crowbar)
PSYCHWARD VS. TEA & SYMPATHY SYMPHONY Hurry My Children Cassette (Magik Crowbar)
THE PSYCHWARD CULT Live at 717a: May 2010 Compact Disc Recordable (Magik Crowbar)
Three recent releases on Melbourne based imprint Magik Crowbar, all featuring permutations of the Psychward project helmed by label co-operator Tom Miller. Both 'Black Anxiety' and 'Hurry My Children' are collaborative works composed with Liam Haryono's Tea & Sympathy Symphony, and mark out an area of practice significantly removed from their other mutual concern, power violence derived hardcore unit Pathetic Human. A solemn, putrefying ambiance characterizes these extended tape works, assembled from churning and dust caked electronics. Potentially harsh, treble heavy flames rise from the murk during 'Hurry My Children', but these gestures are contained, seemingly kept in check by the sluggish forward momentum of the adjacent subdued rolling crackle and the recycled cassette haze sheltering all. On occasion simple descending melodic lines can also be discerned, appearing as the repeated movements of a machine mistakenly left in operation.
'Live at 717a' documents a performance by the extended lineup version of Miller's project, in this instance drawing personnel from local hardcore and metal derived units with a taste for occasional escape from rigid compositional structure. Even more languid in pace than the collaborative cassettes, here moaning vocals share space with scattered percussion, unidentifiable droning electronics and plundered, abused audio scraps.

SEWER ELECTION Vidöppna Sår Long Playing Record (Pan)
Extended and often spacious scrap metal tape compositions from Gothenberg harsh head Dan Johansson's long running solo venture. It is the high register howl of metal surfaces colliding that forms the basis for much of the grainy action here, coloured by capture via cassette recorder. There is a jagged, tactile property these movements possess that is indeed the result of the determinedly primitive recording process employed, and this tangible quality invests each coarse scrape with legitimate textural interest. Gurgling throat sounds and wretched, gagging vocal utterances appear during restrained passages to augment the industrial clatter, looped and churning in a prolonged repulsive whirl. Much to be found here is peculiarly beautiful, like a cropped photograph disguising a skin disorder as an intriguing visual composition.

V/A Degenerating Finland Live Digital Versatile Disc Recordable (Freak Animal)
Documenting a series of live performances in Lahti, Helsinki and Turku from 2004 – 2008, this fascinating collection presents a welcome overview of contemporary underground activity in Finland, predominantly focused on projects within the orbit of Mikko Aspa's long running Freak Animal label.
While all performances are of interest as components within this overview, a number are particularly striking. Pasi Markkula's Bizarre Uproar open proceedings with a ferocious live outing from 2006, centered on bracing feedback squalls, furious vocal outbursts and a little frisky audience interaction. The project has evolved since the time of this recording, and more recent publicly available live documentation shows further exploration of the themes of filth and violence pursued since the project's inception in 1993. Also of specific interest is the 2007 recording of Pekka Perä-Takala's now defunct venture Gelsomnia, which appears to have been shot in a huge storage facility somewhere in Helsinki. The space invests the performance with a distinctive tone, one that this imposingly crude industrial grime and metal abuse is complemented by.
Mikko Aspa himself appears in a number of live documents here, the most remarkable of which include a suitably authoritative Grunt piece from 2005, and a completely hysterical performance by his noisecore unit Nihilist Commando from 2006. These two recordings are relatively dissimilar in tone, despite some superficial sonic similarities - invigorating feedback, essentially. The Grunt piece is hinged on challenging visual accompaniment, unyielding control, churning looped movement and Aspa's trademark ferocious vocals, while the Nihilist Commando wipeout is marked by a nose-dive into unrestrained mania, pint spillage, potentially dangerous hardware and a good dose of shoving.

Corpsucle - Jaguar Mask (2010 - Waterpower)
(http://sun-cult.com/images/WP004.jpg)

With "Jaguar Mask" Corpsucle gives us one of the most intense and uncomfortable debuts of the year. This is strong Power Electronics built from powerful continuous piles of low-end hiss and angry vocals. All of the sounds are layered perfectly from top to bottom, nothing becomes repetitive because the sounds stay explosive even if they have been looming for the entire track. There is sporadic vocal assaults which are accompanied by feedback hits and a stuttering hum that hangs around for a bit and ditches you with no warning. We are also treated to plenty of low-end crunch which should keep the Americans satisfied and under all of it is a festering ugliness that is hard to explain in adjectives and cheap words. Even with all of the ugliness and pain inducing noises floating around this is not a chaotic release, it seems more as if Corpsucle knew where he wanted to go and had a rough map of the terrain memorized, there is cohesion and it works, it works very well.  [8.0 / 10]

First Pavement Memoirs review


Pavement Memoirs is a relatively unknown Belgian ambient/noise project, but it has no single reason to be so, for this has the potential to become as qualified as the more famed projects out there.

“Methadonismes” is Pavement Memoirs’ new album and just proofs for me that it can cope with the big players in the field. I can already classify it as one of my favorite albums of 2010.

The first five minutes bring you to a familiar realm, namely the modern industrial realm. The cracking and clanging sounds of machinery, the rustling of debris fills your speakers. Immediately images loom up of vast plains filled with rotting metropolises and the degenerate outlets it harbors. Laborers who head to their congregations to perform a job from which they are as alienated as from the cities they inhabit. Barren landscapes with lifeless faces. To be honest, I feel sick every time I listen to these first few minutes, but it’s part of the catharsis. Still, one cannot but desire a way out of this mundane hell.

An escape offers itself near the end of this sickening experience and stretches for a few minutes to liberate you from the diseased place you just experienced on a profound level. But there is something not quite at ease in this ‘transcending’. A desire for more, a thirst for a continuation of this ecstasy is omnipresent in here, and it destroys the essence of transcending, it is ruined.

This is where “Methadonismes” reveals itself as an album title. Escapism, be it through anesthetics, alcohol or hedonism as a whole, is not the way out, but another way of the labyrinth that will inevitably lead you back to the place you wanted to leave in the first place. And thus it happens, you start to descent once more in that devilish realm, this time it’s more choking, more suffocating than before. The urban carcass you call ‘home’ lays prey to the cold existential winds that blow right through it. The restlessness fills your being. The rust of the machinery cling on your skin, the void around you is filled only by the echoes of factories hard at work to enhance their hold on.

But suddenly, after all this suffering, realization. It stops. You deafen for this maya, the mass produced illusions mass that once blinded you melt like snow. Tranquility. Nothing of this underworld reached as high as you are now. The false empire withers away and only surrendering to infinity gives solace.
This album has so much to say and yet only brings soundscapes. Truly an experience that touches so many fields. I cannot but recommend to download this and give it a try, you won’t be disappointed. - einheit

Free download: http://www.mediafire.com/?th22mjhweyj

(http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8959/methadonismes.jpg)

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on January 11, 2010, 12:30:59 PM
RAMLEH "valediction" CD
Second Layer, slr004
This was waited in kind of horror. After atrocious Kleistwahr LP, I couldn't really imagine how would be Ramleh PE comeback album. But I'm glad to say, it is actually good. It is also pretty unusual in context of PE today. It is recorded in studio, which gives it different atmosphere than many others have. It doesn't have the "in your face" blown up tape saturation. Neither the totally maximized computer atmopshere. It has sense of space, and certain amount of characteristics what studio has.
Even if it conquers new territories, it has certain elements of Ramleh. Droning guitar feedbacks, massively delay in vocals, making it almost like layer of noise instead of brutal attack. It fits pretty well to bleak and hopeless lyrics. Approach Ramleh has in writing lyrics differ from .. well, one could say everybody else in PE. I like the most the track #4. All the tracks are untitled. This has the heaviest bass noise together with piercing high pitched feedback. When second layer (hah) of feedback slowly fades in and atmosphere is very dark. Completely instrumental track manages to override many vocal tracks by better definition of sound.
Most certainly the last track is the thing what will most likely go to love it or hate it category. After 30 minutes of kind of "expected" atmospheric PE sound, band suddenly starts the very last track with fast paced bass synth (?) electro beat and fast paced almost melodic vocals. It's all buried in layers of guitar feedback and fuzz and vocals are distorted too, but the overall atmosphere goes very much into fast paced... hmm.. what it is? gothic-electro? Post-punk? I don't know. It is nevertheless something very much unexpected and new. When I first heard it, I was taken by suprice, but it's perhaps just 10% of playing time afterall. And we've heard nearly similar leanings towards music in later days Sutcliffe Jugend too.
CD is packaged in cd size gatefold cover, with 8 page booklet with lyrics. I'm pretty surpriced that quality of many images is pretty low resolution and blurry. Especially visible in inside artwork of booklet. I'd hope this "trend" on blurry www images would go over soon and bands and labels perhaps value not only content of image, but also it's technical quality. (MA)

these images are well known photos of contemporary Pripyat', Chernobyl electroplant workers town. There are a lot of sites, where these photos are doubled and doubled and doubled again. Well, Chernobyl is a big fetish, but it is enough maybe? There were a lot of nuclear issues in USSR.

Via noisefanatics, courtesy Sodomy Non Sapiens- apparently irritated that three years after release only one review could be found online. (A very good one, though, worth quoting for its very sincere anti-attempt to characterize the sound: "To discuss what happens musically is irrelevant, not to mention totally impossble - all seven members operate as one, like a Hydra attacking with numerous heads, and you're the unarmed Hercules at its mercy." While I can't entirely agree, Senior Non Sapiens appears to reach similar conclusions, below.)


[re- Borbetomagus & Hijokaidan - Both Noises End Burning]

Good grief, that's it?  Thirteen measly - and I mean measly - posts? Dudes! Noisepervs R Us dropped the ball here.

I guess we're seeing one of Soddy's pet penile-extensions borne deep: that truly great noise is beyond words, and would only be diminished by words of any coherent form in the same way the infinite is diminished by any attempt to re-present in terms comprehensible to the syntax of subject-verb agreement.

Nevertheless, I feel the self abusing zombie has submitted word adequate to the task. "Holy fuck" is the word.

Or, more correctly, HOLY FUCK!

Somehow, when the names Mikawa and Borbetomagus come together, I tend to think of Borbeto's seminal "Live In Tokyo". Least representative of the Borbeto back catalog, it is (or was) also the heaviest slab of auricular suffocation on offer under that conglomeration. Less harsh in terms of earhole scorchification per dB, and less of that patented piercing snuffsax-squeal, but so dense and multitextured in its slowly billowing elaborations.

Both Noises score their delights under the influence of similar perv-visions. Not overtly brutal by the enregalled standards enshrined in the respective Hijo-Borbeto canons, but almost gentle, pliable, yielding an inverted harsh curve that saturates via remarkably wide-ranging folds of blushing color, wet-lipped warmth, and slithering, spermatozoan, starspace. Individual elements crowd the periphery, leaving a giant gaping howl that just sucks the enraptured worshipper straight into the hole-liest of char-blackened gasp and shiver, bathing the proceedings with other-wordly, bung-tingling, saxdrone-slather. A dizzying, near phantasmagorical miasma of constantly evolving, errupting, fading, flowing; of deformation and deviation, of shade and shadow, of puke and splooge, skullfuck and sphinct-suct. Words beyond the aforementioned Hallowed Fornication scarcely seem to be worth the bother of writing let alone reading.

But if I had to break it down in terms for the layperv, I'd say that the overall sound palate is not unlike late eighties early nineties Hijokaidan live recordings at Antiknock, the continuous, severely pitched, shriek-screech backdrop enlivened by periodic flashes of brilliance wherein the already blistering intensity seems to shred itself a new one. I'd say the overall progression is not unlike live Incapacitants, burgeoning layers somehow finding ever more ferocious plateaus and finally brimming in  the closing quarter with utterly jaw-dropping, show-stopping, shit-eat-grinning overmass of auricular overbilge. And I'd say the deft sense of wide-open space and bottomless texture giving birth to something palpable yet unworldly, all amid the cacaphonous shitstorm of the seasoned blowhard, well, that's pure Borbetomagus.


ANALysis:

Primal screechery diffuses across a broadened, mult-tiered, swathe, ceding Harshness to near ambiance, nicely separated, crystalline, textural elements pushing Rawness gradations down through smooth, grit-filtered flavorings that one mainly tastes in passing. Craftsmanship might be scored high on the basis of sustained interest, micromovements as readily entered as expunged, attempts to sanitize macrofornicated by the sheer beastly size of this mother. Savaged sensibilities then entertain a Spasticity most subtle: few surprises proper await, yes, yet yeti-like footsies stomp all over yer dong-pronged nethermosts, the insistent incoherencies anti-heretical as ill-articulated verbiage discharges diarhettic, starbursts flashing wet and wild through roasted channel pan. Sheer numbers - Mikawa Jojo Junko Shibata Sauter Dietrich Miller - would doubtless dictate the Densities desired, at least on paper, but mixmaster-san's zeal to represent each component particle serves mainly to confuse or displace rather than inundate. No complaints, just sayin'. But just try following bansheed Junko shriek through Jojo'd jet engine wheeze through Miller-tinged sputterfuzz sewage funnels through alternately droning and squawking drainland sax-or-not overtones, all seemingly under control of The Mikawa. Fuck it, I'm through with this shit. Anybody helps me now! Harmonicaness wins the day.

Incapacitants - 73 cd (Alchemy)
What is it about Incapacitants, I often ask myself, that inspires rhetoric bordering on the religious? Their sacred place in the Noise Canon, the grandpappies, the spiritual leaders of harsh brutality(tm)? The oft-cited zen-like, trance-inducing, quality of the listening experience? The simple fact that The Shit is Good? I am, in any case, hardly immune from them religio tendencies. To this day, the thought of Incaps entering  my earholes fills my noiseheart with fear, dread, uncontainable anticipation. I look forward to each new pronouncement like it's the very last. I obsess over its teeniest minutiae, for hours, days, months, years. And in the warm afterglow of all that harsh earhole penetration, I pretend, hard, like I know what I'm talking about, when the only coherent thought I can muster is a vague amalgam of "FUCK YEAH!"

"What A Stupid Bureaucrat!!!"
Well, he'd have to be, wouldn' he? One does not with The Mikawa mess and escape intact with all one's capacities. Incapacitants make short work of this refugee from the Ministry Of Foolishness, blubbering bleat-squeals for mercy falling into progressively deafened earholes. Classic opening: mangled feedback hack sawing and ripping at jabbering, rubbernecked, squeegee-wielding, pipsqueaky. Fucker stands not a chance, so incisive this attack, so pointed its jagged rip-cisions. Such unusually heavy-handed  precisions suggest a mostly single-minded affair, and it wouldn't surprise me if Kosakai chose to sit things out, ceding the floor to his obviously unhinged banker pal. As campaigns to clear the proverbial red tape go, this one quite scorches, The Mikawa sparing no savagery in administering the soundest of righteous redzone rupturings, our unfortunate bureaucratic bungler beyond hope, beyond help, beyond the pale. It takes all of seven minutes, not a second wasted in laying waste to stupidities apparent. Talk to Mikawa about breathing room? TALK TO MIKAWA ABOUT BREATHING ROOM? Er, ahem. Characterization of the gibbering public servant abovementioned does admittedly manifest, briefly, in thereminesque R2D2-wheedlings so hated by so many. And complaints over this indulgence have been duly registered by the Sewer Electorate. But you miss the point, Mr Johansson. The brutalities wielded by The Mikawa are too pointed, too barbed, too perfect in their execution-style mutilation of ozone-belching speaker cone, rabid, raw, rusted-out harmonics bristling with a barely restrained non-fidelity that saturates less and damages more.
This contrasts considerably with the fuller bodied flavorings falling into "Fund Trap", the second studio brevity. Even more classically-minded in its distribution of upper register tweakings, I'm tempted to call the work a multitracked "Libra was dead. Since then he has gon to Morgan Stanley" (from No Progress), or a fleshed out "Long Awaited" (also from No Progress), intellectually challenged bureaucrat chucked into the raging inferno for good measure, severely reduced theremin-squeegee and all. My classicist leanings make me wish the whole album sounded like this, but even the three minutes and fifty-seven seconds proferred are worth full-length investment. When, at 01:19, the full harshness kicks in, I want to start shouting and punching things in razor-raped bliss. I'm captivated, awe-struck, chasing one promising fracture-line after another. But nothing lasts, the possibilies wink out, each and every divergence consumed by massed combatitive layerings of incandescent, spasmotic, fury.
The two studio submissions are dwarfed by the two properly extended live tracks comprising the bulk of the disc. Which is really how things ought to be. For the better part of a decade,Incapacitants haven't had much of a studio presence to speak of, even as their live Incarnation has grown to one of inhuman, gargantuan, proportion. These live tracks, both from 2006, are excellent summations of Incapacitants from that period, a towering, sky-blotting-type behemoth at the top of its game: confident, assured, unhurried. And, always, all-consuming. Incaps have lately pursued a less puritannically punishing presentation, allowing once microscopic movements to mellow out and expand outward to embrace more meaty, macrophonic, layerings. Surface tensions enjoy a dynamic interplay once reserved for the most tightly constricted of screech-shackled elements. Things have loosened up. Breathing room is permitted. A diverse array of trajectories may now readily occupy the attentive worshipper.
"Don't Try This At Home", recorded at the No Music Festival (not to be confused with No Fun Fest) starts in an unassuming manner, free of catchy "harsh hooks". Instead, the first movement borders on boredom, vocal-fueled near psych-drone seemingly going nowhere. The dedicated perv will of course rise to the occasion, and as by increments an assortment of auricular tasties attaches itself to the proceedings, she will find herself, by incrememts, entranced, enslaved even, by increasingly unwieldly, constantly shape-shifting, multi-gasmic mutant overlord emergence, all splattering and spasticating through multidimensional rift in spasmic colonic fabric. If your humble writer appears here to be losing the plot, blame The Mikawa, an entity which can never be relied upon in the best of times to stick to the common story. When words cease to matter they just cease to matter. Nothing I can write, or even coherently tink, could ever begin to apprehend that cataclysmic, synapse-shattering, moment when Incaps rip the brainhole a new one. What I can say is that something happens - the brain shuts down, memory departs, a few more braincells for the trashbin. Don't ask me to explain it, but please do try this at home, again and again.
We close now with a note of pathos. A twenty-five minute ditty recorded live at Lush, Tokyo, and Dedicated To Koji Tano. That event I had the extreme pleasure of attending, lovely Lush soundsystem bringing home that lovely lush sound. What I say next may sound retarded, or more retarded than usual, but the material on disc is just as I recall from that evening - bar the odd cataclysmic moment or two. A ridiculously long, boringarse, drone-in kicks things off. Yet without quite realizing how, the brain finds itself completely absorbed, earholes gravitating toward optimum absorbtion entry points. The recording reveals relatively uncomplicated surface dynamics, progressing through a mainly midrange of fuzzywuzzzy undertones, few individual particles smashing through the overarching, rumble-heavy, grit-layers. Here invocation of Ministry Of Foolishness is more literal, the soft-edged monstrosity of MOF opener "Stone River" echoed in its hints at cruel, bottomless depths and organic, slow-rushing, currents, the brutality and horror oddly beautiful and sublimated under fathoms-thick glass. A nice salvo then for the earhole follicle thingies, and a fitting memorial for a noisist whose own sonic palate often enjoyed the same soft-edged-yet-threatening dynamic.

ANALysis:
Incapacitants, FUCK YEAH!

Gate to Gate - I Turn Black Keys
http://purestench.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-01-gate-to-gate-i-turn-black.html

Euthanizer - S/T Demo
http://purestench.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-02-euthanizer-euthenizer-2010.html

Vivenza - Modes Reels Collectifs cd (Rotorelief)
Woke up this morning immersed in a garden of earthly delights. Sweet, industrial strength, gamelon. Metal wanging on metal. Massed mess of mechanical bellowing, hammering, pumping, thumping. The odd bit of shlumping. Fragments of voice occasionally float through the steaming mechanized horde, and, gloriously, it's not the wife telling me to shut the shit the fuck up. Another absolutely essential Vivenza reissue, but I say that about all Vivenza reissues. Of course, I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. Hard to imagine Jean-Marc in disagreement, either. The mind's eye sees him thence, a wee lad dressed up like Count Dracula wandering around wide-eyed in a gargantuan steelworks mill, stopped in his tracks at intervals to gape in wonderment at the mysterieuse force creatrice humaine, only occasionally remembering to engage the "pause" button on the portable recording device smuggled inside for the occasion. This feels, in other words, less "composed" than later works. Less godbeastman in the machine. More concrete representatiodn of heavy industrial machinery. Where do the machines end and the humans begin? Hard to tell. Loops aplenty; or possibly just mechanized repetition. Primitive tape splicings; or a kid lost in the competitive, contemplative, percussive, clamor. Very hard to tell. The details come to life via generous application of the volume knob, if mostly as background ambiance. And what sublime ambiance! The sheer thunderous density of the whole, as it passes through its many and varied deformations, is... vivenzational. Yes, Vivenza has yet to develop his craft for compositional layering or bric-a-brac arrangement. But considering the antiquity of the initial recording - no release date is given for the original tape, but the stated recording date is 1981(!) - I'm frankly shocked at how supremely good this sounds. This is the kind of shit I can listen to all day, and in fact I think I'll do just that. Pardon me while I re-immerse myself...

PIMP AKTION SLUTGUN, Body Scrap, 12" vynal
Trash Ritual, 2010
It's an eleven year old recording but at least it shows Xane's back in the game. I'm hard pressed to figure whether the very muted sound is a matter of the mastering or the original recording; I have to turn it up pretty high on my system at least to get even any detail, let alone grunt. But what the fuck - two sides of pure, hate driven trash Noise. Side one, book ended by some odd sounding voice noise, is the very basic sounds of crumble and crunch, a continuous stream of what can only be described as crunch. At first I thought it was metal banging but after a few listens I wasn't so sure; here's where the production/mastering/whatever is responsible for the ultra dull sound becomes an issue. It could be electronically generated. I'm not concerned, though, the Noise itself is wonderfully grating but I can't help wondering what it could have been with a more generous mix. Side two sounds more like a series of explosions, very Haters-esque although without the loop-ish repetition, with the moaning voice scattered over the top. Again, hard to tell what the source is, and again, hard to care. It's more dynamic and has more mid-range than side one. I'm inclined to believe, due to the title and various hints given on the two inserts in the album, this is pure trash wreckage smashed and crashed for the greater glory of Noise, with the occasional moan of pleasure/disgust to really get the message across. While I'd much rather a more up-front sound, this is still an album I can listen to on more than one occasion, and one I intend to return to in the future.

BLOD, Red Light Companion, 3x12" lp
Sergehuva, 2008
Along with Nod and Proiekt Hat, Blod was the project that stood out for me most from the celebrated CMI 50 compilation; the pure, nasty, rawness of those two pieces could not put aside, but above all the complete lack of pretension to anything other than just pure Noise was most appealing. In an era of glut, standing out as "just" a Total Noise project takes some serious doing. As most of you know, this is a collection of early cassette releases and compilation tracks (the previous mentioned included). The main focus seems to be for a serious piece to be recorded, then edited into smaller sections, each given a rather cheeky sounding title more often than not relating to sexual "deviation" of some kind (usually involving piss). In a way, this is a good and annoying release; good for the quality of Noise, annoying for the fact that there are constant pauses in what are clearly single spirals that have been chopped up. One does get used to it, though, and it's the filthy, hissing, ultra-distorted quality of the Noise that wins out. The over-burdened distortion is just on the right side of almost pure white noise, with enough grainy detail within the rush to be distinguished and to keep things moving at the right pace. The distortion itself is detailed enough as well. In short, this is just perfect, pure Total Noise. Nothing to add to or subtract from, just the Noise itself.  
With the box comes a rather interesting staged photograph and a letter in a sweet pink envelope that's attributed to Taint; a litany of complaints about the dissatisfactions of sex, paid for or otherwise. While an obvious gambit to add to the seaminess of the release I just found it un-involving. But love letters aside, the box itself is sturdy and well printed, the cut of the albums strong and the package as a whole is just right. Not only a decent and attractive object in it's own right but something to come back to for repeated listens. In fact, I was surprised (and pleased) this was still available; more people should be getting this.

DOG AS MASTER, Brash Pussy, download (http://www.archive.org/details/DogAsMasterBrashPussy)
Also available as a cassette from Haltapes (http://www.halmcgee.com/)

Released originally on French label 3AP/Le Syndicat in 1985 (and by Sound Of Pig a year later), this nearly thirty minute opus (side two is basically the same track reversed) is said to be a "satire of sorts of power electronics and its concomitant obsessions of perversion, hard sex and sodomy". The thing with satire, though, is it is in the ears of the listener. To mine, this is a fulsome, well structured and nicely paced rage of early Harsh Noise, composed of distorted synths, tapes, and vocals - a repeated phrase that's difficult to hear but is apparently "an aural ejaculation of lust" to McGee's one time partner and collaborator Debbie Jaffe. Considering this pre-dates a lot of Harsh Noise by at least half a decade it's amazing how full and layered it sounds. Certainly, the sound is not the kind of up-front, crisp harshness many are used to by now, but nor is it totally mired in low fidelity (contrived or otherwise). There are variations of hissing, gurgling, squawking, moaning and roaring sounds that chase each other and yet give each other space. Interestingly, around the twenty minute mark the volume fades down - not sure if that's deliberate but it sounds as if it is - before fading back up again. The last few minutes towards the end generate some very satisfying grinding electronic harshness. Hal's mood, seemingly a combination of lust and hate, is a timeless theme with Power Electronics, and thus this "satire" is closer to the core than perhaps intended. Certainly there's no attempt to be "Power Electronics" with this, that I hear. It's more a serious attempt to really let out some certain aggression, and it's that realistic honesty that comes forward as the main current. But even leaving that aside, this is grandiose, synthesised Noise that can be appreciated and enjoyed on it's own audial level.

(It's possible to download in uncompressed wave format, so please spare me any whinging about "loss of quality".)

REGOSPHERE, Like Surgical Steel, cassette
Husk Records (http://huskrecords.blogspot.com/), 2010
Not quite "dead" enough to be Death Industrial, certainly not flamboyant enough to be Harsh Noise, in a time when sub-sub-sub categories rule Regosphere sits uneasily. Here, though, Andrew Quitter does lean more to the former than usual. This album, released for a US tour, features the title track, a one-sitting home recording without overdubs of material played live on the tour. The theme of the album being the now legendary BP oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico. The titular track on side one blending carefully modulated hissing layers of white noise with slow pulsing synth tracks together before relaxing down, then building up again to the sounds of more synth pulses and background siren sounds, which themselves fade out to make room for a soft, clunking metallic rhythm and yet more hissing, grainy static. It's the second part of this I think works the best; the first part is evocative but the second works more aesthetically. Throughout the whole, though, there is a precise pacing and a nice, relaxed under-use of sounds as opposed to flogging things to death. In fact, it sounds very much like a live piece, in that the various elements are introduced, used and then faded out more robustly then one normally would with the luxury of time at home. However it's not cluttered with a million ideas, rather it's a specific, conceptual spiral. Side two continues the imagery with "Bottom Kill", based on sickly sounding synth pulses and muggy rushing sounds which are difficult to determine; the mix is somewhat more one dimensional but the end effect is more psychedelic and suggestive, yet more immediate. To me it sounds more like a prehistoric swamp than a modern ocean floor ruined by crude oil. It's a somewhat hypnotic listen. The rhythmic pulsing of the static sounds, which suggest shortwave radio rather than synth white noises, come in later in the track after their sedimental surrounding of the whole. A more defined keyboard chord heralds "Tar On The Beach", a sinister, movie-soundtrack anti-melody backing the scratching hiss and odd chiming sound that all feels covered with a mucky film of scum. The rushing ocean sound is dominant here. The distracting, psychedelic hypnotism of the former piece is carried on here. Both these spirals have an odd "not quite there" quality which, if listened to softly in the right light, could well replace drugs.

REGOSPHERE/COMPOUNDEAD, split, cassette
Sincope (http://www.myspace.com/sincoperec), 2010
First release for Sincope, it seems, in a limited edition of the rather arbitrary number of fourty three (how do people come up with these figures)? Regosphere sounds even murkier on this release, the piece "Socialised Into Extinction" like some bizarre landscape of humming drones, gritting buzzing, regular soft spurts of white sound, everything oozing and melting into each other. The composure is slow and hypnotic; I swear Quitter is trying to alter perceptions here. The vocals, though; I'm not convinced they're a good idea. Harshly distorted, they are like blots of pure black on the melded colours of the landscape. It's not that they don't fit or don't work, but I just personally would have preferred the sounds without them. They sound too "PE" over a piece that just doesn't fit into the PE norms, although comparisons with The Grey Wolves slower, darker pieces could be apt. The sounds change after a while to something like a church bell looped in the background with electronic sounds lacing it subtly, and here the harsh barking of the heavily effected voice does seem to fit better. And still the overall head-heavy sensation of being on some kind of drug pervades and prevails.
  My first experience with Compoundead on side two and the selected piece could not have complimented side one any better. "Bleeding on The Carpet" seems sparser, with dark, echoed thuds and a rising, grimey electronic tone that grinds slowly throughout. It's a well chosen sound, modulating slowly as layers become more apparent, a mood of rising anxiety maintained with the minimalist composition and tone. A higher tone of pure feedback added at some point, like a distant alarm, raising the anxious mood even more, which then becomes dominant like tinnitus. It's a simple formula made very effective by the right choice of sounds. Is this Compoundead's usual form? I'll be seeking out more of their work if so.

HAL HUTCHINSON, Removing Aesthetics, download (http://www.archive.org/details/HalHutchinson-removingAesthetics)
self released, 2011
Ambient Metal. The scraping of scrap that Hal's starting to make a signature move for his own, self titled project takes a rather soft and laid-back approach here. Derived from sources recorded for one of RRR's recycled tapes, it's given an interesting backing of a throbbing, pulsing sound like a perpetually driven engine, over which the pieces of metal are moved. The impression I get is more of a large sculpture made of scrap metal that's being shaken or moved by the wind; this is not aggressive metal banging or crashing, but soft, confusing layers of sound that as a whole tread a very thin line between relaxing and irritating. There's none of the immediacy I personally look for in Noise, but as a more ambient piece of sound it works better. There's some lovely scraping sounds like patches of feedback on occasion, although they're a tad rarer than I would have preferred. It reminds me more of an art space than a warehouse. The overall feel is one of indeterminacy, and I've experienced this with Hal's work before; his side of the split tape with The Haters having a somewhat "held back" feel, with a tinge of bitterness. This piece is even more relaxed (in sound if not in effort) and as a result a bit more resolved to my ears, but there's little to gasp onto, little to demand immediate attention. It's more for when one wants a total sound in the air, rather than something ripping your brain to shreds. Not all Noise has to be harsh.

VRILNOISE Stream Of Conscience, cdr
SkullNoise Records (website currently under construction), 2010
A strong, powerful mix and mastering brings forth the carefully recorded and edited Noise to a very full potential. While my tastes are usually for lower fidelity this album stands out for me mainly for it's effective use of sounds – full, rich, abrasive and aggressive – and their well layered composition within the pieces. Most sounds are electronically generated and I imagine a lot of computer editing and addition has gone into this so it's not quite clear where the sounds are coming from apart from synthesisers, probably both soft and hard, but there is plenty of acoustic sounding material as well (the strange water sounds and crackling on "Echoes Of NDA"). The main method is a darker, slower, more developed style of work, suitably ominous and with a slight hint of science fiction sound effect (think huge space ships and machines and planet dominating computer systems), and the main aim seems to be invoking a kind of drama with each piece (the heavy, built up breathing on "Pulse Sequence" for example). The effort gone into recording and mixing these pieces is well matched by the imagination behind them, not a common thing to my ears. The conventional, jewel case packaging is complimented by excellent computer generated artwork (by one Seldon Hunt), abstract yet sharply defined swirls and spheres in dark shades of green, blue and grey that compliment, excellently, the sounds on the album. Making this, all up, a lovely package. Would hate to see this album disappear into obscurity.

CONTROLLED BLEEDING, Shanked And Slithering, cd
Hospital, 2005
As an exercise in total Harsh Noise purity, this album sets standards. Although a collection of various spirals recorded between 1985 and 2002, there is a cohesion between the pieces that is maintained throughout the album. For the most part, this is Harsh Noise - distorted electronics, aggressive shouted voices, crashing and bashing, feedback stretched to capacity, distortion that sometimes just takes over and rushes like a wall of filthy black water - all with an intense sound. The production is marvellous, allowing everything to be upfront and aggressive without sacrificing filth. There is a real sense of energy to these pieces, a genuine love of pure intensity that is brought through to the listener. Occasional more linear pieces, like the excellent "Vole" (which I would have appreciated going for a lot longer) and the distant, murky "Hymn #1" present excellent contrast to the usual destruction of which Bladder Bags #1 and #2 are sterling examples and together are worth the price of the whole album. The Noise changes and chops throughout the pieces but there's a natural flow to the turns and twists; nothing sounds forced or contrived. All up, there is not a shit track on this (except for the boogie wonderland of "Hymn #2", right at the end, which can be safely discounted). It's just one of those brilliant Harsh Noise albums that really should be among those referred to when describing this genre.

FRANCISCO LOPEZ, Untitled (2006-2009), double cd
Monochrome Vision (http://www.monochromevision.ru/), 2008
Travelling and recording has provided Mr Lopez with the field recordings (occasionally from other individuals) he uses for his compositions. The sound and subsequent mood is very dark. Sounds are not layered onto each other but allowed to extend and breath for whatever duration is deemed necessary. Silence is an important part of some of these pieces, long bouts of no sound required to run into steamy, black bursts of solid sound. The pristine production brings out grain and detail. The first album, "2006", seems the more manipulated compared to "2007" where sound sources are allowed to exist in somewhat more original form. The pieces are slow and considered and require the listener's attention, and have enough force to demand it. This album came as a surprise to me - I got it in a trade, having never heard the man's work before - and has been a regular now. Powerful, impressive and imposing dark works.

REUNION SACRED IBIS/MITCHELL BRENNAN, split tape
Magik Crowbar (http://mindtimedestroy.blogspot.com/)/Trinidad & Tobago (http://tobagotapes.blogspot.com/), 2010
RSI's side starts with "Free Energy", an interesting gurgling kind of sound like a rapid stream of lava or burning, crumbling electronics with a nice head of hissy foam. Nice close, crumbling tones with squirts of slimey gurgles and odd patches of static. It's fulsome and enjoyable and doesn't outstay it's welcome. "Valentine's Day" chops up a sample of female sexual (probably, she could be in pain) moaning with blurts of feedback that starts out low and gluggy and becomes more high pitched and raw. A stomping, sleazy sounding piece that invokes interesting imagery. These pieces are able to lean towards a nastier Noise sound without having to dive right in, and it's an interesting tension. Live, Cooper tends towards manipulating the sounds on a hand held electronic game machine through pedals, which may sound like simple cuteness but works extremely well (especially when he's paired up with Tommy Psychward) due to him taking his equipment seriously and not treating it like a gimmick, so I'm wondering if that's the method he used for these two pieces.
  Having seen Mr Brennan live a few times with his laptop and mixer I've had mixed feelings; the work he does is precise, technical, constantly changing and impressive but on a personal level leaves little for me to grasp onto (although at the gig he performed at where I got this tape from, I thought his set was too short by half). That's my problem, not his. But his untitled spiral on this album sounded to me greatly different from his live material. There are layers, one of which is a nice, smooth yet grainy tone that ascends and descends while the other sounds snarl and growl in static precision. What's more, there are no real gaps; live his sound rises and falls, accelerates and decelerates depending on mood. Here, the piece maintains momentum and moves at the same slow but progressive pace. The all up piece sounding very full and pleasurable, built up and constant, with an element of considered drama that contrasts, again, with the improvisation of his live work. It is not always necessary or desirable for an artist to replicate what they do live in recording, and visa versa.
  This tape is well worth getting; the material on both sides is considered and well recorded and serves as a good introduction to both artists, as well as representing Melbourne Noise to the world admirably.

TIM ELDRIDGE, Deceased Estates, cdr and download (http://www.psoarearsis.com/www.psoarearsis.com/PSO-016.html)
Psoarearsis (http://www.psoarearsis.com/www.psoarearsis.com/Psoarearsis.html), 2010
With some material recorded "on site", presumably emptied houses, and other material added later, this is intended as a semi-improvised set of pieces taking in the atmosphere of the sites where the music was originally meant to be played. Deceased estates, homes that are abandoned because the owners have died, could be in any condition by the time Mr Eldridge entered them. The sounds here, I think, adequately reflect what one could imagine the feel of such places to be. Sparse, a sense of darkness that is present without overwhelming, the feel of growing decay and fading memory. A variety of instruments are used - guitars, percussion, computer effects - to create a slow, ambient, yet complete and precise sounds. Mercifully free of clever noodling or long passages of the same old thing, the pieces flow well as good ambient works should, compliment each other and neither outstay their welcome not come and go too quickly. The timing is very good with this. What's more, it imparts its desired effect and withstands repeated listens. The composition seems to me to be the strongest point, meaning that any improvisation is, in some ways, to be guessed at. I don't hear it as having much in the way of improvisation, but presumably it's there. It's a pity the original plan - to have a number of guest musicians recording in different locations yet reacting both to each other and their surroundings - didn't eventuate, but this end result is a complete and pleasurable work in itself and worth getting.

BLOOD OV THEE CHRIST, Behind Thee Bars, cd
Autarkeia (http://www.autarkeia.org/main.php), 2011
It's taken me a couple of listens to get my head around this. There were times, initially, where I'm not sure if the filthy, grimey production is really doing justice to the sound, weirdly enough, as it seems to be muted. But one's ears adjust. Although presented as a lengthy track it is in fact a selection of different material recorded between 2005 and last year. Mr. Honkaneimi's recent incarceration providing a kind of theme for the whole. The majority of this is vicious, live-recording Power Electronics of the more improvised variety; loads of feedback, quite a lot of vocals and voice samples going on from the sounds of it, and plenty of rushing, garage Noise underlining it all. In some parts of the album the elements work together in a nice psychedelic rush, very fulfilling in it's underground coarseness. No effort spared to make the sound as guttural and desperate as possible, to invoke the hate-filled passions that mark a life (an effort down to Kristian Olsson on production). There are some slower, softer parts which work very well by comparison, including, early in the piece, a sample segment of some fucked up junky for Jesus; all consistent with the kind of image Mr. Honkaneimi has put forward with his project. The cover is adorned with words and graphics from Harri's time inside, including some rather amusing, Dada-esque passages ("Hail Hitler Viva Las Vegas Sodom Gomorah (sic) Sadam Hussein"), reminding me of the packaging of Carpathian Forest's "Fuck You All!!!!!" album, of all things. I'm wondering who the Black Metal bloke on the inner cover is. This is an album that grows on one, rather than striking one immediately and for that I expect it to be one I return to more frequently. It's mood music for just the right kind of mood.

GELSOMINA/SQUAMATA split, cd
Freak Animal (http://www.cfprod.com/fa/), 2007
In my own strange little personal history of Noise this album stands as one of the last great Harsh Noise albums. I know that's a weird way of looking at it. But for a while there Gelsomina was, to my mind, one of the greatest pure Harsh Noise projects going. He released a few albums that didn't grab so immediately, but albums like "Nostalgia" and "Disease With A Purpose" where a new high in the genre; high pitched, ear torturing layers of hissing feedback that did not stop. It was a sound that rivalled the best of the Japanese in terms of power, intensity and utter Noise pleasure. The sound seemed to get a little more "traditional" for a while, after that; then this, what I understand is Gelsomina's last, or one of the last, recordings before the project folded and Sick Seed began.
The layers have a nice, ragged, stressed sort of feel around the edges but it's still not the eardrum perforating screams of other albums. Nonetheless, this has an amazing sense of flow and technique, real drama, and the right mix of high, lower and middle levels of sound range that all fit neatly into a nice, hissing distortion, giving it a good, gutter appeal. The sound is undoubtedly Gelsomina, too, which is the real trick when producing quality Harsh Noise; how to make something that doesn't sound like everyone else? You just go ahead and do it, and if you're ideas are good enough, they'll stand out. That's how it is here. One long, twenty plus spiral of feedback hell.
Squamata have the unenviable honour of sharing the split but from the first I thought they did a great job holding up the standard set. Three spirals, with a, perhaps, less identifiable individual sound but nonetheless intensity and purpose. The violent, unadorned metal banging of "Poison On Poison" is a nice contrast to the jizz-filled electronics, giving the piece contrast. "Die Elisiere Des Teufels" and "Enslaved By Ants" seem to concentrate on the electronics more with the occasional hint of acoustic destruction, but for the most part fulfil the Harsh Noise urge with angry distortion. The sound is rich and well produced, and if this remained the standard it would already be high. I'd prefer to hear a bit more individual distinction, myself. If the un-released material does eventually appear in public, time will then tell.

VA, Cold Fire, 12" lp
Anarchymoon (http://anarchymoon.com/), 2010
Definitely worth getting for the Astro track, which starts side one; "The Omen Of Transformation" shows Mr Hasegawa in angrier, noisier mode, the synths dark and raging, ranging from low gurgling power drone to flat out hostile oscillating. I love it when he does shit like this.
Pulse Emitter are a project I've never really gotten into. Not sure why, but there's a kind of lack-of-feeling to previous pieces I've heard that's just put me off. Unfortunately "Wormhole" is much the same, simple synth oscillations that sound all very correct but not engaging. Very hard for me to explain why I can't get into this.
Acre's "8.03" seems rather inspired by Eleh as, like the latter project, "volume reveals detail". Drone, of a higher pitched variety, with interesting little slow changes throughout for those with ears to hear. A rather nice and well played piece, and it leaves an interesting, rippled pattern of grooves on the vynal surface that visually compares with the sound.
Monsturo offer a spiral with a title that I can't replicate on my keyboard here, but is the most "un-musical" of the lot. A low, tepid, slightly gutteral string of electronic pulse with some audio disturbances on top, this is a slightly challenging piece with a degree of individuality. Not exactly "enjoyable" but clearly not meant to be.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on January 30, 2011, 02:29:48 AMI'm wondering who the Black Metal bloke on the inner cover is.

Kristian Olsson  ;-)

I didn't find it approperiate to make a topic about our site here, but instead decided to post the suitable ones of our new reviews to this topic. This one's a review I wrote of the tape-compilation "Nyrkki & Kyrpä II", released by Filth & Violence. You can find our site here (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/303.html) or through my signature, and the album info here (http://www.discogs.com/Various-Nyrkki-Kyrp%C3%A4-II/release/2450491).

V/A - Nyrkki & Kyrpä II (Filth & Violence, MC)
This is the second compilation-release by the label Filth & Violence. Whereas the first compilation was focused on Finnish power electronics, this features more foreign acts and quite a bit of harsh noise as well.

The first track is a live-collaboration between Sick Seed and Above Suspicion. It's style is primitive oldschool power electonics, with the main focus on the high, noisy, and randomly varying screeches with occasional lower rumbles. The two male vocalists add a good dose of hostility to the crude filth, and I wouldn't have minded if the debauchery lasted longer. The song's end doesn't feature any vocals, just a messy of noisy rumbles, and is thus a bit powerless in comparison to it's beginning. It's just a minor flaw, though. Snuff is the original reason on me purchasing this compilation, and their track is simply superb. Really sharp high screeches vary in simple but effective patterns, and the distorted and though-out vocals add a final touch of oppression to the song. It's really minimalistic and primitive, mostly consisting of the high screeches and the vocals only, but it wouldn't need anything else either. All my expectations were fulfilled.

The untitled song by Last Rape begins with a dull and really grainy sample, and continues with even more grainy and messy mass of white noise and crude, rumbling distortion. It's a mass of grit with a little backing assistance from some lower humming, and despite it's simplisticity it's quite enjoyable for a spin or two. I just wish the samples were used for a greater effect. The track from Concrete Mascara is more reliant on analogue noise and a low and pulsating electronic loop, which gives the track a good part of it's character. It's a mess of harsh noise with some crude and distorted beats and other noises serving as the mass, and some clearer and electronic loops serving as the contrast which keeps the noise effective. It's a good and aggressive tune, but as it's predecessor, it doesn't offer much new.

Wince executes some really raw and crude metal junk noise, with a hint of screeching thrown in. It almost sounds as if the recording is broken because it constantly breaks, but it only makes the track sound more lo-fi and violent. The track is a quality snippet of harsh noise, and I would've gladly listened to more of it. After its cut-out ending we get to Bizarre Uproar's compilation material from '07, which operates roughly in the same waters as it's predecessor. The untitled song presents a dense wall of crude distortion and metal junk noise, with a couple of sudden PE-twists and breaks. The material doesn't really present anything new, but is high-quality traditional noise nonetheless. I really like how the sharpest sounds and the few vocal lines push through the distorted mess, making the track sound deeper and more original. After (again) a cut-out we get to the final band of side A. It begins with steady rumbling in the back, with equally steady drumming in the front accompanied by some pretty bizarre growling vocal bursts. The drums sound pleasantly heavy due to their echoed sound and lo-fi recording equipment, and the analogue drone in the back fills the soundscape so that nothing else is needed. As it's title "At one's own peaceful pace," the track continues forward with minimal variation for it's few minutes of lenght, and when the end comes I don't really know how I should feel about what I just heard. The track sticks out in a good way on the compilation and provides a good ending to the A-side, but as an individual track it doesn't offer much. It got me curious to hear more from the artist, though.

Mortuario opens up the B-side. After a short sample the song continues with low, echoed speaking in the distance, while some looping mid-pitch analogue synths provide the music. The songs's highly minimal and repetitive, but stays pleasing for it's whole length due to its shady and even perverse feel. Quality filth overall. Halthan continues with even stronger, looped rhythms and grainy, droning noise, all of which slowly turn into messier form as the track progresses. The track's pretty controlled despite it's structure, and the muddy vocals and samples further add to this feel. The song gives a dedicated and perfected image, and I'm very glad that the compilation features this end of the (compositional) spectrum as well.

Up next is Coma Detox with two tunes. The first one begins with something sounding like slow and really grainy electric guitar notes, backed by a mass of improvised-sounding analogue noise and as well as harsher sounds. The track continues in a relatively calm manner until it's similar follower; distorted vocals, backed by a mass of not-too-violent noise slush with some sharper electronic sounds pushing through the mass to reach the surface. Even though the songs sound even "neutral" in some aspects, they carry a lot of determination and power hidden under their surface. The tunes are not the most memorable ones, but are otherwise really good.

Pogrom opens up with sharp layers of distortion clashing together with harsher ones, while some really odd, high-pitched and manipulated vocals are on top giving the track a more experimental feel. Aside of it's vocals, the track is quite a basic PE/harsh noise-tune; it's good and shows the artist's talent, but not especially memorable. I like the artist's daring though, as he employed some cleaner electronics to the track to break its structure of lo-fi grit. The songs's just too lenghty.

The compilation's final song is performed by Mania. The song has a clearer soundscape than most of the other stuff on the compilation, so it's good it was reserved as the ending one. It's shaped from some sharp screeches, really low and messy rumbling, and anguished vocals in the distance. The track sticks out in a good way due to its clear structure and amount of violence, but it's clear it would've worked a lot better if it was surrounded by similar songs instead of a lot more lo-fi material. When viewed from this point, it's good that the song wasn't any longer.

I guess it should by pretty clear to anyone by now, but to sum it up: this compilation is of overall good quality, has a good flow, and presents a rather wide variety of artists. I can warmly recommend it to anyone with a soft spot for noise filth, aside of the easily offended.

8½ / 10

------------------------------------------

Something noteworthy from our most recent update. This one's somewhere between harsh noise and power electronics.

Hippycrack - F48.1 (self-released, MC)

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/321.html)
Release info (http://www.discogs.com/release/2523093)
Sample (http://hippycrack.bandcamp.com/track/f481)

Hippycrack is a solo-project from the man who's behind Mucophiliac Narcolepsy (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/176.html) as well. It made its first two demo-releases in 2008, and a split with the Russian noisecore-project Pissdeads followed the next year. Hippycrack published its most recent and refined offering, meaning this one, in the late 2010.

The music has drifted further away from power electronics and moreso into the realms of harsh noise when compared with the earlier releases, but it seems to have been the right choice since what the music lost in structure and violence, it gained in steady power and content. The songs (or "songs") mix really harsh static hiss, rhythms and white noise together with some clearer sounds, such as even spacy modular synth drones and sharp screeches. The main weight is clearly on the harshness with some primitive clanging and screeches here and there, but the clearer sounds have enough room to make the soundscape more detailed, structured and personal in addition to them serving as contrast-providers.

There's a good dose of variation between the different parts, from the opening one's mix of metal scrap noise and other chaotic beatings to less offensive parts that rely on various layers of primitive PE-sounds and cruder noise, all the way to the B-side's lenghty movie sample that ends to the most chaotic material on the whole tape. Both sides evolve very naturally at their own pace, and it even surprised me how boldly but still naturally the songs progress. They have a steady pace that lets you hear everything you want to before going forward, but without having the time to get stale. A few short moments of thinner and simpler sounds were left amidst the soundscape to serve as breathing pauses as well as sudden twists, which also show how well these tunes have been thought out.

This tape truly surprised me with its refinement. It relies on primitive sounds, a lot of which you've heard before, but when they've been put together this well it doesn't matter at all. My hope is that the artist succeeds in making his next work more overpowering , perhaps through bolder use of the different approaches of noise-making, as now the tape sounds just a bit too thought-out and reliant on safe choices to be a true killer. Still worth checking out, for sure.

8- / 10

If you enjoy chiptune or martial industrial, click my signature for a couple of new reviews.

Videotrage - Signaltures (tape)

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/327.html)
Release info (http://www.discogs.com/Videotrage-Signaltures/release/2565697)
Samples (http://obscurex.org/RELEASES.html)

Videotrage is a Finnish Duo and this is debut album, released after one EP. I haven't heard that one, but this particular tape is somewhere between minimalistic power electronics-noise and spacy electronic music, as well as sound collage and what-not, all of which flows through a strong retro-filter.

The four minutes long opening tune actually lives up to its name; it sounds like browsing through different radio frequencies from the past, with the different samples overlapping with each other in a surprising but peaceful way. These samples have a bit of covering from vintage modular synths that are the main element of the second tune the thirteen-minuter "Timewarp." The synths create a dense but very soft and slow wave with just a bit of a sharp and noisy edge, which flows forward with little disturbance for a few minutes until it's replaced with some cruder synth notes with a similarly worn sound. There's some analogue grit in the background and the notes have an improvisation-like nature to slowly drift towards greater noisiness, but overall the track sounds moreso alien than dangerous in any way. The synths mutate into a looping, delay-reliant pattern which brought images of really old sci-fi movies to my mind. The track sounds interesting and its slow mutation process keeps the listener on his/her toes for the whole time, despite the calm pace.

The songs are fittingly titled, for sure; the five minutes long track A3 is based on a Finnish lecture about thermal weapons, with some bubbling and soft screeches added on top of it. It might not sound like much on paper, but the lecturer's low, monotonal voice and the simple effects make the tune pretty enjoyable and interesting piece, and a good, calm closer for the A-side.

Side B has just one lenghty track (around 18 minutes long) about allegiance to the higher order and its leaders, for the common good. This one is the most versatile and seemingly planned one, and has the most instruments as well. Aside of the calm modular synths creating a field of sound in the beginning, it has some monotonal speaking and even a bit of a percussion beat to give the track a nice start, and to prevent the listener from being incapacitated. There's even a modulated voice speaking about the song's theme, and this voice is the most cliché element on the whole album - it doesn't stop it from suiting the album perfectly, though, and at least I found it to fittingly deepen the sci-fi mood. The song progresses from calm and thought-out waving to more rhythmic type of music, to some faster, louder, more improvised and almost hypnotizing direction, ending up sounding like a soundtrack for brainwashing. It took me a while to get fully adjusted to this song, but after a few try-outs I was sucked into its world.

Aside of some fumbling and slightly overdone improvisation (or moreso lack of direction) on the A-side, this tape is warmly recommended for those who enjoy vintage modular synths or retro sci-fi-soundscapes with a bold attitude. "Allegiance" shows that the band has some ideas and tricks that they didn't really reveal on the three previous tunes, so I'll eagerly be waiting to see what the duo comes up with next - while hoping that they manage to knit their mixture of sound collages and such experiments a wee bit tighter (but still naturally) together with the more controlled and composed moments. An extra thumbs-up is awarded for the minimalistic but nonetheless plain splendid artwork.

8- / 10

CONTROLLED PROPERTY, No Innocent Civilians, cdr
412 Recordings (http://www.412recordings.com/), 2010

Hal Hutchinson is churning them out, having hit the scene like a brick since last year. The deliberate control, sparsity and cold up-front production harkens to a more psycho Attrax Morgue in some ways, each track being a hostile blast of raw electronics and feedback, modulated basically throughout each piece but basically staying within its brief. The sounds tend towards a clean, cutting, higher pitched harshness that has an essential minimalism that bedrocks any movement each piece may have. The tracks are not long, so there's no real endurance test to be had. This is very basic and straight up but eschewing any "lo-fi" pretensions, the sound instead being loud and imposing. In a way, each piece is like a simple sound study, but the purpose with each, and with the whole album, brings it more forward, away from any chin-stroking experimentation. Sturdy, basic, effective Noise, for those moments when you just want something loud, harsh and fuck you.

IRGUN Z'WAI LEUMI, Klirrfaktor, lp
Verlautbarung, 2008

I'll be honest; the first half of side one confounded me. The rickety sounding pulse, like a squeaky toy laser gun, goes through a few phases in a dry, clacking monotone that tries the listener. It's intriguing, although annoying, but just as the mind becomes accustomed to it, the squeakiness dies down and a more sombre, glitch-like pulse is left to de-construct the feedback being generated. It's from here, I think, that the album gets interesting. The sound becomes muted, twisted, raw but suffocating, a gritty, small scale crackle with stressed, winding feedback in the distance like wind at night. Instead of blasting your face with volume it draws your mind in slowly through a funnel. A despairing but determined state of mind is suggested with this sound. Side two continues in this manner, the sounds rising and falling slowly and softly, the crackle of electronics being manipulated almost like waves on a shore. This sounds is built upon and modified, ranging from slower, wave like flow to a softly crunching pulsing with the strained feedback stretched out again in the background. Taken as a whole the album starts off with a challenge to the listener then gradually evolves into something perhaps more gratifying but no less challenging. Although the album lists both sides as separate pieces it sounds to me like they came from the same session and the continuity from start to finish is really remarkable. Sinister, insistent and never dull, this is a high water mark for experimental Noise.

Nyodene D - I Have No Mouth, Yet I Must Scream (tape)
Label: Obscurex

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/349.html)
Release info (http://www.discogs.com/Nyodene-D-I-Have-No-Mouth-Yet-I-Must-Scream/release/2415975)

Nyodene is an American solo-project of one Aaron Vilk. It was founded in 2008 to create industrial ambient, but over time evolved into a noisier project focusing on death industrial, power electronics, and strong social and cultural criticism and questioning.

"The Hand of Oblivion" opens up the tape with a grainy, slowly waving drone, with a slow metallic rhythm in the background and a spoken male sample on top, but after reaching four minutes the song turns into a mash-up of metal beats and scrap metal noise which is tied together by a pulsating mass of grainy and oppressive distortion. This overwhelming force is topped with really violent, distorted and dedicated male shouts, that should sound great to everyone who appreciates the vocals of Grunt for example. After the song's short and calm outro, we get to "Horror Vacui" which starts right away with it's violent metal junk noise-chaos. The recording equipment and the songs' mastering mashes the sounds up a bit and gives them a good and sturdy low end, which makes the songs fleshier and gives them the dark feel that suits the album's agitating nature. The third tune takes the soundscape to a bit calmer waters through putting together some dense and low drones and strongly beating rhythms, and, although the slightly lo-fi recording equipment shines through here, the track conjures up an oppressive atmosphere.

After the listener has relaxed a bit and turned the tape around, we get another calm start of harsh, gritty and droning noise which is topped by a sample of someone speaking. These more fragile layers of noise entwine with each other to create an interesting and detailed backdrop for the hostile shouting vocals, and serve as a nice change from the full-fledged violence. B2 is one of my personal highlights of this album. It's otherwise very similar to it's predecessor, but has harsh and screeching layers of noise on top of the more detailed and "quieter" action, and features a crude and catchy drum loop, which brings a whole new musical dimension to the tune. I found it to be just a bit too repetitive and eventually boring in its simplisticity, and would have needed a slightly altered sound to fully function. Still, it's an interesting add. The last song is almost melancholic due to its less violent vocals and more dark ambient-like approach, and shows yet another side to Nyodene D's expression. Stylish, for sure.

Nyodene D is not a mere musical experience, but also a lyrical one. The strong lyrics deal with lack of freedom, the current political system, and overall around the topic on how people being enchained and oppressed, and with the reasons and means to break these chains. The lyrics blend in perfectly with the dark and violent tunes, and clearly display the artist's zeal for his art and its message. It's a shame that the crude and simplistic visual side isn't up to par with either of these. The tape's sides aren't labeled either, but you can follow the songs by keeping the lyrics-sheet at hand - whether this was intentional or not, I can't tell.

The album shows many sides to the artist's approach and surely makes an impact, both musically and lyrically. It's just a bit too scattered for it's own good, and the songs don't come together the way they should. I think the whole could've been better if it was a bit longer, as then the songs would've had more time to blend together and to reach further towards their own limits; now it seems that some of the songs end too short, or didn't manage achieve to their deepest core. To sum it up, Nyodene D seems to be a noteworthy artist.

8- / 10

------------------------------------------

hhhhh - Brick Walker (tape)
Label: Love Torture Records

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/348.html)
Release info (http://www.discogs.com/hhhhh-Brick-Walker/release/2504115)

hhhhh (which should be pronounced as a "heavy outward breath" according to the band's instructions) is a one-man noise- and power electronics-project of one Mike Wulf from the United States. The project made its first release in 2009, and has conjured a whole of five splits and six own releases since; this supposedly being the newest one, as of the date 03/2011.

The EP opens up with harsh and grainy noise-grit, which is backed by some reversed analogue synth waves to give the track more personality, character, and a pleasantly disturbing feel. It has a nice mid-part of tape loops of some metal beats and such, and it gives the track a nice boost. The follower is a total harsh noise-tune with rumbling grainy distortion and some lower-pitch irregular rhythm in the background, and with a couple breaks kicking it into motion it's pretty much flawless in its simplisticity. It has some cleaner synth in the end to keep it from becoming stale, but, sadly, it also softens the tune a bit. The third song is the cleanest and lightest one, but with a soundscape this lo-fi it fits in perfectly. It relies on some manipulated speech samples and analogue notes, with some drones and noise-bursts further feeding the track's chaos. It's a stylish end to side A.

Side B is a calmer one, and serves as a natural step forward from "Default Champion"-song's lighter approach. "Floral Pattern" opens up with some hoarse but light metallic droning, which is followed by a looped and odd-sounding, reversed melody. It's followed by some calm and soft noise sounds that come one at a time to keep up the "safe" atmosphere. Eventually this progress leads to calm ambient, with some additional edge and other small reminders of hhhhh's noisy and experimental tendencies scattered here and there. Avantgardey lo-fi ambient.

The visual side is rather boring. The blue-hued cover is pretty incomprehensible collage of walking people, and the printer-paper covers are one-sided so that's all you're getting. The tape holds the basic infos and a separate download-code, although it seems to have gotten old.

I found the tape enjoyable, and its two-sided structure well describes the artist's level of skill. The lo-fi soundscape makes the different sounds nicely unified and allows the artist to really experiment with his equipment, but also makes the songs a bit too flattened for them to really cause an impact. The aforementioned also makes the songs sound a bit safe, even though they (especially the ones on the B-side) have some avantgarde-influence. Overall the tape is too improvisation-based, and especially the B-side seems to suffer from this; the tracks almost completely let go of the listener a couple of times, and the mixture of "listener-friendly" noise, avantgarde and ambient could've been executed with more personality and effort. On the flipside, this unpredictability and crudeness makes the primitive A-side more interesting and detailed.

Both the sides are a good listen, for sure, and last in listening surprisingly well when thinking of their short lenght. They just don't present enough of concentrated effort from this capable artist, nor make an enough lasting impact. I was left unsure about his goals with the different choices he made with the songs, meaning if he had a target atmosphere or a style; and, frankly, I'm rather certain he had no precise idea either, and because of that he ended up operating somewhere in the midway of different extremes. I'll be waiting to see what he comes up with in the future, and keep on hoping that it will be something as bold.

7½ / 10

MARTIN BLADH, Umbilical Cords, cd
Sergehuva (http://www.segerhuva.se/), 2005

Drone, even more than HWN, is ubiquitous to the point of ridiculous and it's too easy for me to turn off anything connected to it. But not this. Mr. Bladh knows that drone is not some cosy, too-easy cop-out but a serious component that can and should be utilised properly. The use of acoustic string instruments, particularly on the lengthy, doomy opening track gives the impression of some kind of "modern orchestral" sound. The strings are stroked slowly, savouring their deep, low, organic tones, while others fiddle impatiently and aggressively above them; all the while, softly hissing cymbals lace the growling, dark red soundscape with mist. The second track allows the high-pitched, creaking and squeaking violins to take the centre as various tones from a low cello to more mid-ranged sounds (organ? electronics?) take turns supporting them. "Cord 3" seems to reprise the same formula of the first piece but with more modulation of the sounds, a definite electronic buzzing tone becoming more apparent as well. The paced sediment of the first piece is distorted, giving a hazier atmosphere. At the end is an odd little guitar-vocal addendum, an off-key paean to screaming bodies. The final piece is made up mostly of slowly paced and presented deep drone tones that could be either from strings or brass, with different tones, electronic I'd say, accompanying and changing. The recording ensures that the very solemn and stand-alone sounds that make these pieces are pristine enough to appreciate the nuances and the changes they go through, demanding a rigorous listen that, nonetheless does not feel like a challenge but actually do attract willing attention. It may be the simplicity of the pieces, but it's no problem at all to put this album on and feel drawn in by it immediately, rather than something that either sits there smugly ignoring the listener or extracts brow-wrinkling thought. It is definitely a stand-out album, brilliantly composed, conceived and recorded.

GOH LEE-KWANG, The Lost Testimony Of Rashomon, cd
Herbal International (http://herbalinternational.blogspot.com/l), 2010

I have little information with me about this work, other than the obvious. It's the soundtrack to a live performance, and there are credits to video on the cover but for some reason this is just audio. I would have thought a dvd would have been a much more appropriate format for a release like this. In any case, we have the audio. Considering it's incidental music, it makes sense that it's somewhat slow, ambient, and minimal. Mostly electronic, although the album is book-ended with the acoustic recoding of a storm. The material is solemn, slow, giving a near-ambivalent sense of anxiety and anticipation, perhaps a quality needed to underscore the drama. The sounds range from semi-musical tone clusters, paced appropriately, to somewhat distorted and distant tones and sounds converging and separating. It does get somewhat wall-paperish, not that the sounds themselves are not welcome, but again, this is meant to be incidental music. Electro-acoustic, abstracted, minimal material of a dark and often sinister nature (this is not a feel-good performance, clearly) that occasionally engages the listener but more often exists for the sake of it's role; without the visual element it does feel like something is missing, but there is a slow but certain sense of composition that suggests movement on stage as well as in the mind.

REDGLAER, American Masonry, cd
Anarchymoon (http://anarchymoon.com/), 2007

Received as a generous extra when ordering the "Cold Fire" 12", this sounds like strained, deep, calloused feedback manipulation that prefers the lower end of the tonal scale. It's loud, dark, very dark in fact, with a sound that teeters between all out harshness and cold, imposing drone. It's this nice, stressed disparity that gives this album power. The sound suggest a live, or at least one take, recording. The manipulation allows each element to give it's all before changing, meaning that pacing is everything and here the pacing is successful. It think it's good here that the levels aren't mastered so loudly that it just jumps at you, it allows the sounds to work on their own merit. The first two pieces share pretty much the same sound and textures, the second a lot more "relaxed" than the first, while the final twenty minute third piece ranges through different manipulations of the sound, although still with a slow sparsity, different effects added, and the introduction of additional layers of sound - manipulated voices, pipe-like horns. This piece becomes busier and more agitated than the previous. A very distinct flange effect is put to good use, adding an unreal, almost psychedelic sheen. The heavy, glutinous feedback from the first piece makes an occasional appearance here as things are pushed into the red. But the busy sounds are dispersed half-way though the piece, leaving a single layer of feedback to push itself though the phaser with the same grim determination as the beginning of the album. In the end it moves off into a much higher pitch, winding itself up into space to leave.

ASTRO & CORNUCOPIA, Deep Winds, cd
Quasi Pop Records (http://www.quasipop.org/), 2010

For a while I've been reluctant to explore the work of Chilean project Cornucopia, mainly due to hearing some earlier works that didn't impress me at the time and due to a dislike of the actual name. This album rectifies that as Mr Castro, on the first spiral "Deep Wind I", takes sounds produced by Mr Hasegawa and forms them into a well moulded, well paced and well produced spiral that takes drone as a backbone and fleshes it with balanced sounds. There are grating hisses, hums and soft shifts of white-to-pink noise, all moved slowly yet without dragging them to bored extinction, and it's not so much a matter of either leading up to a climactic point (although the more rhythmic pulse towards the end may give a whiff of such) or just whacking sound on a canvas and hoping for the best. This has the much welcomed mark of control that makes listening enjoyable without renouncing any conscious challenge. One Claudio Chea is credited on "(a)dditional recording and mastering", and one wonders how much of his impression is made on the whole.
  Unfortunately I find that I've been burning out somewhat on Mr Hasegawa's increasing output, and his main contribution to this album, "Deep Wind II (Multicellular Dream)", doesn't really bring me out of that rut. Although well recorded with a nice, clear, deep sound, the actual piece doesn't seem to have much dynamism. The few minutes of crackling stuffing-about didn't bode well for the rest of the piece, and it takes a bit of a while before the guts is kicked and we are presented with fairly standard Astro Noise. I've never thought it too important for an artist who's main mode of operation is to put out as many releases as possible to be great every time, and one should not expect that. This piece does redeem itself in workman-like fashion, and as mentioned, the mix (in this case, re-mixed and re-mastered) is well done, but the lack of complexity and direction does leave it as a fairly "all right" spiral, nothing less or more. Perhaps, at this moment, more cannot be expected.

THE KALI ENSEMBLE, self titled, cd
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)/Turgid Animal (http://www.mutant-ape.co.uk/), 2011

A collaborative recording between Mike Page and Pentii Dassum and a collaborative release between Phage and Turgid Animal. Featuring two lengthy, 33.33 minute spirals where, I'm guessing, each artist takes sounds from the other and composes them (not sure I like this "versus" thing that some collaborations claim to be, in this case "Page vs Dassum" and "Dassum vs Page"; surely they are collaborating, not conflicting?). Both tracks called "The Seven Tounges", I & II respectively.

The first piece has a great deal of change to it over it's duration, making it more like a compilation of pieces strung out into one. Fortunately, there is a deft hand at composition involved, giving continuity to the diversity. Starting with a slow but raging Noise of metal and electronics it winds it's way through the different passages, invoking electronic storms in the clouds of gas giant planets, flanged drones, metallic rhythms...to describe in any detail the actual sounds would, in a way, take something from the potential listener in that there is something of a narrative that should be experienced more directly.
  The second piece is somewhat slower and more muted in scope and sound, preferring dark rumbles, winding softness, echoed clanging metal and electronic pulses, all eschewing the dynamics of the first piece in favour of a tempered sound that is no less engaging or, in fact, diverse than the first piece. Again, there is a continuity that suggests narrative and certainly allows the mind to move from place to place within the sounds.
  The recording quality is excellent, very crisp and allowing of detail. In the case of the second piece and the more abrupt parts of the first, there is no loss in impact (either abrupt or darkly grimey) with the production. The sound fits the music well. And compliments must also be paid to the packaging; the dark-skinned manifestation of Durga (and appropriate sacrifice) simply and elegantly presented. Everything about this album fits; there are no sparse moments with the sound, no loss of revelry and imagining, and the concept is given a free-er reign in the sound. This is an homage, not a representation, although representation must be a part of the homage, but to my mind there are other ideas coming in that can perhaps touch lightly on the worship of Kali but can also expand elsewhere. The composition and choice of sounds, however, remain supreme above other aspects. A well built and well presented duo of sometimes aggressive, sometimes sinister, always dark, Industrial-inspired modern music.

RU-486 - "Concealed Weaponry 2005-2010" (Disease Foundry)

This is a great retrospective of the RU discography, which is quite scattered but, with minor admitted exceptions, is remarkably consistent (like Dan mentioned, the "Princess Of Rot" material - which isn't actually that bad...).  I'd be way embarrassed if someone compiled my stuff out before "God And Country", but Mortigan's earliest stuff even seems to show some excellent feel for the genre / medium.

Both sides are consistent, but the first side definitely feels stronger to me.  I think Mortigan would agree about the material on the A-side being the foot he wanted to lead with (as well as I think some of the most recent?). The b-side is more mixed (p.e. tracks, comp appearances, the HNW tape that I actually quite enjoy...)  The Atrax Morgue cover is really good, glad to hear it (wasn't around when it was originally released).  "Russian Teen Kate" has mixed feelings for me.  Really solid track, would be a classic in a world without "Ballerina."  Then again, Nyodene D would sound more original in a world without Mikko as well, so I find myself enjoying the track as more of a sister (har har) piece to it rather than finding it derivative...

Disease Foundry maintains a high standard of quality with the sound (really clear) and the packaging (very luxurious, especially for a single cassette). The added bonuses (buttons and embroidered patch) are a great touch. A lot of love went into these. 

Get this and Iron Empire if you're looking to get in to RU-486.  It's literally everything you could get for about 20-25 bucks.  This project is going into some good heavy territory and this boxset is a cool archival thing for people looking to get in to US PE...

Some new stuff. Nothing too harsh this time, though, and thus presented only as links with description.

156 - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/392.html) [experimental / noise / percussion]
Videotrage - Seismology Is a Science (...) (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/390.html) [minimalism / electronic / retro]
Walkabeat - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/387.html) [ambient / noise / industrial / musique concrète]
+ Daina Dieva - Leaving the Garden (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/389.html) [ethereal dark ambient / minimalism]

NICOLE 12, Black Line, cd
Freak Animal (http://www.cfprod.com/fa/index2.php), 2011

Nicole 12 has not been a project I've followed, mainly due to my distaste of the subject matter. Having gotten this album in a trade, though, the polite thing to do was at least listen. Sound-wise, as perhaps to be expected of this project, this is Aspa at his most sinister - dark, stress-filled tones and sullen drones with smooth sheets of sound moving over them. It's satisfying, although for mine nothing to impressive. I'm reminded of what I've heard of Pain Nail, to a degree, and there's always been elements of this kind of smoother, laid-back kind of sound in parts of Grunt. One can appreciate the limited sound palette applied to each piece and to the album overall. The slighter, higher-end electronic tones that sometimes preface or finish a track appealed to me the most. I also enjoy the slow feedback manipulation of "Forever Model", and the vocals work well on this piece in tandem with the sounds. "Mother Talks" brings up the volume and aggression a tad, a nicely echo-ed piece of heavy screech and grunt (no pun intended). Despite the more "noise" quality it still fits in well with the album, in fact the entire album is well contrived. 
But it's the ideas that matter here and the music is pretty much a bed for the vocals and the concept. Aspa croaks, whispers, sneers and hisses his lines as he takes on different characterisations and narratives. Some of the use of questions and conversation reminds me a great deal of Whitehouse, in fact it seems like an influence well-worn on the sleeve with this project. As mentioned, I find the thought of children being sexually abused and molested disturbing, but art has a duty to disturb as much as uplift. It's just that there seems to be a lack of conviction coming across. It's a tad too clinical, and that seems to detract from the feelings that I think Aspa is trying to get across. Not that I'd suggest an all-out, aggressiveness is preferred, that clearly wouldn't work. Is this kind of emotional distance from the subject matter intended? There also seems to me to be some problems with the flow of the lyrics, and leaving language barriers aside I found the lyrics to the title track clumsy and to "Centaur Forlags: LL" too clichéd (I can just hear Philip Best shouting these). "Glow Of Ionesco" could have had potential in regards to the concept of a young girl being forced to slut up by her mother but I think the effects on the voice cut that potential. It's the vocals on "Wrinkly Bills", which aren't credited to anyone but could be listed in the acknowledgements, that things get sinister, as it's first-person account of a victim, whispered by a woman, raises the stakes. Combined with the nicely dark electronic pulse, crackling, almost fire-like static and fluting feedback tone, this is probably the most effective piece on the album (along with the instrumental introduction. "Mirror World Reflections").
All up, it's a good album, well made, and musically works well, but strikes me as a bit underwhelming. It leaves little impression or memories, even after a few listens, apart from a couple of exceptions.

SHIFT/SICK SEED, split, cd
Freak Animal, 2011

So, this is Shift - a project I've been meaning to listen to for a while. Have to say I'm impressed. Solid, heavy, good tones, perhaps a little too slick production-wise for the kind of heavy Noise this is, for mine anyway (I understand Shift takes pride in his production work) but certainly brings out every element, particularly when things get layered towards the middle of the, uh, first half of his piece "Everything You Are Will Be Destroyed" - things crunch and crumble sickly and nicely with each other, with the odd bit of high pitched feedback for good measure. My only misgiving are the vocals, which didn't seem to gel well with the sounds and came across a bit unconvincing, particularly towards the end when Shift is screaming "DESTROY! DESTROY!". Maybe they're mixed a little too low? The lyrics don't seem too focussed, either, but that can be given or taken. In any case, once the vocals finish the piece sounds like it's being dragged through a tunnel of rusty metal, a very effective sound, before the sound drops back and a nice, big droning power builds up slowly and effectively, taking its time and growing with ease, layering distant sounding feedback like meteors in the distant sky above the prehistoric Earth, ignored by witless dinosaurs until the sound becomes more than life can bare. It's a great development and makes me want to seek out more Shift for sure.
  Sick Seed brings the sicker sound that is welcome to my ears but the first two pieces of his contribution, "Carnography" and "Teeth" where a tad going-through-the-motions for me. "Carnography" sounds like it utilises guitars to get the feedback and other screetchy effects over a very nice, dirty layer of rumbling electronics, which sounded a little too corny to my ears, in some parts sounding just like a bad guitar solo. Took away from the track's impact. "Teeth" didn't seem like much more than a bit of rusty, screetchy feedback filler but I did appreciate the muffled sound of the production. Food seemed to be much on their mind for both these pieces. But when the longer "Deathmask" kicks in, Sick Seed redeems itself. Starting with a sample of a rather over-done sermon-sounding speech crapping on about some confused misanthropy over a slow drone with a soft, ritualistic drumming, the bullshit is finally wiped away with some great sounding grating distortion that is nicely manipulated and layered throughout, giving a very pleasurable, minimalist Noise experience, very well recorded and produced, a slight hint of mechanical rhythm underneath. The luscious layers of filthy Noise are fortunately stretched out well for this piece and the vocals break any potential monotony nicely. In this case I would have preferred the vocals mixed a little lower, as a bit of distance would have brought out more of the desperation - Sick Seed invokes a post-apocalyptic scenario that requires both fear and contempt to survive. The sound strips some layers towards the end to leave some gurgling electronics with feedback scraping over them, still with a nice musty sound.
  It is impressive how this cd gives two distinct kinds of sound, the sharper fidelity of Shift and the lower fidelity of Sick Seed without compromising either and complimenting both. This is a good pairing and a fine album.

ERNIE ALTOFF, Heliosonics, cd
Australian Arts Council, 1999 (available from Shame File (http://www.shamefilemusic.com/))

The pieces on this album where made with mainly kinetic (and one electronic) home made machines of wood and metal that are all powered by solar energy that are as aesthetically pleasing to look at ("I didn't want a hi-tech industrial look") as they are to listen to. Recorded in the outdoors, with whatever ambient noise happened to be in the background (although certainly not intrusive), the pieces are, in fact, meant to be composed rather than "just an aural report card".
 The pieces are delightful. Soft, delicate, very natural sounding, very much like common wind chimes at first listen but deep listening reveals a sense of rhythm, pacing and timing. The delicacy of the sounds allows a space for both silence and background noise to lie below, giving a backdrop to the tinkle and knock of the materials. The recording is not high level, mainly I suspect due to the site specific nature of the pieces and, perhaps, limited equipment, so it's necessary to turn the volume up a bit both to hear and to get a sense of the space between the sounds and how those sounds appear in the space. The mood is light, slightly playful but not entirely so. Different machines (named a to z, respectively) are used in different combinations for each piece before all machines are put together for the album's twenty-plus minute climax, "Sun Music 26", which is dense but far from heavy in sound. There is a nice collaboration between joyful and meditative with this album and it's reliance on solar energy does call to mind bright, sunny days, allowing some of that light to the listener.
 It has to be said that there is also a furniture music feel to the album, as the distant sound and nature of the music can easily escape attention. That, in itself, is no problem - nothing wrong with a bit of light background sound. But deeper listening is rewarded, and in any case, this is music that purposely treads lightly yet deliberately, a hallmark of the composer.

VA, Penus Rectus 1997 (cd) 2010 (7")
Dead Mind Records (http://www.blutistzeit.nl/), 2010

Prurient, Odal, Aube, Macronympha, Masonna, MSBR, Streicher, Deathpile, Skin Crime etc. etc. - the gang's all here. A 7" of, presumably, more recent material and cd collation of material taken from a three tape compilation released last decade. It seems that the 7" is the main release with the cd being an accompaniment. For mine, it's the other way around, the cd being the better release  and the 7" seems to have been assembled only to feature the names involved. Prurient's "Notice That Beggar Passing By (Great Being)" centres itself on a manic synth sequence with glaring harshness laced around and solemn vocals in between. It's not bad, but for Prurient, not the best. Odal's shouting and feedback is so-so on this, too, sounding a lot like filler. Smell & Quim lift the standard a bit on side two but "Cuntsocket", although energetic and snappy has a somewhat pedestrian feel to it. Only Streicher's "Wrecktus Barricadus" is able to maintain a standard with its gritty bass tone and muddy yet energetic electronics around it, although because of the format and the time limits, isn't given much room to expand upon the theme. In fact the big problem here is that the artists didn't seem to really know what to do with the limited time allowed (although Prurient's piece does sound the most structured).
 The cd is a much better affair and well worth getting. Aube is in fine form – his harsher work seems to fit well with compilations – a pulsing tone that is recognisably his. So too K2's nicely, gritty distorted and cut up harsh noise, occasionally betraying the purer metallic clang of his sources, also develops into a kind of musique concrete collage with the introduction of voice samples. All within the space of just over seven minutes. A technically impressive track. Masonna also instantly comes across as his his own with his trademark shouts and harshness. Skin Crime's "Jeff Stryker" is a wonderful semi-minimal rumble with jagged sharpness poking through the filth. Kapotte Muziek's contribution is a short, simple, starkly minimal manipulation of feedback that contrasts nicely with Deathpile's gutty rumble and manic screams in the next track. For some reason I found Macronympha's "Pulsating Meat Monster" less than convincing, perhaps because of the muted electronics in the last half of it which, on their own, could have been okay but didn't seem to gel with the rest of the track. This album has a sense of energy and enthusiasm, is well mastered with each track given good presence and power, and each track well represents the contributors. The cd, then, is a worthy compilation – the 7", a bit of a let-down. One other little complaint - my copy of the cd, at least, did not have a track listing and I was required to go to Discogs to get a list of the track titles. It was interesting to hear, though, how some artists where identifiable from their contribution more than others.

GX JUPITTER-LARSEN & MUEHNNICH, Die Arbeiter Von Wien, 7"
Fragment Factory (http://fragmentfactory.com/), 2011

Another bouquet from Jupitter-Larsen of flowers for the rebels who failed. A melange of stark tones, squiggling electronics and screaming feedback (generated from GX's celebrated "Noise Belt" and amplified suitcases) pushed tightly together as a base for the shouting, impassioned vocals of Muehnnich (who runs the label that produced this album). Both sides pretty much feature the same music but the vocals are in German on side one and in solidarity with international workers in English on side two. The lyrics come from the hymn "The Workers Of Vienna", which is connected here to the July Revolt (also called Black Friday), basically a riot during 1927 in the city of Vienna resulting in deaths that led to arrests, trials and a general strike, resulting in more deaths (the inside graphic probably that of the burning Palace Of Justice). Although the tracks themselves are not lengthy they are punchy and to the point and despite having the same music work well as independent pieces. The vocals are almost classic PE sounding and are hard and convincing. This is a good, to-the-point Power Electronics album and a nice continuation of the concept GX is working on. On either black or workers' blood red (anarcho-syndicalists can get both at a discounted price) - there was a limited signed edition but that's gone, ho hum.

ORANGE PUNJABI, Empty Land, cassette
Tristes Tropiques (http://snazzacool@hotmail.com), 2011

Although Fjorn Butler has been performing and recording in a duo with Mitchell Brennan lately her solo project, Orange Punjabi has been going for a few years now, but this is the first recording that I've heard. Live, Butler utilises old tape decks for cassette manipulation, but the sounds on this album seem to indicate a more digital use of editing at the least. It's difficult to know what's what as there's no indication of sides on the tape and minimal information included in the rather ornate packaging. Starting off with the lengthy "Lungs", it introduces a slow, echoing drone derived from voices that raises in tone, then in pitch, while subtle manipulations of sound are over-laid. It's an impressive and effective, almost majestic in its scope. The awkwardly titled "Orphans, Lullaby, Lounge Music" seems to be feedback manipulation, sparsely done, lots of space around the sounds but with a continuation of tone to bring the sounds together, although with a cut-up structure. This piece, at least, sounds laptop with its quick come-and-go sounds tightly reverbed and squiggling electronic under-tones. I'm presuming next is "Deep Forest Throat" which is more harsh but not overtly blazing hissing and, again, tightly reverbed tones, probably derived from brief samples being pulled and stretched out of context. The first part of this piece does come across as a bit aimless and arbitrary, more a playing with sounds than using them or putting them into a context, but then the possibilities with the more obvious voice samples that remind a touch of Nocturnal Emissions are explored more fully when they are organised into a more coherent pacing (with a lot of tape hiss filming over it) - it's here that Orange Punjabi shows purpose and character. Even more interesting is how the piece mutates into something darker and more guttural with the introduction of bursts of harsher but again not louder sounds, changing the spiral almost completely from its beginning yet retaining the same distant, foggy feeling throughout. After this, the next two tracks seem a bit under-whelming, short pieces of sound manipulation that don't really strike the listener as anything much. Orange Punjabi is at its strongest when bringing sounds together in a cohesive whole and at its weakest when it just meanders with them. Fortunately this album highlights the former much more than the latter and is worth getting at least for the two strong lengthier tracks.
 Nice packaging - a cardboard box liberally coated with brightly coloured paint and including a strip of cardboard printout of abstract collage. But, as mentioned, very little information. It should also be pointed out that the tracks listed feature on both sides of the tape.

Grindstroke - Puristimessa
self-released
CD-R

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/411.html)
Release info & samples (http://www.grindstroke.bandcamp.com/)

According to the band "Puristimessa" is something of a return to using band instruments, so the noisers have decided to take the traditional instruments and pulverize them as they go along?

But the claim isn't completely uncalled for. in the beginning of part 1 you can actually hear a quick cymbal ride and they have also decided to add a spacey synth melody to the end of said part. Believe me I almost shit myself when I heard something resembling music on this release. Otherwise we are treated to the same bubbling resonances and distortions we have grown to love, served in minimal fashion.

Part 2 showcases the band mimicking, or competing with, a washing machine on full spin. The other option is drawing a parallel to the "stuck needle" syndrome for an accurate description on how part 2 sounds. However they manage to create an aggressive environment through their minimal repetitive patterns.

Sure as hell this IS noise, but this time Grindstroke take the minimalism and repeats too far as you find yourself in danger of slipping out of reach of the audible irritations.

Either it's the musicians pulverizing their instruments or the music taking perverse advantage of the player, but one thing is for sure: Grindstroke will be bringing quality noise to your bleeding ears.

7½ / 10

------------------------------------------

Kenji Siratori - Tokyo Killer
Label: Love Torture Records
CD-R
Ltd. 35 pcs.

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/410.html)
Release info (http://www.davidlucienart.com/lovetorturerecords/physical.htm)

Kenji Siratori is a Japanese cyberpunk-writer, who's also released tens and tens of noise-records under his name. This is the first album I've yet come to hear from his vast catalogue, and it presents 40 minutes of simple but effective noise that's surely not listener-friendly.

The opening "Part 1" consists of a mis-tuned electric guitar delivering improvised discords that merge together with some bursts and whirls of harsh lo-fi distortion. The guitar notes make no sense, as one would expect, but they give the song its backbone and "logic," and together with the unpredictable burst of noise it creates a highly pleasing mass of experimental noise and distortion. It might help you if you're a fan of noisecore as well, as otherwise the guitar notes might get to annoy you.

"Part 2" opens up with some programmed beats and metallic beat-like effects that quickly merge with the guitar discords and noise-distortion. The end result is an uncontrollable and deformed tangle of noise that rolls forward unpredictably. The song's basic formula doesn't really change, similarly to "Part 1", but the constant twitches and morphs keep the track interesting. It's slower and to some extent more ominous tune than its predecessor, but also the more intriguing one due to the beats giving it a strong irregular pulse.

The spray-painted disc comes packed inside a plastic slip with one-sided front and back covers. This simple but (especially when noting the price tag) stylish DIY-release is limited to mere 35 copies, so I'd recommend you to get yours now if you want the album. "Tokyo Killer" doesn't present anything too innovative, and these facts along with the simplistic and repetitive song structures (if one wants to call them that) and not using the guitars to a greater effect keep me from giving the album a higher grade. Still, it delivers its brand of hostile, detailed and (in a good way) slightly annoying underground noise in such a capable and stress-free manner and with a pleasingly plump soundscape that it's well worth the 6$ cost.

7½ / 10

------------------------------------------

Cahier - Passé
Label: Rypistellyt Levyt
CD-R
Ltd. 40 pcs.

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/417.html)
Release info (http://www.rypistellytlevyt.tumblr.com/)

Cahier is one of the most prolific projects of Marko Neuman, as it has either created or taken part on nearly twenty releases since its debut from 2005. This particular album is a compilation of both previously released and unreleased tunes that date between '05 and '08.

The songs vary from beautiful piano- and ambient-pieces (Avion, Moite, Sin Fe VII) to songs based on electronic guitar riffs and noises (Cerrar la Cremallera, Congreso) to full-out harsh noise and noise-drone (Työntötanko, Rincón Oscuro, Otrafni) throughout the compilation, with the atmospheres changing similarly from violent and noisy offense to mellow and ethereal ambience. It might sound like a mess on paper, but somehow the atmosphere and the plot carries through the whole album and makes it surprisingly unified.

All the songs have been recorded using a four-tracker, which gives them a somewhat descanted sound that further ties the different approaches together. Alongside the recording equipment, one more unifier is the songs' minimalistic approach and the small amount of instruments used per song. All the songs wear a thin coating of gleaming noise, so even the softest moments have a slight twist which makes them fit in better amidst the more avantgardey noise and experimentation - and similarly, the harshest noise-parts have a slight ethereal vibe.

The very affordable CD-R comes packed in a soft plastic case, which is coated with some kind of fabric. The home-printed j-card holds all the necessary infos about the release, so there's nothing to really complain about. The musical side speaks for itself, even if some additional visuals would've been welcome.

When regarded as a compilation, this release is pretty much as well made as possible, when noting both the universal lack of effort bands tend to give their compilations as well as Cahier's experimental nature making it hard to create a descriptive collage of its expression's variety. It's a pleasing album when examined as just something one'd like to listen to as well, as it has a lot of variety, a good flow and it's rather unified despite being a compilation. The four-tracker-soundscape gets a bit dull when the album gets closer to its end and the minimalistic approach wears out a bit as well, so I'm glad the artist didn't make the compilation any longer. I'm not sure how good an image this compilation gives from Cahier's actual albums and their structure as I haven't heard any of them, but it's a good place to start getting acquaintanted with the project in any case.

8- / 10

BARRIKAD We Make Nihilists Smile Again
CD, Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/), 2011

On this album Barrikad collaborates with three other entities; respectively, Kriminaaliset Metsanhaltijat, Fear Konstruktor and Government Alpha. I was unfamiliar with Barrikad until now and given that this is a collaborative effort it's difficult to know how indicative these pieces are of the project's usual work.
 Having greatly enjoyed Kriminaaliset Metsanhaltijat's cd on Bloodlust and the "NATO" cassette on Triangle I was particularly interested in this collaboration and I'm pleased to report it is not disappointing. Nor is it as over-whelming as those albums, but that's mainly due to the rather dark, more restrained use of sound. Soft filthy hissing, gritty droning, throbbing and grumbling, the sounds of stressed junk being squeaked and rasped, some occasional sounds like bells giving an almost site-recording feel - the piece "Black Hammers" is a collage of dirty electronics and acoustics forced to stew in a pit of dirty fog. Industrial Ambient. Not without intensity but more suffocating than explosive, the visceral grind of collective daily living and existing.
 Fear Konstruktor I haven't followed with any great detail, apart from some material from the RONF label, and don't remember as anything out-standing one way or the other. The piece "Governmentality" seems to consist of a crackling, minimal tone with a nice, gutty depth that is manipulated on intervals, sounding indifferently non-human. There's more going on in the actual tone than any static WN bullshit, fortunately, and the drama is increased when some backwards-masked vocals are introduced. It took me a couple of listens to get the focus of this piece, but when I did I found the covert threatening nature of it appealing. Like "Black Hammers" it is the under-stated, darker, stressed nature of the spiral that works for me. More minimal but with a demand for concentration.
 After the under-statement of the two longer spirals, the harsher burst of "Destroy, Destroy, Destroy" is a contrast. Shrieking, spluttering feedback heralds a crashing, bashing kind of sound that could well be metal through effects, to be joined by additional electronics and so forth. Just good, wholesome Harsh Noise with all the usual elements. Just how much of this is Barrikad? It's very hard to judge as this piece sounds almost entirely like Government Alpha's usual output. In fact, perhaps it doesn't so much contrast as clash with the two earlier works? This piece, using mostly single source, doesn't quite grip the listener as much as the previous pieces, having a suspiciously going-through-the-motions feel to it.
 The liner notes are interesting - lengthy extracts from a book called "The Coming Community" by one Giorgio Agamben. Under titles like "Whatever", "From Limbo" and "Demonic", the writing is part academic, part poetic. More food for thought than can be outlined in a simple music review, although I'm certainly pleased to be pointed to the author Robert Wasler of whom I was previously unaware.
 Phage Tapes have, as usual, released another quality album. Perhaps a little uneven in it's impact, but worth the purchase for the two longer spirals at the least.
 

BACULUM, Ink Fetish
cassette, Phage Tapes, 2011

The already heavily decorated Mr Stoxen tattooed the letters "H" and "N" on both feet, recorded the sound of the event and released that sound on this little ten minute tape. Why not? Well, as a kind of concrete music documentation it could work, but since it's pretty much the same buzz with the occasional extraneous bumping or clacking sound throughout, it would only work as such a documentation. Minimalist, methodical Noise for lovers of tattoo-ing, perhaps, but have to confess it does nothing for me.

REGOSPHERE/CONTENT NULLITY, Claws Of The Witch
cassette, Dumpsterscore Home Recordings (http://dumpsterscore.org/index.html), 2011

Say what you will about Facebook, it was certainly effective in getting me interested in this release by following the to-and-fro between Mr Quitter and Mr Reynolds regarding the release, without even trying to make a hype of it. A lot of work has gone into this release and knowing that, I find, does assist with listening.
  Side one is Regosphere's. Beginning with "Like Maggots We Squirm", dark, swirling synth-drones and dark, waving synth hiss elegantly put together to form a kind of dark Industrial sounding spiral that acts almost as an introduction but also works as it's own piece. It leans closely to Death Industrial but with that special kind of doomy psychedelica that Regosphere can manage so well. Very simple, but it's composition pulls it all together and manages to ooze forth the intended mood. It is well complemented by "My Sins Are My Own" - like the previous, having an almost traditional Death Industrial sound, particularly with the use of southern-US-accented fundy Xtian declaiming whatever it is those types like to bang on about as a sample on the first half, followed by incredibly effected vocals (almost not sounding like a voice at all) that rasp "You don't understand, fuck it!/Throw it in the trash/Watch the strength of your mind disappear/Crushed by your ignorance". The music here is sparser, more minimal and background, soft clashes of synth and winding, wiry sounding tone put in a slowly rhythmic manner. Echoes of Brighter Death Now and Attrax Morgue, perhaps even (good era) SPK in a solemn mood.
  Side two is Content Nullity's. "In The Throne Of Her Abhorrence" begins with a very precise sounding drone/tone, mechanical and sharp, with a slowly pulsing single-note sequence. Reynolds' voice is shouting and harsh, somewhat monotonal, though, as he lets the world know of his mix of emotions regarding, it would seem, a prior relationship? "To think I once/Tasted unfathomable pleasures/Had body warmth lavish my skin/Kill me/Kill me/Kill me/Killed by the claws of the witch". A slow, almost-melody comes in when he demands to be killed, adding a sinister, near-Dark Wave-esque feel to the tone as the piece increases the backing distortion and a more Industrial sounding noise-rhythm comes in, yet still very clean and precise. The sounds are built-up, increasing the feeling of frustration and dissolution, before dying down to the opening tones over which "I have found my pink exit" is shouted. It's clear that a lot of attention is placed on the mixing and production, a preference for a clean, tight sound to match the tight composition of the spiral itself. The second piece, "Grief", is a simple, four chord sequence on the keyboard, rather heavily distorted and repeated, aided eventually by a keening wail of effected vocals. The sound of a passing funeral, struck with grief. The manipulation of the delay on the vocals is what keeps it interesting, pulsing echoes rising and dispersing, but I tend to think this particular spiral is dragged out a little longer than it should have been.
  This is a dark album, for those dark moods when you crave darkness. Well composed, perhaps a little too flat in the overall production for mine, but will appeal to those who want something dark yet aggressive.

REGOSPHERE/EXTRAORDINARY PIGEONS, split
cassette and download, Pigeon Coup International (http://pigeoncoupinternational.bandcamp.com/album/extraordinary-pigeons-regosphere-split), 2011

Starting with the rather lamely titled Extraordinary Pigeons' (seriously, what is that meant to mean?) "Spirits Of The Ice Age", the band incorporate acoustic sounds that are heavily effected and treated. Heavy breathing voice, strident horns and deeply bellowing, plucked strings, lesser identifiable sounds are sparsely and cleverly composed to produce a dark, bleak sounding piece of modern orchestral music. Nicely paced, each sound has its own room to make it's own mark and interact with the others. It's grim and evocative - one can, at least, understand the choice of the title. The sounds move like pictures against a blackened background, like cave paintings in a cavernous space barely lit by fire. It moves through phases, bringing out and introducing the various elements in a controlled yet naturally flowing composition. The "folk-drone" sound of the final third of the piece is almost triumphant, after the bleakness of the darker moments, summoning the sun to break the ice and let life breath again. This is a successful and enjoyable piece.
  Putting the pressure on Regosphere, Mr Quitter acquits himself well, beginning with "Nervous Reaction", a burbling and growling synth track brings a full and satisfying crumble upon which, scooped like sludge, higher pitched synth sounds dive and rise, breaking into white sound hissing and confused buzzing. After the mass of confusion sounds are then stripped down to their barest, allowing the less sludgy but no less filthy buzzing and creaking to succeed the one after the other. The sound is full and direct and nicely messy. Following with "Analog Swamp (Born In The Slime)", Regosphere gives us a higher-pitched, nastier sounding squall of squealing and pulsing synths trying to induce headaches in the listener. Rhythmic and attacking, it's a singularly aggressive piece of Industrial inspired Noise.
  Good, well made and highly listenable pieces and a decent contrast between artists makes this a desirable album, and if you get the tape you get the download for free.
 

Gorgonized Dorks / Paregorik - Noize Combat Split
Label: Jerkoff Records
Format: MC
Year: 2011

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/425.html)
Release info (http://www.discogs.com/Gorgonized-Dorks-Paregorik-Noize-Split/release/2934439)

Gorgonized Dorks is a noisecore-duo that isn't afraid of experimentation, as was already proven on their split with xAOAx. This time their two tracks could be described as spacey noise, which explains why they're teamed with two songs from the Czech experimental noise-artist Paregorik (interviewed here).

GxDx's opener mixes long loops of spacey synths together with digital-sounding and more intrusive high-pitched signals to create a feeling of witnessing a massive gadget from some old sci-fi-movie slowly being destroyed. The signals and bleeps are backed with irregular bursts of harsh and grainy noisiness, which makes the song sound more underground. "Telemetry..." is a well over ten minutes long song which doesn't really evolve, it just mutates and pulsates forward without really going anywhere. The switching balances of lower-pitch white noise and the cleaner (although muffled) high-pitch sounds create the variation for the track. I'm not too sure what to think of it; it's not too noisy or invasive, but it's surely noisy, experimental and even bizarre, and the overall soundscape is enjoyable. I would've expected more violence from it, but then again the song might be more interesting this way; not an attack, but a description of something mysterious and intimidating.

Similarly to the opener, "Of Silverfish and Jazz" sounds like it's an old and lost recording that's been dug up from it's grave under rocks and dirt, where its soundscape has received a coating of muffled and grainy hiss. The song is more structured and less massive than the opener, and its balancing between the sci-fi-effects and harsh noise is used more creatively to create a switching and evolving balance of the two opposites. The song is a bit minimalistic, but the sounds have such an amount of character that it doesn't matter. I wish "Of Silverfish..." would've been longer, as now it has been enslaved to primarily work as GxDx's outro-song for their massive piece of droning harsh noise and retro-electronics. If the songs were more equal in length, they would've made a nice stand-alone tape EP.

"Feel the Pyramid" by Paregorik sounds suspiciously musical after the GxDx-side, but only for a fading moment. The opening song consists of layers of harsh electronic noise that's backed by some fleshy bass guitar-notes, which explains why the song sounds so "musical" at first - even though the bass is pretty well buried under the noise. The electronic wall of distortion receives some additional character and violent qualities by some microphone-feedback, and it truly gives an ear-shredding counterbalance to the bassiness, and also makes the track more varying due to its unpredictability. There might be some bits of really distorted vocals here and there, too, but I'm not too sure if that specific sound is human or not. Nonetheless, it fits. I think the bass sounds too soft and fleshy in comparison to the cold and shredding electronics and it doesn't please my ears the way it should, but on the other hand it makes the track more personal, bold and even perverse.

The song "Out of Oil" uses the same elements, but clearly aims for fiercer results. The bass is so buried under all the rhythmic electronic pulse that it mostly serves as a flash of a living mass between all the grain, and it truly works better this way. It's a simple song, a harsh noise wall, but the source sounds make it interesting and worth a few spins, for sure. Nothing new, but something usual done with style and a personal touch. This song convinced me that I need to find out more about Paregorik, as it seems to have an interesting approach towards harsh noise.

This one's for the fans of experimental lo-fi noise. Love it or hate it, but the release is justified either way, even if it's not a "future classic" or anything shiny or spectacular - it's "merely" experimental underground filth, as you can see right from the dull DIY cover arts.

7+ / 10

----------------------

Mucophiliac Narcolepsy - 98 Tracks Demo
Label: Bizarre Fetus Organization
Format: MC
Year: 2011

Direct link to the review (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/421.html)
Release info & samples (http://www.mucophiliacnarcolepsy666.bandcamp.com/)

Mucophiliac Narcolepsy is a parallel solo-project of Hippycrack. This is the project's second demo, and I'm glad to say it takes the debut demo's mixture of noisecore-bursts, more traditional noise and lunatic nonsense even further - and does it in a shorter time, too.

The tracks on side A are two to four seconds long bursts of noisecore. The used instruments include a cymbal, a snare, a guitar and a bass guitar, a toy synth and some really muffled vocals. The fleshy bass seems to make some actual bits of riff, but otherwise the songs are a full-on mess. The synths give the songs quite a bit of character and a lightweight feel which balances out the chaos, making the songs form something deeper and more bizarre. A pleasing and surprisingly original-sounding listen, for sure.

The B-side is more bare, with only a guitar, muffled howls and growls, a cymbal and a snare. The songs are overall more traditional than on side A: simply, they're all two-second long bursts of hasty guitar abuse a'la Deche-Charge with blurry nonsense vocals, and they follow each other in a rather steady pace provided by the sole cymbal. It's not a too interesting bunch to listen to due to the steadiness and predictability, but doesn't get to annoy the listener either. More lunacy would've been needed to create an effect, be it either a positive or a negative one. The closing sixth minute presents something different entirely; it consists of cheesy and cheap synth-beats and -notes backing a sped-up sample of someone talking. It's louder than the actual noisecore-part, but otherwise is serves as a bold and fittingly bizarre outro-like, and gives the B-side more meaning and originality.

The tape makes no sense, but it's not meant to either. If the project keeps on producing as quality lunacy as the A-side presents, humouristic or not, I'll surely be obtaining its future releases for my listening pleasure as well. "98 Tracks Demo" is a good purchase due to its compact lenght and bold attitude, but it would've needed to be even more outrageous to leave a permanent scar on its listener.

7+ / 10

COSMIC COINCIDENCE (CCCC)/JUNK SICK, split
12" lathe cut, 2011,
Altered States (http://www.alteredstatesofsound.blogspot.com/)

Cooper of AS warns that the sound level is somewhat low on this cut, particularly on the first part of side one, and also issues a free download of wave and mp3 files for this material, but interestingly I found the sound quite acceptable and, in fact when compared to the wave files, somewhat more enjoyable. The lathe cut seems to have added a kind of low fidelity grit to both sides which seems to enhance the actual pleasure of the music. This is particularly the case with Junk Sick - Cooper and long-time collaborator Tommy Gunja - who have created two messy, crude spirals of home-taped Noise that manage, with the first piece "Space Debris" to maintain a nice experimental feel with analogue synths, effects, tapes and contact microphones that features a lot of water-ish gurgling with spurts of static, underlined with synth humming and oscillating. The track features choppy bits of harsh sound over more rushing, dirtier layers that combine well and keep things moving without spazzing around. A fairly appropriately titled track, actually, invoking the idea of pieces of human-made shit clogging up space. "Black Dust" reminds me more of the kind of cassette improvisations put out by these people before, a rustier and more coagulated sound that gets more active and aggressive with a lot of nice dragging sounds and more intense synth. Both these pieces are great and I look forward to the up-coming "Rising Damp" tape.
  The Hasegawa party, for their part, start off with the usual slow building cosmic synth tones that mutate and evolve with more stressed sounding electronics, like something being stretched beyond its limits, and these sounds move together, the slow winding synth and burbling and gurgling electronics, building in intensity but maintaining dignity. Funnily, because of the building tension of "Apocalyptic Birdsong" it seems to be too short, despite being over sixteen minutes in length, but this project always did seem to excel in the spaced-out-jam method, rather than the concise hit. Still, the sound presented here is structured and strong and the download version can bring out details the lathe cut perhaps missed.

MONOLITH, self titled
cdr, 2011
Ice Age (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Iceage-Productions/149157318463883)

Few things succeed like a simple idea done well and that is precisely what Monolith does. Taking samples from other, usually musical sources and effecting and processing them so heavily is one of the oldest ideas in the book, but here it's the blatancy and sheer single-mindedness of the re-worked material that is so effective. The end result of these tracks are dark, slow moving, softly distorted pieces of pure ambient noise that sound much more organic than the process would suggest. The pieces don't change much over their period and that's totally the point. These are slabs of sound that invoke the plain titles - "Bleak", "Tombs", "Sewers" - simply and effectively. The result is an undemanding listen that evokes more the pleasure of the actual sounds than any scrutinising of structure, intent or extraneous non-necessity - this is about the end result, the pure, perfect sound of rust, sludge, void and filth all slowly moving and indifferent to your existence. It's about evocation, not stylisation. Definitely an album I've been returning to many times - it's immediately catchy and enjoyable in the same way a good rock album is yet definitely based on the opposite mood, and that's a pretty impressive thing. A clear case of achieving, not attempting.

UNDECISIVE GOD, RPMs 3-4
cdr, 2011
Shame File (http://www.shamefilemusic.com/)

Clinton Green continues his experiments in organic looping - using barely-working turntables and very broken vynal albums to create repeating loops of sound - with this new release. "RPMs 3x3", as the name suggests, uses three different turntables and a host of albums, some more intact than others, and allows the stylus to jump, skip, scrape and draw what sounds abound from the material. Green's involvement is to adjust the speed and change the source as necessary, but allowing the output to speak for itself without the use of effects or editing. The result is an aleatory virtuosity, working with the chances of the output, making only what adjustments seem necessary to keep the piece moving. "RPMs 3x3" has a nice sense of drama and (illusion of) composition, whereas "RPMs 4 (Voice & Hardware)", being a longer piece, comes across much more psychedelically, having more space and air, contrasting with the bustling and hurried elements of "RPMs 3x3". The two featured spirals rely on the lovely, satisfying crackle, crunch and crumble of both broken recording and tactile audio of the actual materials. Live, Green has nothing to hide when he plays this material, once insisting that people come close to see what was going on. This is a welcoming, inclusive art that is at the same time distinctive and personal for the artist. A clear case of a concept that works.
 Also included are "Turntables Are Wrong", which, according to the liner notes, is an accident - the levels of the input recording where too high, giving a stressed, guttural crunch evokes the more recent work of Sam McKinlay. And "Summer Holiday 2010-11", a much quieter piece that is an audio collage of site recordings from various holiday activities, a Cagean experiment similar to Green's "A Year Of Silence" album and the track "Non Cricket" from the "Everything's Broken" album. These pieces feature Green's use of such "accidental" and incidental material to create new sound-scapes. "Summer Holiday 2010-11" does go some way to express the simple joys of family time and relaxation with it's softness and light and is a pleasant interlude for the album. But the main pieces are also positive, involving and, in the case of "RPMs 4 (Voices & Hardware)", relaxing and releasing. With some exceptions (the "Border Protection Policy" album, for example), Green has always preferred the more positive and least pretentious elements of modern abstract music and this album is another milestone.

ISOMER, Nil By Mouth
cd, 2011
Cipher Productions (http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/)

My initial reaction to this was not positive. In fact, I was surprised. I knew that Dave was heading in a more Power Electronics direction, but going by a rare live performance assumed it to be a lot heavier and noisier. This album, however, has a more clinical element to it, but that's not the issue. The issue is how derivative it sounds. Australians for years have laboured with a tendency to imitate overseas efforts and I was quite disappointed to hear that one of my favourite local projects, one I've been following for years, was succumbing. The influences on this are far too obvious - if you like any kind of European PE, you'll know what this sounds like without hearing it.
  After a few listens, my feelings started to turn. As with anything Dave does, there is a lot of care taken to put things together, the production is exemplary, and there is a completeness to the material that allows me to relax a bit more with it. So it's clear that for the time being Isomer is going to be in this mode - crisp yet warm, harsher elements becoming more prevalent, throbbing synth lines, sparser arrangements, more vocals, samples. Certainly a change from the deep, lush, movie soundtrack-esque sound of previous Isomer elements. It's not that such elements weren't present before, particularly the use of samples and the more precise length of tracks, but on this album their synthesis becomes more pastiche. And having adjusted somewhat more, I think this album could be recommended to PE fans without much qualification. It's certainly more than mere "workman-like" - the production is to be admired - although there's a lack of emotional impact I find disturbing, but that is in keeping with the clinicism of the influences. It's after the fourth track, "Regaining Our Faith", that I find the album beings to work better for me, the soft crunch of that piece (I imagine the contribution from Mark Groves) appealing to me. Followed by the very Genocide Organ sounding "When We Burn", a simple modulated synth tone graced with some electronic filth, with vocals hinting at IRM coming across quite well. The final track, "Infant Promise" is also in collaboration with Groves and his distinct sparse, electronic nihilism is well to the fore on this piece, finishing the album on a more original note and probably my favourite on the album.
  In the end, it's better to have an album that is at least good at what it does than fails to connect on any level. This is a straight forward, well-made, average Power Electronics release, in an edition of two hundred, mainly released for Isomer's support gig with Genocide Organ's performances in Germany this year.

2673, What Reveals The Heavens Can Be Found On Earth
cd, 2011
Cipher Productions

Minimalism is an essential element in Noise (gazillions of "static wall noise" pastichers notwithstanding), and this album highlights a very hard-edged kind of minimalism. It sounds to me like the majority of sounds where generated with a mixing desk, although there are clearly synths of some kind involved. Most of the album depends upon hard, carefully recorded, pure electronic tones that are very gradually modulated over the length of their time. The result is cold and un-moving. Any emotional connection, I think, will be polarised between those who feel it immediately and those who probably never will, and I have to confess I'm in the later camp. The first and last of these untitled pieces being the exceptions - in the first case, the track opens with warm, gently settling synthesiser drones like pure liquids that are then buoying sharp yet restrained crackling electronic line. The two sounds work together well and the track is pleasant yet involving to listen to. In the last track, there is a cold, clear electronic tone that has a warmer undertone and again, the contrast works. But for the most part, the album gives away very little, particularly the barely audible (for the most part, to the end) fourth track. What bugs me about this album is how it's more like an exploration of tones rather than a use of tones - it suggests a lack of inspiration and imagination. Yet the album is packaged to give the impression that this is something personal for the artist - it's a plain, brown cardboard package with photos of a woman playing with a live bird. And surely the album title is meant to mean something (a quote of some kind?)? Evidentially there are emotions here the artist is trying to convey, but not to me. The minimalism doesn't have the kind of softness and frailty I would expect from such personal imagery and seems more remote and uncaring of any response from a listener. Whether that is the artist's intention or not is moot.
  Does this make the album a failure? Perhaps not, as I expect there will be listeners more adept at these kinds of sounds who could pick up the emotions that may well be there. To me, this is too distant and too clinical, but as an experimental and challenging work, it can certainly be recommended.

PRAYING FOR OBLIVION, Facade
tape, 2011
Cipher Productions

Once again, the virtues of Average Noise (that's not an invitation to turn it into a genre!) are brought home with this fine release. The first of a series of such tape releases that Chris intends with specific, home-made packaging. This one comes strapped via plastic mesh to a fine square of sturdy card, coated nicely on the non-tape side with nice, chunky slop of mashed paper, paint, plastic mesh again and, apparently, pieces of video tape. The result is nicely even yet still satisfyingly course, and amply reflects the sounds on the tape. Side one is a live assault, and it is very much straight forward feedback and distortion manipulated through heavy delay, along with shouted (what else?) vocals. Sounds too familiar? Fuck it, it works well, having the low fidelity sheen of live recording without sacrificing any impact or heaviness. Messy, aggressive Power Electronics that harkens to earlier history by being more on the side of barely structured Noise than precise, crisp, synthesised elements. You'll need to turn your stereo up for this. Side two has basically the same elements in a non-live recorded environment with a more chaotic and sharper turn, happily going berserk through the simple effects. "Facade" has a few distinct changes to its structure while "Torture Chamber" is more blatantly minimalist. It's as "fuck you" as it gets. The synthesis between packaging and sound is in this case quite even, simple yet well made and therefore effective and enjoyable. Total, unpretentious, powerful Noise.

MONOLITH, Spectres
cdr, 2011
Ice Age Productions (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/Iceage-Productions/149157318463883)

Spreading a single spiral over thirty six minutes is not something one should attempt if one has no ideas and no talent. No such problems from Monolith. A single tone is fluctuated heavily through slow phasing and allowed to pass through a variety of effected stages, ranging from gritty distortion to smooth, pure feedback to foggy sludge to booming, up-front speaker blow to, finally, what sounds like chains being dragged across a metal floor. Rather than a boring going-through-the-motions of different effects it's a much more exciting manipulation of carefully chosen sounds that follow from one to the other with adequate pacing and compliment each other nicely. It's a diverse, delightful spiral that matches well the sound Monolith have on their self-titled album while not going through the same motions. I'm still not sure how these sounds are generated which is really another advantage as there's nothing obvious to peg onto - the sound is all. It's spacious, ambitious without over-reaching, well structured and pleasurable to listen to.

MSHING & PSYCHWARD, collaboration
Tape, 2011
Magik Crowbar (http://mindtimedestroy.blogspot.com/)/Trapdoor Tapes (http://www.myspace.com/trapdoortapes)

Pure, rushing, up-front Noise. The sound on the tape is very good, not quite the lower fidelity rust I was expecting, more fulsome, lots of middle end. Harsh. Nice lines of static-y, white/pink noise distortion, cloudy skerricks of clarity amidst the rush. A roaring, burnt tone something very like a motor bike engine on pierces the thickened din. Both sides sound the same but there are subtle differences that mark them both as different parts of the same piece. Nonetheless, there is the slightest pause in the middle of both sides giving an impression similar to Blod. The main sound is the mid pitched white noise, constantly moving and often revealing different details - deeper tones, crackling electronics, oscillation, and sometimes just pure rush. But it is not static, it is constantly moving at a furious pace, and the sound is big and full enough to push everything through. Pure, simple, unexceptional Harsh Noise - the world always needs this.

SICK LLAMA/MSHING, split
Tape, 2011
Magik Crowbar/Trapdoor Tapes

Side one (there's no indication on the j-card which project is actually on which side so I'm going to assume from the spine label it's Sick Llama) is a wonderful, mechanical-metal-istic loop-based spiral of current Industrial filth. Squeaking, rusting machinery croaks in the near background as other metallic sounds are smashed in sequence in front of it. Feedback squeals compliment the rhythmic bashing of materials. This is the basis of it. These elements move in an aleatory manner, allowing other small sounds to be introduced to the palate, sometimes briefly stopping the machines for some feedback to generate sickeningly, but it all conforms to the death factory driven mechanics of the piece's specifics. Filthy, raw, Industrial Noise, and a very fine example of.
  Side two doesn't let the filth down. A more tape-hissy sound, it sounds pretty much like feedback manipulation. You get shards of pure tone clashing with harsher yet dirtier gratings. Starts with a single tone alternating between it's elements and builds up, filling the sound with more dirt. But after a good dose of this the piece suddenly transforms (or it ends and a new one turns) into a static, distant sounding veil of soft distortion like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion (as you know). There's really not much more to describe, it's what you reach for when you want just unadulterated, dirty Noise.
  Both projects pretty much achieve what they obviously seek and this album is extremely satisfying.

HALTHAN "Live (the) dis-ease" tape
Filth & Violence
I'm kind of half'n'half, thinking this should be good idea, but not sure. I recall the there was idea that Halthan will do recording at F&V bunker to make more brutal release? I thought it was this, but not.  This is actually live recording in Bunker camputer by mr. Deplano? In some of older Halthan, I missed the live aggression and noisiness that is in live assaults. And hope they'll do it on recordings too, but this has kind of too many flaws to be entirely satisfactory. It has noise, it has in-you-face vocals, but there's lots of clumsy moments, like random noise jumping up that is quickly turned down in volume. Or vocal effects changing random.. I recall it might have been slightly drunken stepping on pedals? And vocals that in some old tapes are effect mangled, are here kind of pissed crust type shouting with no possibility to have any idea what really is being said. Not bad, yet I have always had feeling that Halthan is able to do much more, but they just haven't fully done it yet. Live shows often end up in drunken disorder and tapes leave you impression they're heading good way, but just don't get it done. For those who like for example later days BOTC or raw noisy electronics with shouting will probably like this anyways, but I really hope when they make the first proper "real" album, it will be all hits, no misses.

UMPIO / SSRI split tape
Fuck!!! This is prime example on good old harsh noise! Time before things got too "militant" or too wall, to concept, or too digital. In a way, it's kind of leap towards 90's, yet at the same time so timeless, that it is also fresh. Umpio could be filed somewhere close K2 at his metal junk era, Knurl at his more hectic noises, Sickness at his less hi-fi days, and so on. It goes on fast, with lots of cuts and stop & go's, whirlwind of metal junks, distortions, feedback, and overall crunchyness.. yet overall sound range focus on pretty rusty and rotten dirty mid-range. It lacks the hi-fi edge of Japanese dynamic noise masters (a'la Pain Jerk or Kazumoto Endo), but this is in no way failure. Brilliant material!
SSRI has bad position to try clean up after sonic cum-shots. This is the Private Bunker live show from january 1st. I remember I was not utterly charmed by the sounds at the location, but there is something magical about analogue tape. Material works much much better when you are not there, but hear perhaps just remotely accurately captured lo-fi version of already most suffocated garbage noise experiments. I still think the guitar doesn't sound good, but everything else blends into mix very nicely. I guess label sold this out, and so did I, but I recommend to approach for example Umpio for copies. It will be worth it!

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on September 05, 2011, 06:35:07 PM
UMPIO / SSRI split tape
Fuck!!! This is prime example on good old harsh noise! Time before things got too "militant" or too wall, to concept, or too digital. In a way, it's kind of leap towards 90's, yet at the same time so timeless, that it is also fresh. Umpio could be filed somewhere close K2 at his metal junk era, Knurl at his more hectic noises, Sickness at his less hi-fi days, and so on. It goes on fast, with lots of cuts and stop & go's, whirlwind of metal junks, distortions, feedback, and overall crunchyness.. yet overall sound range focus on pretty rusty and rotten dirty mid-range. It lacks the hi-fi edge of Japanese dynamic noise masters (a'la Pain Jerk or Kazumoto Endo), but this is in no way failure. Brilliant material!
SSRI has bad position to try clean up after sonic cum-shots. This is the Private Bunker live show from january 1st. I remember I was not utterly charmed by the sounds at the location, but there is something magical about analogue tape. Material works much much better when you are not there, but hear perhaps just remotely accurately captured lo-fi version of already most suffocated garbage noise experiments. I still think the guitar doesn't sound good, but everything else blends into mix very nicely. I guess label sold this out, and so did I, but I recommend to approach for example Umpio for copies. It will be worth it!

I feel so lucky that I got one copy for myself....

I still need to listen to that split, don't know why I haven't got around to it yet. That Chloroform Rapist tape was the best of that batch so far (well Concrete Mascara sounded very tight and put together too). Half way through Side A of Chloroform Rapist I began to smell fire and then noticed that my head had exploded. Total MB/Manthausen Orchestra/Felony Sexual Assault sound that turns into slow rotting decay. A++++

DEAD BODY LOVE, 10 Louglio 1979
cassette, 2011
Terror (http://www.terror.lt/)

Despite being claimed by some as a precursor to the Wall Noise thing, I've never heard Dead Body Love as much more than straight up Harsh Noise and I don't think it's ever been presented in any other way, that I know of. Certainly the material on this album couldn't be confused for anything else. In fact, it almost stands as an acme for Harsh Noise, of a certain kind - the main source being electronics and the main sound being a mid-fidelity hiss, drenched in distortion. It moves constantly and angrily through it's three "Zona"s, replete with confidence and sans any stale point. The frequency seems to favour the middle to higher range without particularly ear shattering shrieks and certainly without a lot of lower grumbling, crunching and a lot of the more usual audio features of a lot of this kind of built up, layered Harsh Noise (it's pleasant to me to hear more than one source going through the pieces) - pure pedal power from what I can ascertain. The "theme" it seems is the Seveso disaster which is more adequately illustrated by the dark and grim collage and drawing pieces of the tasteful graphic included with the album. To be blunt, there's little else to add - this is straight up, powerful and effective Harsh Noise, of the kind I call "Average Noise"; Noise that seeks little else but it's own power and brutality within it's own set parameters. In fact there's almost an "old school" ethos here in that it's Harsh Noise with a theme attached, yet standing on it's own regardless of any theme. Fortunately the pace and impact is maintained throughout the entire album and it's hardly surprising it's sold out already - an argument for a re-press, I would think.

MB, "Industrial Murder/Menstrual Bleeding"
CD, 2011
Phage (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)/R.O.N.F (http://www.ronfrecords.com/)

Had enough MB yet? If, like myself, not, there's this particularly fine example of his earlier material released originally in 1992. Both pieces feature a heavily distorted synthesiser improvised over a heavily distorted drum machine of some kind. The sound is glum, gritty, heavy on the low fidelity but not submerged in tape hiss. The mood is pure Industrial - the rhythms come across as metallic and mechanical and often dominate the sound. The synthesiser is abrasive, without any attempt at melody or even notes. The pieces, although long, sustain intense interest with changing rhythms and prolonged synth tones. In short, these two spirals are MB at the hight of his powers. There is a real sense of purpose here, a clarity of concept. The simplicity of the set up is used to best effect and MB uses his instruments extremely well - this is far from simple farting around with home taping gear, this is well played anti-music. It's stark, taking the Krautrock influences that helped put MB on his path but draining them of any warm, psychedelic nice-ness and cosmic otherness - the mood is rooted in modern day grim-ness, despair and hopelessness. Even when he makes his synth do some of the more traditional modulating sounds, it doesn't bring to mind visions of nebulas or space ships. Endless streets of factories and council flats are evoked, shrouded in grey pollution, offering nothing, not even a decent park or playground, yet the sound is not only of despair but also a bitter, accepting invocation of the constant realities that shape it. This is the clean break of Industrial from it's musical influences, leaving nothing but noise and a burnt taste. This is the real MB and demonstrates just why that name, despite it's association with so many half-arsed and tepid releases, has remained so enduring. Go to the source and get with the strength.

ELAINE RADIGUE, Trilogie De La Mort
3xCD, 1998
XI (http://xirecords.org/)

There is a bit of disparity with when these pieces where made and for what purpose. Deeply and directly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, Radigue's life changed when, the year after she completed the first piece, "Kyema", her son Yves Arman, an art collector and writer, died in 1989 in a car accident. The piece, taking its influences from the Bardo-Thodol, was subsequently dedicated to him as well as to her guru Pawo Rinpoche. The third piece, "Koume (Conrinthians XV)" was begun at this time. This album reeks of Death.
  But what kind of Death? This is no head-in-hands despair or cock-in-hand necrophilic lust. In the eight years it took Radigue to complete this trilogy there was no intention of allowing sadness to over-run her intentions. He spiritual backbone, combined with her sincere desire to hear pure sound "unfolding" before one's ears, have led her to create subtle, slow, beautiful pieces that are the very essence of drone. Generated mostly on Arp synthesiser, the tiny variants between tones that emerge so gradually during the course of each spiral sometimes reflect the harmonics of Tibetan throat singing, sometimes the stillness of meditation, and always the awareness of the wafer thin line between life and its termination. Of the three, I suppose I tend towards the third, with it's lower end and darker sound, but it stands as a contrast only to the first's much higher pitched and lighter sound. Between the two, "Kailasha", meant as "an imaginary journey" as pilgrimage round the titular mountain in Tibet, considered sacred, has the more mid-pitched sound. From light to dark, then, but slowly, and always with a presence of mind. Pure tonal drone - could well be too dull and light for some, and drone has always been one of the most abused processes in music, but the sincerity and intention of eight years dedicated work is well reflected in these micro-tonally changing pieces that reveal each time they are accessed. The mood is reflective, positive, but also demanding - not background music, not aural wallpaper, not Satie's "furniture" music (he really has a lot to answer for with that one). This is almost the last word in pure drone - you're not going to get a lot more innovation after this, really. But this doesn't exist for innovation's sake, either. This is the representation of a mind taking its time to come to terms with the ultimate reality, that of non-existence and therefore non-reality. Radigue's marrying Christian mythology to the final piece may well be a hopeful glance to an assumed afterlife ("O Death, where is thy victory?". Well, where does one begin?) and Tibetan Buddhism does embrace the concept of reincarnation, so it may well be she assuages her grief with the promise of life after death. No matter, Death is still the gate-keeper in that case and still must be faced, and "Trilogy De La Mort" gives us one way to face it, with a slow, calming acceptance. Afterlife or not, Death is still real, and this is the real Death Electronics.

Review of the Disgust/JNC cassette from The Quietus:

QuoteOut on Milwaukee's ever-reliable Small Doses label, this split cassette effort from Disgust and Joshua Norton Cabal comes in a fine looking screen printed box courtesy of the talent at the HQ of fellow shit-hot label Phage Tapes. Mere seconds after the introductory vocal-sample threat, and Disgust have already made it clear that this is music born of loathing, of a rage against the biped. Pouring out a viscous and vicious stew of bass noise and howled vocals, Disgust's sound is a tar-drenched vocal exorcism haunted side of power violence. Instead of simple meat-and-potato aggression, this is frequency wrecked pounding. Punchily live-sounding, these three tracks (including a XBrainiaX cover) are as-it-happens disaster music, vocalist M.Chami coming somewhere on the jagged line between hysterical and resolute. Low-end piano riffs and howling scarred with overdubs; Disgust has shards of that on-a-leash (old school) Prurient sound, and shadows the lines between power electronics, noise and industrial. No offence to Joshua Norton Cabal but Disgust's side of this split is hard to stop rewinding.

http://thequietus.com/articles/07118-rum-music-astral-social-club

Have to disagree with the ending of this, as Andy's side is much more interesting then the three tracks Disgust scrapped together, but to each's own.

CHEAP MACHINES / FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE split 7"
Harbinger Shound
CM is very nice. It is richly textured and dense in layering. Multiple layers of both droning and more abrupt physical sounds. It has the kind of psychedelic feel of CCCC, but also the detailed metal object sound work of TNB, but in the end not really sounding at all like references I just gave. It's noisy and also distorted, but most of all relaxing feel and due excellent craftmanship and good sound, it's pleasure to listen for several times in row. Good stuff.
FBS is something I spoke with several guys, where all seem to have same thing. Project has such a goofy name, it has blurred the objective view of what they do. I have bunch of FBS releases, but always this feeling of "what the fuck is Family Battle Snake?  Perhaps like Princess Dragon Mom?" But if you get over it, what we have here is multi-layered analogue synth drone harmony. It has few distinctive and clear main drones oscillating in lead role, but dense and complex atmosphere created by a lot more layers of backing drones. While song progresses further, the dominance of the lead-drone shifts. It gets more chaotic and noisier and in the end tasty random waveform synth noises. (MA)

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on September 01, 2011, 09:20:29 PM
This is actually live recording in Bunker camputer by mr. Deplano?

Yep. No computer, but digital recorder. The same that recorded all other sets of the two days apart from mine...

Control Resistance "Declaration 1994-2011" CD Freak Animal Records 2011 (Fan Review)

Having been a huge fan of Control Resistance for over a decade, the fact that this album is a reality is truly a gift.  If there was any reissue of a collection that I ever hoped for, this was it, bar none.  For years now, I could only make out some of the lyrics, but now each and every word is included in the booklet, making the impact much more than ever before.  It's like listening to the songs for the first time.  Whereas most veteran power electronics artists pussyfoot around their once extremist positions, Control Resistance takes things even further with this release, not only giving us every word from every track and additional booklet images to further the message of revenge and opposition, but also a new track, Declaration, which continues down the same path that was carved out over the past 17 years. 

The album begins with the title track, Declaration.  A sample from the late Dr. William Pierce explains the end of Western society through the perspective of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion theory.  The lyrics are in direct opposition to the ethnic warfare against the traditional people and culture of America, for example, "From which all nations will fall, the ideology Jewish supremacy."  The track's main thrust comes from the powerful buzz saw synthesizer accompanied by deep, pounding drums.  The bass driven drum blows work alongside the processed vocals to bring structure and organization to it.  The reverberating synth creates an ominous atmosphere, dripping with paranoia and revenge.

Blood In Your Face starts off with some heavy breathing and panned drumming.  Processed vocals combine with the panning percussion until the line, "Make 'em understand" thrusts you into the meat of the track.  Overwhelming, throbbing synths take over your speakers.  Distant drumming offsets the synth allowing for vocal and lyrical arrangement.  Electronic abuse drives a wedge in between verses.  The lyrics accompany the aggressive music perfectly as they take you inside the mind of a man who has been pushed to the breaking point and refuses to stand by the wayside, for example, "Fire in my eyes, burning in my brain, hatred fills my heart, cold blood flows through my veins." The lyrics and music fuse together perfectly oozing with revenge.

Sickle Cell Acceleration: Germ Warfare begins with an excellent, repeated sample in which a black male simplistically justifies his attacks against whites on the basis of historical grievances.  The sample is followed by an almost rhythmic feedback loop until buzzing synths swirl throughout your speakers.  Rhythmic electronics loop after each vocal verse providing an excellent balance between structure and chaos.  The lyrics focus on restoring white European dominance through any means necessary.  The track manages to maximize the use of each sound created making it a power electronic classic.

Covert Wolves Amongst The Sheople begins with a repeated sample about white patriots willing to resist their oppressors.  The lyrics tackle the same topic and are framed in the form of a warning.  The sample gets cut off by sharp blades of feedback that seem to slice right through your speakers.  The mangled vocals and samples dealing with homegrown terrorism operate with the piercing electronics to create a brutal, unsettling atmosphere making this one of the most vicious tracks on the album.

Crush/Automated Extermination starts off with what sounds like the throttle of a machine being turned over.  After a few seconds, a hyper drum pattern combines with heavy, chugging guitars.  More percussion is added in and out of the mix alongside growling vocals.  The style of the track is a fusion between metal and power electronics.  The vocals are a mix between a mechanical voice, growling metal-style and all-out, throat-ripping vocal screams.  The lyrics paint a portrait of a human killing machine and the marching rhythms of the music add even more color to the aural tapestry of eradication.

Deprogram-Reprogram is the most simplistic of all the tracks with a repetitive muffled bass guitar overtop a sharp line of feedback.  The vocals are muffled within the background as a much louder sample declares, "The Enemy Will Be Destroyed."  This track reminds me of a fusion between the most simple RAC and industrial music. The lyrics take aim at that segment of the population that spends time on worthless actions in the face of marginalization and ethnic displacement as the lyrics dictate, "End your life now or murder your oppressors."

Infiltrate takes off with the sound of marching boots that get swiftly buried beneath a heavy barrage of metal-industrial fierceness. Chugging, machine gun drum patterns and rhythms are paired with heavy guitar, making it a perfect soundtrack for riots everywhere.  The lyrics take on a chanting quality like a leader of a riot commanding orders at thousands of foot soldiers.  The lyrics are delivered in a deep, aggressive manner.  Like Crush/Automated Extermination, Infiltrate shows the more industrial-metal side of Control Resistance. Like the power electronic tracks, it is meticulously arranged and equally powerful.

The Con-Dom track with assistance from Control Resistance is up next and, one can plainly hear the influence of Control Resistance shine through.  Throbbing synthesizers fade in and fill your speakers while Con-Dom's sound creation is heard swirling throughout the cacophony.  The loud, commanding, up-front vocals of Mike Dando express the frustration and anger brought on by the glaring double-standard of racism when applied to white Europeans.  The synthesizers halt and lo-fi electronic abuse and a swirl of chaos pour over each other until the very end.

The Control Resistance one-song, side-project Nazi War Criminals in Hiding closes out the album.  Zyklon B Bop is an excellent ending.  Like the many styles of Control Resistance, Zyklon B Bop is reminiscent of early '90s electronic music using mostly different layers of drum patters and samples, but unlike the endless sea of similar sounding artists within that genre, Control Resistance carves out something original.  The jerky rhythms makes one think of a grand mechanism of death working endlessly without mercy.

Declaration 1994-2011 is one of my all-time favorite albums. I have already listened to it dozens of times without the urge to skip a single song.  This is the result of well-structured songs and diverse sounds, all fueled by a strongly focused concept and theme.  Control Resistance was once an obscure staple among power electronic fans, but Declaration 1994-2011 solidifies its place as a true classic within the genre.

THE HATERS/BLACKHUMOUR split
cassette, 2011
Quagga Curious Sounds (http://quaggacurious.wordpress.com/)

"15 Minute Glitch" is hissy, trebly and grimey in sound as feedback, voices, electronic sounds and who knows what else are looped and layered upon each other. As usual with much Haters work, the extent of the spiral's time and the intricacy of the layers make each sound collide and compliment each other, giving the whole a feeling of both constant change and unchanging wholeness. The result is a pleasing mess of sounds under layers of hiss, discernible but unrecognisable.
  By contrast, blackhumour takes a single sample, a brief sigh of a woman's voice, and extends it into a piece of pure minimalism, very reminiscent of Reich's early tape work. The sample is looped and layered at varying speeds and structure is basic, the stereo panning or giving and taking of a layer in a different tone or tempo made sparingly and carefully. The sparcity of the minimalist concept is offset by the changes and subtle structuring - this piece is best heard with headphones.

THE NEW BLOCKADERS, Simphonie In X Major
cassette, 2011 (re-issue of 1991 vynal lp on Hypnagogia)
Hypnagogia (http://www.thenewblockaders.org.uk/)

Despite some studio editing in the form of some reversing the tape and cutting and splicing, this is pretty much a straight up demonstration of Noise beyond expectation. Whatever is being "played" here - heavy metal objects from the sounds of it with the sounds of car engines on side two spliced in - there is no concession to structure or completion. This is Noise As Is - sans effects, "content" or any decoration (the tasteful yet simple J card for the cassette notwithstanding). What's particularly pleasing is the roughness of the recording, in that the sounds are quite heavy, audible and discernible but without any obvious polish. What editing and mixing that has been done has done the job right, drawing the listeners' attentions to the sound themselves and not to any production wankery. The sound is often deep and low in many examples, whether there are a number of things happening or a single source. Metal objects, whirring engines, rushing water - Russolo can lie content in his grave.
  Although part of the "antiversary" four album release in 2003, this is meant to be the twentieth "antiversary" re-release of this album. And since Gesamtnichtswerk, like a lot of NB releases, is out of print, this is a good opportunity to get this one at least.

JUNK SICK, Rising Damp
cassette, 2011
Magik Crowbar (http://mindtimedestroy.blogspot.com/)/Altered States (http://alteredstatesofsound.blogspot.com/)

After being impressed with this duo's debut on the split lathe 12" with CCCC, I was keen to hear more. Rising Damp presents Cooper and Tommy in somewhat more experimental mode. Tape loop manipulation is the main process. Loops are serialised or spluttered in on occasions, with precise use of effects and additional sounds to alternate and add depth. The sound is warm and actually quite pleasant. The main aim is not Noise strength blasting, nor is it necessary as the grimey fidelity and arbitrary nature of the pieces' structures keep the album from sounding weak. There are moments of sparseness and underground darkness, sounds that splutter and congeal much like so many boiled noodles in dirt, occasional synthesiser oscillating tones, calls like factory sirens, manipulation of slow and lazy feedback, un-discernable voice tracks, moments of sound-track-like drama dissolving into fragments, and a general intensity that maintains a sense of control regardless of how aleatory the pieces become.

SLEEPING BAG FULL OF BOYS, Sacks Full
cassette, 2011
Magik Crowbar/Altered States

Leaving aside misgivings of the dreadful project title, this is another satisfactory example of the kind of filth ridden, low fidelity, mushy Noise that these labels excel at. No mention of who's involved although it's fair to say either Cooper, Tommy or both have some hand in it, it's also not easy to be entirely sure what the sounds are coming from. There's electric whirring, a crunching, grinding rhythmic quake derived from some very stressed tape loops, grubby feedback, gooey synth - the overall sound is both harsh and messy, like a scourer covered in oil. There's a hell of a lot of ground-level crunching going on, the looped-base nature of some of it, in addition with the stagnant feedback tones, really giving the impression of machines operating far beyond their used by date. The sound is low, gritty, dark, primitive and satisfying and if this was something tossed off one night in a haze of drugs and alcohol they should do it more often.

PBK, Warfare State/Appeal
double cassette, 2011
Impulsy Stetoskopu (http://www.impulsystetoskopu.pl/)

Wrapped up in tin-foil like a tempting block of chocolate, this impressively packaged double album features a portrait of Kropotkin on the front, Schwitters on the back and on the inside of the over-sized J card the text of the Ursonate imposed of the war wracked ruins of a European city I can't identify. The inspiration for this release comes from the early twentieth century, a time when scientific, political and artistic hope was dashed to hell by bloody minded nationalist politics and bloody minded economic expedience in the mechanised hell of war. The idealistic optimism of Anarchism dissolved into the outraged cynicism of Dadaism by bombs, machine guns and mustard gas. From now on, the best of science and human resource would be whored out to the desires of war, like a temple priestess of an eternal religion forced to  fuck in the brothels of the nation state.

The first, titular track is very much what I would call "Ambient Noise" in that it is messy, coagulated, a mass of sounds based on rushing, crashing and some vocal keening that is enmeshed together not so much a collage as an abstract audio painting. A lengthy block of sound with intimate detail presented as a vague whole. Any misgivings about the original tape material being "digitally remastered" are gone with the pleasing coagulated atmosphere of the sound.
The following track, "Kropotkine", sounds more like the PBK material I'm familiar with, a kind of rhythmic creak and scrape of unidentified sounds overlaid with swirls, clangs, groans and slushes. It's like looking into a microscope and seeing invisible creatures enlarged and moving, interacting, ignoring, feeding on and fleeing from each other. This is followed by one of the newer additions, "CNT Oct 1910" (the month and year of the National Confederation of Labourers' founding in Spain), a very Industrial sounding piece recalling the clanking, punching machines many industrial workers where obliged to hear in the course of the daily work. The constant rhythm of machinery overlaid with buzzing and whirring, building a continuous momentum, a Brutalist reflection of industry. Not sure what the verbal reference to the Baltic at the end of the piece is meant to mean within the pieces' context, though. Side two starts with a live piece based on pulsing electronics, solid yet modulated tones allowed to stand over the backbone, screaming lines of delayed synth over that again. Element desist and others grow. It builds and contracts slowly through it's duration through a series of both guttural and high-pitched sounds, and is immaculately controlled and composed, not a second wasted. Annoyingly, however, there's a vocal I.d. For the radio station this piece was broadcast for before returning to what I'm assuming is the rest of it. PBK's version of "Ursonate" has the voices garbled through effects, while softly hissing and slushing electronic sounds are laced with a solemn trumpet – the comparison overall to Throbbing Gristle is impossible not to make. It's a more abstracted, intricate affair than the other pieces, sparsely laid out. The final piece, "Sanctuary", being a slow, more obviously ambient piece of layered synth and electronic sounds, a simple description of those elements not doing it much justice I'm afraid. Suffice to say it has a distinct, fluid chill, staid drones and pulses settling into the whole cohesively.
  The second album, "Appeal", is, I think, a more recent work. There is a distinct post-Industrial feel to the sound of this album. There are seven un-named tracks that rely on synthesisers, samples and effects, usually a thick echo. The overall sound is cold and slow but has measurable emotional impact, mainly due to the intelligent mixing of disparate sounds within their arrangements. Here is where PBK really comes into his own, as a composer. Years of experience tell. There is no lazy settling into one particular feel or another, nor is there any amateurish confusion with the sound. Track two features long, extended drones and tones that build, stay, then go from and into each other, melting from one to the other meticulously. Track three is an almost angry, certainly aggressive rhythmic piece of electronic Industrial sounding clang. Five seems composed of almost transparent, distant and distinctly echoed sounds, probably the slowest and most remote of the pieces here. The over all tone is dark – it would be a bit too easy to categorise this as "Dark Ambient" but there are distinct elements of that, particularly on the final piece. But there is a distinctiveness here that remains very much PBK's own sound.

SEAN BAXTER, Solo Drumkit Improvisations
vynal lp, 2011
Bocian Records (it seems the website is down, so for the moment those who want this release will have to track down distros).

As a performer, musician and organiser Sean Baxter has had a major impact on the Melbourne improvisational/experimental scene for decades now. A drummer/percussionist with a background in improvisational music, he's collaborated with billions of other musicians, founded bands, recorded, runs the weekly Make It Up Club. Yet I understand this is his first solo release. I was interested and a touch anxious – live, Baxter's solo performance utilises careful placement of microphones under a floor tom to generate natural feedback. It's something that has to be seen, heard and felt at the same time and I wondered how it would translate into just audio (his track on the Knife Culture double cd compilation, put out by Sabbatical earlier this year, indicated it would be rather successful actually).
  In fact, that's not the emphasis here. Eight pieces, titled simply after the elements used – Plates, Woklids, Chopsticks, Junk, Hands, Harmonics, Windchimes and Brushes – are examples of Baxter's ability to create percussive sounds both aleatory and calculated. Taking the elements incorporate with parts of his drum kit, we are given precise, complex yet clear pieces of music. Each piece, brilliantly recorded by Christopher Lawson and Robin Fox and mastered by Lawson and Baxter, allows these natural, acoustic sounds unimpaired space to exist. The tracks sound at once cluttered and cohesive, and despite the titles giving a clear indication of what's being used there is still a slight sense of mystery as to the sounds themselves. My favourites are Plates, the use of metal plates that fold and crumple under pressure, Woklids, which has a nice, bell-like clang of the lids working well with the drums, and Harmonics (have to admit I'm not sure what "harmonics" are meant to be in this case) with its rusty hinge screeching. All sounds mixed in with the soft pounding and booming of the drum-kit. Each piece has a lot of sound going on within them, but the immediacy of the performance takes precedence over any desire to add tracks or edit. For those desiring pure object sound, this album gives nothing but, and there is control and flow with the pieces that makes the most of those sounds.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on December 06, 2011, 03:16:38 AM
PBK, Warfare State/Appeal
double cassette, 2011
Impulsy Stetoskopu (http://www.impulsystetoskopu.pl/)

Many thanks for this very professional review. I think you wrote everything what is important to describe this music/release. May more would be such great reviews here and there.

Here is a review of the Barrikad "We make nihilists smile again" CD written by the good people at Musique Machine


At first glance, with its psychedelic flower-power nudie cover, this CD looks like an Acid Mothers Temple release but its contents couldn't be more far away from the Japanese collective's noise psych rock. Instead Barrikad is a pretty well known industrial noise act, with usually politic thematics and a very ample range of sounds. Each of the three tracks on "We Make Nihilists Smile Again" features the support of another artists.

First track is a collaboration with kvlt old school industrial band Kriminaaliset Mersanhaltijat and it's a long dirty ambient noise ride based on throbbing low synth frequencies and what sounds like crude field recordings of metal junk being kicked around. Very oppressive, obscure and mean, with few slow variations that keep things interesting and flowing.

Second track features Russian noise unit Fear Konstruktor. It's more or less the same kind of noisy ambient but with different ingredients. It sounds like a boiling cauldron of piss and static, a bit more distorted than the first track and with a few minutes of totally broken vocals.

Third track is a collaboration with Government Alpha, one of my favourite noise musicians. The duo already released a 3" CDr years ago on the German label L.White Records, and after having listened to both records I think that these guys are a good match. Solid harsh noise with all the right elements: hiss and crackle, head-bobbing rhythmic loops that rise from the static mud, abrupt shifting of intensity and frequencies. It's nothing shockingly incredible but it's what I love best.

The booklet features lengthy writings by Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben that frankly I didn't really bother to read. I guess they're part of Barrikad's ideas, concept and intents but anyway I thoroughly enjoyed the weird mixture they create with the hippie (swedish?) boobs on the cover.

In conclusion this is a very good release from an interesting project and a great and promising young American noise label. Fans of harsh noise and dirty industrial music will not be disappointed.

BLACK LEATHER JESUS/POLLUTIVE STATIC, Sissy Training/Mechanical Synesthesia (Man And Machine)
7", 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)/Violent Noise Atrocities (http://vnarecordings.blogspot.com/?zx=63a6c03b2eacf836)

Not much to complain about here. Black Leather Jesus's side features higher pitched screeching and grating with a subtle but suitable underlay of crunch, mainly generated from the distorted sound itself. The sounds are mostly electronically generated but there's a nice physicality to it that suggests object abuse. It's got a nice, satisfying range and is well constructed enough to avoid being a simple toss-off while unchanging enough to merit it's time length. Interestingly, I first found it too short for my tastes but subsequent listens give it a bit more wholeness.
  To his credit, Mr Hutchinson is not outdone, and his side, based mainly around feedback manipulation and heavy distortion, holds his end well. The individual sounds are more distinct - feedback abruptly ranging from high pitched squeal to savage crunch with a gloopy, droning tone underneath that also varies in pitch, although much lower - and the recording seems closer to its source, giving it a higher fidelity than Mr Ramirez's side. The sounds are more insistent and demanding, clearer but matching in BLJ's aggression.
  Well wrought, unsurprising but pleasing Harsh Noise from two artists who know exactly what they are doing. It adds to the surfeit of such Noise on the market, certainly, but will not disappoint anyone who manages to get it.

PHARMAKON/DETERGE, Wimpering, Wanting-Sever The Hand That Reaches/Stygian Quasar
7", 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)/Fusty Cunt Tapes (http://fustycunttapes.blogspot.com/)

Pharmakon's careful and complex blending of elements from Industrial, Darkwave, Power Electronics and Death Industrial marks a pleasing return to Noise as something not so codified and fragmented as it is now. The main mood is very dark, of course. "Wimpering, Wanting" makes it's slow, low introduction to a gradual melange of voices that sounds like rushing water to flow out into a brief drone before hideous, harsh shrieking and babbling occurs, then black out to the drone. For a short spiral it is precisely constructed yet not strained in being so. "Sever The Hand..." features a descending chord scale on the keyboard; normally I'm adverse to such obvious simplicity with music but it is placed together with shards of harsh glossolalia, pulsing synth throbs and creaking sounds in a manner that, again, is carefully constructed without sounding overly ambitious or over-reaching. The flow of both pieces is quite natural and Ms. Chardiet shows a deft hand in composition and mood.
  Deterge, on this side, relies more on texture for the use of sounds. There is the same sense of crude, dark sounding electronics as Pharmakon's, but more minimal, gradual and more based on harshness and volume. Blocks of high intensity noise settled together with a pause for heavily effected vocals. The sounds are okay on this side but I the piece a bit of a let-down after Pharmakon's considered yet effortless pieces. Perhaps the lack of detail in the louder sounds is the issue. Perhaps, also, it was difficult for me to simply connect with the piece as a whole - it didn't seem to have a purpose that could either identify or attach to it.
  Still, Deterge will have it's followers, but I would recommend this release more for Pharmakon.

FAUX PAS/GRAIN BELT, Syndige Du/Slow Screw
7", 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)/White Centipede Noise (http://whitecentipedenoise.blogspot.com/?zx=4c3fe88d24d8e700)

Despite being a duo, Faux Pas's side doesn't sound like the work of two people. It sounds single source, a constantly breaking and squiggling thick line of distorted crunch and screetch. It's a piece that really needs to be played very loud for identity, as played at a more reasonable level seems to rob it of some if it's immediacy and impact. There is something a bit ho-hum about this piece, something lacking, and it gives the impression as being tossed off in a moment rather than meant of any real value.
  Grain Belt makes a much more favourable impression and I was surprised to read on the White Centipede site "showing a more controlled sound than on past releases". As I'm unfamiliar with Grain Belt it left me wondering what other recordings must be like. This piece is a very nicely recorded assembly of a clanking, crunching layer sounding like a threshing machine with broken and missing teeth, overlaid with further electronic bashing and moaning, howling voices through effects. It doesn't attempt to chop or change over it's duration, giving the sounds room to exist and persist, allowing the listener to revel in the pleasure of conflicting metal and electronics. This doesn't have to be turned up to be enjoyed but don't let that stop you, of course. The locked loop at the end of the side is a nice touch.
  Grain Belt saves this album for me.

NYODENE D, Caged Dog/Common Criminal
7", 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)

As Nyodene D's star ascends in the US PE pantheon there seems to be more surety and more conviction with recordings. Side one of this album bases itself on such a clamour of banging metal and raised voices that inspire nothing other than a full scale prison riot, over which the vocals are shouted defiantly, there being one brief pause for vocals only. "Caged Dog" is extremely evocative and effective, aggressive and impactful - everything a piece of modern Power Electronics should be. It's a piece that just wins, straight up.
  "Common Criminal" takes the pace down and if you read the interview (http://purestench.blogspot.com/2011/11/interview-nyodene-d.html?zx=e8125bac3d954cd7) on Pure Stench you'll know Mr Vilk mentioned separating the elements of his sound to broaded the overall palette. For me, this piece seemed too stretched out. It makes a good counter-point to side one's intense and rounds the out overall, but there's something about the particular choice of sounds that doesn't seem to gel with the whole. Perhaps I'm being too finicky - "Caged Dog" is a particularly impressive piece so it was going to be difficult to compliment it anyway.
  Regardless, this is a fine release and could well find itself in the modern canon of Power Electronics in time. It's great to every now and then hear something that just "stands out", but stands out well.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on December 26, 2011, 04:21:08 AM
NYODENE D, Caged Dog/Common Criminal
7", 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)

As Nyodene D's star ascends in the US PE pantheon there seems to be more surety and more conviction with recordings. Side one of this album bases itself on such a clamour of banging metal and raised voices that inspire nothing other than a full scale prison riot, over which the vocals are shouted defiantly, there being one brief pause for vocals only. "Caged Dog" is extremely evocative and effective, aggressive and impactful - everything a piece of modern Power Electronics should be. It's a piece that just wins, straight up.
  "Common Criminal" takes the pace down and if you read the interview (http://purestench.blogspot.com/2011/11/interview-nyodene-d.html?zx=e8125bac3d954cd7) on Pure Stench you'll know Mr Vilk mentioned separating the elements of his sound to broaded the overall palette. For me, this piece seemed too stretched out. It makes a good counter-point to side one's intense and rounds the out overall, but there's something about the particular choice of sounds that doesn't seem to gel with the whole. Perhaps I'm being too finicky - "Caged Dog" is a particularly impressive piece so it was going to be difficult to compliment it anyway.
  Regardless, this is a fine release and could well find itself in the modern canon of Power Electronics in time. It's great to every now and then hear something that just "stands out", but stands out well.

thanks andrew, appreciate the review! You may be the first person who has said they like side A better (including myself, actually). Not sure if you figured it out, but the scrap is all samples from the prison riot scene in the movie "Hunger".

KOUFAR & SKIN GRAFT Revelation/This Country Is Mine
Cassette, 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)

The very minimal sounding set-up for Noise generating on this tape - feedback and delay unit - has it's drawbacks, mainly the limited palate of sound, and it takes a certain skill to be able to stretch that out. To be honest, I'm not sure that's always displayed. This is especially noted on side two, which is essentially the one line of feedback being manipulated through its stark restrictions, with the occasional inclusion of whispered vocals, more towards the beginning of the piece. Side one has more advantage in that it is harsher, there's more use of the effects and much more, harshly shouted vocals. The fact that both are longer than the usual song length shout-fests of a lot of recent US PE which is to be applauded, but there's a fine line being trod between imagination and what the restricted instrumentation can actually do that took me a few listens to get past. Side one, then, is more about abruptness and two is about intensity. Both are very much live-in-the-studio recordings with a strong sense of improvisation that, again, is something to be welcomed with modern PE. I'm just wondering if the audio ideas here where enough to extend each spiral to the length recorded.

THE HATERS, Multiprotcol/Lexicon Switching
Cassette, 2010
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)/Small Doses (http://small-doses.com/)

Ostensibly released as a fund-raiser for The Haters to perform last year, which means that even now the costs have yet to be re-couped. Such is the hand-to-mouth world of Noise. Two solid tracks, neither of which will disappoint, as they are both multi-layered with a variety of recognisable and un-recognisable sounds ranging from feedback, hissing electronics, voice and other less definable audio. I love the use of differentiating layers, as this gives a solidity to the whole of the pieces from the confusion of sounds, rather than a solid block of sound. The variation comes from the conflict between the layers, allowing the pieces to go forward without actually changing as such, and its that clash of variations that lends to the harshness of the pieces. "Lexicon Switching" is in fact the same track as "15 Minute Glitch" which I first heard on the split tape with blackhumour, although Mr Jupitter-Larsen is known for re-using his material (and this tape came out before the latter). "Multiprotocol" I haven't heard before, but no matter; I'm biased towards The Haters in most cases and can handle a bit of repetition as long as the standard is this high.

Quote from: Nyodene D on December 26, 2011, 05:28:56 AMNot sure if you figured it out, but the scrap is all samples from the prison riot scene in the movie "Hunger".

Was not aware of this as I haven't seen the movie, maybe something to track down in future.

FRANCISCO LOPEZ/GX JUPITTER-LARSEN, collaboratation
10" vynal, 2011
Phage Tapes (http://phagetapes.blogspot.com/)

One of those releases that one has no problems coming back to frequently. Indeed, this is a high point of the the recent releases from Phage. Both artists create with sounds constructed by and given to each other. Mr. Lopez's side is sections of long passages of grinding sound, ranging from high pitched screech to broad, mid pitched howl to deeper yet clean sounding yawn to modulating, warbling moan. The sections are placed one after the other, sometimes overlapping in a perfectly timed sequence that has an overall sound that is grimey but not chocked in distortion, clear but not over-done pristine. The piece is immaculate, controlled and giving, requiring and rewarding study and attention.
  Mr Jupitter-Larsen's side is very much to character and contrasts with Mr Lopez's work in that it is heavy, distorted and dirty. In fact, if anything could be said to sound "rusty", it's "9 Minute Glitch". Pulsing, repeated loops of machine-like grind make this one of GX's most industrial sounding of GX's recent pieces. The abandoned factory put back to work, not to create products but for it's own sake, to create the sounds of creating products that are not being created because they are not wanted. Abandonment come back to life, living now for itself regardless of how useless it is to anything else.
  Both artists are already well known enough to warrant attention and having them featured on an attractively packaged ten inch vynal format should be enough for anyone to be interested in it - just be assured there is no disappointment.

GM ELECTRONICS, Manticore
3" cdr, 2012
Cipher Productions (http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/)

The two main tracks on this, "Primal Warfare" and "Manticore vs Demogorgan" are complex, changing harsh works, the former shifting, groaning and spluttering, allowing higher pitched sounds to almost detach from it and scream above it, spraying hissing distortion; while the latter is more intensely cut up and shifting, going from harsh element to element in exquisite corpse style. They are powerful and well made works, but for my simpler tastes it's the opening track "Entering The Gaping Maw", featuring a slow built up drone with oscillating synth waves keening over it, "The Gates Of Abysm", a too-short basic synth pulse that hardens and distorts over it's brief moment, and the final track "They Licked Their Bleeding Wounds", a sullen, slow, disappearing drone, that are the personal preferences. The entirety could well be given along the lines of a concept album, entering a dimension where mythical beasts clash then perish. The production is a tad too clean and hard for my current liking but it does bring up the sound to the front in classic '00's style and sounds good through whatever speakers are being used. It's also good that such a brief collection of works can span a lot of audio territory and come across as a complete album of considered tracks, rather than a simple show-piece (that 3" 's often tend to come across as), which is a credit to the artist.

FECALOVE, Total Fucking Ignorance
cassette, 2012
Cipher Productions (http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/)

Chris's series of specially packaged cassettes got off to a flying start last year with Praying For Oblivion's "Facade" and now brings an equally strong part with this album. Although unfamiliar with Tisbor's audio work until now, the impression I get is that Fecalove is a "go to" project for strictly no nonsense, fuck you Harsh Noise and Power Electronics. There's certainly no surprises here for the lay Noise listener with these six tracks, not that they lack anything. The title track is bracketed by our hero screaming the title savagely before and after berating us with ear splitting feedback and distorted crunch. "Seventeen" lays back a bit with a drone of humming, dull electronics relieved with similar elements as the last track. "On The Toilet Floor" recounts the delights of drinking and drugging too much ("Grasping the distant memory of what I just did tonight" being a good line), which also introduces bashing metal to the palette. "A New Low" takes the established elements to produce a more static, slow yet still shifting spiral that ends up breaking down anyway. And so it goes - "In A Stain Of Cum 2009" a brief blast of vocal anxiety and harshness and "Romantic" pretty much continuing in the vein set so far. The point being that every element, from the loud, filthy production (well dubbed on this tape) to the straight ahead savagery of the Noise itself to the squashed dog food tin the album is packaged in, brings a simple, strong assault of filthy Noise with antagonised vocals that can't fail to satisfy those of us who require this kind of sound from time to time (or in some cases, all the time). Put simply, there is nothing wrong with this album.

WINTERS IN OSAKA & GX JUPITTER-LARSEN, Giant Baba
7" vynal, 2012
Cipher Productions (http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/)

Things can now get a tad less orthodox, although not so much for the Noise world - sixty one locked grooves. The two artists leapfrog each other on both sides, and from what I can ascertain, Winters In Osaka samples from what I imagine are Japanese movie sound sources (perhaps shows of various battles of the titular hero, Shohei 'Giant' Baba, Japanese pro wrestler?) while GX gives tiny pieces of soft, gritty droning that could we be sampled from crowd sounds. I suppose. The point being, of course, you settle your needle onto a groove you can groove to and simply let it groove however long you want. The uselessness/usefulness of such an object is determined by the listener, as this is not an "anti-album" but meant to be heard, at least in a way ascertained by whoever owns it. I'm quite tempted to use it as a sound source, myself, but it can also, on certain grooves, be simple furniture noise for background relaxing. In any case, the choice is yours.
 You also get a page torn from a Japanese wrestling magazine - mine featured a gentleman by the name of Abdullah The Butcher.

(Reviews are behind links to keep the post from becoming way too long.)

Doroga - II (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/503.html) [atmospheric noise/ambient/industrial]
Tape, released by Obscurex

Nyodene D - Every Knee Shall Bow (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/494.html) [death industrial / power electronics]
CD, released by Assembly of Hatred

Concrete Isolation Box - Truth of the Streets (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/505.html) [nasty power electronics]
Tape & Download, self-released

Musta Oksennus - Nazi Occult Noisecore (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/452.html) [noisecore]
Tape, self-released

MC-COWBOY - Inferior Penis Syndrome (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/461.html) [harsh noise]
Tape, self-released

Skullflower - Fucked On A Pile Of Corpses

I don't remember when I had a chance to hear truly interesting Skullflower release. Quite a long time ago I suppose. Newer releases always give me hope that it will be something good, but everytime after I listen to it, all I'm left with is disappointment. This disc was released in 2011 via famous UK Cold Spring label that releases mainly the most famous industrial names like MZ.412, Sutcliffe Jugend etc. This CD is the best proof that sometimes releasing the famous band means nothing. In this disc I find more than half an hour of thin and poor mixture of filthy black metal and noise. Flyers were announcing the most brutal Skullflower album to date, halfway between Clandestine Blaze and The Rita etc. The final result is weak album with highlighted bad record quality, boredom and dull sounds. The fact that guitar and drums were used does not mean that it is black metal album and the fact that the sound is absolute lo-fi mess with sticking out feedbacks does not mean that it is noise. For me it seems as just another improvised jam session which was perhaps fun to record and have fun with instruments, but all in all that's it what this album offers. 7 tracks that I can hardly distinguish, composed in more or less the same pattern - guitar melody, buzzing, distant drums and crackling noise without lows in the foreground. From time to time I start to think that maybe it's quite interestint to listen to this chaos, but these lonely thoughts leave my head when one track is changed with the second made in the same manner, then the third one and so on until the end of the disc. Maybe black metal or black noise orthodoxes find relief in such kind of albums, but I'm far less sophisticated in that. On the other hand, there are people who enjoy free jazz, so why this album of Skullflower should be ignored? Well, not to paint everything so dark, I'll say that the cover is nice. But I think that if it wouldn't be Skullflower, but some album by no-name project, it would be thrown down in the pile of failed recordings and wouldn't be heard by outside people. But whatever. Let's say that this release will find the target audience.

Quote from: Levas on March 27, 2012, 01:24:57 PMhalfway between Clandestine Blaze and The Rita

Is that actually said in a text accompanying the allbum? Not knocking either of those projects but describing your band as a combination of them carries enough intrinsic faggotry to power the Studio 54 PA and light rig for a week.

Yes, it's how Cold Spring have advertised it - "(t)he remorseless brutal sound is primitive, but as detailed and rich as a blood soaked medieval canvas, somewhere betwixt The Rita and Clandestine Blaze, but more brutal!"

Quote from: Levas on March 27, 2012, 01:24:57 PMguitar melody, buzzing, distant drums and crackling noise without lows in the foreground.

This pretty much sums up what I've heard of Skullflower. The only album of their's I brought was the "Evel Knievel" 7" on SFTRI, which I listened to about twice before getting rid of. Other releases I've heard haven't been much more inspiring.

To paraphrase what a person I admire and respect said on here a while ago regarding another current Skullflower release, Justin has a product to sell and I wish him well.

The one album I've heard where I can understand the hoohaa is 3rd Gatekeeper. I think that one is really good. I'm also told that Shaman is a good album but I haven't heard it. Everything else has, with the very exceptional track here and there, been utter shite. George, Lee and Sam are all wasted in that reunion act.

Edit: They weren't too shabby when I saw them play at the Cold Spring event last year. "Not too shabby" doesn't cut it of course. I could pick any random gig up in London today and find that. I believe the correct album title is Xaman. Not that I really give a shit.

QuoteIs that actually said in a text accompanying the allbum?

As Andrew already wrote, yes. and I think we were laughing with someone that there are endless possibilities in here and in reviewing such subtle thing as sound/music/noise. these statements that are just worthless, wrong and silly. why not cannibal corpse meets vomir? or panthera meets shift? why not "when i woke up dead one morning, there was no sun outside. i was sitting in the dark cellar, hearing these sounds of madness. something turned upside down in me. something evil, grotesque. i felt that the beast is growing. i took my knife and started shouting at silent walls, staring at me. let me out of these sounds, but they grabbed me, they took me, they dominated me. i was trying to escape, but my legs were tired. my eyes were bleeding. i felt sand in my hands and in my mouth. broken ribs, tearing apart my flesh were not letting me drown into the dream again. until i felt relief. i died. i died with the last sounds of the disc." [please insert your band and album]

Quote from: Levas on March 28, 2012, 04:40:19 PMi was trying to escape, but my legs were tired.[please insert your band and album]

I was meaning to make a decent album but I couldn't be bothered so I shat out the usual hippie space rock kack.

Yours truly,

Skullflower

Worst Skullflower material i ever listened to.
"Fucked On A Pile Of Corpses" is a nice title though.

i feel slight relief that i'm not complete retard here. for after reviewing, i've read several reviews from other sources that stated

QuoteWith Fucked on a Pile of Corpses, Bower has delivered the strongest, most cohesive (and, ironically, given the titanic length of its predecessor Strange Keys to Untune God's Firmament, the shortest) Skullflower album since Tribulation, and maybe since before the band's late-nineties hiatus.

QuoteAccents like the howling, black metal-esque vocals of "Anubis Station," alongside the distinct, guitar-based feedback hovering over the album like a slow-passing thunderstorm, link Skullflower's would-be alien sounds back to humanity.

QuoteFucked On A Pile of Corpses can lay claim to be the most unremitting release from Skullflower. It's also the shortest and most direct. There's definitely a place in your Skullflower collection for this.

so i thought that perhaps i shouldn't say anything bad about such a great band, but something happened and review got online. and now it's too late.

I guess saying honest feelings about any band - big or small - is doing everybody a favor. I personally think there is couple good tracks on that CD, but as a whole, it falls so far from what it could and should be. My review found in SI#7.

Quite fond of this album, listened to it alot last year. Not a masterpiece by any means, could've been more coherent overall and I'm not too sure about the production at times, but tracks like Sleipnir... right up my alley. Have almost only heard bad things about it though. For the more recent Skullflower releases, I still think Malediction is the best.

Quote from: Levas on March 28, 2012, 07:02:04 PMi thought that perhaps i shouldn't say anything bad about such a great band

Never think that.

It's interesting to speculate how much bands and artists pay attention to their reviews. On the one hand people love good reviews but on the other pretend to ignore the negative ones. I suppose the difference is how constructive the criticism is, but even then, does anyone read a review of their work that is negative and think "hmm, maybe I need to change a few things"? Or do they just brush it off?

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on March 29, 2012, 01:31:42 AMIt's interesting to speculate how much bands and artists pay attention to their reviews.

like when willy bennet got all pissed that mikko panned cut hands newest album...finnish noiseabilly heh

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on March 29, 2012, 01:31:42 AM

Quote from: Levas on March 28, 2012, 07:02:04 PMi thought that perhaps i shouldn't say anything bad about such a great band

Never think that.

It's interesting to speculate how much bands and artists pay attention to their reviews. On the one hand people love good reviews but on the other pretend to ignore the negative ones. I suppose the difference is how constructive the criticism is, but even then, does anyone read a review of their work that is negative and think "hmm, maybe I need to change a few things"? Or do they just brush it off?

There's guy I used to know (self appointed HNW champion reviewer number one nowadays) who confessed to shying away from giving negative reviews. This was before he'd become the HNW maestro but he said that if he didn't like something he'd rather not review it. He was particularly concerned at the time about some artist/label he was in a priapic state over that had sent him an album he didn't like. "What should I do? I CAN'T give THIS bad review!".

ah, i should have written something like

Quotei thought that perhaps i shouldn't say anything bad about such a great band [sarcasm]

perhaps. though during first several years i was also quite uncomfortable with giving bad reviews. even for the most awful records from labels like that mask of the slave and so on. but if you lie and try to pretend that you liked this or that then it is wasting your time, your readers' time, artist's time, potential buyer's time and overal, wasting resources. there are always different tastes, different reviewers and so on.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on March 29, 2012, 01:31:42 AM
I suppose the difference is how constructive the criticism is,

I think this should be clue to every good review. Interesting review, in my opinion, should include all prons and cons, not abstract feelings or very subjective opinions which aren't based on facts, and every interpretation should have real reasons. We (readers/artists) can talk about this interpretation but it should be based in music/lyrics/manifestos/graphics etc. Problems can be when reviewer writes about his friend's music/release. I don't think this is a good way...Too much emotional (positive or negative) relationship between artist and reviewer isn't good for profesional reviewing.

It can get problematic when you review an album by friends that you actually do like, too. You don't want to piss in anyone's pockets but you don't want to not share the pleasure, either.

When I started doing a review zine a few years back I had a policy of not doing any bad reviews on the unstable grounds that I didn't want to "offend" anyone. A stupid idea, for the reasons Levas has already stated - I even got to the point where I had to tell someone I wasn't going to review their tape because I didn't like it. Would have been better to do the bad review.

I've also thought for a long time that doing reviews is a bit redundant, anyway. Who makes their decisions on what to buy based on a review? I only write them here because I think the Playlist section doesn't tell me enough and because, fuck it, I like writing about what I listen to. I sure wish more people would use this section of the forum! A bit more insight than just a list of what's on the stereo is something I appreciate.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on March 29, 2012, 12:52:26 PM
Who makes their decisions on what to buy based on a review? I only write them here because I think the Playlist section doesn't tell me enough and because, fuck it, I like writing about what I listen to. I sure wish more people would use this section of the forum! A bit more insight than just a list of what's on the stereo is something I appreciate.

I think that reviewer should be intermediary between artist and receiver. There should be place for description about release, music, how is important this item in the context of (sub)culture/(anti)art, not commercial factors. If I could recommend anything for Mikko or anybody who wants to run music magazine with reviews section, it would be wonderful read, instead of many reviews, less of them but every release by seperately 2-3 reviewers. Besides there should be established criteria what reviewer should consider in assessment. This is a bigger chalange for reviewers but it would be more interesting and more profesional (what doesn't it mean that SI isn't interesting or profesional now).

Reviews are good for creating awareness of a release.  Obviously I'll pay more attention to a review that someone has taken time to write than if they had just posted "here's a list of 20 CDs I've recently heard."  The fact that something has inspired writing about it kind of in itself suggests some importance.  And for reviews of releases I'm already aware of, it is just interesting and a sense of community to see what other people thought of them, given that hardly anyone I know in real life appreciates these styles of music. 

I like the Sonia Dietrich reviews in SI, that are more of a creative writing approach than just facts/opinions.  Her reviews have a kind of infectious excitement and immersion in the music/culture that I don't sense from most music writers. (Does she post here?)

Negative reviews are more based on constructive criticism, while positive more on individual fetishism. But it's only my point of view. And I hate those good, but [+ bonus suggestion that lowers that "good"], nothing special [+ bonus suggestion that highers that "bad"] - this type is most insincere I think.

Burial Hex - Scry of Ab Raza (Spatter) cdr

Gripped this from Mr. Ruby himself on my recent sojourn to Madison for the gig with The Haters and it's a stone cold killer. Over an hour here of excruciating old school PE. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by Burial Hex's more recent gloom-pop direction, this is screeching, rumbling metal abuse and violent shouting like only a very few can produce these days. Fans of Streicher,Mauthausen Orchestra,Sutcliffe Jugend etc. will eat this up.

Probably out of print at the source by now but I see a few copies on Discogs at a reasonable price.

ps For those who were asking recently about Harsh Judgement, these recordings were produced by Clay Ruby in collaboration with Harsh Judgement's Adam Higgins.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on March 28, 2012, 07:27:51 PM
I guess saying honest feelings about any band - big or small - is doing everybody a favor.

And toning it down because of the person behind the work is, in my view, disingenuous.

But realistically, the feedback I have is that most people appreciate an honest approach rather than a cock-sucking approach.  I've had many artists obviously not necessarily agree with a negative appraisal I did of their work, but still appreciate my comments and thanked me for it.

I personally don't put reviews for albums I dislike on my blog, not because I care what the artists will think but rather I sometimes don't see a point in explaining what it is I do not like and why for an entire review. If I feel that parts of a certain tape or record suck but the general album as a whole is good then I will give some criticism but I don't see doing that for the entirety of a review. It has always felt somewhat counterproductive to me personally, maybe not to the artist since they would benefit from criticism as someone else mentioned, but for me it feels as if it will just be an empty review and I don't want to do any reviews like that. But I do not think that negative reviews as a whole are counterproductive at all, quite the opposite actually, if all reviews were good a lot of people wouldn't know if they should buy something or trade or whatever. That would be more harmful than anything. It is just a personal thing for me and the labels/artists who send me stuff generally tend to know that if the material is not up to par with what I like and what I like to review then they won't get anything out of it; i.e. I will never force a "good review" on the basis that someone sent me something for free and I just had to do it and either tell why I like it or give any criticism. Same goes for interviews. I don't want to sit down and run through questions to send to someone artists that I don't enjoy.

When it comes to little playlists, threads like this, in a conversation, etc. then I will review everything good or bad. I've had a few artists like Sharpwaist and Climax Denial actually PM me and asked what it was I disliked about their albums when I wrote a quick one in the playlist thread or something.

Quote from: linxtyx on March 29, 2012, 04:18:41 PM
Negative reviews are more based on constructive criticism, while positive more on individual fetishism. But it's only my point of view. And I hate those good, but [+ bonus suggestion that lowers that "good"], nothing special [+ bonus suggestion that highers that "bad"] - this type is most insincere I think.

I agree. Saying something about different tracks in this way is fine but to gather a whole album into a review and then say "this is bad and makes the album less appealing" or whatever, and then 3 sentences down there may be someting like "the production and these final tracks make up for everything making this album good."

Usually people connect review with valuing. I guess this is a wrong way. Reviewer should write (I think about serious press reviews, not bland private opinions) about content without value ot that.

That is true for some, yes but I would call that more of "reporting" (summarizing) than reviewing. When someone is reporting/summarizing then they are expected to be objective and simply describe, letting little to no opinion in, instead they are there to simply show what the thing they are talking about is, sounds like, etc. rather than analyzing and critiquing, which is what reviewing is, by definition reviewing is writing up a critique, not to just simply recount and describe that thing: " Review; imply careful examination of something, formulation of a judgment, and statement of the judgment, usually in written form. A review is a survey over a whole subject or division of it, or especially an article making a critical reconsideration and summary of something written." Maybe this is what you meant by "value"? I think this also shows why a lot of reviews in papers, magazines, internet etc. sometimes have a rating system (5 stars, or 10 thumbs up, or whatever) which isn't giving an objective opinion but rather is the reviewer judging whatever his subject is and attaching a rating to it which is, of course, going to be subjective opinion.

Quote from: RyanWreck on April 04, 2012, 11:13:16 AM
Maybe this is what you meant by "value"?

No. I talked about situation when reviewer writes that, for example: "composer created bad (or boring, or not original, or weak or flat) noise music". He may optionally write something like that but he has to explain such opinion (the same situation with sentence where reviewer wrote positive thoughts). This explaination can not based on subjective impressions but on real examples in music (he should write about them). To sum up, I can tolerate every value of music but earlier the reviewer must do analyse a content. If  he want to express his opinion, no problem, but he should do it in the end of this review. I can't tolerate reviews where reviewer writes about his impressions, about his esthetic preferencies... I don't want to read about reviewer, I would like to read about music, about a release.

Quote from: Brad on April 04, 2012, 05:06:26 PM
I sometimes agree with this, but coming from someone who wrote an encyclopedia that has occasional value judgements in it?  (Example from the Die Form entry:  "After 1993 the group turned towards a more banal, and consequently more commercial approach to composition, and also a live manifestation of sexuality, often bordering on kitsch and self-plagiarism.")

Yes, nobody perfect :) Nobody said that I am perfect man/reviewer. Besides, I talked about concept that should be considered by reviewers, by me too. Besides, my biographies - entries in "Encycklopeadia ..." aren't REVIEWS. I hope you see it. Here aren't place for analyses. Of course I could not use such words like: "banal", "kitsch" or "self-plagiarism" but If there, in history of this group, were differences in esthetic? I hope that there aren't too much such judgements...

I have to say that most "objective reviews" are boring as hell. A good idea but very difficult to pull off in a way that makes for an interesting read. I prefer explicitly subjective reviews where the reviewer uses his/her personality and doesn't care too much about objectivity or rigorous analysis. Entertainment spiced up with a bit (or a lot!) of information, that makes a good review in my book.  My golden standard for record reviewing is still Forced Exposure, stuff that you can re-read again and again!

Quote from: heretogo on April 04, 2012, 11:09:00 PMA good idea but very difficult to pull off in a way that makes for an interesting read.

What is more valuable? Making something that is easy to do or involving more efforts and time? I prefer to take a lot of doing from myself (as author) and the same from receiver. What is interesting in reading, it depends on man, and his expecting. Anyway, I don't want to question different views in this matter, only I would like to show this is possible and interesting, at least for me.

I think many of the reviewer, who do it for long periods of time, have the consistency and logic, which will be revealed. I think experienced reader, who would go through something like AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE, be easily aware who out of characters as SILVUM, SIENKO, GROVES or such is behind the review. Or reading harsh noise review of SODDY or just "some guy". Subjectiveness doesn't hurt, when many people will eventually see the context. You don't need to explain everything as if reader is noise newbie or analyze till death, if this will reveal itself in bigger picture.

Like myself, I don't need or want to go into details why some band sucked due use low bit rate digital effects. It can be expressed that it did suck, yet further analysis might not be always needed, when this distaste and reasons for it has been elaborated over and over again in other reviews. I doubt that noise reviews is a format, that is read by random people. I believe they are read by very specific people, who don't read just one or two. They can connect the dots easily.

I do like that review talk about the album at hand. I don't like too much the popular reviews/descriptions where it's 100% everything else but the album. BUT, I do prefer that it includes still MORE than just the album. A vast amount of music or noise has substance which is meant to awake feelings and ideas. That go beyond "wow!! what a drumfill!!" or "man, what a sick flanger vocals!". I'm much more interested to read combinations of music analysis and texts inspired by content, than mere technical data. This including also critical view towards packaging and other external things what without doubt influences listener who has the actual object in his hands. The balance how much to comment sound & subject matter is crucial and also how much you add further information. Of label, of phenomena, of specific era. I don't you don't need to try to "objectify" and "isolate" the case.  Like if you review one CD, you can easily cover not only that, but band in general, label that put it out, the genre it belongs, the substance, packaging, any idea these things awake. By expanding from minor details to bigger picture, I would believe it goes much easier to context.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on April 05, 2012, 09:31:37 AM
Subjectiveness doesn't hurt, when many people will eventually see the context. You don't need to explain everything as if reader is noise newbie or analyze till death, if this will reveal itself in bigger picture.

I believe they are read by very specific people, who don't read just one or two. They can connect the dots easily.

I think that reviews shouldn't be adressed only to potential receiver but also to artist who created music / release....
I share the most of your thoughts. Some of them stop in the point which will not solved because everybody has different expectations.

yes, but I believe creator of music in such case IS the reader.
If he expects us to know his works, its history and progression, reviewer can expect artists to understand context of review. Even if all points would not be deeply analyzed.

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on April 05, 2012, 10:37:06 AM
yes, but I believe creator of music in such case IS the reader.
If he expects us to know his works, its history and progression, reviewer can expect artists to understand context of review. Even if all points would not be deeply analyzed.

I (and I think that every or the most of readers) don't expect deeply (academical) analyses. It would be normal, not complicated... but ok... what is more... who are for you readers? People who like this kind of music but they are flooded by many releases and they don't know what is worth to buy? Are you (other reviewers) "shepard" who feel the mission to guide those lost (not enough educated) sheeps? Or maybe somebody who wants to keep track of tendencies in industrial/noise phenomena (circles) and to describe about that? Hmmm, I suppose that you will write that you would like to be both of them... :) But, what is more important for you?

I'm surprised that people are avoiding publishing negative reviews.  Part of understanding where a reviewer comes from, and how he or she is analysing the content at hand, is know his/her prejudices, tastes and distates.  Negative reviews are an essential piece of the puzzle.  The main problem I have right now from this high-level self-editing is that the overwhelming amount of positive reviews leave me personally no better informed - all I read is positivity, yet how do I measure someone else's worth of an object when I don't know what they find worthless?

I will alwys respect/take note of Mikko's reviews because I know what he doesn't like and what gets him engaged.  It largely corresponds with aspects of my own tastes, so consequently the weight of his comments are FAR greater than someone who only ever seems to praise things.

You who review at the scale of 'zines, do you receive a lot of promo material, or do you only mainly review the stuff you buy for yourselves?

I receive very little, and even less which I want to review.

There's nothing wrong with negative reviews, if people can't take criticism it's none of my business.

Quote from: ARKHE on April 05, 2012, 05:01:36 PM
You who review at the scale of 'zines, do you receive a lot of promo material, or do you only mainly review the stuff you buy for yourselves?

Both. I get a lot of stuff in the mail weekly, from new up-and-comers to classic labels who I have already reviewed and interviewed. When I first opened the blog I felt bad not reviewing everything I got because people were sending me whole batches of like 5-6 cs's for free. Then I got over it and started doing what I felt was right for my blog. None of this has stopped me from buying stuff. I try to order something from labels who send me free stuff the next time around to keep everything on the up and up. I also make it a point to never trade or sell something I received for free, even if I don't like it. I don't think it matters much to the people who send me stuff but for me its an integrity thing. It's skittish for someone to be getting free material from the people who put the time into making it just to turn around and use it to get something else.

JAAKKO VANHALA, Feral Earth
CD, 2012
Freak Animal (http://www.cfprod.com/fa/)

HAL HUTCHINSON, Factory Of Metal Sound
cassette, 2011
Banned Production (http://www.bannedproduction.com/catalog.html)

Metal banging - is it the new Wall Noise? I ask this because it's become pretty conspicuous over the last year or so and therefore runs the risk of going down the same path - yet another element of Noise isolated and taken to extreme, and there by possible redundancy. A pity as I quite like it but if it's going to become a "thing" it's going to get ruined.
  Nonetheless, at the moment there is still hope. I'm reviewing both of these albums together as they both are examples of tecnique taken to extreme, but both different in execution and outcome.

To be fair, Vanhala doesn't rely exclusively on the use of metal objects, as there are various other acoustic objects being used and it's obvious that there are electronically generated sounds as well (the list on the back of the sleeve mentions "poisons" as well, not sure what they're supposed to sound like). But the hype for this album states "the finest of the metal object noise made in world today", so that seems like the selling point. The fidelity of the sound will definitely appeal to many - the recording is careful enough to allow every scrape, screech, clang and clamour to be captured and set against every other. The beginning of each of the two long spirals allows for the distinction of sound to be heard in best light, and this album is better heard with the volume up high. It's complex and crafted. As the pieces go on, other elements are introduced and previous elements taken away, and the build up of layers gives less room for sounds to breath but more for the entirety to course it's way.
  And yet, for all of that, I found the album un-engaging even after several listens. It wasn't so much that the crispness of the sound doesn't allow for intensity, it's just that after a while it sounds more like a sound study, a review of the possibilities of what the objects can sound like, rather than two cohesive pieces. I suppose they seemed somehow stripped bare, a bit too naked and obvious in their sources. I can see why this would appeal and it has definitely achieved its desired goal. But for mine, a bit too precise and - dare I suggest - academic?

Hutchinson, for his part, has already established his bona fides as a metal banger and I found it gratifying to note on the Banned Production site the blurb advertising this album read "soothing in a way" because what I've heard of his metal abuse has always affected me in the same way. I've referred to his work as "ambient metal" before and this is another good example - this is a tape I've listened to many times at the end of the day with the lights out. Rough but not harsh, the loose banging and clanging of metal objects sound is coated in a kind of fog that gives less clarity but more interest. Side two seems to introduce more screeching sounds that are almost like feedback and a slightly different fidelity but I imagine they where both more or less from the same recording session. It's just another notch in the bow for Hal, but at least you know what you're getting and wont be disappointed.

GREG DAVIS AND JEPH JERMAN, Ku
CD, 206
Room 40 (http://room40.org/site/)

An album on constant play for me. Three strong, well built, well recorded pieces of acoustic music utilising everything non musical possible. "First Strata" features soft water sounds and re-assuring cracks and scratches with just a hint of hissing sheen in the background, a piece that is full of sound but requiring minute listening and attention. "Second Strata" is busier, noisier, more built up, sounding very much like going through old, possibly abandoned barns and sheds, forcing open and shutting rusted, decayed doors, rifling through unusable tools and implements, bumping into dust and hay covered objects on the floors, disturbing things hanging on the walls, always moving and searching, sometimes with the wind distorting the microphone and the sound of dogs in the background (hard to tell if it's the recording or next door, sometimes). "Third Strata" brings it back down again with meditative bowl sounds humming softly when struck, letting patches of silence through before other soft, concentrated sounds are added slowly and leave softly, The fidelity is perfect, the structure of the "stratas" just right, there are no boring or let-down moments on this album. The difference between sound and silence is what I particularly love, the ability to play silence as a component, rather than try to bury it or to leave it in undignified blocks, bringing sound and silence together - this is what I find the most exciting about these recordings. But as a whole, this is just a well played and well executed record of acoustic sound sculpture.

DEAD BOOMERS, The Pig In The Python
12" vynal, 2012
Sabbatical (http://www.sbbtcl.com/)

Cassettes, cdrs and overseas tours later, Dead Boomers declair their intent. It's hard for me to be objective here since I know and like this band but there is much to recommend. For one, Dead Boomers have a particular weapon on their side, the Boomer Bar, a metre or so length of industrial girder steel strung with guitar strings and a pickup. It can be struck, strummed, scraped and have anything done to it to help produce a sound that is exclusive to the band, in addition to a carry case of clapped out effects units, all played through the Phallic Totem Pole Of Death amp stack they carry. This album captures their dark, gritty sound on multi track tape mixed onto vynal, so it's analogue all the way. So much for background details.
  The real issue is the sound. It is, indeed, dark and gritty, and tracks are quite short for the most part. Groves vocals, harsh and groaning, feature mainly on the first side, leaving side two "instrumental". Each track is immaculately structured, but without sounding too clinical or contrived. In fact, the minimal structure and pacing is worked to bring out the best of the sounds; the Boomer Bar's explicit thumping at the introduction of "The Hammer", followed by a thick, grainy block of Noise over which Groves shouts - the sparse, harmonic strum of "Leave Flowers Now", reducing human life to a series of bureaucratic instructions (not to keen on the vocals on this one, they sound too contrived) - the stark, very dark hissing and thumping of "Sundowners". There's a serious grit over the whole production that gives strength to the album, the combined elements of harsh, paced rhythms, grating Noise, aching feedback and dark sparseness that end up blurring distinctions between usually divided elements of PE. The sound is thick and dark, yet the paced structure of each piece allows for clarity over confusion.
  There's meant to be a concept with this album, the passing of previously affluent generations to less certain old age, the anxieties of rising prices and populations, the middle aged startled to find their all important youth gone, old age as something no one, especially those living it, wants. A life time of nervous fear and fighting to fit in, only to be shunted away at the end. Life sucks then you die, they say.

PESTDEMON, Helvetesljuset
12" vynal, 2011
Unrest (http://www.unrestproductions.co.uk/shop/index.html)

And so ends the saga. Andreas has retired Pestdemon to concentrate on Arkhe, and Unrest do the honours by releasing the ultimate supper. Pestdemon is the perfect example of what happens when you don't just try to fit into one thing or the other but simply follow your own muse to whatever ends. Sample manipulation, feedback, metal and objects, electronics, the source is not the issue, what matters is the music, the creation of sound and atmosphere. Anyone familiar with this project knows about it's heaviness, the slowness of pacing and build up, and the importance of both structure and chaos. None of those elements are lacking here. Slow groaning sound is paced up and escalated to intensity, combining the elements until hell breaks loose. The production is perfect, not gritty or grainy but murky and grey, yet without drowning the distinctions. "Att Blidka Djavulen Dar Inne" does seem to concentrate on metal abuse, a sign of the times perhaps, but with dull electronic droning at the base and strained feedback gracing the sulphur air above. A superb spiral. The title track on side two retains much of the same style as on previous releases, perhaps a tad more restrained than side one but with more consistency and flow. And as with other releases from this project, there is a lot to listen to and explore, a lot that is not obvious at first few listens but needs continuous attention to find. Even so, this is not cerebral, but concentrated, psychedelic summoning, the forming of true sound-scapes as interior journeys, the music of black drugs.
  Without a doubt, this is picturesque, evocative music, Romantic Noise, and Pestdemon triumphs again. If you're going to go out, go out right. Delicious packaging, by the way - you wont get the full sense of it from just photos unfortunately.

NORD, Ego Trip & LSD
12" vynal, 2008(?)
PCP records (bootlegs, apparently)

These albums are supposed to be "bootleg" re-releases, replicating the cover and packaging in every way possible, due to the impossibility of contacting Oikawa Hiroshi (although Nord started as a duo, it was Hiroshi who recorded these albums. Satoshi Katayama, the other of the twain, continued also under the name Nord and apparently continues so today). It is a good service to we lovers of electronic music, as these are classics, but I wonder how Hiroshi would feel about it. I know I feel it's a bit much to have to pay serious bucks for vynal when a decently priced and released CD would have done, but of course without the artist's approval anyway, it's academic.

Putting scruples aside for the moment, it is good to have these great recordings available in some form. Recorded in the mid Eighties, this is thick, heavy analogue synth, blatantly minimal, with a lot of adornment, sometimes with electric guitar, sometimes with additional synths and effects modulations. Primitive, stripped down, often heavily monotonous, this is the dark panacea to the kind of easy listening "new age" synth crap that was becoming current during that decade.

"LSD", with its ridiculous pencil-drawn melting pixie on the cover, starts with a track of plastic-hard synth pulsing, barely modulating and barely changing except for an odd key change or two. It's the closest to "music" the album gets. This short introduction finishes for the title track, a long, slow pulsing synth tone, throbbing away like a science fiction film sound effect, gradually building tones, electronic warbles and a steady, chiming strum of a heavily effected electronic guitar. Over the course of the piece the pulse speeds up and moves up keys, getting more frantic without loosing it's impulse. That pretty much describes it but the effect of the whole thing is trip-like, only up-front and aggressive instead of distant and dreamy. Side two features what's also called "LSD", starting with a sample of a pretty groovy sounding 60's/70's rock tune I don't recognise, before a faster pace synth pulse comes in. The process is much the same as previous only more minimal, also featuring some sample, a deep, cracked male voice a bit like William Burroughs, repeating un-definable sentences like a wrecked drunk lying on the side of a footpath, uttering urban prophecies doomed to be ignored. The final track (can't translate the Japanese writing unfortunately) is a simple, dark ambient touching of the synth keys, quiet and cold, the recovery after the trip. He must have had the brown acid.

"Ego Trip", with its plain black packaging with a black rectangle of course sandpaper stuck on the front, follows the same formula - pulsing synth adorned with extra effects and sounds. Only there's more a sense of controlled tension than blatant mind-fuck, the coursing length of "Ego Trip 1" changing with more purpose. "Chloroform 1" and "2" bracket both the end of side one and beginning of side two despite it being clear it's the same piece chopped in half to accommodate the vynal release, and this is a softer, more spaced out little piece again reminiscent of science fiction movies, this time like floating in a capsule in space, looking out at the universe through thick glass, machinery pinging away around one, stars and matter moving slowly an infinity away. "Ego Trip 2", the main piece on side two, follows the formula yet again - little need to physically describe it. Just switch on the synth, fiddle with the knobs, and find your mind.

What the hell was going on in Hiroshi's head? Was he really as drug-fucked as the titles and graphics hint, or just trying to give the impression he was? I like to think that these are, in fact, the recordings of someone who just didn't give a fuck. There are moments when it's something like an endurance test getting through them, either that or blatant boredom, any sense of composition or editing pretty much unheeded, or at least so it seems. But there's a definite sense of competency that places this well above simple synth noodling (a brief stern glance to those skinny, bearded, glasses-wearing young tossers who are wanking out tapes and cdrs of exactly that) - these are the personal head trips of someone who really didn't care if anyone else dug it or not. It's dark, hard, unrelenting and ideally one wouldn't be falling over one's self in praise of it. But I can't help but love it.

Fun fact - an earlier album of the original duo, simply called "Nord", was re-released on cdr in 2004 on a Japanese label called...Hospital.

CHOP SHOP, Discrete Emissions
7" vynal
Banned Productions (http://www.bannedproduction.com/catalog.html)

Taking sound out of virtually nothing, putting forward the sound of decay and disintegration, recording the sound of blatant nullity and making something out of it, all encapsulated in a neat little double a sided 7" - one side cut in the usual way, the other cut flowing outward (try getting your record needle to start on it). Meant to be played at 45", but the great thing is playing it at 33" gives you extra value for your purchase. The sound is, of course, grit and course air going through specially made speakers (a print on fine metal of a photograph of one is part of the packaging; it looks like part of a Martian tripod from "War Of The Worlds"; it probably is), starting with a soft flow, then a brief blast of fuck-you, then an even softer, almost loop-sounding rustle that is the best part of the piece, something one would want to listen to many times longer than it actually is. Complete with thick, course paper riveted together so you have to tear the inner sleeve to get to the album proper, it is a complete fetish package, consumer conceptual art. While I'm always much more interested in the sounds than the packaging, I appreciate this little effort.

Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on April 10, 2012, 05:56:47 AM


HAL HUTCHINSON, Factory Of Metal Sound
cassette, 2011
Banned Production (http://www.bannedproduction.com/catalog.html)

Metal banging - is it the new Wall Noise? I ask this because it's become pretty conspicuous over the last year or so and therefore runs the risk of going down the same path - yet another element of Noise isolated and taken to extreme, and there by possible redundancy. A pity as I quite like it but if it's going to become a "thing" it's going to get ruined.

That's a good point. I didn't think of it like that but you are right, in the past year or 2 a lot of pure acoustic junk/metal Noise has been hitting the labels. It is one of my favorite forms of Noise but it can get played out and I really hope it doesn't.

I think it is very true, BUT, same could be said about many things. Lets say synth noise? A lot of the american synth noise - be it the Bloodlust kind of related or the Hanson kind of... or Chrondritic Sound kind of and I'm often "aarrghh!!! No more oscillating synth layers!!".  But in reality, there is A LOT to be done with synths and electronics - as well as countless ways to treat metal junk - even if stripped to bare naked acoustics..  There is always danger of someones big muff HNW, korg synth noise and pure acoustic sheet of metal sounding impersonal and same. Yet it wouldn't remove possibility of doing it well and inspiring way.

Most of all I wait for artists with good noise "songs". Not side side long or 20+ min pieces, but getting thing done well in 3-7 mins and moving to next good piece!

SHIVER "Born To lose" 3"CDr
Diazepam

This is the 2011 power electronics in good and bad. The good is, that if you like typical modern PE, consisting solid steady noise layers, distorted aggressive vocals with delay, sometimes few spoken word clips and songs remaining at 5-7 min length, it does deliver just that. But there is absolutely nothing more.
It is unfortunate that vast majority of modern PE makers fail to find really interesting sounds. Like so many nowadays, this sounds flat, like finalized with computer with maximum compression?
None of the noise layers sound particularly charming or interesting. There hardly is textures that would grab your attention. Everything is overblown little too much. Throbbing bassy noise is pure distortion. Like mentioned above, good stuff doesn't need to be revolutionary. Simply made in interesting way. There is no interesting synth modulations. There are no physical or texturally interesting noise sounds. Use of feedback is the only element which is nice. Everything else falls into category where "PE" is treated as backing noise for vocals - like rock set up. Not where sound of noise itself would be good enough. I need amps. I needs tape decks decaying. I need well crafted synth sounds. I need broken electronics. I need field recordings. etc etc... At this point I don't need some vague rumbling distortion with yelling. (MA)

One of the big issues I have with Wall Noise is how overdone it is by taking the easy way out. Takes nothing at all to set a pedal to stun and record it for half an hour. Metal banging, one would hope, would take a bit more to organise and accomplish - I know Hutchinson has suffered for his art with the odd trip to the doctor. Nonetheless, I'd hate to see it go down the same easy, lazy road as "HWN" (I'm even getting to hate those damn letters), and one would hope that the fact it involves physical labour would be a good hedge against the bludgers. But when reviewing an item, one must refer to the item and it's components.

Synth noodling is well and truly out of hand and has been for a few years now, leaving aside the Bloodlust and Chondritic scene. It's been flavour of the month for a lot of artists for too damn long. As much as I love a good analogue oscillation, it, like "HWN", is just too easy to do, so of course there's too many lazy idiots doing it. Still, there is virtue out there and I'm always keen to hear it when it occurs; I'm a bit of a sucker for it but not, I hope, a pushover.

What I like is hearing Noise done well. One of the things I really love about Andreas's Pestdemon project is how he's not leaning on one source or another, he's getting the sounds he wants together to create the music he wants to create. For him, the music comes first, that's obvious. There's a gulf of difference between that and any particular genre/style fetishising (and especially fifth-rate genre/style fetishising). If there's going to be any of that, I'd prefer the originality of Jupitter-Larsen's "Big Time Crash Bang" or Vagina Dentata Organ's "Music For The Hashishins", or something like that.

Quote from: cipher chris on April 05, 2012, 04:35:32 PM
yet how do I measure someone else's worth of an object when I don't know what they find worthless?

One potential answer is to try to find reviews they've written of things you are familiar with. That was in fact how I approached the first edition of Night Science. The more I find myself nodding in agreement, or pausing with intriguement - as opposed to shaking my head with disgust and/or bewilderment - the more willing I am to consider reading reviews of things with which I am less familiar.

Failing that, the shit should at the very least entertain. And in all honesty, entertainment is the first and often only real consideration. (Whether that would be laughing at you or with you is not in the equation.)

This is actually the thing I generally do first. Read reviews of bands I know, and often even releases I know & have heard. I don't think function of review is merely promote the new, but also open new angles. Reading 100 reviews of releases you don't know, by bands you never heard, often becomes annoying, since there is no possibility to really get perspective.

INCAPACITANTS "mon, ma? Mon!!!" CD
New CD from Incapacitants is something what always makes me enthusiastic. While vast majority of noise makers from Japan has slowly become less and less exciting than at their best, Incapacitants is among the final powers of noise who simply have not failed. Perhaps one could say it's thanks to crystal clear vision what they want to do, and the formula they repeat from album to album. This is perhaps the only flaw generally found on Incapacitants albums.

How many albums has been the 1 or 2 studio tracks + one live show -approach? Hmm... Feedback Of N.M.S. (1991) 2 studio tracks + live track. Fabrication (1992) 1 studio, 1 live track. As Loud As Possible .. Assets Without Liability.. Default Standard.... etc etc etc.. until quite recent "Tight" LP with one side studio, one side live. One could guess it's about half of releases!

I guess the experts have already many times analyzed the subtle variation of approaches, from crunch to high pitched feedback to heavy electronics filled dense walls to.. whatever. The current approach seems to be more electronics, more digital sounds? 30 years wasted or Live at Urga 2011 doesn't offer much of surprises, merely some chaos pad type filter  "woosh", but PIIGS' Revenge is something else. I guess that is quite morbid humor actually: PIIGS = specific eurozone area economies. Revenge? When european economy is falling, the Incapacitants track is perhaps the most joyful and toy-like piece they have ever recorded! It's the electronic swirl going up and down with quick pace. It's hard to say if there was a concept here, but suddenly track makes a sense! While musically it clearly is a weaker link in album, conceptually it appears to open whole new angle - although the financial matters and bank culture has been present in their work since very early days.

Quote from: Bloated Slutbag on April 22, 2012, 09:17:45 AM

Quote from: cipher chris on April 05, 2012, 04:35:32 PM
yet how do I measure someone else's worth of an object when I don't know what they find worthless?

One potential answer is to try to find reviews they've written of things you are familiar with. That was in fact how I approached the first edition of Night Science. The more I find myself nodding in agreement, or pausing with intriguement - as opposed to shaking my head with disgust and/or bewilderment - the more willing I am to consider reading reviews of things with which I am less familiar.

Failing that, the shit should at the very least entertain. And in all honesty, entertainment is the first and often only real consideration. (Whether that would be laughing at you or with you is not in the equation.)

that was actually part of my implied answer. :)
if you can gain an insight into what someone likes and dislikes through their reviewing of something you're familiar with, then you have a starting point on which to approach their review of something you're unacquainted with.  BUT I think the trust which arises there requires the reviewer to be candid and able to negatively critique.

Quote from: cipher chris on April 23, 2012, 03:44:08 AM
that was actually part of my implied answer. :)
if you can gain an insight into what someone likes and dislikes through their reviewing of something you're familiar with, then you have a starting point on which to approach their review of something you're unacquainted with.  BUT I think the trust which arises there requires the reviewer to be candid and able to negatively critique.

I did get the implied bit, but I thought I'd spell it out anyway - in my own didactic way. And I tend to agree with the broader point on the value of the negative review. But as there are any number of ways to approach a review, for the writer and the reader, I can't necessarily discount those which might restrict themselves to, say, paroxysms of ardor. Critique of some kind ought still to come through.

Some reviewers choose to focus on things they like. Joe "#1 Noise Fan" Lombardo memorably said so, over and over again. But even then the faithful reader could detect the subtle grades of enthusiasm. When the prose fell primarily to flat descriptors I felt that to be a less than enthusiastic endorsement. None of which much mattered one way or the other since these were the only reviews I could find of the product on offer. I was frankly just happy that the review existed. (I feel the same way about most of the reviews I've ventured; that they exist is more important than what they say.)

VD-NP "mukkula noise conspiracy" tape
debut tape of Finnish project. In some ways it makes me think of Psywarfare. Because it doesn't seem to come as "independent" noise project, but I automatically associate it's links to more famous hardcore bands. In case of Psywarfare, it was always discussed as "with members of Integrity" and with VD-NP, this is AV known from Morning After, 7th Legion, etc. and nowadays Damngod. I had heard his previous noisy recordings few years ago, which were not bad, but also hardly something what world needs in form of record. This new session, about c-30 tape, is much better. Basic elements are fuzzy distorted bass noise, keyboard drones, distorted vocals, heavily digi-reverbed floor tom bounding. Structured, more of dark industrial than noise really, however the kind of "trivial" topics of sampling religious propaganda tapes about corruption of satanic rock etc. moves it closer to "noise".  B-side track is better when the topic is less "youthful rebellion". Clarity of groovebox sounding synth patterns in beginning and end is not the best element, and the distinctively digital high pitch of reverb in percussive elements doesn't 100% smoothly blend in mix, but in field of contemporary tough industrial-noise - VD-NP appears like project which could actually go somewhere! I think merely 50 tapes was done, so those into hearing Finnish obscurities - kind of outside the scene of "same people", check this.

Mazakon Tactics - Epitomes of Carnal Despoilment (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/585.html) [death industrial / lo-fi / power electronics]
Tape, released by Obscurex

Melted Cassettes - The Real Sounds from Hell Recordings (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/538.html) [electronic / noise / industrial]
CD, released by Mind Flare Media

Al Qaeda & Endometrium Cuntplow - AQECRMXCLLB (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/544.html) [lo-fi / electronic / noise]
C53 tape, released by Love Torture Records

Videl - D'Monique Velsmord (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/559.html) [industrial dark ambient]
CD, released by Section XIII: COMA

Aspectee - Jour Cinq (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/530.html) [ambient / dark ambient / drone]
CD, released by Black Drone

Army Of 2600 (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/564.html) [retro / chiptune]
CD, released by Mind Flare Media

Lörsson / Grindstroke (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/532.html) [avantgarde / noise]
C15 tape, self-released

El Diablos Bloncos / Endometrium Cuntplow (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/537.html) [electronic noise / techno]
CD-R, released by Love Torture Records

Offtopic:
There's also a pretty recent and extensive interview with Nyodene D, and brief ones with Ryan Jencks & GX Jupitter-Larsen.

LAPOT, Igneous Corrosion
cassette, 2012
Obscurex (http://obscurex.org/)

A combination of site recordings and electronics/synthesiser makes this a long, slow, rushing flow over the course of an album, two sides that are completely unhurried and instinctive from each other, save for side one which has a burst of heavily echoed vocals. Oddly, there are lyrics printed for both sides of the album but are only heard on the first. No matter, it's the flow that counts. It's grainy but not gluggy, with a somewhat subtle crunch, or more of an aggressive hiss, very much like struggling through a rain storm, the wind distorting in one's ears, unable to see much in front of you apart from vague, greyed imagery. The intensity ranges from steady downpour to flooding, from face-on wind-whip to cowering under shelter in fear of the pummelling above. It's an album I think best appreciated at loud volume because played lower, it looses some impact, but louder the murkier aspects of the lower fidelity can be appreciated.

VOLKSMORG
cassette, 2012
Terror (http://www.terror.lt/index.php?page=releases)

I've had many listens to this album, mostly late at night in the dark when settling to sleep. The sound is murky, sludgey, dark and oozing, with all the abstracted visual emotions that entails. Low end humming, rushing, droning and very slow pulsing recorded nice and musty with plenty of glutenous feedback in the layers. Interestingly, the second side has a better fidelity than the first, thanks to the mastering of Daina, and this changes the sound from slow moving tectonic filth to more rushing, aggressive roar and clash with the occasional metal clang and bang over it. Two moods, both bad. The slightly homoerotic boys posing on the cover with electronics and alchohol, our pals Levas and M. (Pogrom and Body Cargo), have recorded a jam session not based on cosmic trippiness and synth wankery but drug sickness and hangovers. Pure Noise sludge. And after seeing the inside cover I'll never get an erection again.

VA, Kad Te Moje Cakija Ubode
cassette, 2012
Terror (http://www.terror.lt/index.php?page=releases)

First, the concept. The movie, who's title translates into English as "When My Knife/Blade Cuts/Strikes You", made in 1968 by (then) Yugoslavian director Krsto Papic, is a charming little biopic about knife murders in certain villages in his homeland. The main link being human stupidity. As always. It's not like you can get away from it anywhere you go, and Papic demonstrates, through a very simple method of interview, intercut with the occasional charming folk song, the inane and mundane "reasons" people get shived - "A Murder Because He Cursed On His Kalja Cabbage", for example, or "A Murder Because He Got Drunk And Wanted To Wipe Out The Whole Village". One could account a ready abundance of weapons, over-use of alcohol, macho culture, the whole pseudo chin-rub, but the personal accounts of the murderers themselves seem to suggest just basic stupidity.
  Anyway, the romanticism of "primitive instincts", "raw brutality" and "worship of knives" is the "sacred feeling unites all artists in this compilation". Excerpts from the movie are interspaced with the tracks themselves, and the whole is packaged very neatly in a cardboard box with the title written in shit on a human body (and the projects' names in the same substance on the same medium on the back of the booklet). So, it's all about the filth and violence.

Now, the music. I have no love of Wall Noise. I particularly hate Static Wall Noise (or Militant Wall Noise, or whatever dicky term some fuckwit's come up with a few minutes ago that I'm thankfully unaware of), that miserable, imagination-less rip-off of minimalism that has flooded the Noise scene with a gazillion lazy also-rans who want the quickest, easiest foot-up on the bandwagon. As I've argued before, if you really need to listen to one static tone for however long, you simply hook up your own gear (because the great majority of Noise fans are also Noise makers) and do it yourself. Paying good money or even trading to hear someone do something you could do yourself is like paying someone to tie your shoelaces. And with Wall Noise, it's just as musically satisfying.
  Sadly, the great majority of this compilation is Static Wall Noise. Which makes reviewing superfluous. What is there to say about a number of tracks that are all just variations on lead buzz going through effects units? Who hasn't heard it before? Who would want to hear it again? There's no point even describing at least all of side one of this thing. It's fucking Static Wall Noise, you could play it in your head without resorting to anything physical. Side two, fortunately, involves a bit of variation. Pogrom's sound at least has some development, slow but certain, with some vocals and very muted sounding samples. It's nice, but needed editing. Then there's another bit of Wall Noise fluff, then McKaras plays "Srbosjek", single source Harsh Noise antagonism with vocals that, while not my normal thing, is a welcome distraction from the main form of this album, and the occasional shouting involved gives the spiral a nice pacing. But it's Oorchach who really begin to redeem this album with the unusual "As Prapjausiu Tavo Bugnus", taking a persistent tribalistic drum pattern as the base, adding a gritty synth tone as a riff and occasional effected acoustic sounds, modulating the rhythum pattern throughout. Simple, effective and pleasing, it's a great pity this kind of thinking is relegated to a minority here. Girny Giesmes finishes the album with "A Bit Of Poetry, A Bit Of Knife", a nice, cloudy, ambient piece based heavily on echo and soft, distant sound.
  So, two good pieces, two acceptable pieces, and the rest –  I've made my case clear, I believe.

VIVENZA, Realite De L'Automation Directe, Realites Servomecaniques, Modes Reel Collectifs
cds, 2009/10/11
Rotorelief (http://www.rotorelief.com/artists/vivenza.php)

The concept of Industrial as representing the sounds of heavy industry themselves got a bit lost early in the piece. Despite the use of metal by the you-know-who's of the genre, the idea of replicating and presenting the sound of pure, soul-less machinery in action seemed a bit beyond the imagination and/or ability of most of the precursors, at least as far as I can tell. Yet it was the Futurists who noticed the potential and that was decades ago.
 So Vivenza consciously takes up the torch and presents replication, by tape and other means, of factory and warehouse in sound. The result is wonderfully non-human, despite the fact that everything has had to be made and moved by human hands, this music included. There is still the very definite aesthetic sense that these sounds are not made as music for musical consumption, but are the results simply of extraneous sound from machinery. Or at least, that's how I like to hear it.
 My personal favourite is "Realite De L'automation Directe", two lengthy pieces of pure mechanical monotony. The first based on a loop sample (listen closely and you can just here the slight click where the loop joins) that I presume has been treated with effects, but possibly not. It is a rhythm in itself, slightly melodic but solely mechanical. The second is based on a simple, strident clanging tone that definitely has some echo placed on it, more abrasive and intrusive like a continuous hole-punch. For twenty minutes both rhythm pieces are allowed to clang while other sounds, mostly mechanical, sometimes of the human voice, are laced over them. That is all – a simple idea made effective as much by the blatant lack of consideration of the listeners' approach as by the composers care in construction. That there is a hypnotic effect in both pieces is almost a given, but I wonder if Vivenza would be gracious to the idea of his music being taken as psychedelic. In any case, this album alone puts to bed the worthless idea that rhythmic, repetitive music is a mere techno wank fit only for drugged out hippies.
 I had "Realities Servomechaniques" as mp3s for a while so I was looking forward to getting the album itself as the first track, "Proliteriat & Industrie", had been something of a personal favourite for a while. It's particularly strong in that it has a few audible ranges whereas the rest of the spirals on this album seem to have the same, somewhat flat, higher sound. Which is not to say there is anything necessarily wrong with any of them, only to point out that the first track has something of more diversity. But all the pieces, and the album entire, is worthy, more perhaps from an intellectual rather than emotive point of view.
 "Modes Reels Collectifs", like "Realite De L'automation Directe", is ostensibly two lengthy pieces but each piece is more a composite of different samples, cut up and placed together in a concrete collage style, various sample loops manipulated in different ways, dropped out, placed back in, in an almost improvisational style. Considering this was made in 1981 I doubt there's any digital faffing about, more use of tape. "Partie 1" is based more on very rhythmic loops, whereas "Partie 2" starts off with a more soundscape feel, free-er and looser, like actually being in an industrial area, moving around, picking up sounds as they come and go, before bringing in the slow, constant clang of mechanism for the duration of the piece.
 This music is like a collage pictorial of a particular age and ideology (although Vivenza would no doubt disagree about "a particular age"), the twentieth century's mechanisation in everyday life. While World War One hastened that mechanisation in the service of various nations' desire to dominate others, the era of mass production was also accelerated by "peace" time greed, the desire to have the latest thing off the conveyor belt, which transformed entire landscapes to cities of industrial production, drowning nature and numbing humans. I'm sure that Vivenza, bruitist that he is, has no such sentimentality in looking at industrialisation, preferring instead a cool, aesthetic appreciation of the machines and their very processes themselves. Which is what makes this music so great. It is cold, clinical, but a definite aesthetic presentation and shaping of machine sound for it's own glory.

JEAN TINGUELY, Bascule
mp3 rip of lp  (http://continuo.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/jean-tinguely-bascule-vii-re-up/)from Manhood, 1994-5

 A sculptor who, long before SRL, embarked on making machines that made noise, moved and on occasion attacked people. This selection of recordings of such machines, in this case, presents one eleven minute long piece that has, mostly in one channel, the clangs, bangs, clashes and thumps of metal and in the other channel long, droning notes that sound like an accordion. The shorter pieces are the sculptures unaccompanied, rustling away like the machines of mystery they are. The first piece, "Bascule 7", has space between the sounds, the suddeness of the thumps and clangs filled in with the droning semi-music. The shorter "sound sculpture" pieces, however, have the same rugged, detailed sound as Vivenza has, the same smoggy rushing and mechanical illusion of detail, and the comparison struck me. If I ever get to Switzerland I'll be sure to visit the Museum Tinguely in Basel, which houses an extensive collection of his works. In the meantime, I just listen to these short but lovely recordings, and dream.

(http://lisathatcher.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/tinguely_hippopotamus-ammann.jpg)

HAL HUTCHINSON, Corrupted Scrap, Wreckage And Reconstruction
lps, 2012
Freak Animal (http://www.cfprod.com/fa/), Unrest (http://www.unrestproductions.co.uk/shop/index.html)

Both recorded in the same session, both released quite close to each other, both showcasing the metal bashing skills of Noise's fastest rising star Hal Hutchinson. And both utilising what he calls the "Factory of Metal Sound technique". I have no idea what that technique entails, but it seems, so far, Hutchinson has been less than satisfied with the results, until "Wreckage".
  But first, "Corrupted Scrap". Once again, the rushing, scraping and colliding sounds of objects that, on both sides, build, very slowly, filling in gaps of silence while still retaining enough light though to allow the details. I particularly like the scraping sounds on the first part of side one, like wire brushes gouging rust and oil from stubborn, redundant engine parts. There's a nice busy-ness here, a sense of frustrated focus, and a great sound of fragmenting metal grit. One can sit back while following the details of the sound and it does come across as rather relaxing. No problem here.
  As for "Wreckage And Reconstruction", Hutchinson himself remarked that it "bears the most faithful resemblance to the sound I originally desired", which makes one wonder about previous releases, a question I'll come to in a minute. When he further states "(w)hat you hear on this record is me playing with my life involved", after listening to this album, I believe it. There is, most definitely, a boost in the volume and the fidelity, not to clean and pristine but to urgent and powerful, an injection of genuine excitement that really makes this album too short despite it being a long player length. The sound is, as he promises, nailed. It's not being pushed in your face, but it's not rustling around in the mid-ground there. It really does sound like someone struggling in the middle of a universe of rusted and broken metal, and Hutchinson is right to be proud of it.
  When he writes "all the recordings I have made using the Factory Of Metal Sound technique have ultimately failed in capturing the sound I wanted to present successfully", it does raise the questions about the value of previously released recordings. I'm not having a go at Hal stating this, I like to think it's an obvious point. The sense I get is that he is not entirely happy with prior releases. Why? He acknowledges himself that the process he is using is experimental. I have heard a seasoned experimental musician remark, just before giving a live performance, that that means failure is a part of the process. Of course, because there is no furtherance without failure. But what I have heard of Hutchinson's FOMS recordings have not been failures to my ears. They have not been intense head-destroying experiences, but that is not always desirable. I believe that, in a short amount of time, Hutchinson has created a body of work that is, in it's small way in this small scene, significant, and it's no mistake many others have picked up on it. So, if I'm right and Hal hasn't been all that content with previous work, allow me to re-assure – there's nothing wrong with it. There's been no failure, only advance. Both these albums testify that.

"No failure only advance" - great way to put it. I liked your review for "Removing Aesthetics" as well. Speaking of which...

For those who don't have it, Hal put "Removing Aesthetics", a 2010 release using some material from the RRRecords recycled series, for free on Archives. The material here, as Hal states is a bit cleaner than the other material from this session; "Due to the nature of the RRR recycled music series being dubbed over donated cassettes this version appears in much higher definition than previously heard." I love the title as it is so fitting, "Removing Aesthetics". Well, with mp3's the aesthetics are definitely removed especially if that is all you are given. Left with just sound and a close up shot of some rusty metal with the artist name and album name in some boring font. But that is a good thing. It plays into this tape for the better. I like this one a whole lot. Not as good as my personal favorite "Taste of Iron", nonetheless its a strong piece (over 40 minutes) of non-effected junk abuse that truly does stand on the other side of the tracks when it comes to being "Harsh":

http://archive.org/details/HalHutchinson-removingAesthetics

"Taste Of Iron" - I should get that one. If it's sold out at FA there's affordable copies on Discogs still.

HAL McGEE, I Am A Black Hole
download (http://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-a-black-hole-1998)

Of the many, many releases and re-releases McGee has been making available, either by download or cassette, this is one I come back to most often. Five tracks of shortwave static. Varying from slight, aching squiggles with the dial to long patches of monotony, yet this is one case where there is always a sense of change, oscillation, variation, continuation and evolution back and forth, from droning hum to hissing static to phases of voice and electricity. Apparently digital delay is used but it doesn't seem all that evident, the sound seeming quite pristine and unaffected. It's relaxing, of course, just the thing for background sound and late night indulgence. This is how minimal, monotonous Noise is really done - sans pretension, sans any self-indulgent artistry or identity, yet also managing to actually be there and exist, this just is. Noise for it's own fucking sake.

Yea man that CM tape is gold. He hasn't put out one shitty release yet. Not even a shitty track come to think of it.

V/A "Engines of modern dysfunction vol 1." 7"
Phage Tapes
Really nice!! Think about noise compilation in 7" format, and I can't remember THAT many classics. Maybe a lot to do with many artists having inability to really get focused piece in short format. This one takes angle that bands basically melt into eachother. There is sonic similarities in most of them, and pauses within their own pieces are probably longer than pause between the tracks themselves? Songs pretty much bleed into one another and could be even one band - but obviously experts will notice significant traces of the creators trademark styles.
A-side with Facialmess, John Wiese, Chrysalis + Agit8  and B-side with K2, Fail Association, Ahlzagailzehguh, Baculum. Both completely fail free harsh noise of world top class level. 45rpm provides strong crisp sound, and considering the style of these bands, 45rpm 7" really compliments the compilation approach. So much happens here, many of the 40-120minutes compilations I have listened in past months are left in cloud of dust when high speed harshness and razor sharp slicing starts. (MA)

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on June 05, 2012, 08:43:43 AMBoth completely fail free harsh noise of world top class level.

Fail?

EDIT - I'm a dick.

fail-free, I think.

I like this comp. too, but hey I'm on it.

yes, fail-free. No failures. All winners!

Volksmorg - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/594.html) [power electronics / harsh noise]
C46 MC, released by Terror (2012)

Vidinė Ramybė / Vomir - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/620.html) [power electronics / harsh noise wall]
C46 MC, released by Terror (2011)

Kanibal Hymn - Corpse Dweller (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/631.html) [dark ambient / noise / death industrial]
CD, released by Cthulhic Dawn Productions (2012)

Grunt - Last Grip to Sanity (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/627.html) [power electronics]
LP, released by Freak Animal Records (2005)

Grunt - Live in UK / Midnight Inspiration (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/626.html) [power electronics]
LP, released by Freak Animal Records (2005)

Schattenspiel - Lichtgestalten (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/586.html) [martial industrial / neoclassical / electro]
CD, released by Dead Man's Beat (2011)

Supercrabs / Larva - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/598.html) [noisecore / noisegrind]
MC, released by DIY Noise (2011)

V.A. -- THE REPORT FROM DISTANT LANDS
3 x C90 // Impulsy Stetoskopu
http://impulsystetoskopu.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:various-the-report-from-distant-lands-&catid=40:releases&Itemid=66 (http://impulsystetoskopu.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:various-the-report-from-distant-lands-&catid=40:releases&Itemid=66)

Highly recommended!! after going through a huge pile of recent accumulations from trades, gigs and other acquisitions, this is the one i enjoy the most, despite the (unfortunately) ugly/messy grafix. huge variety of approaches to rotten sound manipulation. long-ish pieces from all artists allow the listener to dive into several sewers of uncharted territories. supposedly "unknown" artists sweep the floor clean from the crap that's been thrown up on it, but looking up some names on www/discogs reveal that we're not dealing with amateurs here, so get busy while this lasts (100 handmade). a huge project!! my fave = OBOZDUR

also: tapes sound LOUD and crisp, a feature which cannot be stated bout every release. a few slower/loop/hypno things, but generally just tons of dirty crunch, bzzz, wtf and general goddamnyeah, no embarassing martial/neofolk/dada/humor/academix!!!

Another funny review:

i AM esper - Glowing Valleys

Some long time ago I've got a pile of CDrs from now defunct Dark Meadows recordings. Maybe there's no reason to review these since the label is already dead, but somehow I'd feel slight guilt if I don't pay attention to these works. i AM esper is Justin Palmieri drone/ambient project from USA and Glowing Valleys - one of more than 50 albums that were released in the last couple of years. I'm usually rather sceptic about such huge discographies, but there are exceptions. CDr is packed in the plastic envelope and after looking at the covers I see couple of other weird things. First of all - track titles that are peak of originality. What about "The Dark Fog" or "Stars Above the Frozen Forest"? And another thing is the insert with dedication to the girl and cat, and the place of recording - "my lime green room". I smell adolescence with tearful egocentrism and sincerity plus hipsterism. Well, first impression might be not that good, but I put the disc into the player and after couple of seconds I'm thinking that I made a mistake, judging this artist like that and the album is rather decent. But several minutes pass and I change my opinion and regret thinking like that before. Now I'm impatiently waiting when the track will end, but it does not and painfully continues to infinity. Glowing valleys is lightly melancholic boredom with playing time of more than 45 minutes. It's guitar drone with delayed guitar and some shoegaze-like fast playing on the higher notes that can possibly mean sadness, beauty and tedium. If you take any track separately, you can divide it into short segments of dozen of seconds that repeat, and repeat, and repeat... It's ok to listen how the track starts, but all these stars, fogs, dews and darknesses of nights, lasting for more than 10 minutes is more than enough. If I understand it correctly, esper means having various paranormal abilities. If this is true, Justin Palmieri has paranormal ability to get you bored and tired of his sounds. Now I'm listening to the track called "Mid Night" (original, isn't it?) and it's the ninth minute when I hear some beats in the background and melody of 4 high notes. Well, perhaps there is some deeper meaning in all this monotonous and primitive melodies apart from the inability to play, but desire to have a band or a project with the prefix "post-" at best. But I don't get this and all in all I'm nervous about such musical onanism and excessive sincere romance in couple tens of CDrs, dedicated to cats and girls. My cat, for example, looks at me very sad with one open eye and I think he asks me why I'm torturing him with this album. Well, if you have ever heard the delayed guitar and had a chance to listen to the 27th original post-rock/ambient/drone project of local teenager, just pour in some tedium and you'll get i AM esper - Glowing Valleys of Boredom. I'd recommend you to avoid this record.

heh. the guy from the band has read the review and decided to thank me.

I somehow stumbled onto your shit page while trolling around other BM / Ambient / Noise forums. Boy-o-boy what a mistake that was. Why are you wasting your time posting all that dribble? You can't seem to put together a compelling thought or even give the slightest introspection to any of the artists or releases you babble about. Some of the stuff on there that I am already familiar with, it seems as though by your writings you might not of ever listened to any of it at all. It's all a bunch of knee jerk reactionary nonsense being spewed out by an insecure illiterate. The fact that you can drone on about something for paragraphs at a time with out even touching on the material at hand is sure sign as to just how feeble minded you are. Do us all a favor take down that shit website, or at the very least don't renew the domain. After that take a long walk off a short pier. And just before you do so, please do us all a favor, tell dad next time wear a condom. Kid came out retarded.

Justin

Grow a cock, Justin.

When you write a positive review, you usually get. "great, thanks!" or something like that. but how inspiring negative reviews are! from parents to educational problems. Thumbs up!

You described the thing perfectly adequately and you gave a reasonable description of what it would sound like so what the hell is he sooking about? Nothing worse than sitting down listening to an album in its entirety that you don't like, but feel obligated to do so.

Quote from: Levas on July 27, 2012, 09:23:29 AM
When you write a positive review, you usually get. "great, thanks!" or something like that. but how inspiring negative reviews are! from parents to educational problems. Thumbs up!

Don't worry about that and don't stop your great job. I hate reading one-dimensional reviews where is lack of honesty. All, what we do, has better and worse aspects, and we (sucker Justin too) should want to know how people see our activities and how they value our job.

Quote from: Levas on July 27, 2012, 08:50:00 AM
heh. the guy from the band has read the review and decided to thank me.

I somehow stumbled onto your shit page while trolling around other BM / Ambient / Noise forums. Boy-o-boy what a mistake that was. Why are you wasting your time posting all that dribble? You can't seem to put together a compelling thought or even give the slightest introspection to any of the artists or releases you babble about. Some of the stuff on there that I am already familiar with, it seems as though by your writings you might not of ever listened to any of it at all. It's all a bunch of knee jerk reactionary nonsense being spewed out by an insecure illiterate. The fact that you can drone on about something for paragraphs at a time with out even touching on the material at hand is sure sign as to just how feeble minded you are. Do us all a favor take down that shit website, or at the very least don't renew the domain. After that take a long walk off a short pier. And just before you do so, please do us all a favor, tell dad next time wear a condom. Kid came out retarded.

Justin

Please, email him back and tell him it is "might not have" rather than "might not of".

Halalnihil - Freedom Destroyer (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/642.html) [power electronics]
download, The Level Of Vulnerability (2012)

Halalnihil - What The Future Should Be (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/646.html) [harsh noise / black noise / power electronics]
download, The Level Of Vulnerability (2012)

Objectum Sexual - Landmark Sex (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/647.html) [experimental / noise]
download, Red Venice Records (2012)

Quote from: Levas on July 27, 2012, 08:50:00 AM
heh. the guy from the band has read the review and decided to thank me.

I somehow stumbled onto your shit page while trolling around other BM / Ambient / Noise forums. Boy-o-boy what a mistake that was. Why are you wasting your time posting all that dribble? You can't seem to put together a compelling thought or even give the slightest introspection to any of the artists or releases you babble about. Some of the stuff on there that I am already familiar with, it seems as though by your writings you might not of ever listened to any of it at all. It's all a bunch of knee jerk reactionary nonsense being spewed out by an insecure illiterate. The fact that you can drone on about something for paragraphs at a time with out even touching on the material at hand is sure sign as to just how feeble minded you are. Do us all a favor take down that shit website, or at the very least don't renew the domain. After that take a long walk off a short pier. And just before you do so, please do us all a favor, tell dad next time wear a condom. Kid came out retarded.

Justin

Dude is cool...  http://s.dsimg.com/image/A-1981890-1335398441.jpeg

I thought your review was good. Checking out one of his release's, "Frostwork", I find his material to be extremely unoriginal and uninspired. It's too intrusive and irritating to be background "music", yet it's not captivating, varied or interesting enough for active listening. Checking out his other releases I wonder if this type of shit is even necessary.

FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM CD
Silken Tofu
Hmm... the first track which is monstrous length of 15 minutes is dominated with electro beat. This is something what is most of the times utter turn off for me. If it resembles something what I feel is dance music or techno, it's very likely I simply can't find anything there.
After the opening piece, CD progresses into 8 more songs, where each has distinctive style. Clear synthesizer drone of 2nd track suddenly is drenches into heavily processed human choir style vocals. Suddenly this is like new age version of Deutsch Nepal! 3rd track develops ethereal new agey synth work further into later days Organum feel. All the sudden 4th and majority of 5th track are like experimental computer music. Delicate electronic sounds, without any solid humming synthesizers - until they make return in middle of 5th track. 6th track is drenched in reverb, with calm proto new-age ambient feel. Everything operates in slow harmony, slow strings, distant echoing sounds, warm electronic feel. Until it all ruptures into noisier material what in my ears sounds as sampled heavy metal and in end sampled classical music. 7th track starts noisier but ends up in ethereal and harmonic ambient. 8 track does it pretty much in reverse order. Neat offset printed 3-panel cardboard cover lists 9 tracks, yet cd has only 8. Within each track there are significant changes and I wouldn't wonder if they just missed index number at some point?
Absolute best point would be that instead of predictable dark ambient humming, Silken Tofu actually has guts to put out such a "normal" ambient cd. And perhaps the trad. harmonic calm and soothing muzak is the most successful element of this CD. I'm just certainly extremely picky what comes to this style of music. (MA)

JARL "minus one - neutral" CD
Moontrix
So.. this is no less than... 11th CD of Jarl ! Actually it's not that much, when considering they have been released during equally many years. Eric mentioned he considers this his best effort to date, which probably should be artists reaction when new album has been published. Trying to compare based on nothing but fragments of old memories, it's hard to how drastic are the changed. When I first listened this, my impression was: JARL ! He does what he does well: atmospheric electronics what carries both colorful electronics, oppressive feel of industrial and everything drenched into heavy effects.
Jarl's composition is based on something what one could perhaps call formula composition. Each song in basics could be explained to be no more than 4 distinctive sound elements. Where usually 2-3 are in use of pre-determined overall structure and 0-2 layers which consists element of spontaneous nature.
If in very short and narrow explanation formula composition would be explained in Stockhausen's word: "idea of one single musical figure or formula that would be expanded over a very long period of time". The formula in Jarls work is basically revealed within first 10 seconds of listening. It will be just that, for rest of song. All the basic sound elements will keep repeating themselves over and over again, and the expansion that happens is simply based on subtle oscillation of multiple layers, where different length loops meet in different places AND the introduction of somewhat unpredictable physical layer (like playing metal object with bow, or treating one of layers with hand modulated live effects). In simple overview, all of the tracks appear to be pre-detemined. They move forward with precision of clock and potential sudden change in course of composition just ain't there.
This remains both strength and weakness. If you allow yourself to sink into moment, there is plenty of detail build on eerie synthesizers, heavy pulses, nearly tonal screeching of bow-played objects, colorful effected electronics and deep slow harmonies. Yet, if you expect composition to progress, change, develop somewhere, it just ain't happening. Perhaps the closing track is his most adventurous piece on album, which is little longer (say 1 minute), starts with one simple sound element and takes time to develop (read: add more loop layers).
It could be true that this album is at least among very best of Jarl, but it also shows me that perhaps it would be also time to move from his standard 6-7 minute template and aim for more ambitious composition. He has shown to be talented in creating sounds, creating combinations of sounds, but what is lacking is focus on transitions and timing! Something with bigger arch, bigger complexity of composition. (MA)

Budrus - Devyniems Rytams Austant (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/676.html) [power electronics / drone / ambient]
CD, self-released, 2010

D'incise - Prairie (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/653.html) [electroacoustic / drone / musique concrète]
2xCD-R, Obs, 2012

Fecal Fetal - Demo I: Painful Invocations (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/669.html) [acoustic / noise]
Tape, Noiseranch, 2012

Kylie Minoise - DIE YUPPIE SCUM! (...) (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/679.html) [rhythmic noise / electronic / disco]
CD, Mind Flare Media, 2012

Larva / (<o>) / Bagheads / B.B.T.W.E.O.A.H. - Jumalan Huumorintaju (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/670.html) [noise / noisecore]
Tape/download, DIY Noise, 2012

The Big Drum In The Sky Religion / Color Rabbit / Endometrium Cuntplow - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/667.html) [experimental]
CD-R, Love Torture Records, 2010

I'm always very hesitant to publish my reviews but I wanted to share these two with you since I think they came up quite nice. The tone is quite doting but that's because these are two of my favorite releases of the year.

Grunt - World Draped In A Camouflage (Freak Animal Records - none)
I have never been much of a Grunt fan even though I have listened some of his works and mostly all I have heard have always been very strong. For some strange reason I have always been more drawn by the less known acts and therefore I have never even given a chance for Grunt to impress me. But when I checked his new live performances, I knew there's something big to be released soon and it didn't take too long for Freak Animal to announce their new releases including one Grunt tape which compiles two of those very successful live performances and this massive full-length album consisting of ten amazingly well composed tracks which creates one of the most impressing wholeness I have (EVER!) heard in this field of music. The sound is very clear and sharp which goes perfectly with amazing multi-layered complex compositions of the album. Decayed tape manipulations, crude loops, metals, well crafted synth madness and even some classical instruments are used which brings us to the vocal work that weren't only amazing, it was superior and gave the album whole another dimension. Mikko's goal was, should I say, very ambitious but his (nearly?) two decades of experience allowed him to put this impossible vision together and he couldn't have succeeded more perfectly.

IRM - Anthology (Autarkeia - acd 065)
So what we have here is a beautifully presented compilation box consisting of two golden metalisation discs full of golden memories. Memories which starts from present (2008) when IRM was already well known and appreciated act on industrial music field and slowly leads us back to the time (1998) when this mighty unit were just like any other beginner. But what made them stand out then is what makes them what they are now, thanks to their (artistic) intelligence and talent.
Then it's time to move from memory to another and as we change the disc, the memories are much more (a)live. These memories comes from various parts of the world but mainly from Sweden, the home of this magnificent unit. You don't need to listen these recordings for too long to figure out that IRM crew have literally put their heart and soul into their performance and I only wish I would have been able to witness that trough my eyes. Fortunately I have this disc which documents those beloved memories and even though I'm barely able to comprehend my amazement, I'm able to figure every little detail from the recording and I can honestly say that the sound quality couldn't be any better, vocals are filled with emotion and electronics/instruments are in perfect balance together. This is truly essential release in every sense. From packaging to sounds.

Noise Muzak Review - Torturing Nurse - Hai ShangNurse

Review of album and download here (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/torturing-nurse-hai-shangnurse.html)

NOISE_MUZAK_REVIEW - Enbilulugugal & Gnashing of Teeth - Rites ov The Blakk Goat


Review Here (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/enbilulugugal-gnashing-of-teeth-rites.html)

Asio Otus - Taivaallisia Tulia (SicSic)


I was given this tape yesterday by a friend, whose project this is, and I got to say I was pleasantly surprised. This is total freak out UFO music. Two guys utilising all kind of acoustic and cheap and old electronic instruments, various objects, toys, field recordings etc. with the result being a weird combination of drones, rhythms, melodies, crackles, pops and ambiences. Very hypnotic at parts, and kind of goofy, humorous and weird all the time. It is very hard to compare this to any other band or to describe the sound itself, as a lot of different ideas are emplyed. Sometimes it reminds me of Zoviet France even, at other times I guess one could compare this to some of that 'freak folk' stuff coming from Finland, Kemialliset Ystävät, etc. Maybe even some NWW? Anyhow, the thing is that these guys are not influenced by that stuff really - they just somehow ended up in a little bit similar sort of terrains. They just decided to go without restrictions and this is the result. No overdubbing or excessive post-production & layering involved, it's mostly just real time playing with a nice, organic, hands-on feeling to it.

There is an amusing concept running through all of this. In the '70s there were made a lot of these UFO sighting at this rural Pudasjärvi area in Finland. Many of them were witnessed and reported by this local man, a taxi entrepreneur by profession. He wrote some books about it and so on... So all of the tracks are related to those incidents. But it doesn't stop there, when making this tape these guys actually travelled to the area, they seeked out the man, met him, interviewed him etc. The tape starts with an excerpt from this interview, the guy is talking about this weird shit. They also did their research in the library, at the archives, examining a lot of old microfilms etc. reading about the matter, UFO reports etc! I'd say this is a little like an anthropological case study or something, hehe. I'd say it works pretty well, as it's all the time humorous but with a straight and serious face. No irony involved. The title of the tape stands for Heavenly Fires.

There is an interview with them at Foxy Digitalis, if interested. The name of the group means a long eared owl, although it also has a double meaning in Finnish language. That explains the absurd owl masks they wear...

I guess this is definitely not for everyone, more like something one either loves or hates. I really enjoy this.


http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=31895

http://www.discogs.com/Asio-Otus-Taivaallisia-Tulia/release/3442436

(http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/AO_1-1024x762.jpg)

Noise Muzak Review - Torturing Nurse, RedSK, Jason Collveli - A Bonding Experience

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-bonding-experience-torturing-nurse.html)

Boyd RICE / NON - Back To Mono (Mute 2012) CD + LP

Mixed feelings... I will say more... the worst album in his discography, unfortunately. Neverending loops, flat sounds. It seems that he hadn't idea how to create music / noise... back to his "Black Album"? Maybe, but he failed... The last two tracks are something like piece of shit... The next "falling star"...

Esplendor Geométrico ‎– Desarrollos Geométricos (Geometrik 2011) LP

Good album but only good. Nothing more. Old concepts in next configuration. Only for hard enthusiasts.

Lunar Abyss Deus Organum ‎– Atanimonni Aitnatsbus (Substantia Innominata 2012) 10" EP

Interesting. Ritual drone ambient in its the best form. Highly recommendations!

Edgar Varèse ‎– Early Works (Doxy Music 2011) LP

Real classic of noise music. Especially "Intégrales" and "Ionisation". Highly recommendations!


Sunn O))) Meets Nurse With Wound ‎– The Iron Soul Of Nothing (Ideologic Organ 2011) 2 x LP

I expected much more.... but it is OK, nothing more. Sometimes interesting, I would collect one LP, not double album.

sMTvUZ ‎– Best Of (6de Kolonne 2012) LP

I don't know this project but music is very good. Interesting experimental postindustrial. Rich in found sounds, cut-ups and organic tape collages.

Hiernaermaels ‎– Dwalend In Schaduwtijd (6de Kolonne 2012) LP

As above.

Kallabris ‎– Shanghai (Genesungswerk 2001) 12" EP

Very interesting. I love CRANIOCLAST and KALLABRIS. I think that anyone knows this act and how can be good this music... Why there is so little about these projects?



Lt. Caramel / Kommissar Hjuler Und Frau (Domestic Violence Recordings 2009) LP

Highly recommendations!


Vibracathedral Orchestra ‎– Vibracathedral Orchestra (VHF 2004) 2 x LP + DVD

I love this band very much though they play still the same :)

Cloama - At the Mountains of Paranoia (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/685.html) [power electronics / ambient / drone]
CD, 2012, Turgid Animal Records

DEATHSTENCH - Rites of a Dead Moon (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/703.html) [dark ambient / power electronics / black metal]
3" CDR, 2012, Black Goat Records

Unclean - Deranged (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/709.html) [power electronics]
Tape, 2012, Untergeschoss

TheGerogerigegege - Yellow Trash Bazooka

Review Here (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/thegerogerigegege-yellow-trash-bazooka.html)

Noise Muzak Records - Cthulhu detonator - Infernal Detonator

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/76/54/76545288-1.jpg)

Review Here (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/infernal-machines-cthulhu-detonator.html)

Noise Muzak Review - Video Nasty - Inferior Tools For These Infernal Times

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/17/13/171369003-1.jpg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/video-nasty-inferior-tools-for-these.html)

My Failure - Failure (Album) / RE:NAMELESS (EP)

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IBjpyHXfISs/T162GE3I9EI/AAAAAAAAAlg/M1hjkqgUR04/s320/DN174.jpg)

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0_XWHnGA0Qw/UJxcvPAYEfI/AAAAAAAABR4/pTN4N9W3DnU/s320/EE019.jpg)

BOTH REVIEWED HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/my-failure-failure-album-renameless-ep.html)

Noise Muzak Review - Infera Trilogia - Ass-OlO

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/10/39/1039705292-1.jpg)

REVIEW AND DOWNLOAD HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/track-one-rises-and-drones-along-at-19.html)

For italian readers only:
-SNTSR11 Simon Balestrazzi - La Montaña Sagrada
http://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2012_simonbalestrazzi_lamontagna.htm (http://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2012_simonbalestrazzi_lamontagna.htm)

Noise Muzak Review - Cavernous Body - Demo I

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/23/03/2303553993-1.jpg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/cavernous-body-demo-i.html)

Noise Muzak Review - Torturing Nurse / Ana Venus‎– Split

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-3812468-1345387660-3791.jpeg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/torturing-nurse-ana-venus-split.html)

Noise Muzak Review - Slogun - Hunting Humans

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-360142-1110946808.jpg)

Review Here (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/slogun-hunting-humans.html)

For italian readers only:
SNTST17 Lasik Surgery - The Mission Is Terminated
http://www.darkroom-magazine.it/ita/108/Recensione.php?r=2484 (http://www.darkroom-magazine.it/ita/108/Recensione.php?r=2484)

Noise Muzak Review - DeathPile - Back On The Prowl

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-315047-1093387799.jpg)

Review Here (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/deathpile-back-on-prowl.html)

Noise Muzak Review - Sickness - Scars Of My Happiness

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-524141-1339451502-4424.jpeg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/sickness-scars-of-my-happiness.html)

Theologian The Chasms Of My Heart CD review here - great:

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/theologian-the-chasms-of-my-heart/

-SNTSR11 Simon Balestrazzi - La Montana Sagrada
http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=7308 (english)

Review up for: Xiphoid Dementia - Secular Hymns CD

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/xiphoid-dementia-secular-hymns/

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-216770-1145282457.jpeg)


REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/11/28/sutcliffe-jugend-death-mask/)

IRM - Anthology 2CD. Great release. Review here:

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/irm-anthology/

Noise Muzak Review - Looter - Humanities Failures And The Onset Of Oblivion

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/15/72/1572843273-1.jpg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/03/looter-humanities-failures-and-the-onset-of-oblivion/)

Noise Muzak Review - Die Reitenden Leichen Furor Necroticus


REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/09/die-reitenden-leichen-furor-necroticus/)

Hippycrack - Wallow in Your Shit (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/720.html) [harsh noise]
Floppy Disk, Johnny Park Avenue Records, 2012

Knurl - Pyrolysis (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/719.html) [harsh noise]
C46 Tape, Terror, 2012

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-354334-1227629850.jpeg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/10/masonna-inner-mind-mystique/)

Noise Muzak Review - Gardens - Sound Of A Pagan Monday

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/32/74/3274197421-1.jpg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/12/gardens-sound-of-a-pagan-monday/)

Noise Muzak Review - Fossils / Robert Ridley-Shackleton – Meta Cardboard (C30)


REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/13/fossils-robert-ridley-shackleton-meta-cardboard-c30/)

Review from noise receptor.


En Nihil – The Approaching Dark CD Eibon Records 2012

The long standing project En Nihil returns with a new album, which on face value stylistically fits with the current crop of American acts cultivating the grey areas between dark ambient, death industrial and power electronics genres.

Album opener 'The Tomb of Empire' acts as a relatively short intro piece, which has a tonal range spanning a low humming drone at the bottom end, coupled with blasting static at the forefront and upper ranges.  This piece then bleeds seamlessly into 'Frozen Posture', which with its rumbling mass and subtle textural elements shifts towards an isolationist ambient frame.  Alternately 'The Hearts Relent' is a total surprise (given the tracks which precede it), containing a melancholic fragility evoked though through a sparse orchestral melody and distant hummed vocals.  Although unexpected, it works exceptionally well in a restrained and cinematic dark ambient style.  'Futile Man – The Weight of Absolution' is another stand out, with tonality quite akin to the fractured and digital filtered laptop sound of Fennesz – although this piece does move away from the summery electronica atmospheres of the aforementioned project to heavier distorted death industrial realms.

In covering yet more sonic territory 'Souls to Cease' delivers some buried factory ambience which builds in static intensity as the piece progresses.  Likewise 'Vulture Reign' pushes a heavier and more forceful power electronics sound with its rough loops and cascading noise and squalled distortion – excellent stuff.  Final album track 'Darkfall' provides another moment of listening respite, being a bleak and desolate slab of dark ambience built on a cyclic melody and muffled distant storm rumblings – a musical statement of relative calm and great concluding piece.

Although largely sitting at the heavier end of death industrial and power electronics genres, this is a varied and considered release with some excellent forays into dark ambient territory.  With the sound production En Nihil illustrates clear attention to detail with the separation of tonal elements, which only enhances the listening experience.  Gatefold digi-card sleeve with suitably dark imagery rounds out this tasty

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - Zone Nord - Salbutanol

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-594119-1229439043.jpeg)

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/16/zone-nord-salbutanol/)

In depth review of CALIGULA031 - DOMINO on Heathen harvest

http://heathenharvest.org/2012/12/17/caligula031-domino/ (http://heathenharvest.org/2012/12/17/caligula031-domino/)

I almost forgot about Heathen Harvest, one of the very few places that does Noise/PE/Industrial reviews that doesn't suck.

Quote from: RyanWreck on December 18, 2012, 07:12:52 PM
I almost forgot about Heathen Harvest, one of the very few places that does Noise/PE/Industrial reviews that doesn't suck.

Tell me more, I like good reviews

Quote from: Cym on December 18, 2012, 08:55:14 PM

Quote from: RyanWreck on December 18, 2012, 07:12:52 PM
I almost forgot about Heathen Harvest, one of the very few places that does Noise/PE/Industrial reviews that doesn't suck.

Tell me more, I like good reviews

Well the best reviews and interviews that man has ever known, anywhere, ever, are at the Pure Stench*, duh! http://purestench.blogspot.com

*it's my site.

Another review blog which does not suck: *

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/

* - unless deemed by others that it indeed does suck.

Shiver - The light within has turned into darkness

http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/shiver-the-light-within-has-turned-into-darkness.html

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - Tunnel Canary - Jihad

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-1389426-1215456131.jpeg)

REVIEW AND STREAM ALBUM HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/19/tunnel-canary-jihad/)

A couple of my relevant contributions to Heathen Harvest:

Review of Brighter Death Now - Very Little Fun
http://heathenharvest.org/2012/11/25/brighter-death-now-very-little-fun/

Dissecting Table - Industrial Document 1988/91
http://heathenharvest.org/2012/10/10/dissecting-table-industrial-document-198891/

Top 2012 submissions: Anenzephalia, Propergol, and Theologian:
http://heathenharvest.org/2012/12/19/heathen-harvests-best-of-2012/

http://heathenharvest.org/2012/12/25/nove-code-and-erich-zahn-and-troy-southgate-%E2%80%8E-nove-code-erich-zahn-troy-southgate/

Last few:

Watercoloured Well – Arsonist's Rebirthday Audition

Watercoloured Well is, I suppose, onetime gathering of musicians in Germany, that happened after the night of performances in 2011 and ended up in a little experimental jam session. Eight musicians, hangover and Himalayan food. Result of this mix - almost one hour of improvised record that causes dual feelings. At least for me. I'm sorry to say but the names of musicians who took part in this record, don't ring me a bell, but for the sake of protocol they were Barbara Rössler, Brandstifter, Daniel Voigt, Dirk HülsTrunk, Johannes Lauxen, Mr. Ebu, Ronnie Oliveras, Tanja Roolfs. Most of them are artists, performers, poets and similar bohemia. Well, I look quite carefully and with additional reserve of skepticism to such records of gatherings/parties/weed smokings. More than often they are a rather interesting sonic product for persons who took part in the record and their close friends only. Let's admit, no matter how spiritual, brilliant etc. the session would sound; it can hardly match mature studio record. No matter if it matured in the mind of creator after he saw the kitten shit on the street or after torturing the modular synth for 2 years. This album is really decent and one of the best of such improvisational records that I remember at the moment. In places it reminds me of Bjerga/Iversen, in places it is really nice ambient of Himalayan food inspired tribal. But there are places where it's just messing around with instruments that you can see around far too often and that reminds me of disgusting smell of boutique shops, cute cafes etc. I like the beginning of this disc - tribal rhythms, weird percussions, slowly appearing new instruments and their rather dynamic change, slowly developing into a really nice ambient texture. But in the fourth track "Cosmic Kisses" the irritating part of the album starts. It's quite difficult for me to describe this by portraying sounds, but the odd feeling hover in the air. Later on the reading of the poetry starts somewhere under the layer of instruments and the form of the track turns towards more experimental one. But I can't find anything interesting in it. The album returns to more pleasant sounds in the last track, especially going towards the end. Instruments slowly go more and more silent and the session nicely ends with silence. Maybe it's the contrast of my own mood and this release that does not allow me to review it objectively. But I never said I would be objective. Who will like this CD? People that has something to do with academic art. It also fits as a background for some installation of performance and overall I can imagine it was a nice and cozy meeting of congenials. And Arsonist's Rebirthday Audition is the documentation of it.

-----

Lasse Marhaug / John Wiese – Country And Western

I'm not sure if I can call these two guys legends, but by the number of their releases, good quality percentage of them and overall dedication to noise, I think at the very least I can call them noise supermen. Why I'm saying this? Lasse Marhaug apart from his approximately 30 bands and projects, fact that his name cannot be dissociated from the Scandinavian noise scene, and the countless number of albums, he is also director of a label and publishes excellent noise magazine "Personal Best". John Wiese achievements in this context is somewhat smaller - "only" more than 100 releases, 10 or so projects (like Smegma, Sissy Spacek etc.), label that released this CD and perhaps more activity that I'm not aware of. This disc with playing time of more than 40 minutes was recorded in 2008, in the studio with a nice name "The Best Studio in Oslo". Sonic information is not surprising in its quality. There are only a few people who, despite of the vast amount of releases, are still capable of doing them good. In this disc, quite a lot of various noise fans will find something they like - cut-up, junk, "plain harsh noise", experimental - you mention it. First tracks are quite short blasts of noise, dispelling drowsiness at 6am. After the short and harsh intro we enter the sounds of effected wires, springs etc. I've lost the number of how many sounds layers are put one on another, but you will most likely not hear a repetitive moment or sound through the whole track. It's like this duo would be standing by the huge conveyor selecting, mixing, taking and putting back colorful sound details thus forming the weird collage. Sound integrity is interrupted after 3 tracks and by the name "Piano Death", it is quite easy to understand that we are going to join the flirt with piano strings. The longest track in the album Jenny And The Vortex is even more intense psychotic sound collage. The word "motherfucker", jazz melody and distorted feedback fits in one second and then it is followed by another one with the piece of symphony, Japanese folk song and blast of low frequencies. I hope the impression is quite clear. And I'm slowly starting to ejaculate when I get to listening to the rest of the album. I guess as some rock'n'roll fans loves C-E-G-A-B chords, some people in noise are fanboys of metal junk. Rip Torn is a fantastic start for the side B (the tracklist on CD consists of A and B sides). It is brutal, primitive and in your face metal destruction, winding of wires and clanging of chains slowly drowning in the sea of distortion. The second track in B side just prolongs the orgasm. Can you create a bad noise track when you have low rumbles, changed by shrieking feedbacks, decorated with gut ripping mids and when thick wall suddenly transforms into chaotic madness and later returns back into form of monumental statics? No. What can I say for the final words? The first part of the album consists more of experiments and madness, while the second one - of brutality and joy. Those who are interested in revealing secrets, can also try and discover the meaning under the album and song titles. This is one very tendentious review, I know it, but it's not so often that I finally get to review truly high quality, interesting and almost perfect album. I'm planning to discontinue my communication with people who had never listened to this gem.

------

Lackthrow - Release

To review the two disc compilation of 13 years of work in 54 tracks is not a simple task, but anyways... Title Lackthrow is absolutely new to me though it seems that this project is alive and creating for more than 15 years. While exploring his discography that consists of 12 albums (I guess there are more of them though), it's not difficult to see bursts of activity and then years of silence, then few releases in a year and then pause of silence once again and so on. It's natural that despite of what are the reasons behind the interruptions in creating/releasing your works, the changes in taste, thinking, means, priorities etc. appear. That's why in these two discs the variety of musical styles is present - from cybergrind to almost HNW, from cut-up noise to power electronics. Release is packed in copper paper (it was on sell-out or it's simply a new turn in aesthetics of Existest Establishment?), covered in tar. Two discs and A3 posters with tracklists and texts are found inside. Though the variety in sounds and styles is very wide, my ear mostly catches moments when the music leans towards harsh noise without too much experiments; or power electronics. Cybergrind and other digital experiments with sound are not too interesting for me. But I'm glad that there are quite a lot of plain harsh noise tracks in this compilation and they are quite strong, pleasant to listen to and not too original. But as I've said many times - harsh noise must not be innovative or exclusive for it to be a good listening experience. If it doesn't disturb me with weird sound passages towards nonsense, if it is not flat and thin in sound - it's great, isn't it? And this is the exact situation with the tracks that are compiled in these two discs. From time to time I hear some weirder mastering or mixing tricks, but mostly primitive and decent harsh noise dominates. After several power electronics tracks, somewhere in the back of my head, the name Leeche with his Navicon Torture Technologies, appeared. After reading texts, I had to congratulate myself with having this feeling - texts are highly emotional, mainly concentrated towards the relationship between him and her or overall dramatic romance etc. Anyways, Lackthrow has a long way to go to reach the qualities of NTT and all in all more structured tracks of Lackthrow have a tendency to become boring after some time. The presentation of the vocal is rather rude, but the number of PE influenced tracks is not that big that one could get a strong impression and opinion about it. Anyways, I enjoyed harsh noise more. Though there is not too much to enjoy in this album (perhaps it's the overload of information for me), but I'm thankful for a possibility to acknowledge myself with this USA noiser. Unfortunately after looking his releases of the last 5 years, I see that Lackthrow focuses on digital production only. So whoever is interested in this project, this release is a great cause to contact Existest Establishment and purchase this copper release with the strong title "Release".

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - SKIN GRAFT - ILL WILL

SKIN GRAFT - ILL WILL - REVIEW

ALBUM REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2012/12/27/skin-graft-ill-will/)

SNTSR01 Various Artists - Re[c]quiem
http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=7369 (http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=7369)

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - Raven - A Disease Called Man

REVIEW AND ALBUM DOWNLOAD HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/01/02/raven-a-disease-called-man/)

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - Lovebrrd / Su Sous Toulouse En Rouge split

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/01/02/lovebrrd-su-sous-toulouse-en-rouge-split/)

Review Here: (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/01/17/lys-klaida-ir-uzuojauta/)

(http://s.discogss.com/image/R-4153742-1357076984-7318.jpeg)

Depression, on tape.

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/01/20/haare-haare-forward-to-insanity/)

(http://www.terror.lt/uploads/images/lbl/tr15.jpg)

Hheva / Shiver "Troubled sleep" (few left)
http://deadtones.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/hheva-shiver-troubled-sleep-tape-diazepam-records/
http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/hhevea-shiver-troubled-sleep.html

Andrew Quitter "Forgotten Farms"
http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/andrew-quitter-forgotten-farms.html

Will Over Matter / Bizarre Uproar - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/730.html) [power electronics / noise / experimental]
12" LP, 2010, Filth & Violence / Bestial Burst

More

----

Knurl - Mesosoma

For quite some time I was thinking how should I start this review - "it is really difficult to write about noise that you like" or "it is really easy to write about noise that you like". I think it's the first one. Especially if you are talking about Knurl. The truth is that I have never heard any bad album of Knurl. But the truth also is that I have never heard the best album of Knurl because all of them are equally strong, interesting and intense. This time I spin the CDr, released several years ago by Polish label Impulsy Stetoskopu. It was lying on the shelf far too long, collecting dust and finally I managed to get to it. Nice packaging - metal box with scorpion and colorful inserts inside with H. Bergson quotes for every track. It looks really solid. There are several weird things, associated with this release though. First of all the title of the album - Mesosoma - that means the middle part of arthropods that bears legs, wings etc. This concept is slightly more distant from the usual themes of Alan Bloor - screws, bolts, corrosion, oxides and other themes, arising from welding and chemistry. It's the same weirdness with track titles like notheism etc. I wonder whether it was some sort of deviation from usual themes because of author or label. But most likely it's the latter one. Other thing that quite surprised me was that the sound in it is quite varied, having in mind that we are talking about Knurl. I get the impression that it is because of violin that was used in the recording process and which is one of the favorite instruments of Alan. These weirder moments are audible very well in Notheism and Matolytic tracks. Matolytic sound is overall like some sort or Japanese guitar noise a la Otomo Yoshihide etc. Other tracks are dominated by harsh and evolving metallic textures that are usually associated with this artist. The first track, Lascination, is typical and strict distorted abuse of metal constructions, lasting for more than 11 minutes. If I would want to pick something that I didn't like too much in this album, I would say that the sound lacks lows. It is concentrated in middle and higher frequencies, but perhaps it's also the problem of the format, and overall aggressive sound attack quickly kicks out these thoughts out of my head. Chrosite is one more rather strange track. Until the very end of the track sound doesn't reach the line of blasting metallic distortion, but rather sounds like the never-ending problem of the rusted engine. The rest of the tracks are more or less typical noise explosions that have already become the trademark of Knurl. Truly nice and a little surprising Knurl album. Apart from the format, everything else is excellent. Quotes and phrases on the inserts seem slightly exaggerated, but maybe it's subjective since for me this artist is associated with absolutely different things. I wish I could understand at least half of the track titles though...

Ataraxy – Barriers

After several not that positive writings about Toxic Industries releases, the time came to rehabilitate this label a little bit. Ataraxy is the title I've seen quite often here and there, though I never was too interested in it. Maybe it's because of the fact that I've been noticing it far too often. The project was started in the summer of 2009 and released around 80 albums to date. I tend to think of such outbursts of releases not as outbreaks of genius, but as lack of quality control, perfunctory attitude towards creations etc. I'm whining about this in almost every review when I have to describe a musician who has suddenly released dozens of albums in a few months. But let it be. Apart from this fact and the fact that concept of the project is absolutely boring ("recordings are directly associated with personal thoughts, interests and feelings" and similar bullshit), this CDr, limited to 33 copies (the usual editions of Irritant series), is quite decent one. There are 5 walls in the album; each of them 5 minutes longer than the previous one. 75 minutes of untitled harsh noise wall tracks. Album starts from strident and quite agile wall. Lows and mids in it are boiling under the louder layer of the upper frequencies. The latter one gets more and more dominant while finally what you hear is basically the one colored layer of noise. But I'm pretty happy that such track with radio statics is only 5 minutes. I'm not fascinated by such sort of noise that is somewhat quite popular in Eastern Europe and Russia. The second wall is nicer. Punch through middle and lower frequencies and roundish, strong and soft sound with episodic cracklings that were the foundation of the previous track. In the third wall you get less lower range and you are left for 15 minutes with sharp wall, leaning towards the upper frequencies, but all in all nicely maneuvering in sound. The fourth track is my favorite. Starting with blow of mid and lower frequencies, it slowly evolves without getting too far from the main axis of sound. It's one listenable and not boring track. The last wall seems to be the continuation of the previous one, cut after 20 minutes because of the concept of this album most likely. Well, at least to me they sound almost the same just more and more layers of sound appear under the original elements in the fifth wall. And if you start the disc from the beginning right away after it ends, the beginning of the first one seems like the continuation of the last track. And thus you get the closed circle of walls with short interruptions between tracks. I would be wrong against myself if I would say that it's difficult to listen to this album. Some of these walls or their elements are quite enjoyable for those who are at least a little into static sounds. There is not that much to criticize in this album, but there is nothing to praise it for. The impression is of an average one with boring concept and it will most likely drown in the seas of HNW albums. Design of this album is minimalistic, in the same template as the rest of the series. Anna Gehmann has drawn some stick figure, opening the door and seeing the wall behind it. So in case you get this album, I think you won't get sick if you listen to it, but you will not loose anything otherwise too.

Flesh Coffin – Borderland

I have understood two things while preparing for this review and listening to this album, thinking about the release, musician and sound. One of the things was about the miniCDr format. I think it is one of the worst and most boring formats that you can possibly release something in. Of course you can go as far as floppy discs etc, but 3" CDr is not far from floppies in its absurdity. The other thing was about the title of this project. Flesh Coffin is the project of Andreas Brandal. His releases were reviewed sometime in the past. This project is oriented more towards noise and horror and not HNW, ambient or so. So I came to the idea that the term Flesh Coffin means the body of a man. Coffin, made of flesh, imprisoned something - soul for those with faith, organs, responsible for vital functions for others etc. Maybe I'm the last person on Earth who came to such a conclusion and sort of understanding, but I'm pretty happy about this. This album with playing time of more than 20 minutes was inspired by the book of William Hope Hodgson called The House On the Borderland. It is a horror novel that appeared in the beginning of 20th century and even H.P.Lovecraft wrote about it as one of his biggest inspirations. One more book that you must read. Two tracks that are on the disc were recorded in the second half of 2009 in The Station, Bergen (I suppose it's the record studio of A. Brandal). Borderland is rich in sounds, overlapping in various forms and layers, merging with each other and suddenly separating and going to opposite directions after the density of sound textures is changed. You can hear field recordings, distant voices, hardly making through the dominant raw distorted texture and the louder I listen to this album, the better it sounds to me. I usually don't like to listen to reviewed music too loud, but it's not possible to do otherwise with Borderland. After first few times that I've listened to this mini disc, I was thinking that this is most likely one of the worse records of Flesh Coffin that I've heard. But to raise the volume level was the main thing that was needed to hear all separate details that previously were simply lost in the murky, monolithic sphere of noise. The first track, going the harsh noise path with sudden turns in sound, reaches the moment where it changes into some sort of industrial with the hidden melody of synth, rough noise, densely layered on top and finally you are left with the crumbled record of junk noise. The formula does not change that much in the second track - many layers of noise, changing, developing and writhing like snakes. Andreas Brandal leaves quite a lot of space for your own imagination, hiding tiny pieces of musical elements under the brute layer of noise. Sometimes they seem to be an illusion, but then they repeat themselves, develop, disappear and suddenly reappear. Distant dripping of water, metal percussions, samples etc. If it wouldn't be the 3" disc, I would recommend this EP as one more proof of Andreas Brandal talent. But now I'm annoyed by this small plastic envelope though I guess you can expect nothing more from the label with such name (not active already). Anyways, the musical side of this is really good. Every time I take the work of this Norwegian guy, I know what I could expect and hope, but every time when my hopes are confirmed, I am no matter what pleasantly surprised and listen to his creations with amazement.

Organomehanizm ‎– Quiet Insanity

Organomehanizm is one of Kiril Stoukaline (Кирилл Стукалин) from Saint Petersburg projects. This man is active in industrial music for almost 20 years. I suppose I won't be mistaken very much if I'd say that the most famous project where he's participating is legendary band from Leningrad school of industrial - Reduction Ad Absurdum. After the decade of activity Organomehanizm is not releasing anything for quite some time already and it seems that this review will be one more obituary for yet another project from Russia. After looking at the cover art I couldn't imagine what to expect from this record. There were parts that fascinated, surprised or irritated me during first listening sessions so finally I didn't fully get the idea behind this album, though remained quite happy about overall experience. Just like that monkey on the cover. If I understand correctly, bigger part of these sounds on the disc are raw, layered and maybe slightly cut field recordings. I was pleasantly surprised by the beginning of "Quiet Insanity". The first and longest track "Menopause / U-Boat-2" nicely lulls you in sounds of underwater recording - calm effervescence, lasting for good 15 minutes and finally ending in screaming overloads at the very end of the track. Though I was puzzled by such a turn of events after the calm meditation, but I was pretty sure that it will be easy to relax and enjoy this album. But I was even more surprised with the further development of sound. Other tracks were not so calm, dark and claustrophobic. They were reality distorting collages made of collected sounds where musical details are joined in unpredictable colors. Several tracks in the beginning of the album were still puzzling me with harsh overloads. These seemed like such nice and subtle textures, recorded to the tape most likely, developing so nicely and boom!!!! here, have some raw distortion and further on we go with calm and nice field recordings. Imagine spring. You walk in the park with your girlfriend, telling her how you love her, what a beautiful boy you have, you crouch, take a shit, hit a girl to her face with your shitty hand and remark that Dom is a very beautiful name and her eyes are so blue. The impression is like that. But I'm talking about the beginning of the album. The second Menopause / U-Boat-2 version is more aggressive and from field recordings we move to area of cut-up collages, dense sounds of noise generators and overall noisier part. Here we avoid most of the surprises and we can continue enjoying pleasant music. I like it. Weird, bizarre, in parts absolutely tasteless. But these raw sounds, schizoid shifts and loudly chewed remains of the sanity, amazes me. Then I look into the mirror and see a monkey. Vinyl is spun backwards in the other room, the day transforms into the weird tape loop and some old POP song is heard, playing faster than ever. Enjoyable.

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - amfj - Baen

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/01/28/amfj-baen/)

(http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-3951484-1350301946-2768.png)

Deprivation - From the gutter to the grave

http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/deprivation-from-the-gutter-to-the-grave.html

First noise receptor review for 2013 is up.  Its an older release from 2011 which is still worthy of attention, being: Anemone Tube - Death Over China CD.

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/anemone-tube-death-over-china/

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - Ninjas For Hire / Earthenwomb II Split

Ninjas For Hire / Earthenwomb II Split review on Noise Muzak Review. EarthenWomb are totally mind blowing.

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/02/07/ninjas-for-hire-earthenwomb-ii-split/)

(http://f0.bcbits.com/z/11/00/1100510527-1.jpg)

A couple more new reviews up: 1 recent release (TxRxP 12") and 2 older items (RJF CD and Blood of Thee Christ CD)

Links below:

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/trepaneringsritualen-ritualer-blot-botgoring/

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/rjf-greater-success-in-apprehension-and-convictions-blood-ov-thee-christ-master-control/

reviews of some +/- recent Diazepam releases, two from Existence Establishment and one from Heathen Harvest

Fungi From Yuggoth – Fungi From Yuggoth C30
"Here's a tape housed in a polar fleece sleeve, I can only assume it's to protect the outside world from the cold heart contained within these sounds. Fungi From Yuggoth is based on a series of poems by H.P. Lovecraft and this release is available as either a tape from Diazepam or a free download from Lightbulb records.
The promo blurb suggests that the music is recommended for fans of Brighter Death Now and I would have to confirm that's not far off. There are moments that definitely bring BDN to mind but FFY are a touch more eclectic it seems as it becomes apparent when things break down into an acute dark ambient soundscape complete with picked guitars adding an eerie atmosphere to everything.
The material is unique because it combines several different styles into one. The creepiness of ambience, the death industrial tinges, and even an experimental playfulness which is demonstrated on side B. However it doesn't take away from the constructed atmosphere so FFY are quite successful in these explorations.
Overall this is an a slab of solid work. Original use of feedback tones, noise, and some musical elements converge to create a unique atmosphere with a classic concept."
http://existest.org/ee_v3/?p=6448 (http://existest.org/ee_v3/?p=6448)

Autocancrena – Homo Sacer 3″CDr
"Here's a very nicely packaged 3″CDr, a step above what I've seen from Diazapam already. The artwork is simple and portrays the sound on the disc accurately which is also quite basic in its delivery.
The disc contains two tracks the first Malsana Dottrina is a simple dark ambient piece with delayed and reverberating chants being quite organic and meditative. The second track is more electronic with sinister electronic pulses, muffled samples yet also remaining minimalistic.
The material here reminds me of the quieter moments of Brighter Death Now with a touch of more organic ritualistic ambient thrown in. Definitely a solid effort and good release through and through."
http://existest.org/ee_v3/?p=6479 (http://existest.org/ee_v3/?p=6479)

HHEVA / Shiver – Troubled Sleep c-40
"Hheva, a relatively unknown project, opens up with their half of this split in dramatic fashion. The use of tribal undertones scores in relative separation from the ghostly chanting that begins almost immediately. This act from Malta wastes no time in consuming the listener in a dredge of natural, as well as unnatural sounds. The beat is mesmerizing and easily absorbed, the chants and the sound of roughed water cascading down the walls of the mind. Though repetitive, it's only the best kind; a swirling mix of dark goodness that just gets better as the track continues. It's an important element when the musician asks for 20 straight minutes of a listener's time. It's amazing how the simple beat and echoing gray seem to grow more and more profound with each passing minute.
With a typical long-format track, once you've reached the end, you've had enough, and it's time to move on. I can gladly say that this wasn't the case with this one. Indeed, several listens later I had to stop myself enough so that the actual review could begin! A truly consistent, awe-inspiring piece of clean tribal and ritual ambient.
Shiver, the known Italian project, begins Side B in extreme form. A much more rough, noise imbued sound is presented for the listener's experience. This is definitely a different breed than the first side, with use of much more abrasive sounds, vocal samples, and near the end, straight out screams and sounds of torture. This project certainly deals with repetitive mechanical loops, samples and processed feedback, creating obsessive and hypnotic death industrial, close to Megaptera, Morthound or early Brighter Death Now.
Out of fairness, I have to say that Shiver's side certainly creates a more visceral experience for me personally. Hheva's work is hypnotic, nearly calming in its journey, while Shiver shocks and destroys.
This is a fantastic pairing, as one side compliments the other, while managing to be completely different and unique. The cassette medium is also quite nice, as it provides a true underground feel, as well as an air of mystery to this project. This is the kind of stuff that makes the underground scene so fascinating; the coming together of very talented projects, who by themselves are incredible, but when paired together, are indeed a force to be reckoned with. Recommended for those who appreciate the little things, the subtle nuance of mastered sound, and realizing musical genius when it presents itself to them. Phenomenal."
http://heathenharvest.org/2013/02/13/hheva-shiver-troubled-sleep/ (http://heathenharvest.org/2013/02/13/hheva-shiver-troubled-sleep/)

New Review, Elizabeth Veldon - For Sylvia Rivera

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/02/18/elizabeth-veldon-for-sylvia-rivera)

Another new pair of reviews - one being a reissue of a 2002 album (Maison Close), the other being a recent release from an obscure dark ambient project (Abre Ojos).

Links below:

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/maison-close-maison-close/

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/abre-ojos-haxan/

N015£ Mvz@K R£v1£w - The Man With Icy Eyes

Review of Static Wall Recordings release, The Man With Icy Eyes, say good bye to your nervous system:

REVIEW HERE (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/02/27/the-man-with-icy-eyes/)

(http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-4285409-1360704507-9106.jpeg)

http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/deprivation-streetcleaner-split.html

Body Cargo / Pogrom - Resistance (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/746.html) [power electronics]
CD, 2012, Terror / Cipher Productions

DEATHSTENCH - Massed in Black Shadow (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/742.html) [dark ambient / power electronics / black metal / death industrial]
CD, 2012, Malignant Records

Umpio - Junk Electronix Vol. I (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/751.html) [harsh noise / electronic]
CD, 2010, Nekorekords / Ähky Records

Maurice's Hotel Death - Meeting People. Cassette. Larry Crywater. 2012.

http://heathenharvest.org/2013/02/24/maurices-hotel-death-meeting-people/

Knurl - Pyrolysis - Cassette - Terror - 2012.

http://heathenharvest.org/2013/02/22/knurl-pyrolysis/

Iron Fist of the Sun - Sulphur Bloodlines - Vinyl 12" - Cold Spring - 2013.

http://heathenharvest.org/2013/02/26/iron-fist-of-the-sun-sulphur-bloodlines/

Review by Heathen Harvest:
V/A Epicurean Escapism Compilation Tape/DVD-R with tracks by KRANK, IRM, DISSECTING TABLE, HUMAN LARVAE, ANEMONE TUBE, JARL and a video by MARTIN BLADH

http://heathenharvest.org/2013/04/09/various-artists-epicurean-escapism/

Svartvit - Auto-da-Fé (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/756.html) [noise]
Tape, 2012, self-released

Umpio - Tripamishqi (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/763.html) [harsh noise]
Tape, 2012, Terror

Review of Kommando RJF LP review here: http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/kommando-rjf-sweet-slow-suicide/

I reviewed new Kommando RJF too. Here: http://sbigth.wordpress.com/

Sorry, only italian language!

from Vital Weekly 878

DEPRIVATION / THE STREETCLEANER (split cassette by Diazepam Records)
RAVEN - EXTINCTION (cassette by Diazepam Records)
A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER - CHICKEN HEART (3" CDR by Diazepam Records)
Diazepam is the generic name for Valium, but it also serves as a compelling label name. In juxtaposition with the drug's primary physiological effects, Diazepam the label issues noisy tapes that frustrate all attempts to drift into dreamland. But the label and the pill do share one thing in common: a tendency towards disinhibition.
Poring over Diazepam's latest batch, my eyes were drawn immediately to the split between Deprivation and The Streetcleaner. This was largely because of its striking cover: an old-timey photo of a man whose head is covered in bandages, holding his charred monster hand up to his face. Though their name implies the denial of release, Deprivation perpetrates a pretty eventful plank of harsh noise here. The standard set of bells and whistles is present in abundance: the smarting snarl of bass, the shrill darts of metallic squeal, the blustering shrubbery of mid-range thrush... As we wade through the three parts of "A Dead Place in the Sun," there is a sense of progression. Instead of endlessly circling the drain, Deprivation's side of the tape actually seems to tell a story, if a disturbing one. The Streetcleaner, by contrast, uses intimidating, filter-abraded vocals deep in his mix to add a sense of immediate threat to his racket. Littered throughout each track are waves of industrial-calibre noise. His most mortifying moment is left for last, when the vocals are contorted into full demon form - like a beckoning voice from beneath the floorboards curlicuing its way into your dreams and inviting you into its net... Here the noise itself becomes the sideshow, the patchwork of grit beneath the hearty refrain of "it's time for me to destroy you" merely contributing a gravelly texture to the real ordeal.
Raven is Serbian noise upstart Djordje Miladinović's recently-established but hopelessly productive sound outlet. 'Extinction' is another lovable mound of noise, this time sliced into three discrete tracks. The title track opens the cassette, and it sets the stage: its timbre is cold but not particularly vicious, establishing a haunting backdrop without reverting to the standard ply of ear-shred. "Bombstrike" maintains the tone, with shifting slabs of polar noise/drone sharing the foreground. It sounds almost like stepping into a room full of microfiche machines, each one shuddering at a different frequency. "We All Bleed Red," which eats up side B, starts with a reticent handful of analog crumbs before cautiously shoveling on platefuls of sound. This pattern is maintained until the last stanza, when the listener is whisked into a catacombs of ambient drone. Curiously, this project is the thirty-seventh iteration of the 'Raven' band name that Discogs has on file, though his breakneck horde of releases out-pedals the majority of the dance-music one-offs who share his moniker. If all of his tapes and CDRs manage the nuance and restraint of 'Extinction,' then the noise scene has a fine new voice in its midst.
Last up: a brief mini-CDR from impeccably named American harshster A Night to Dismember. This is the meanest of the three releases, bringing an armament of noise toys into a reverberant room for a nice game of cleaver plus ears equals pain. ANtD has a way with sharp stabs of noise, catching the listener off-guard with his intermittent manner of assault. Of course, if you catch someone off-guard enough times they come to expect it, which is when this miserable gent decides to crank the knobs to full-volume and watch the walls cave in. Behind the bedlam is some nifty digital needlework, achieving a level of calculation (and variety) that the average one-shot blast of garble wouldn't otherwise manage. Whether that's a good thing or a cop-out is up to the purists to determine. (MT)

just a couple of Deprivation/The Streetcleaner left

Noise Muzak Review - MBD.FELDI

Are thee up for a mind fuck?

Another review from myself at Noise Muzak Review:

http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/05/02/mbd-feldi/ (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2013/05/02/mbd-feldi/)

Lavas Magmas - Acts of Worship CDr+DVDr (Existest Establishment)

From what I've managed to understand, Lavas Magmas is the project of one Luis Gonzalez from Portland. And this is yet another new unit for me that I'm listening to because of Existence Establishment label. Release comes in colorful and sturdy DIY packaging with CDr and DVDr inside. In DVD disc there are three videos with more than half an hour of visualizations, experimental cinema, video collages or whatever it should be called. I watched the first video Reaktor I: Organopticon rather apathetically because the sound was not that interesting and the video did not draw my attention too, but when it passed 10 minute or so mark, the sound got more intense and the video - more interesting. Imagery in these short movies is mostly found, stolen or filmed in almost all continents of the world - from pornography to melancholic views of the forest. Anyways, two remaining videos got me much faster than the first one. Into the Void was somewhat dark and oppressive track with gloomy sights and you can even hear some serious rudiments of noise in Black Friday with crowds of consumers in the video (if I understand it correctly, this one is about all that shopping madness). Nice visual material while preparing to listen to some sounds. There are almost 40 minutes of music on the disc. These are mostly field recordings, rather skillfully mixed with loops, synth sounds, guitar and who knows what else. It is music of loneliness and distorted melancholy. It's possible to describe this disc as dark ambient, but it would not entirely true. Dark mood of the disc is revealed by playing around with stereo sounds, nicely merging synth notes and good quality records of surroundings, and thus creating depressive story from under the layer of metal junk. I truly adore how dynamically themes are developed, notwithstanding harmony and subtlety. This is one of the reasons why this album is so cold and somewhat painful. Such approach to sound is felt especially well in the longest track of the album Orgonopticon with 16+ minutes of depressive mood of solitude in constantly evolving sound that remains interesting throughout the whole track. The most boring and bleak track in the disc is Desiring-Stupor. Field recordings and a layer of synth or noise generator, going nowhere for 3 minutes. But apart from that I have only good words to say about this album. Solid release with good sound and video material. If someone wants to familiarize with the video works, you can easily find them in the internet. I think by doing that you'll also more easily understand what I was writing here about. Are 50 copies not too few? Well, perhaps the label knows best.

RL:ZZ - Fragments CS (Phage Tapes)

This supposedly one-time project, founded only in 2012, already released 2 albums in labels with truly great reputation - Unrest and Phage Tapes. By that they not only prolonged their existence, but also made it really ambitiously, clearly showing that they don't lack ideas, sounds and means to express them. This duo consists of Ryan Lipynsky (participating in various metal bands most famous of them being Unearthly Trance) and Andy Lippoldt who plays funeral doom in his one man band Persistence in Mourning. He also plays in Winters in Osaka etc. And I'm really glad to say that for some time already, when I hear ambient project which is connected to people from metal scene, it does not mean that it will be cheap synth melodies or intro type "dark songs" at best. If this is still the case, then I'm glad that I have encountered such sort of albums very rarely lately. This tape is truly amazing soundtrack for a dark, slightly depressing and cold evening of winter. There are two long tracks on each side of the tape. After the N-th listening session I'm lost which side is which, but it's not that important. Sound on both sides is quite alike. The basis of these tracks is field recordings that blend with piano and violin sounds, voice, guitar etc. very smoothly. Tracks, covered with huge mantle of reverb, opens in finite, isolated space, with the listener on one side and weird distorted show, slowly happening on the other. This is not one of these cold and pleasant records, dealing with visions of lonely trees and frosty branches etc. This one is the vision of damp and moldy basement with distant fragments of bizarre reality and music, illuminated in dim light. I think it is the end of the first side where the tension and anxiety rises and you can hear rudiments of rhythm. After turning sides and pressing play you are entering the realm with gusts of wind, distant piano sounds that are not dissonant though don't have any adhesive melody, fragments of violin and voice. All this go together so well and create such an amazing mood that I wish it would continue as long as possible. So that you could wander around in dark and moist spaces, interrupting consciousness with shatters of reality and sickness. Float further with fragile piano melodies and find a way back with violin sounds. This one is really amazing record. Musical masterpiece, crafted with exceptional taste. I highly recommend this work and you shouldn't forget the title of this project for quite some time.

Wince - Nerves CS (Skeleton Dust Recordings)

Wince has released some truly great releases in the last few years. Some people online even began to wonder why this noiser is still without a proper vinyl release and offering labels that could do that. Time will show if that will happen and when will that be, but I'm following Wince for quite some time myself and this artist still has to disappoint me. Nerves is the album from 2011, released via USA's Skeleton Dust label (2012 were very barren for Wince. A split with SSRI and a little more activities with other projects). Nice cover with not obligatory collage of micro and macro flora etc. The tape starts from the title song Nerves - worship of metal sounds without burying them under effects too much. Pleasant texture, that gets harsher and more distorted towards the end of the track. Finally the peak is reached and it ends. The second track on A side, Marine, leans towards more traditional harsh noise sound and fully justifies the title. This is the layered sea of noise, heavily waving and pressing down with its expanse. Several layers of noise are suppressed closely so that no sound would be too far from the upper level of sound. All this is left to evolve seemingly itself under the almost unchanging shell of noise. On B side there is one and quite different track. Found a Blade - waving, heterogeneous and chaotic noise creature, stretching up to the end of the tape. There are places where sound almost disappear and becomes barely audible distorted crackling, but then the level rises and strikes with heaviness of feedbacks and broken uproar. But not for long. The wave goes away and you are left with the part where noise is not allowed to leave the barriers of distortion. Quite an uncomfortable feeling. As if watching the animal who is trying to escape from the chain. This side is nice in the developing pictures of sound and you can observe how they change - suddenly becoming active to the maximum, and then releasing the tension. But for me it is interesting from the exploring and inquisitive side of music listening. I mean when you listen to albums, trying to find some interesting decisions and innovations and you are not motivated just to feel listening pleasure. To say it in a simpler way - A side is more pleasant to listen to and B side is more interesting for exploration and acknowledgment. And when you add these up, you get a good release, which truly shows how diverse, lovely and interesting can be good quality noise. Album is recommended for those who likes good harsh nose and not recommended for those who are looking for goals, structures and innovations in every step they take. Good job.

Umpio - Junk Electronix vol. I CD (Nekorekords / Ahky)

While communicating with Mr. Umpio some time ago and discussing various things noise, including reviews, a rather disappointed issue was expressed, that there were loads of Junk Electronix vol I promo copies sent out and still there is not a single review of this album. I felt a little ashamed myself since I've listened to it after receiving the CD and put it in the shelf "for the future". So now it's a very good time "for the future". Umpio is one of results of a Pentti Dassum being active in music and antimusic for 20 years. It has been materialized to such outlet and proper physical releases only a few years ago. Junk Electronix is one of the compilations (like Opium Electronix which is oriented more towards atmospheric and densely textured sounds or Dub Electronix about which I have no idea) so intuitively one would expect junk nose. But it's not like that. Junk electronix as it is explained on the CD cover, is Pentti's self-made instruments, nonstruments and so on that were used to record all the tracks in this album. Album consists of a little more than 20 minutes of broken, cut though quite orderly and purposeful noise, divided into 8 tracks. 10 minutes at the end of the album is different - one long, darker track, contrasting with all the things before. First 20 minutes sounds like a cheerful and non-obligatory playing around with sounds and it's truly great - few layers of looped rhythms, metal percussions, cut-ups etc. No aggression, just good and quality noise. I like the feeling of freedom and absolute control (that's where the feeling of freedom appears from most likely) in these tracks. It seems that sounds are free to evolve and deviate from the primary impulse however they wish, but at the same time, they are lined up in neat and accurate compositions and this is one of the things why my ears and heart rejoice when I'm listening to his works. Some noisers are trying so hard to make something "interesting" and they fail miserably while Mr. Umpio touches a pile of junk and miracle happens. As I've mentioned already, the last track is a little different. If you could spent those first 20 minutes looking at packaging of the album and imagining seemingly chaotic movement of electronic impulses on the board, this last track is not so calmly secure. Absolutely different atmosphere and weird feeling after light tracks, but looking at the perspective of the album, it's effective. Great work in the sense of length, sound variety, changes of mood and so on. Recommended. Kiitos.

K.K.Null + Scumearth - K.K.Null + Scumearth CD (Phage Tapes, RONF Records)

I've been listening to this album for quite some time already and still I don't seem to get even closer to understanding it. Disc contains almost 50 minutes of sounds and is placed in a neat, screenprinted arigato pack, covered with fancy patterns, schemes or something like that. There are 20 minutes of sound from Japan, Spain and 10 minute long joint track. Even a person who is not too much into noise, most likely heard K.K.Null or Zeni Geva names. Several albums of the latter progressive hardcore band, started by Kazuyuki Kishino, were even produced by legendary Nirvana's producer Steve Albini and the band overall was quite well acknowledged worldwide. K.K.Null is one of the most famous names in Japanese noise scene together with Hijokaidan, Merzbow (they were playing together for some time) and so on. So after a wave of praise, I must admit that neither Zeni Geva nor K.K.Null were never those projects that I would be too excited about though I started to get used to and even like that pure experimental sound of K.K.Null while listening to this album. His input to the disc is one long 20 minutes track. There is so much happening during these minutes and so much to hear and witness that even quite a big part of double CDs do not have that much varied sonic information in them. It feels like observation of a scientific experiment. It is not something that you feel, that is particularly beautiful or stimulating. No. But it is very interesting. Complex sound structures, collages with parrot voice transforming into orderly curves of noise generator output; human words, suddenly being covered with glitch and so on. It's a leaping, rising and sinking, continually evolving in weirdest formulas track, not divided into separate pieces though hardly continuous. Scumearth is easier to understand. He deals with more emotional side of sound. Comparing his 3 tracks to the first 20 minutes of the album, his output sounds very simple and predictable. Mainly it's darkened buzzing of noise generators, existing somewhere between harsh noise, ambient and experimental. The last track seems weakest of all. When you take tracks of Japanese and Spanish artists, it is interesting in one way or another, but when you have their rather different outputs mixed together, you get a meal with good ingredients, but not too tasty final result. All in all it's an interesting disc with two pretty different musicians. It's quite weird though - after I started listening to this album, I liked Scumearth far more than K.K.Null, but the more I listened to it, the more interested seemed K.K.Null and the bleaker tracks of Scumearth. It's difficult to find a balance in this disc, but the attempt was well worth the time.

Hands To - Artiment 2xCDr (Impulsy Stetoskopu)

Musique concrete in the context of music is like a cozy and warm place at home. You wouldn't want to stay there for too long, but after being away and returning, you are always going there to rest. It's similar for me with musique concrete - I couldn't listen to it all the time, but these moments when I get a chance to - they are really nice. Of course maybe I'm so lucky to get only well done releases, who knows. As you might have understood from this introduction, Artiment is one of those pleasant and nice albums. Hands To is Jeph Jerman. I reviewed his releases several times already. It's a person who lives in a world full of music and from time to time he presents his worldview (or worldsound) in concentrated dose for those who are not able to analyze their surroundings that well. Artiment was a double tape, released in 1989 in Jeph's own label Big Body Parts. 20 years later Impulsy Stetoskopu rereleased remastered version in 2 CDrs that I'm listening to right now. There are couple of hours of soft field recordings and pirated radio transmissions recorded in HCA (whatever that could be) in these discs. The first disc consists of filthy, formless and barely tangible though very pleasant recordings. It's a feeling of wide space, distant humming of city and wind and insignificant presence of a man, piercing the cloud of sound from time to time. Soothing freshness. The last track is slightly different - more intense lo-fi noise, constructed from field recordings. Though the track is noisier, but it fits the whole picture very well. It seems that more concrete recordings were collected in the second disc. There is not so much of formless calmness and more details, sudden sound deviations, human voices and other brighter environmental elements in it. The same wide space, but if you could imagine a soothing dessert while listening to the first disc, the second sounds like pressing underwater depth. Once again my attention is drawn by the last track, which lasts for more than 20 minutes and develops in several stages, diverging towards more concrete sounds, but involuntarily returning to abstraction. The remark on the cover says that these discs might be combined and played together. This opens possibilities to experiment for yourself and create your own music. Sometimes it can bring you to beautiful results. Without experimenting too much I simply played both discs from the beginning and these barely unnoticeable differences between discs that I've mentioned before, disappear and well balanced, interesting surrealistic painting with trains, human voices, wind and nature sounds from 1989 is formed. Having in mind that all this is complemented by mild drone of the city that lives in the year 2013, I start to feel like travelling spaces and time. It's a record that is interesting and stimulating fantasy, where the joy of discovery travels hand in hand with sound world of Jeph Jerman.

Sexterminator 69 - Violazione Di Sepolcro CDr (Toxic Industries)

Harsh noise wall as a style has gave up popularity, that has been reached a few years back when day by day new projects were born, new walls released and practically every single sentence about HNW on the internet ended up in huge discussions about the style and so on. It's calmer in 2013. New projects are quite seldom and mainly people, most dedicated to the style and conception remained active in the scene. Anyways, the speed of their releases slowed down and normalized and those who tried to jump on the wave of imaginary popularity are disappearing. To say it in short - everything goes back to normal. One of those currently not active projects released a disc that I'm reviewing now. Sexterminator 69 was a HNW project from Italy, active in 2010-2011. Andrea Laurenti, apart from Sexterminator 69, also played in pornogrind band Bukkake Violence Kommando (the latter is silent for a few years now too). There are 4 tracks on the disc with overall playing time of 45 minutes. Though the sound is described as HNW in promo text, it's very conditional term because these 4 tracks are quite moving and changing. I wouldn't even say that there are any dominating sound layers in these tracks, but if there are - it's not statics. The first track after a few seconds of crackling jumps straight into the pool of massive and dense textures that point towards harsh noise wall. But soon after it becomes clear that only one of all these sound layers is static and truly "wally" and it is hiding deeper and not too audible at first. Other layers of sounds are quite agile. There are parts in other tracks where this is even more evident - static sound layers becomes muted and you are left with pedal harsh noise cracklings. I don't know about other albums of Sexterminator 69, but this one can be placed somewhere in between harsh noise wall and rather weak pedal harsh noise. It's weak because sound textures are the same in all the tracks. Even if you have only one pedal you can get the sound quite varied for a 45 minutes album. Now it sounds as if statics has been recorded with lows on full with a little bit of mids and other, more moving layers has been recorded without lows, with mids and highs turned to full. Quite a lot of people know how fuzz sounds and when it is presented as an album for your listening pleasure, it's just boring. After the first or second spin there is nothing to be heard on the album. Of course the situation itself is weird. How could you be interested in listening to an hour length of unmoving statics, but bored while hearing such sounds, but it is like that for me. Well, I've got to know the project, thanks for that and now this CDr goes to the shelf without big chances to return back to the player any time soon.

Some new reviews posted today/ recently:

The Vomit Arsonist - Reason MC               http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/the-vomit-arsonist-reason/

Sickness/ John Weise Amnesia 7"             http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/sickness-john-wiese-amnesia/

Various - phloq compilation twelve 2xLP     http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/various-artists-phloq-compilation-twelve/

Rapoon - Calling The Rain 7"                    http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/rapoon-calling-the-rain/

Review of just released new collaboration 10" from Shift / HH. Excellent stuff:  http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/shift-hh-full-weight-of-the-opposition/

Nyodene D - Edenfall (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/765.html) [death industrial / power electronics]
CD, 2012, Malignant Records

Puukotus / Musta Oksennus - untitled (http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/770.html) [hardcore punk / noisecore]
Tape, 2013, Johnny Park Avenue Records

Quote from: re:evolution on April 29, 2013, 01:54:42 PM

Review of Kommando RJF LP review here: http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/kommando-rjf-sweet-slow-suicide/

Wow did not know about this! Thanks.

While I haven't been inclined to do reviews as such lately, Chris did send me Haare's release on Cipher (http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/), A Split Second In Eternity, and haven given it a few listens I'll write up a few words. Basically, not great, but good. Side one, "Dreams In The Cosmic Slaughterhouse", gets off to a pretty dull start to be honest, lots of distorted guitar through long delay echoes that just sound pretty much like anyone else farting around with such things and layering them on. Fortunately it picks up around half-way through the lengthy spiral with a bit more grunt and delivery, although, for me, not much more impact. I think this side has been let down by the lacklustre dubbing. Side two, though, "Planet Of Psychedelic Torture" (a title which reminds me of that brilliant Hospital Brut video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQ2g3B2unk)), is a lot more satisfying to my mind, using simple, slightly distorted, old fashioned synthesiser whooshes layered over each other. The same simple technique but with a better sounding source, I believe, and the low fidelity dub adds rather than detracts from the overall sound. The more attention-span-challenged among you will probably not endure much more than a few minutes of each spiral, as there is really very little change, but given Haare's promotion as Psychedelic Noise, I expect this is more for those of us who can groove on a concept for longer than that.

So, while I'm adding words on what I've been listening to - Military Position's Genocidal Tendencies tape on Trapdoor (http://trapdoortapes.blogspot.com.au/) is the first I've heard a full length recording of this project and while I had hoped for more analogue synthesiser use, such as I've seen done live, I wasn't disappointed that she relied on her main instrument, the bass guitar, after hearing the results. My first impression was something like Come's "I'm Jack" without the drums, but the sound is much muddier and grubbier, in true Melbourne Scum Noise style, and although Harriet has described the whole album as "repetitive" I'm not so sure, it's just two sides (although dubbed on a commercial c-60 so there's a lot of fast forwarding to do, unfortunately) of well paced and decently edited distortion, rumble and samples, with a lot more going forward than, perhaps, might have happened from the lesser imaginative using the same resources.

Two tapes from Supremacy Temple, which is now defunct even though these are recent releases, are Sex Headache's self-titled and Swallowing Bile's Geoffrey. The latter is okay, nicely recorded, nicely mixed, three short pieces of pretty much straight up dirty Harsh Noise with tendencies towards both Wall (ugh) and PE (good). Nothing special, nothing wrong with it. But Sex Headache has impressed me no end. Two tracks of low fidelity rumble - the tape lists a few sources but it sounds to me like basic feedback distortion for the most part, satisfyingly crunchy without going loosing a kind of greasy overall sheen -  with vocals sounding like a phone operator from before the Second World War intoning her sexually sadistic intentions towards the listener with what sounds to me like a Northern English accent. The overall sound is clammy and condensed and it's miles away from cliched Power Electronics (that I've heard, I haven't heard much lately). While I appreciate tapes are cheaper, and even though I don't normally like vynal, I rather think this would make an excellent 7", and while I get the impression this is something of a one-off project, I rather doubt the duo who made this would get the same results again. This is an example of just getting things elements - the sounds, the production, the arrangement - right in a stroke of pure luck or genius, and it's basically a hidden gem that should have more attention paid to it if there where more than a handful of copies.

a little bit of self-promiting reviews: uncodified/wertham: Vindicta 

Industrial [r]evolution (Italian)

La trilogia dedicata alla misteriosa terra di Sardegna si apre con 'Vindicta', album dal titolo profetico e rivelatore. Wertham (Marco Deplano) e Uncodified (Corrado Altieri) attingono a storie vere 'che iniziano nel mezzo del nulla' per raccontare di 'famiglie in guerra per motivi che loro stesse non ricordano più'. Tra voci captate dal profondo ('Deathbed') e gli angoscianti rintocchi di sinistre campane ('Il Binario degli Appesi'), Deplano e Altieri ci sprofondano in una power electronics di grandissima fattura. Pioggia di droni dilatati e taglienti, cascate di rumore bianco, grida da un'altra dimensione, quasi stessero raccontando di orrori lovecraftiani ed invece siamo qui, dall'altra parte del Tirreno, a poche miglia nautiche, ma a secoli di distanza. 'Vindicta' non è solo un compendio del codice della vendetta, ma incarna anche un omaggio sentito ad una terra meravigliosa, affascinante, ma al tempo stesso pericolosa come solo le vere bellezze possono essere. Esattamente come il barbaro noise dei due maestri: mortale, spietato, ma maledettamente prezioso.
http://industrialrevolution-gr.blogspot.ch/2013/06/uncodified-wertham-vindicta.html?showComment=1372663782162

Noise receptor
http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/uncodified-wertham-vindicta-i/

here my review of Vindicta http://sbigth.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/uncodified-wertham-vindicta-i/

only italian, sorry!

First review of EPICUREAN ESCAPISM II CD/DVD COMPILATION on Brutal Resonance Online Magazine ... a really detailed & dedicated inspection!

http://www.brutalresonance.com/viewreview.php?id=2275

Uncodified - Behaviour traits of stalkers

http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/uncodified-behaviour-traits-of-stalkers.html (http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/uncodified-behaviour-traits-of-stalkers.html)

オキシコドン | SHIVER – Split tape

http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/oxycodone-shiver-split.html

...review of 2012 album - but damn this is good...

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/stab-electronics-the-non-alliant-ii/

Corpoparassita – L'affannoso Respiro Del Gatto
Abgurd
I didn't know anything about Corpoparassita until I sat down to write this review. But after seeing a few photos of a band and reading a few sentences about it, I've spent quite some time exploring weird, distorted and grimy world that they represent. Corpoparassita comes from Italy and the band was found in 2001. In their live performances they use show, performance elements etc. I guess when you look at their photos, you could say that this is not a music group, but overall artistic collective. Browsing through the visuals of a band, one can notice how nicely and weirdly cozy and gentle elements team up with dark and provocative symbols. Look at any cover; let's say the tape, released via Lich und Stahl where black, smiling drops are flying between inverted crosses. The first thing that catches my eye in this album is the cover too. Top notch. Two brindled cats are playing flute and trumpet for the white kitty that is looking at them through the open window. It's extremely intimate picture, emitting somewhat melancholic and a little sad mood. The title of the album should be translated as "breathing of a tired cat" or something like that. This title adds a feeling of a children's tale to an overall melancholic mood and leads the listener towards sounds. After such long and elated introduction, it would be difficult to criticize the music even if I would have to do that. But I'm glad that Corpoparassita takes away from me this possibility and presents 7 tracks of a decent dark ambient. What does "decent dark ambient" mean? It means sounds that are interesting to listen to and that creates peculiar mood, sounds that draws you in no matter if you are ready for that or no. It must not be something innovative and original. And this album is just like that. Maybe it won't stick out of a bunch of similar drone/ambient names like Bjerga/Iversen or Beyond Sensory Experience that comes to mind while listening to Corpoparassita, but tender phonic touches, distant piano sounds, delayed bass and guitar, gong or something like that, samples of a calm human voice, composed into solid, floating construction of sound and this is what creates a perfectly grey atmosphere and why it is so good to listen to this album. Waving dissonance slowly transforms into harmonic chords that further evolve into colorless sound passages and carry you for half an hour. Compositions are developed so tenderly and subtly in this disc that finally you start to think that it's a bad time to listen to this album. It should've been heard when it was autumn and not spring. And if possible at night. My cat, which climbed on my audio equipment after the disk started playing and went to sleep, and me, are fascinated by this album. I'm recommending trying it for you too.

Black Leather Jesus / Richard Ramirez - Latex
Urashima
I'm constantly praising releases of Urashima for their appearance. So this time I won't be original too. This Italian label releases truly wonderfully looking vinyls that you can surely recognize by just taking a glance at them. They are releases, exceptionally high quality in visuals and quite often very interesting in sound. I'm also glad that Urashima at first released only HNW, but little by little selected harsh noise, power electronics or industrial bands started appearing on the catalogue too. On this vinyl we have USA legendary harsh noise band from Texas, Black Leather Jesus that was started by Richard Ramirez 25 years ago and Ramirez's solo material. Members of Black Leather Jesus always changes, but I think I read somewhere that 5 people took part in this recording: Richard Ramirez, Sean E. Matzus, Robert Newsome, Scott Houston and Domokos. It's not surprising that noise band, consisting of 5 persons, presents dense and intense noise track, but after several listening sessions I didn't get to like the side of BLJ. Serfdom is a strict track with several evolving sound layers, but the feeling is that the sound is hung somewhere in the air without a solid fundament beneath. Variations of noise generators are lost in between static noise textures and sounds as if they would have no common link between them. For a part of a second these layers finds common denominator and merges into one solid noise formation, but after a second they're decomposed and goes their own ways. Not a bad track, but knowing that Black Leather Jesus can do far better material, I cannot let myself praise it. Richard Ramirez material is different and much more interesting for me. It is slowly evolving minimalistic harsh/junk noise track with male moaning sample sounding in the background (well, it's Richard Ramirez, it couldn't be the other way). What I like in this side is that it has composition, sound contrasts and at the same time does not loose expressiveness and aggression. These moments when feedbacks of contact microphones become silent and you don't hear stroking of metal sheets, sound totality is fulfilled with male porno. The track is divided into three logical parts. The first one is soft, distortion is absent and you can clearly hear every movement and touch of a musician. The second part is a little more active while we finally reach the final part of a track where noise explodes and after a groan "a fuck me" suddenly strikes with the wall of feedback and distortion. Richard Ramirez is truly great in this vinyl. If not for Black Leather Jesus side, I would say that this is a very nice noise vinyl. Now Black Leather Jesus side is very average and Richard Ramirez - interesting and will be repeated many more times.

Umpio - Opium Elecronix vol. III (review by Daina)
Nekorekords
UMPIO is a name I hear again and again, because of many reasons, and one of those reasons is because of his numerous releases to hit my player. Right now, while rain is soaking the thick summery sky, I've got the "Opium Electronix vol.III" drilling my brain.
I'm not a fan of enumerations, thus no additional info on UMPIO will be provided in this raw draft of a review, first one in a long while from me. 'Cause in any case you can google it all, can't ya?
"Opium" is a well chosen name for this release series, the sound you get is pretty much same (wave)length of that one would get high on opiates on a seashore. A slow wavy flow of sound, coming close, embracing and pushing away, slow attacks, long sustains, endless releases - that's how it sounds if put shortly.
On the first part of the release, "seismic" drones are enveloping the slow movement of gigantic sound structures, creating a somewhat "drowned city" ambiances, thus welcome to sound-version of Atlantis. Later more minuscule sound particles are incorporated into the texture, the structure is becoming more elaborate. Hiss, then noise occupy the aural space, and it does become a spacey soundscape. My memory plays tricks as it points out some sounds that were common in the seventies and eighties space travel movies, and here I go trippin' through a memory lapse combining "Planet of Apes", "Twilight Zone" series, "Space Odyssey" and the first of "Star Wars". Then a deep submersion follows, down under the Baltic, to meet long oil pumps with their blurbs, a trip-like-sound through the murky water, over the slimy sea weed, and then up again. Swift sifting of organic and non-organic particles, defining the molecular structure of the winter darkness, until a blast of wind-like pipes supersedes the hiss, the murky drones and blurbs. The spinning of this wind-like sound concludes the trip with a spinning vortex, raising high and falling low, back to the waves washing a rocky shore.
Just a couple of weeks ago I was listening to the "Sauna" album by UMPIO and right now the thing I can't get over is the huge difference on the whole construction and the character of the sound. Whereas "SAUNA" to me remains as a sort of noise "staccato", the "Opium Electronix / Vol.III" is a smooth and ecstatic wave of sound with a somewhat natural development. Integrity. Well done.

Arma / Komodo Haunts - Split (review by Daina)
Agharta
A: Arma
I am so used to Arma's physical presence - on stage, close to the stage, in front of it, that it makes kindda weird effect to be listening to something of his without him present.
After listening to the whole of the album I must admit it amounts well to the big expectations that you would have from someone having all this performer / promoter / label background.
The squeaky crunchy silent start for a prologue, then a nice wave of huge drones which later evolve into somewhat flute-like melodies - nice development of the composition, really. The second piece is more of a feverish toss of mostly mids- and highs, all mounted on a running water soundscape. After a scrupulously structured first piece this gives a totally different insight into Arma's sound world, and that's basically what I know about him - he might play two completely different gigs with the same instruments on the same tour, it's never alike. Improvisational nature of his creative performances causes the shift in the nature and the quality of every performance, yet it's always a guaranty it will never be boring. Cute.
Third piece starts out in an empty gloomy cave down under, with the sounds of dripping water and thrilling somewhat human echoes, it's way darker than the first two pieces, but it contributes well to the overall ambience of this side of the tape. Circular mid-frequency hum gains more presence towards the middle of the piece, an inclusion of industry into the nature gradually unfolds with the march-like sounds, then elegantly descends into the oblivion.
And then the fourth one, appeared the very same moment I thought that three is a perfect number for one side of the album. It seems as if it were just the piece to fill-in the space that remained, still I enjoy its hypnotic motion, but the same won't be said about the fifth piece which really gets me thinking it is just a plug not willing to leave empty spaces. Oh well.
B: Komodo Haunts
Melancholic soundscapes, somewhat golden and glittery if to define them by color. Warm drones envelop the ear right from the start of the B-side of the tape. The vanishing point is someplace close, but one never reaches it, going about in circles of tantric hums. I've never heard Komodo Haunts before and I must admit it's a nice surprise (after all of the nasty surprises I stumble upon in the so-called experimental electronics scene, where almost each newcomer is so sure to have discovered an Eldorado-of-the-Sound while jerking off with his sampler).
It's easy to loose it while working on ambient piece - try holding the (at)tension of your listener for half an hour and you'll know what I mean - but I believe Komodo Haunts succeeds well. Although their sound is a proper embodiment of the word "tranquillity", it doesn't really make you sleep and linger in attendance for some weird Godot - the minuscule particles in the sound are constantly shifting in the space of the sound, and you might think you hear the whole spectrum of various instruments originating from the Eastern music culture. It's a fascinating space to explore.
Along with the second piece a heavy load of chimes and heavenly butterflies kindda kicks me out of my shoes - I haven't been expecting that much of dreamland-like sounds, but at the end it works well with this summer sun out of my window. Worth checking out. Both sides.

Velemara - Abysmia (review by Kiras)
Autarkeia
I have an advantage when writing this review because I've listened to this album prior to its release as demo version and managed to get to it pretty well. It's good to see this album finally out, released under the flag of famous Autarkeia. This label has always been the synonym to me for strict quality. It's the kind of label that does not joke around and does not release half-baked releases. If the label likes some stuff, it will be released and no matter if it's new Lithuanian project or famous noise stars from USA. Truth is, these releases tend to be quite expensive, but I never saw any sort of irritating over the top advertising of the albums. If you don't like them - don't buy. There are people who will like it.
This time it is Lithuanian debut - industrial project Velemara. Under this pseudonym hides a talented person, responsible also for Haeiresis, Terralienus and other interesting projects. I have no idea what does Velemara means and why is the album titled like that, but most likely google search would help me. All in all the appearance of this album is disappointing. Packaging is ok, but in practice it loses against the simplest jewel case.
Artwork is also not something impressive. When such expensive box has nothing inside, it's a little sad. No photos, no texts to read etc. I think that would be ok in demo or promo case, but not for the album. I don't want to sound too strict, but even the xeroxed piece of paper would do. Pictures also do not say much - Egyptian style sights, damaged with photoshop and so on. Anyways, the sound atones average visuals.
"Without Return" starts very calmly. I even check if everything is ok with the sound on my equipment. Unhuman moans, touched by delay and buzzing spike of drone. Rather simple first track.
The second one "To Wait" greets you not only with ambient hums, but also distant melody pieces, repeated from time to time. The sound is pleasant until you hear the frightening buzzing drill once again and this becomes the worst part of the album. I couldn't say that it's very bad and the sound is very unpleasant, just for me it seems to raw and harsh and it does not fit in the foreground of these sounds.
The third track is better. At the very beginning you get the audiodrills once more, then something similar to the siren, wall of hum and finally a light rain of noise. This is what I like!
"The Call of Grimes" starts with distant delayed hums, metal clanging, and looped illusion of light and so on. New sounds are added quite often so there's no sinking in monotony. The most pleasant thing to imagine while listening to this track is dark and abandoned metro tunnel. All in all the entire album gets better towards the end of it.
After slightly frightening motives of the fourth track, there comes my personal favorite and the top of the album - "The Pestilence of Souls". From cold industrial roaring and wheezing this track transforms into warm and nice guitar (?) ambient. Somewhere around the 4th minute the track reaches its climax, the sky opens and all that is good in Abysmia appears. I'm not 100% sure that these sounds are made with guitar, but at least it seems so to me and I can only think how good it is that guitar is used in such music because most often the capabilities of the instrument are overrated. Who is interested in listening to delayed strings masturbation for an hour...? Well, this track is a good example - deep and picturesque, but still remaining calm. This is what Velemara should be about!
A short reflection of light disappears. "Transit to Oblivion" sounds the same as it is titled. Cold electronic hell returns and massive hum takes you down to the black abyss. From time to time these sounds are similar to metro, but instead of chatting passengers, tortured souls are in the wagons that moan or shout a few words from time to time. Original and effective vision of horror, later supplemented with additional almost harmonic layers.
The last song starts with most noisy and frightening tone. It sounds more like power electronics with open aggression and not to dark ambient that is the standard for this album. But the aggression does not explode and remains in cold, reverbed industrial subtlety form without transforming into something harsher. When the disease progresses, new layers are added that make this track altogether more similar to ambient music and not noise.
The biggest disappointments in this album are audio drill at the beginning of the album and poor appearance. The quality is good, but no efforts were put in it. Ok, I can put packaging aside, close my eyes and travel with sounds further from cover art and all in all physical things that finally have no importance. That's technology and everything else is good. It's not a perfect debut, but since it's debut - it will get better. A great appearance from the unexplored seas of noise that hides so many interesting sounds even in Lithuanian shores. I'm curious how will this project develops and how the next album will sound, hopefully released by Autarkeia too.

Verdant – Sincerity
Existest Establishment
Today I'm spinning yet another disc, released via Existence Establishment. And once again I've heard almost nothing about the author of this disc, perhaps I've read something on the forums here or there, but nothing that I'd remember. Verdant (apart from the fact that this word in Lithuanian language means "boiling") is the project of Zach Adams. Sincerity is the first album of the project that was released as CDr in 2011 and a couple years later rereleased as a normal CD. This is one weird album with playing time of an hour and consisting of 12 tracks. Almost everything in this album is weird, starting from description, where Sincerity is described as silent power electronics and ending with design details and track titles. I'd say that the term silent power electronis does not say that much so if I'd have to describe it in some other way, it'd be synth-based minimal ambient/power electronics. Album is not aggressive, but slightly mysterious and dark. Just like photos of a mausoleum on the cover. Usually when I see the word minimalism, I prepare for thin and (almost as a rule) amateurish sound where the creator left it as minimal only because of lack of fantasy or means to fully develop his ideas. But in this album it's the opposite - minimalism is beautiful. Shouting and subtly distorted vocal, floating together with field recordings, loops of synth melody and samples, takes you the strange world of Verdant. Spoken word, sounds of music boxes, feedbacks and synth melodies forms a picture that seems to come straight from L. Carroll book. The strong side of compositions from this album is the fact that sound elements are so subtly adjusted that I don't even have a reason to question their existence in this context - I can simply enjoy what I hear. In one track symbiosis of aggressive vocal and soft melodies dominates while another one joins loops of classical music with fiercing feedbacks; after that you move to distorted synth lines with calm voice on top etc. You hear very different details being matched in this record, but because of skillful balance, tracks remain interesting. On the other hand, I'm not sure if this truly original and peculiar musical vision will be spinning forever and ever in my player. I'm missing a hook that would make me wonder and get to repeat the listening sessions over and over again. Sincerity is the album with sound, purified to the very core and that pure audible carcass is what you hear. I do recommend this album not only for those who are the fans of minimalism.

AX - Metal Forest
Cold Spring
I don't know how many people have heard the title AX. Perhaps it's just me to whom this title said nothing. But after mentioning Anthony di Franco, Ramleh, Ethnic Acid, JFK or Broken Flag, situation becomes much clearer. This project has released three albums in 1994-1997 via now non-existent UK label Freek Records and part of the material from these releases has been remastered and published in 2012 by Cold Spring as a CD. For me the title of the album sounds quite uninspiring and I doubt I'd choose to even look at the release with a band name and title like this, but more than an hour of music in disc is well worth attention. 9 tracks, belonging to the same area of stylistic mood, are nevertheless varied and interesting and it is not the first time that I ask myself what is that miraculous formula in sound that still manages to surprise you in quality and thoughtfulness. This compilation is full of heavy and massive guitar drone textures, spiced with pulsations of synth or noise generators and leaning more towards industrial/power electronics sound and even going as far as to harsh noise wall extremes. The first track from the only CD of AX - Astronomy, is perhaps most typical industrial/noise/power electronics track. Anyways, it suits well as an intro to the album, but the rest of the songs in this disc, taken from vinyls, released in 1994 and 1995 hits with massiveness. Blocks of almost static guitar riffs, from time to time cut with feedback, touches of drum plates or distorted synth lines, arranged in tasteful way and presented in the final result. A little surprise was pure HNW track (Theme One). I feel a little weird about it at first, but the rich texture of this track blends with the overall mood and sound of the album and I start to think where I will find more rudiments of HNW. 1985? Even before? This track somehow divides the disc to two parts and after Theme One ends, differently colored material of AX starts. Guitar riffs are still heavy and lazily changing, but there are more additional sound elements, that are not only complementing the sound of tracks, but are put responsible for development of themes. Somehow after getting into the mood with first tracks from Nova Feedback LP, I have quite a difficult time listening to two songs from AXII vinyl. They have more manipulations with noise generators and overall the sound and mood is a little dryer. The principle of tracks remains de facto the same, just layers of guitars are exchanged for synth layers and those two long tracks in the middle of disc, not being very pleasant by themselves, still contrasts with the contents of disc and songs put around them. Finally we return to the material of debut vinyl and the primary mood of oppressive guitar drone. Overall this is a good and solid compilation that had to be released without a doubt -  because of the variety, mood and good sounds, the caliber of musician himself and because it should be heard now. I hope you won't miss it.

Quote from: Levas on July 28, 2013, 11:58:15 AM
Corpoparassita – L'affannoso Respiro Del Gatto
Abgurd
I didn't know anything about Corpoparassita until I sat down to write this review.

glad you like them Levas.
Diego and I have been friend for over two decades and we played in an hardcore band together for some years.
apart from corpoparassita he now plays in several other punk/rock bands like erode, etc.
top notch guy, I will invite him to join the forum.
corpoparassita live are quite intense sound experience

Some recent ones of mine on Heathen Harvest:

Testing Vault: http://heathenharvest.org/2013/07/07/artist-feature-daniele-santagiuliana/

Iron Fist of the Sun - who will help me wash my right hand: http://heathenharvest.org/2013/05/12/iron-fist-of-the-sun-who-will-help-me-wash-my-right-hand/

Umpio: http://heathenharvest.org/2013/06/16/umpio-tripamishqi/

Skullflower - White Wolf: http://heathenharvest.org/2013/07/05/skullflower-white-wolf/

Pussy and Sorror - Opening the Theta Door. http://heathenharvest.org/2013/09/02/pussy-sorrow-opening-the-theta-door/

Anti Child League - Interview with Gaya Donaido and discography overview by me.

http://heathenharvest.org/2013/09/07/true-crime-and-utopia-an-interview-with-gaya-donadio/

Interesting review of early Bereft material that was recently re-released.
http://obskurepandemonium.blogspot.com/2013/06/review-bereft-first-degree-of.html (http://obskurepandemonium.blogspot.com/2013/06/review-bereft-first-degree-of.html)

Latest review posted on noise receptor is Halo Manash Wesieni Wainajat CD http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/halo-manash-wesieni-wainajat/

Also LOTS of other reviews have been posted in recent months - 1 per week - so have a dig around if you have not checked out noise receptor in some time.

OWL: Tapes 97-99 http://www.damned-by-light.com/reviews/814.html

Cremation Lily, some recent releases: http://www.lazaruscorporation.co.uk/articles/cremation-lily

Nice review of Barrikad last tape http://muhmur.blogspot.se/2014/02/barrikad.html

Here are a few reviews posted over the last few weeks (plus many more since I last posted here).  Have a dig around:

U-731 - http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/u-731-by-all-means/

Halo Manash - http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/halo-manash-caickuwi-cauwas-walkeus/

John Murphy/ Ben Taylor - http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/john-murphy-ben-taylor-self-titled/

Negru Voda/ Knos - http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/negru-voda-knos-face-without-face/

Enthusiastic review of GREY WOLVES / WERTHAM / SURVIVAL INSTINCT : Ramraiding thee abyss LP on Noise receptor.
http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/the-grey-wolves-wertham-survival-instinct-ramraiding-thee-abyss/

Review of c90 comp SLUTSTATIONEN on Styggelse

http://muhmur.blogspot.se/2014/02/slutstationen.html

http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2014/02/26/a-review-of-elizabeth-veldons-works/#comment-7 (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2014/02/26/a-review-of-elizabeth-veldons-works/#comment-7)

Noise Muzak Review Interview

(https://i2.sndcdn.com/artworks-000070233762-qhql78-t500x500.jpg?435a760)

Today I have been speaking to Sean Beard of major underground horrornoise outfit 'Waves Crashing Piano Chords'. This interview finds Sean upbeat about continuing the live machine that is WCPC but maybe putting to rest the physical releases in the near future as well as taking a look at the power electronics scene in his area.

http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2014/02/27/waves-crashing-piano-chords-interview/ (http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2014/02/27/waves-crashing-piano-chords-interview/)

"Personally I have no issues with anyone's opinions" :D

http://noisemuzakreview.blog.com/2014/02/28/eli-keszlerkeith-fullerton-whitman-split/

Excellent collaborative LP from Skin Area & Jarl - review here:

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/skin-area-jarl-la-petite-mort/

Review of new raison d'être album:

http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/raison-detre-mise-en-abyme/

I set this topic back to non-sticky. So may it be up or down of topic list like everything else. It's that way easier to see when new reviews are added.
Remember:
-It's primarily made for YOUR reviews of releases. Not primarily of re-posting other media reviews of your band/project. For such purpose, use with some caution to avoid appearing like spammer.

A bunch of recent reviews up on noise receptor.

The Grey Wolves/ Genocide Organ - Absolute Truth 12"LP
http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/the-grey-wolves-genocide-organ-absolute-truth/

Aural Hypnox - Underworld Transmissions I & II
http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/06/26/aural-hypnox-underworld-transmissions-i-underworld-transmissions-ii/

Slutstationen - Various Artists cassette compilation
http://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/various-artists-slutstationen-mc/

Have a dig around also for other newish reviews given 1 review a week has been published.


Cheers.

Heathen Harvest review of Zyklon SS – 'Anti-personnel Explosive Device'

http://heathenharvest.org/2014/12/28/zyklon-ss-anti-personnel-explosive-device/ (http://heathenharvest.org/2014/12/28/zyklon-ss-anti-personnel-explosive-device/)

UNCODIFIED: Hardcore Methodology CD
review by Nicola Vinciguerra / Heathen Harvest http://heathenharvest.org/2015/07/06/uncodified-hardcore-methodology/
review by Stefano Pifferi / Sentireeascoltare http://sentireascoltare.com/recensioni/simon-balestrazzi-ultrasonic-bathing-apparatus-uncodified-hardcore-methodology/

UNCODIFIED/WERTHAM: Vindicta II CD
review by Michele Viali / Darkroom http://www.darkroom-magazine.it/ita/108/Recensione.php?r=3291

IUGULA-THOR: Opera CD
review by Michele Viali / Darkroom http://www.darkroom-magazine.it/ita/108/Recensione.php?r=3352

all still available at my address 12 euro

TBC - Insecta: The Birth Of Gods
It seems as if infinity has passed since the last review. Most likely it is like that. But I'm still alive and I hope I'm still capable to join separate words into more or less meaningful sentences. TBC disc Insecta: The Birth of Gods was lying by the player for a couple of months. I've been spinning it from time to time and lacking suitable words to describe it, delayed reviewing it. TBC - project of Thomas Beck, German who has been active in the weirder parts of music for around 30 years. Collaboration with Felix Kubin who played recently in Lithuania and was praised by almost every person who has been in the gig, caught my eye. TBC created radio show and also released music magazine together with him. Unlike Felix Kubin's stuff, not everything is so full of joy and seemingly careless in this CD. Meditation on modern mythology, where Gods have become victims of contemporary civilization. They were blended with everyday life and its horrors, but still living side by side, barely visible. Interesting concept and despite quite frequent critique of modernity, noticeable in industrial culture, TBC takes a different and original angle on it. Musically this disc, in my opinion, fully meets written concept - cold and oppressive minimalism. 80 minutes, divided into four parts of sterile nihilism. Tracks are long and the last one reaches beyond half an hour so it seems that the author is excessively enjoying each and every sound without entering straightforward monotony. It is impossible to determine where sounds develop since it just changes and that's it. Though you can hear that it is not just messing around with some equipment in pointless experiments that can be heard quite often in so called minimalistic tracks. You can feel the hand of professional leading the sound towards the goal that only he knows, combining field recordings with minimal synth sound touches. Though separate tracks are defined in time, but it is trivial and all these 80 minutes are one long composition because logically sounds, their development and continuum exceed pauses between songs. I can imagine such music being played in contemporary art centers so rarely visited by ancient gods - they are drunk, wandering around in the forests. This CD is most likely one of such works where concept and keeping up to it is more important than any other component parts of the release. And the essence of this disc hides in those small details that you won't hear if you listen to it only half an ear. You need to listen and live with it. Perhaps the word "subtle" would suit well here. I couldn't say this release is of my taste and it is not clear why the first full length came out only after 15 years of TBC activity. Whatever are the reasons - it was interesting to acknowledge myself with this work.

Riko Goto Trio: Six Colors
Surprise! When I pulled this disc out of the pile of records waiting to be reviewed, I expected anything, but not this. And what's most important - I didn't expect to enjoy these sounds that much that I'd start to listen to them day by day and night by night. Why is it like that? The first thing - it was unexpected to get such record from Nekorekords (in fact there are two other labels involved in releasing this album) and Mr. Umpio once more proved his very wide musical worldview and I'll try to be more mature next time I'll get some sounds from the label and I'll try not to act so surprised. The second thing - I could never believe I'll review a jazz album any time. So please don't be too strict if you catch me talking nonsenses because my knowledge in this area is limited to "blues = sad jazz" and "jazz = lots of improvisation and there are trumpets and other brass instruments". Well, there are no brass instruments in this album and six colors are rich and melancholic so I call this music a mix of blues and free jazz. Riko Goto is a piano-player who lived in Finland for some time and during that time released a couple albums with other two musicians. Trio was made of three instruments - piano, contrabass and drums. I don't know if such composition is usual or a little deviation from the norm, but I couldn't feel emptiness in their material and the musical fabric is perfectly weaved. Piano is dominating and driving songs further, coloring the evening in slightly gloomy colors. Contrabass brings in some slightly dazed drunkenness and drums draws barely audible boundaries of the tracks so that they wouldn't become formless drunk cloud of sounds. Why do I mention drunkenness in this context? Because one compilation is stuck in my mind that appeared and disappeared from my collection some 15 years ago. The cover was a photo of a beautiful girl with her head laid down on the bar and eyes glaring at the whiskey glass and the pack of Luck Strike. It was either cigarettes or the whiskey; I don't know which because they were side by side on the bar. So this is why drunkenness, sadness and blues are somehow interrelated in my unconsciousness. The same thing is with this disc - melancholy and sound goes hand in hand. I'm most fascinated by the ability of musicians to play and improvise without leaving the logical boundaries of song. It is not that kind of improvisation where three musicians meet, plays around with random sounds and overall enjoy their status of artist and musician. Charming blend and separation of harmony and dissonance, sporadic disharmony and constant conversation between instruments and musicians, not losing expressiveness and keeping attention – this is what I find in this album. Here comes the moment when I understand that musicians had a great pleasure to play and listener had a great pleasure to listen to it and both sides were satisfied. It's been an interesting deviation from traditional styles in my own musical library and in reviewed works. But it's very good. I think I won't become the permanent jazz listener and fan, but this disc will remain for these empty autumn evenings and nights when birches are bowing outside my window and there is a cup of warm tea in my hands and a pond of whiskey is warming my stomach. Then it's good to put on this six-colored disc and sink in the hollow of inexhaustible melancholy.

Ural Umbo - II
I think it's good that I've never heard the name of this duo; it's the first album of theirs that I listen to and that I can find very little information about this tape on the internet. Ural Umbo consists of two members - Swiss and American. Project was started in 2008 and evolved from doom and black metal to this result that I'm spinning now in my player. Or at least the fundamental point in Ural Umbo biography was musicians' love for modern expressions of aforementioned metal styles. And I said it's good that I've never heard this project before. It's not only because of the factor of mysteriousness, but it's also a solid word, telling that not everyone knows each other in this musical world and overall that this particular world is so wide and beautiful and you can perceive only the little part of it so you should choose wisely. II was released in 2012 via Merzbild label. There are two long tracks in the tape, one on each side. The first one starts from pulsating sea waves and slowly, little by little, leads into melancholic world of Ural Umbo, full of miraculous sounds. Synths and bells, dreamy and sad melodies slowly waves while suddenly breaks and picture of sound cardinally changes. More convenient instruments of metal join the party - drums are slowly added to synth chords, some sparse touches of guitar strings, but despite that, the track on A side still remains drowned in weird and slightly frightening atmosphere. Even more of that strange and distorted magic is added by the looped woman's voice, mood of the track leaning more and more towards sludge and countless layers of other instruments. Sounds become thicker and more intense and you get a feeling that the storm has come, and suddenly everything grew dark. Somehow it's like Nurse With Wound, Current 93, Boris, Alice in Wonderland and Carrie sharing one realm. And the more I listen to it, the more I like it. Visually B side starts as if it would be the evening after the storm of A side – feeling of emptiness, one humming note of distorted bass or guitar, with additional sounds, like sprouts, growing from this seed. This side is a little calmer in sound and more like morbid delirium when you are sweating with high temperature. Pitched down man's voice, repeating some words, strange combination of sounds, starting from organ and ending with some sort of pulsations, and this material is built so suggestively that you don't even catch a moment when you realize that you are already immured in between four sounds walls without a chance to escape. Finally this delirium ends, carrying the tortured imagination in darkened drone sounds towards the end of the tape. This is very visual, very mesmerizing and beautiful work, balancing somewhere in junction of several styles and most likely not suitable for very frequent listening sessions. My zero knowledge of German language, improved by Google translator, tells that the titles of both tracks make one short sentence that would be something like "you cannot have everything" or something like that. Nice.

Trepaneringsritualen ‎– The Totality Of Death
Is it possible to review two different releases that have been put out by different labels as one? Yes. Such an unusual case is 2 Trepaneringsritualen discs, released via Malignant from USA and Silken Tofu from Belgium. It is a collection of rare or unpublished tracks. Trepaneringsritualen (I thought I'd never learn to write this title correctly without help from the Internet) is a project of Thomas Marin Ekelund from Sweden. It was started in 2008 and was immediately widely acknowledged in industrial scene. I won't try to analyze the reasons behind this, but perhaps one of the biggest factors is the unique mixture of raw and primitive old school ritual ambient and death industrial which emits somewhat intangible energy in live performances and albums, and you don't go evaluating the complexity or novelty of sounds, but just enjoy your journey through occult labyrinths. Despite the fact that this is the 2 hour long compilation of selected tracks, they are reasonably divided into two discs and quality masters were made so there is no discomfort as in listening to some "best ofs". Though logically this release is split into two parts, one of them is enough to get acquainted with creations of Trepaneringsritualen because every part of this so called "programme" reveals not one or two, but dozen faces of this multi-edged project. Programme A disc is released by famous Malignant label. It's more than an hour of playing time and consists of 14 tracks. Disc starts from short, repetitive guitar loop, unique and trademark vocal of Thomas Martin Ekelund, filtered through effects and overall aggressive track Death Reveler. Starting from the very first songs, these discs represent fundamentally different pictures. Programme A, though varying from calm, subtle and minimalistic, ambient-like compositions to straightforward aggressive death industrial, seems slightly more active and not that atmospheric as programme B. At least I get this impression now, when these discs are spinning one after another for 40th or so time. But let's say it's subjectivity and you should try that on your own. After the first active track, you get journey down, to wander in more subtle industrial sounds until the programme gets back on track with strictly structured All Hail the Black Flame. As for me, such track is the trademark of Trepaneringsritualen and whenever I hear this title, I think exactly of this sort of sounds. Or something like Judas Goat - calm and grey parts varying with exploding ones and returning back to tranquil and feverish realm. The disc ends with very good Death in June C'Est Un Reve cover. Programme B, released by Silken Tofu, starts from the song entitled the same as Thomas' label – Beläten - crackling of fire or something like that, several layers of field recordings, loops of rhythm and monotonous hum in the background. Despite the fact that the first track is followed by exploding Eucharist Of Shit & Piss (I'd say the most aggressive song in the disc), the introduction was made such that if we make an assumption that programme A disc was sounds of the active participation in rituals, the second disc is the following frightening aftereffect of them or post-trip or whatever term you like. Slowly changing synth notes, rudiments of loops, recognizable vocal and gradual sinking into the moldy grave. Both of these programmes are different and equally good and well characterizing creations of this pagan, chaotic, antireligious, satanic, manifold project. Old schoolish filthy sound, intertwining loops, dark passages and explosions of hateful energy. If you never heard of this project, I think these two discs is truly one of the best starting points you could get because in these 2 hours of sounds you'll find everything to be amazed of.

Jazkamer - Chestnut Thornback Tar
Jazkamer is a duo from Norway. Half of it is a person, well known in a noise world, Lasse Marhaug. Another half of it is a guitar player John Herge. The duo was doubled for this album and two more people participated in recording of this album, both not for the first time associated with the band. Jazkamer changed their title in 2004 to this from Jazzkamer, willing to "get rid of jazz". As for me, the bigger part of their creation works is reflected in such slightly absurd statement. It's a game with words, sounds, concepts, ideas and noises. It is non-pretentious noise, not appealing to some deep thoughts or feelings. At least I get such impression after listening to several Jazkamer albums. So maybe I'm missing something, but this disc is just as I described. The title itself gives away what to expect out of these 50 minutes record. Anyways, the beginning is surprising for it does not immerse you to depths of improvised chaos. Clearly and simply titled track "Sentimental Journey" with playing time of 20 minutes is the longest, most static and calmest track in the album. It's mostly feedback and resonance of a guitar (or at least it seems so) that is left to play on its own on one note. Other sound layers start appearing in the song, but they join in so easily and gradually that it's not easy to notice that thus you continue travelling on that wave of one note. The other part of the disc is more Jazkamerish - loops, noise generators, unpredictable turns of sound, field recordings and overall explosive atmosphere. All the rest of the tracks in this album, apart from the last one, are short ones, lasting for 2-3 minutes, full of concentrated tomfoolery, humor and overall positive lightness. There are not plenty of noise bands that would manage to use humor in such healthy doses and still remain "acceptable" in industrial/noise context, but Jazkamer is one of such bands. Do you need more explanation on sounds in "It is the Nobel Prize I want. It's worth $400.000" or "We Need a Painting, Not a Frame"? I think the titles are talking for themselves - it is difficult to describe them, but you can imagine the atmosphere. And the disc is closed with one long track, which differs from the first one as a day and a night. It is pure full-scale noise/jazz improvisation with drums, noises and in overall difficult to describe chaos. Somehow it "sounds like grated picture" – I guess for this album it is possible to use weirdest analogies and it would still sound good. I didn't write anything about whether I liked this disc or not. Yes, I understand the concept, idea, humor and I hope I understand other small things happening in here, but a little bit too much of chaotic freedom and lack of dynamics does not allow me to enjoy this disc fully. Perhaps my conservative and limited thinking doesn't let me fly with sounds of free jazz, and I'm a little envious while reading praises for this disc in other magazines, but anyways it is a good quality not a shallow album which will find its way on the shelf. Well, perhaps some time later I'll test my brain tolerance for this sort of music once more.

Various - The Report From Distant Lands - Russia
If I understand it correctly, this release was the first from the planned series of releases, dedicated to noise/ambient/industrial music from different countries. Impulsy Stetoskopu is the label quite often i itiating interesting projects. It has published three volumes of "Industrial Music Encyclopedia", publicizes old Polish industrial scene records for wider audience and overall is quite an original label with peculiar design ideas and so on. Apart from tasteless font, design of this compilation is pleasant and conceptually well fulfilled - three tapes, marked accordingly to colors of Russian flag. All in all I am very careful when exploring Russian scene because I have an impression that apart from shitcore and dark ambient, other styles of industrial is music is almost non-existent.
So I start from the white tape. Dizen Porno starts from the longest track in the tape, playing for almost 18 minutes (tapes are 90 minutes each and thus there is plenty of listening material). The start is boring. Pairs of notes separated by long gaps of silence and elongated through the whole track. I'd say it's experimental, but there are almost no experiments with sound so I don't know. Then we have Zen Porno which is if I understand correctly, the project of the same person with slightly different name. A little more musical track, directly reflecting the title (oh the title is Space Wave, I guess there will be some nasty oscillations in action). And well, I am right. Bubbling, some squeaking and Tibetan bowl or something like that in background - minimal, a little more interesting than the first one, but overall weak work. After such sloppy start we have All Blacks - In Love With A Witch. It is an ordinary drone/ambient, but in this context it sounds so good! Pleasant multi-layered harmonic change of synth chords enriched with sparse additional sounds. All in all the mood gets better with every minute of quite good quality sound. Exit In Grey is the first band in this compilation that has more than one physical release (at least with the title that is declared here) and it's no surprise. It's really nice and sadly dreamy drone/ambient. Also this is the first track with vocal, despite the fact that it is pitched-down to abyss. So I mark this duo for check later. The tape ends with a short Riby Dien track. After the calm and melancholic waving we jump into collage of dissonances, high notes, rotten records, weird rhythms and voices. Perhaps it would sound ok in some different place, but in this particular compilation and tape, it's very poor. B side starts from the second take of Riby Dien. And it is just as weird, short and confusing as the first one. M.F.C. presents a little longer, but monotonous lo-fi with filthy synth lines, hidden sample or talks etc. All in all it would be quite interesting, but it's so distorted and "filthified" that it get more boring than boredom. Booby Mason is a musician who has slightly more releases and I can even find a short blurb about the project. He is noise musician and owner of Zelenina and Hiroshima Toy Pet labels. It seems that at the moment of submitting tracks to compilation, most artists were amazed by sound/silence effect. Tape one is still playing, but I hear N-th track which can be described as simply "pulsations" and I am not surprised when in an 8 minute track I spend 4 minutes listening to silence. I don't get it. Tape is finished with one of the projects that I've heard before - Kshatriy. The name hints that it's field recordings made in particular part of Russia. And yes, these are processed field recordings, but they are quite interesting. Yes, there is loads of silence in here, but sounds of surroundings manage to reflect more colors and make it far more interesting than experiments in studio or computers. My absolute favorites from the white tape - Exit in Grey and Kshatriy.
Blue tape. It started more actively from rhythmic Instant Movie Combinations track. Maybe not more actively, but at least the start is more interesting. Though the project does not get over distorted sounds similar to radio noise, these few minutes gets my attention after the white tape and I'm glad this does not last too long. Obozdur seems rather active project with quite a lot of releases. Though most of them are CDr and web releases, the project at least is not made specifically for this compilation. And you can feel that from their sounds. Experimental sound collage that is not my taste, but it has a weird, dark chaotic atmosphere. 6 minutes is the perfect time for these sounds because otherwise it would get boring. Cyclotimia duo, existing for 15 years, is perhaps the most famous of all the guests in this compilation. Though I have a few releases of theirs, I don't remember them sounding like they do here. 13 minutes of R2D2-like beeping sound themes, variating from dark ambient to avantgarde and so on. Yes, there are some nice seconds and rudiments of sounds, but they are very short and episodic. Not bad, but once again - for how long would I listen to these collages? Gradually we move to Wozzeck sounds. This duo from St. Petersburg transformed from free jazz to noise band, playing sax, drums etc. I guess they didn't do that in this track because all that I hear is thin laptop noise. Sagittarius Promo Group is a project, most likely created for this compilation, in fact surprises me with quite good quality industrial/noise. There is something missing, but after all the mediocre outputs on this side of tape, it sounds very good. So after listening to half of the compilation, I cannot find any track that would be at least average. I am not talking about truly good outputs and projects. But B side is starting. It starts with ritualized industrial track by Mimi Hatua. All in all that's slowly changing single-layered pulsations, but that minimal pseudorhythm is rather interesting in its sound and developing while ends up in delayed mess. All in all - not a bad start. Admi track is also rather pleasant. Primitive rhythms, several delayed background layers, flutes or something like that and decent tribal/experimental track. B side with all ritualized stuff sounds interesting and strong. RajFAjH seems to be the oldest project in this compilation. According to information that I can find, this project was formed in 1991, passed through the sea of black and death metal while finally stayed in dark ambient and black metal area. You have heard all the things they offer and my biggest wish is to fast forward these hums and so on. Post Materialists represents slightly different genre in sound and slightly different level in quality. It's psychedelic noise rock. Lulling guitar loop from several notes and a number of instruments and voices, appearing and vanishing from the whole picture and creating a very lively atmosphere. Now I'm seriously listening. B side is closed by Three Dead Dogs - nothing special, quite average, listenable industrial/noise, leaning more towards noise side. After noticing quite a lot of known names that prepared their tracks for the red tape, I guess it's dedicated to harsh noise. Red zone is opened by rather active Russian noise project in later years .nyctalops. Long, varied and slightly chaotic, but rather interesting track. I've never heard Shum Davar though. Here we have more noise generator sounds and not switching of pedals, but the overall impression is decent. Perhaps 13+ minutes are slightly too long, but after listening to weird experiments for 3 hours, I'm quite happy about it. Dhnw throws in some statics as one can guess by the title of the project. Aggressive beginning of a track was very promising, but the more sound went under distortion and disintegrated into small textures, the less interest I had in them. Razxca is most likely the most productive of all musicians in this compilation with approximately 400 (!!!) releases. All in all - not a bad track with huge amount of reverb, but not the one that could be remembered forever. And Blockhead's Guts awaits at the end of tape which is quite a pleasant surprise. I've expected yet another drone/noise track, but what I got was fantastic filthy and disgusting power electronics. Why have I never heard about this project? This track is truly the best in this compilation! Short, but excellent. B side. I've heard a little of Rose Sobchak, but had
no opinion about it. The same attitude remains after listening to this track - just some average noise. It's quite different with Lowhumgaz. Of course it's subjective and personal, but all these brutal mechanical sounds of machines and motors is never-ending source of inspiration and never get tired of it. And though Helldozer is rather monotonous, it's a really pleasant experience to listen to it. Alisa-Yhtye is another project, existing for more than 15 years and for me personally it is one of the best Russian noisers. After noticing that the length of the track is 15 minutes, I had my doubts if the artist will have enough of what to show, but he had. No boredom, no thoughts and I've just listened to the highest quality noise in this compilation. And the tape ends with Redhaos track What's Your Name. Well, such chaos is a little bit more difficult for me to understand. It's one of those avantgarde noise tracks where people shouts anything, sound is changed in any way possible, something sounds somewhere, but everything is very unclear. All in all - it's a rather interesting compilation. At least for the fact
that it presents one of the most mysterious and least known industrial scene in the world (at least for me). Of course you need to understand that everything is different in There - life is different, sound is created in different ways and sound evaluation criteria are different. Colors of tapes are divided into ambient, experimental/industrial and noise. Well, and such division stands up. Anyways, report from Russia is highly appreciated and I'm waiting for other reports from other mysterious countries. Though I also hope that I'll not have to write such long reviews anytime soon.

Corazzata Valdemone vs. Fukte - Manipulations
Let's go to Italy for a little while. Manipulations is an album, released in edition of 38 copies, by two rather famous Italian noisers. The playing time is around 40 minutes and it really induces various feelings. Corazzata Valdemone - totalitarian industrial provocateur who is active in the scene for more than a decade and has a discography with quite colorful releases in appearance, content and so on. Fukte - the main project of Fabrizio, boss of Toxic Industries - label that is guilty for releasing this disc too. The first difficult task was to take out the disc from the minimal packaging, enlaced with rusty metal wire without damaging it. Though half of the room was full of tiny pieces of rust, but I managed to do it. The fundament of the sound in Manipulations was done by Fukte in 2004-2009. Corazzata Valdemone added vocals in several tracks, arrangements, lyrics and sound improvements. Disc starts right away from a few seconds of aggressive harsh noise explosion and heart overflows with joy expecting something brutal and interesting. But after a few seconds sound moves towards incoherent rhytms and chaotic noises. Rather weird start, but let it be. I'm still curious what will happen next. The second track starts once again from rough harsh noise that develops in more interesting and more industrial-like direction. After around a minute, theatrical voice of Corazzata Valdemone joins in and the whole picture gets so weird that I don't even know what to compare it to - solemn talking, squeaking of springs and a short loop. The third track has vocals by Fukte and you hear not that surprising, but rather decent industrial/power electronics sounds. Noise is rather thin and concentrated in middle and higher frequencies, but all in all it's listenable. And it seems that the first few tracks presented critical mass of surprises because further on sounds vary in between noises, rhythms and field recordings. The last but one track is slightly different where completely hidden vocal of Corazzata Valdemone shares sound bands with electronic glitches and weird, blue colored lulling sound. Disc is finished with mixture of white noise, guitar improvisation and feedbacks. And? All in all, quite enjoyable work with a few very surprising turns in sound, but balancing somewhere in the average zone. The second track, called Mattatoio (that means slaughterhouse in Italian) stands out. You could clearly hear that Corazzata Valdemone had his feet in neofolk waters too. To summarize it - rather average product that won't be listened to often and that didn't succeed to reveal what these two musicians are capable of, but at the same time, it is not the one that I'd pity a few hours, spent listening to, and writing about it.

Xiphoid Dementia – Meditation Convulsions
I have a feeling that there were no indifferent people left after listening to extremely powerful Xiphoid Dementia full length album "Might is Blight". There were some disappointed persons here and there, who were not very happy about the final realization of a CD, but these were minority. I thought that such album would become a history of industrial and everyone will sigh non-stop for years. But 5 years passed, Might is Blight drowned in overload of information and I don't remember when I had taken it from a shelf for the last time myself. Xiphoid Dementia is a project of a person, responsible for Existest Establishment label, long-living webzine etc. To say it in short, Egan is a person with clear vision of music and quality. I was very excited upon hearing about the first and only tape of this project, that was released in edition of only 50 copies. Nice cover with slightly modified pictures of anatomy. I was expecting very much from this recording and perhaps my expectations were too high for after listening to the tape for the first couple of times, I was a little disappointed, but after some time I am still listening to it and quite enjoying what's in it. There are three tracks in this tape, all of them entitled in melancholic mood, specific to Xiphoid Dementia and soundwisely they are perfectly suitable for autumn evenings. The first side of the tape - title track of the album, Meditation Convulsions. The track is long, rich and colorful in sounds. The tones are cosily and warmly dark, smelling of dreariness and intangible uncertainty. Not to talk abstract rubbish, soundwisely it is thick and multilayered digital drone that gets warmer recorded on tape and gets even more shades and saturatioin. There are times when Xiphoid Dementia wanders from massive drone to analyzing absolute silence or ghostly solitary planes of piano sounds. The more I change sides and listen to them, the more details I find in these sounds that I managed to miss before, and the more beautiful and full becomes this nightmarish sound story. The title track becomes slightly too difficult for me, but it's anyways interesting. B side suits very well to me. It is more clear and though very rich, but more typical industrial/ambient sound - reverbed percussions, troublesome howling instruments, field recordings, metal sounds, and all that covered with droney synths. Noises reminds me of Fire in the Head in places, when you listen not to chaos, but simply intimidating, floating and suffocating sound avalanche, consisting of so many separate sound layers. Intense and very nice first track on side B. I don't quite understand where the tracks are separated and the second one starts, but the side ends with gloomy clanging of metal pieces and somewhat lightly nostalgic melody in the background. Well, let's say this melancholy is the track beautifully entitled "It was an Empty Place at Night". Nice tape. I doubt there are lots of people who heard it, but I guess after two years after release of this tape, it is not relevant anymore. And I also hope I am not right here. There will be no empty spaces in my head tonight, they will be filled with pictures, inspired by these dreary sounds.

NDE - Kampfbereit
NDE is not very well known (or at least not for me) industrial duo from Belgium, but one way or another they have already two discs in Cold Spring. One of the members of the duo is behind the Dead Man's Hill, dark ambient project that I remember as not too interesting and not of highest quality. Other names tell me nothing, but I'm curious what could be the reasons that the legendary label decided to give a green light to them. Description says that in Kampfbereit there is less martial and more death industrial and, truth to say, it's good. Maybe it's not very good that this death industrial is quite average and though I spin the disc for quite some time already, I can barely find what to hook on. Of course I'm not the one to say that there's something bad with music or so. Industrial is quite good quality, decent rhythmic parts, neat tracks, tightly distorted vocal and even all the concepts seem to follow strict order and go by the canons, but that's it. Maybe it's my taste because black industrial, praised by worshippers of MZ.412 and co is something alien and distant to me. And this is what I find in this disc. Though its playing time is only slightly more than 40 minutes, it tires me with its emptiness. Disc starts from calm rhythmic tracks that are untitled, if I'm not mistaken, and ends with them. Basically the formula for them is pretty simple - distorted layer of several synth notes, then the rhythm appears and we add black-ish vocal with some effect. Vocals are not just screaming, but sometimes shouting the text in melody too. And this goes through all the tracks. Sometimes rhythm of synth disappears and instead of them samples are used, but in essence it's very thinly layered (though I'll repeat it once more - good quality) faceless clone of MZ.412, Folkstorm and related army. I've read that it's about misanthropy, brutality of life, searching for truth etc. Well, maybe, but it's presented in such a dull form that I cannot get it anyhow. Maybe 6th untitled track is sort of exceptional. Because of feedbacks, lack of rhythm, darker sounds and calm vocal, few minutes of more interesting and painful music is born. And it's not that different after that. But I'm sure this project has its fandom and got plenty of positive reviews, especially from magazines, blogs etc. done by metalheads to metalheads because they somehow like this sort of music. Ah, there's also a remark in the presentation of the album that their focus is on music. Most likely my equipment filters out all the good frequencies from the album and leaves me with boring ones and that's why I can't get to the goodness of this album. One of those works that I'm finally very happy that I've done with it and I won't have to spin it any more.

NDE's "Krieg Blut Ehre Asche", which I understand is their first album, did very little for me I'm afraid. The elements were all there but the execution was a bit too dry, or something. I'm a fan of MZ 412 but their style seems to be best when it's just by them and not others.

I think I didn't have a chance to listen to the first album. On HH they compared it to sutcliffe jugend and body choke (??) and that the album is extremely brutal so it's up to everyone's preferences I guess. I quite like MZ.412 also. Not a fanboy, but ok music, but yeah, you are right, the followers don't get to the same level as mr.Nordvargr

IUGULA-THOR - OPERA CD reviewied by Heathen Harvest

http://heathenharvest.org/2016/01/06/iugula-thor-opera/

I got last 20 copies available in case anybody is interested :)