Schloss Tegal

[Jaakko V.]

Been listening to some '90s "post-industrial" favourites of mine lately, and while many of them didn't really stand the test of time, Schloss Tegal remains victorious. Soundwise it's obviously a thing of its time, but everything is created with such a unique vision and style that it just holds together very nicely. Crude sampler work, slowed down samples of speech, too much reverb - Schloss Tegal has it all, and it rules.

Of course this is a familiar name to many, but some might not be aware of what I'm writing about, so, a brief summary:

Musically the albums range from dark ambient to power electronics / death industrial, drone, etc. Rough and rather lo-fi stuff, with this nasty "scientific" and futuristic angle. Very hard to describe. Each album has it's own general theme and style, and yet there is a constant thread going through it all that ties them together in this weird ST universe. Material comes loaded with fascinating themes like possession, orgone energies, cannibalism, UFOs, ghosts / EVP recordings, murder, sexuality, and all kinds of paranormal activity. As the text on the 'Oranur III' album says:

"Recordings on this compact disc are of an intrinsic nature true to the original source. Schloss Tegal will not be responsible for any strange or paranormal activity during the playback of these recordings.

Some source material: voices from space, crop circle recordings, sex and orgasms, UFO encounters, abduction experiences, cattle mutilations"

Everything under a grainy picture of flying saucers in the sky... Somehow so over the top that one has to love it. I think ST is actually one of the few death industrial groups that manage to create some actually disturbing atmospheres, there's something unexplainably wicked about it all. This was unique, original stuff back in the day, and I certainly don't hear anyone creating this kind of stuff nowadays. The last album ('Myth of Meat') came out in 2006 but after that nothing. ST used to be somewhat active on the live front as well, but not lately I think. The web domain is down etc... What is Richard Schneider up to nowadays?

[bogskaggmannen]

I really enjoy the first LP, which I strangely enough acquired only a few years ago.

I'm curious to examples which didn't stand the test of time? I'm sure there will be a 90's uprising again after the 80's...

[Zeno Marx]

The Grand Guignol was one of the biggest disappoints of the time for me.  It seemed that every respectable and trustworthy mind in my industrial world (labels and artists with whom I was in steady contact with) mentioned it on a regular basis and encouraged me to hear it.  For no good reason, I didn't pick it up for a long time.  A couple years came and went, so by the time I grabbed it, it had a big head of steam and even a personal mythos associated with it.  My expectations were heavy and deep.  I could never vibe with it.  I tried so many times to get into it.  I eventually tried The Soul Extinguished and Procession Of The Dead, but they too left me unsatisfied.  It's always been a regret -if you can call this a regret- that I couldn't tap into the energy of The Grand Guignol.  By all accounts and descriptions, it sounds like it would be a great listen.

[Bloated Slutbag]

I quite like TGG, but I could understand why some wouldn't. It's a little underwhelming, especially for such a, erm, grandiose theme, heh. (The Zorn album of the same name too, come to think of it...) Each individual track is like a sketch of an idea, and never really develops or goes anywhere. What I like is, in fact, the understated, almost flat, presentation; which tends to bring samples like "I'd like to kill somebody" to the fore. This - the flat presentation - serves as foil proper for otherwise dangerously pretentious-sounding thematics...

But hey, whatever schlosses your tegal.

A personal favorite is ST's contribution to the 3-way with John Duncan and Aube. Haven't spun it in ages, but that motherFUCKING "vampire" sample still sticks in my head. Guess that "subliminal" stuff works...

[Jaakko V.]

I'm curious to examples which didn't stand the test of time? I'm sure there will be a 90's uprising again after the 80's...

This far for example a lot of the stuff from the CMI camp that I used to like didn't really have that much of an impact anymore...  Much of the "sampler heavy" stuff in general just sounds a little boring to me now. But admittedly it was maybe a little bit of a hasty generalisation from my part to make. Just re-visiting some of these albums after not listening to them at all in the 2000s. Obviously a lot of great stuff was also done in the decade and yet, excluding harsh noise and straight power electronics, much of it seems to be sliding into obscurity.

Can't really think of that many artists/groups that are still talked about..? I guess groups like Lustmord, Inade and Yen Pox are basically the heroes of the dark ambient genre, while the rest are forgotten? Of course it's partially due to the fact that they kept going while many just quit. But it's not like in the world of metal for example, where many of the from-shit-to-mediocre bands of the '90s are now being hailed as cult, being re-released, etc. There doesn't seem to be too much of nostalgia towards these acts, I wonder why.

The guy who released the Erinys album on Tesco used to run a good, rather large review archive (or maybe my mind is playing tricks) called 'The Search for the Dark Matter' or something in the late '90s. Covered dark ambient and related stuff. Would be nice to have an access to that again, to see if there are some hidden jewels completely forgotten about or bypassed at the time. Maybe it can be found in the internet archives somewhere.

Currently listening to Inanna's 'Not.hing' as I type, and it is still damn great!

The Grand Guignol was one of the biggest disappoints of the time for me.  It seemed that every respectable and trustworthy mind in my industrial world (labels and artists with whom I was in steady contact with) mentioned it on a regular basis and encouraged me to hear it.

I also bought it on a recommendation by an expert friend. He said it was "the most disturbing album ever made". Got to say it was a bit of an anti-climax, but it's still a great album IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znr-EvZDcG8

[post-morten]

The guy who released the Erinys album on Tesco used to run a good, rather large review archive (or maybe my mind is playing tricks) called 'The Search for the Dark Matter' or something in the late '90s. Covered dark ambient and related stuff. Would be nice to have an access to that again, to see if there are some hidden jewels completely forgotten about or bypassed at the time. Maybe it can be found in the internet archives somewhere.

Here's Gerald Stevens' aka Erinys review archive:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021005171844/http://www.silcom.com/~planet5/alpha/alphindx.html

I agree with the sentiments about The Grand Guignol. I also bought it on recommendation but was utterly disappointed. Never understood why it was lauded as a masterpiece of the genre. I quite like Black Static Transmissions though.

[bitewerksMTB]

The last I heard of ST was at Deadly Actions when Mikko & I were there. ST was terrible- Richard was using the latest digital technology. He was really getting into it, moving around behind the table but his movements did not match the sound coming out of the PA. I saw ST another time with the other member & they performed the debut LP & 7" work using the bone trumphet & analog synths which was really good (Opening for Crash Worship in an old movie theater). I sold TGG; just remember it being ok- not something I disliked but not something I'd listen to. Pretty sure I still own the LP/7".

My fave track on t he LP is the one with the sample from "The Devils" (I need to order the UK dvd soon!). I found the 7" so pretty sure I still have the LP which I'm itching to hear again.

[murderous_vision]

I have always loved all of his work. Top notch Industrial!

[ImpulsyStetoskopu]

I like ST. My favourite album is "Human Resource Exploitation" but I have got the rest his releases and all of them are on high level, imo.

[bitewerksMTB]

I had the edition without the bone: http://www.discogs.com/Schloss-Tegal-Musick-From-Madness/release/657903
I remember reading something about the bone being toxic. Has anyone seen that version? This tape would be good for a reissue (I.R.).

[P-K]

mine look like regular chicken bones ....

i love the cassette, first lp & 7" ....Procession Of The Dead is one of the best things CMI never did lol perfect mix of 'death industrial, early CMI-sound and the more occult stuff ....

Human Resource Exploitation was good, very nice paranoid vibe.....TGG was just 'ok', never felt like an album but just a collection of ideas, still like the track with the looped deathrattle :-D ....OranurIII had some nice themes, but again, scattered, no focus......last thing i heard was Myth Of Meat but did nothing for me, imho very dull soundwork.

hit & miss

[Jarl]

I met Richard Schneider in Prague in the summer 2010 where he at that time lived and he told us he was working on new material.  I think Oranur III "The Third Report" is the best they have done, I actually have two copies of the Lp since I played it so often at the end of the ninties. Their first lp The Soul Extinguished is nice, primitive old school industrial. The rest of their records is ok, but nothing special. Their lates cd the Myth of meet dounded to digital, flat and boring for me.

[Jarl]

Has anybody seen or own the MB -Aktivitat tape which was released in 1983 by Tegal Records. Richard told me that they releaased it on Tegal records( on tape). I actually  havn't seen it at Discog still.  And I don't now which Tegal records number it has I has for the tape. The recording both (dark Vinyl and Tegal Records) released on cd released in the middle of the 90s and and LPs came out around 1992/93 on Zabriskie Point  .And the  Aktivitat recording where included on the  Japanease bootleg 2LP. SFAG on the other hand came out after much trouble according to Richard  as a cd around 1996, So if anyone Get the Original MB- Aktivitat tape which is as good as Neuro Habitat and probably better. Put it up on discog.

[Jarl]

Yes Its this I mean
http://www.discogs.com/MB-Aktivitat/release/736210

[bitewerksMTB]

I use to know Ben of Zabriskie Point & remember him telling me about the MB release- I'm thinking he said the tape was never released & may have been intended for Fresh Sounds, the label that did the live SPK cass. (I just took a look & Tegal reissued the SPK as a cd-r so there was definitely a connection).