PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Obedient2]

Prurient – Black Table with the Two Griffins Attacking (Hospital Productions, 2025)

Thank you for the very detailed review of this release. I didn't gel with it at all when I first listened. I found the spoken word passages too long and too repetitive for it to really be enjoyable. This makes me curious to sit with it again though. Sometimes I wonder whether it would be better to listen to 1-2 cassettes per day from the box rather than listening to the full 2hr thing in a single sitting. I didn't grab the physical for this though.

For Class Ring, I can definitely see the benefit of having the 6xCS box. Now I have a working cassette player again I'm pretty keen to pick that one up.

[Tribe Tapes]

Rautakymi - Ei Tästä Maailmasta CD (2025, Freak Animal)
New disc from upstart Finnish noise project already known for a few self-released tapes. I was pleased to reissue one of these on Tribe last year. This CD, his first in the format, is still lo-fi, but not quite sewer drainage levels of filth present on those earlier releases. It opens with shrill feedback which is maybe closer to what listeners expect from C15 having heard previous descriptions of "painful" harsh noise. I don't think this is particularly painful either, the low fidelity shaving off some of the more grating frequencies, more so the shrillness and use of flanger effects as the disc progresses hints at an intent to make psychedelic noise. While previous efforts seemed to favor a happy accidents style (edited together tape malfunctions), Ei Tästä Maailmasta consists of precise and intentional sound work. I'm hard-pressed to say whether or not I like it more than previous efforts, but I am consistently engaged. It's remained in my heavy rotation stack since arriving in the distro some months ago. Plus a relatively short listen, at 34 minutes, which makes it easy to play again as soon as it's over... Strong recommendation.

[k.p.g]

Kadef/Odal - Split (Oxidation, reissue?)
2 CDrs from 2 of the more unsung voices of 80s/90s noise.  I started with the Kadef side, which was a beautiful hum of mid range static churning for the 28 minutes it had.  Really loved it, and need to try more from this project.

Odal side kind of had me perplexed.  It's double the length of the Kadef side, and there is no sign of the original tape from Nihilistic to be found on the internet.  Now I'm starting to think that this is some sort of fuckery at play.  Is this really a reissue?  I don't take Marc as the kind of guy to just make up some bit about having old Odal and Kadef that people haven't heard before, but had to be certain.  Turns out this was originally tape, and that was what Marc was sent when it came time to reissue.  But that begs the question(s); does anyone out there have the original tape?  Is it a C120 or something?

Man, I am going off topic a bit.  I meant to discuss this Odal side.  I really like the second track on this portion.  First part left much to be desired.  Makes me think that this could have been a regular C60 and you cut things down to one track.  Sound wise though, it is a lot of weird looping of what sounds like creaky wood in a madman's shack.  The gears at the crazy factory are turning.  You can get lost in this trance easily.

Seriously, if someone has the original tape of this that came out on Nihilistic, please show it off. 

[Minus1]

Veltz - Secret Performance.

A collection of 2009-2015 works. Some short. Some long. Some live. A complete blind-buy for me. I was rummaging through S+W Used and this looked interesting. And cheap. Sorry. Inexpensive.

It's very good. Scrap metal drone. Some cut-up bits. The 17min Secret Performance, dedicated to The New Blockaders, appears at the end, and is a very worthy honour. Richard and Philip would be proud.

[k.p.g]

Revived Lazarus - Revived Lazarus (Not on Label)
A pretty serene tape for the afternoon as the snow settles.  A combined effort from members of Munt Cascade & Screwicide, this tape really goes for more of an ambient tone, with some eerie glitch and synth colliding head on with some beautiful guitar work.  Packaging is great too, with the tape coming in this miniature, leather satchel that reminds me of one of the very first wallets I owned.

[MT]

Grunt & Cloama - Nausea of Humanity

Grunt&Cloama CD has been on my "to buy" list for ages. A collab album which consists of several sessions, solo tracks and a live track. Astonishing sound, incredibly powerful, especially the first three tracks from 1999 steal the show. It's interesting to listen shifts in sound between sessions, Cloama solo track is also brilliant. CD ends with an onslaught from London 2004, Gaya delivering the trademark vocals, and track ending with a different kind of onslaught when a (drunken) Finn gets the microphone, a true IN style ending!


Pain Nail - ...End Times

Found ...End Times original CD from Sarvilevyt last weekend. Have listened it couple of times and just liking it more and more. It's no secret I have very sweet spot for old Finnish industrial sound, and even though this was released in 2002, but by the sound I would think most material was recorded in the 90's. Raw and very intense sound, what makes this 90's Finnish PE (the very little that there was) differ from traditional Euro PE sound is this sort of raw and cold, yet strong sound. There's space between elements, everything is not pounding over the top, but more working with precision and elements that matter to make the material work. Instantly became one of my favorites, even though I have listened to this prior, now finally having it in my collection and giving it an "official first listening" I feel I can give an opinion on it.

[k.p.g]

Flamingo Base Jumpers - Psychic Mud Wrestling (Satatuhatta)
A very solid disc from Mr. Forte here that followed up a very solid tape on Satatuhatta.  I like less emphasis on his harsh stylings, more on the tape manipulation.  This CD could offer even more manipulation if I could be real.  He's very good at it.  Best moments on the record where I perked up were when some old yacht rock or percussive rhythms were being broken down, slowed, whatever.  Very nice.  Take the harsh out, and just let me chill!!  Maybe not too much though... it's kind of cold outside.
I would have to assume more is due down the pipe, as Nick has already prove with his other projects that he is pretty fast to churn things out.  I welcome it.

Agitant Group - Manipulated Feedback for Tape 2025 [In Two Movements] (Head Meat)
For all the buzz that the Erik Nystrand & Ants in the Afterbirth tapes from the same drop garnered, you'd think more people would discuss this excellent Agitant Group release.  That is not the case!  Honestly, I think maybe I have seen one person outside of myself discuss it.  Maybe it's because this is the "new project" of the bunch.  But let me tell ya, it is also the "best project" of the bunch.  Tons of wild feedback churning that is then thrown into a THICK layer of tape mud.  End product is luddite noise of the highest order.  Pretty akin to the early Incapacitants, where the shitty recording quality actually amplifies the overall sound.  Excellent stuff; EXCELLENT.  What more would you expect from something that Charlie Mumma is involved in though?

[Minus1]

CD1 (49min) of the 4CD - To Magnetize Money And Catch A Roving Eye - Jim O'Rourke. 2019 / Sonoris.

Sometimes you need a break between Ramirez and Vomir, etc. You gotta come up for air.

This is lovely. I might attempt a review after CD4.

[storage locker suicide]

Macronympha / Government Alpha - Obliteration (Mother Savage/Xerxes)

what a classic release, seriously. i bought a copy of this CD from Joe directly last August at a basement gig we played together. truly a spectacular night - Max Julian Eastman, Dead Door Unit, Viodre, Bob Marinelli [somehow????], A Fail Association, and Viper. i could talk about this gig forever, as it seriously helped me rediscover the foundation of my personal noise. i found Roemer prior to the set and picked up what i thought were necessities in the collection. i can't recall everything, but i remember seeing the special packaging for this disc and immediately throwing some money for it, but this isn't about the STORY of this specific copy.

this album is incredible, both artists compliment eachother so well. i always loved the audible difference in fidelity between the 2 acts, it feels like this overseas call and response. Tracks like GA's "Reduced To Ashes" have these energetic pulses throughout, it really feels like you could visualize the mess on the table and everything shifting about. Macro's "Brute Force" showcases just raw, continuous punches directly at the side of your head. what i love most about this recording is the [almost] lack on continuity. the track "Shatterbrained" has this absolutely unsettling drone whirring for 6 minutes, constantly shifting on pitch but never changing on intensity.

if you don't have this album, i would really consider changing that.

[k.p.g]

Ants in the Afterbirth - Privy to a Great Becoming (Head Meat)
Picking up from my last Head Meat listen.  This guy rips it apart!  One, continuous 30 minute freak-out that delivers the harsh and weird simultaneously.  "Afterbirth" indeed, as so much of this tape just sounds like some disgusting shit that churns through your system.  You try to expel it, but it just keeps flowing out.  GROSS.  To counteract, you got a lot of screechy synth sweeps and labored vocals that make you think "what the fuck is this guy on?  Is he ok?"  Haha.  I dunno, maybe he's just having a lot of fun.  I sure am!

Bastard Noise - The Skull Scriptures (Deathbed Tapes)
I almost forgot - I'm seeing Bastard Noise next week! Lucky me!  Haters be damned, but out of all the projects I discovered in my initial introduction to noise, this is one of those ones that I will never outgrow.  From the early, capital-B, Broken electronics of their early days, to the monolithic Wiese-era, to the present, Wood has kept the spirit going in a damn impressive manner.  While my listening tendencies with BN lean towards the earlier days, there are still worthwhile releases from the modern era of the project.
This tape would be one of them.  As far as I know from our conversations, cassette does not seem to be Wood's preferred format for releasing.  Vinyl and CD is evidently his wave.  So to have a modern release from the guy come out on tape must mean there is some worthwhile content on it; special occasion, right?  I think pacing across both sides is pretty good, as tape gives more time for Wood to ride certain dirges of Trogotronic blasting that vinyl doesn't always offer on a single side.  The addition of Being gives some much needed grit to a gritty format.  Vocals can be a turnoff for many people trying to get into Bastard Noise, but I honestly can rock with a Wood sermon hard if I'm in the mood.  I don't doubt I will raise my fist in fervor come next week once his shrill yells come in.  Hah.  What can I say?  I love that shit.
Only real complaint here would be with the j-card; noticeably bitcrushed and pixelated as hell.  Is that too much of a nitpick?  Maybe?  I'd just think with a label as prolific as Deathbed, they'd have bypassed little aesthetic mistakes like this so deep into their run.  No shade otherwise, dub on the tape is excellent.  Have to give credit to them for even pushing for such a great release on a format that the artist would really never shoot for.

[groesk]

I haven't heard other releases from Mankind's Devastation yet but hopefully will eventually. The couple releases I've got from Sulfuric Cautery are really good too, equally drum-driven but it's noisy goregrind / noisegrind instead of noisecore or gorenoise.

On Mankind's Devastation - the split with Sewer System is very good!  Think it is still streaming on YouTube as well.

On Sulfuric Cautery - yes, they are definitely NOT noise, as every bit of blasting has a layout and structure to it (although you possibly would not be able to tell with how low the guitar is mixed sometimes).  I have had the pleasure to play with them twice now, and both sets were radically different.  It seems like they end up playing whatever batch of new recordings they are tooling with at the time, and then move onto the next thing as soon as they are done in the studio.  Pretty great stuff.

Excellent!

Because I've spent the afternoon deeply enjoying Subsequent Torture Sessions 2019-2021 (which sounds quite Noisy to me, in a Goregrind kind of way) and 2025's Consumate Extirpation (which sounds a lot "cleaner", and is a foray towards BDM, but it still kicks my Noise loving ass.)

I miss my various grindcore blasts! I find, amongst my myriad Noise sessions, that I crave this stuff from time to time.

i got into them with Consumate Extirpation and Killing Spree. the drummer is a beast and reminds me of Last Days of Humanity but on steroids. I've yet to check Torture Sessions but based on what i've heard it should be a good listen.

[Minus1]

Torture Sessions 2019-2021, which of course, is a comp, sounds quite grimey compared to the "well produced" Consumate Extirpation.

And the former is around 37min, which for Goregrind, is really about 5hrs, right? 😂 All 1min ish "songs".

But the latter seems to be a bit of a left turn for them. Well received by fans as far as I can tell.

Naturally, both CDs are coming my way!

[k.p.g]

Emil Beaulieau - Damaged + Destrotyed RRR Anti-Records (Freak Animal Records)
Emil Beaulieau - Moonlight in Vermont (Hospital Productions, reissue)

Saw discussion of Damaged + Destroyed over on Scream & Writhe forum, which made me pull it out for a spin.  Moonlight sits right next to it on my shelf.  Had to grab it as well.  These two just pair very well together.  You start with Damaged, and you are met with perhaps the most painful Emil put to disc.  Like man, this one is such a bitch to get through at points.  RRRon was full in on distortion at this point; so much so that even the buzz of the needle pierces the mix.  I'm over here wincing at that sound.  Oh how awful!  But it's RRRon, I bet he was ecstatic when he heard it!  Now I am too.  How can you not love it, pain and all?  The sound of love is on full display here, and sometimes, love hurts!!  As said over on S&W, RRRon had such a swagger to his noise that very few possess in noise.  This disc shows it.
Moving onto Moonlight, perhaps the darkest Emil.  One time, a very moronic person told me that "Emil Beaulieau was great live, but never had a great record.  And don't say Moonlight in Vermont!!!"  Yeah, whatever man.  Don't know what the gripe was with this one; maybe it was being on a label Thurston Moore ran that meant RRRon had sold out!  Hah, as if.  That little quip always sticks with me when I throw this one on, as the record almost immediately proves that point WRONG.  This one matches the aggression of Damaged + Destroyed, but removes some of the bluntness in favor of more fluid movement across tracks.  Yeah, you got the pummeling crunch, but you are also met with sections of pulsating drone, eerie music concrete and sputtery oscillation.  I wouldn't be surprised if RRRon was using a lot of the locked groove records as source.  Why wouldn't he?  He probably had hundreds of copies lying around at that point.  Might as well put them to good use, which he certainly did!

I finish typing this and stare up at my record shelf.  I realize there's more Emil I haven't checked in on there as well.  Think this listening trend will continue on for today.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Emil has very special place for me, as it was among first NOISE cd's I got. Tapes, vinyl, but there was moment when it was actually almost absurd that someone puts out noise on CD. Most of all that it is so ugly and primitive noise!

I think there was formerly discussion about the "Damaged.." CD and there is mentioned in discogs that FA original CD is reissue, but it isn't. Of course back then time and infomation traveled on other speed, but it was material sent to FA and artists offered it to be done. I rejected some tracks that didn't feel good enough, 9 songs CD was the official version. While CD takes a bit to manufacture and ship around the world, artist wanted to do CDR that has all the 13 tracks of this session, and that was done. FA CD isn't "reissue", but more like original item while CDR is "artist edition" that came just about same time. I remember Emil told the CD was intentionally as noisy and rough and to-the-point as possible, as it was aimed for FA release. All songs straight forward live-noise (without audience).

Yet I am pretty curious nowadays, what exactly I did decide to leave out? Disc is quite short so even with full 13 tracks it wasnt too long.

[impulse manslaughter]

I listened to that cd a couple of times over the last month and quite enjoyed it. Never got the feeling it is more extreme than his other releases. Moonlight in Vermont is still on my wantlist. Not easy to find a copy these days.