PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Cranial Blast]

JSH - Rev 13:6 CD (OXEN)

This CD absolutely fucking crushes. God damn! The artist has a very strong opinion, which he expresses in Special Interests #16, regarding his favorite kind of noise and the noise he likes to create. Hard to argue with the results of that process here haha.

The last release on Phage Tapes, Rev Job 16:9, was also a complete gut punch, but this new album takes it to the next level. The artist's general process is that everything is done in one take to get a live feel and no overdubs. Full rock 'em sock 'em rock and roll vibes.

The only exception to the one take and no overdubs rule is the final track on this album which contains some help from a few friends. Some junk source material provided by Richard Ramirez, Bizarre Uproar, and Claudio Frassine from Mademoiselle Bistouri.

If you are looking for harsh, this is it.

I definitely concur! JSH is definitely a hard hitter within harsh noise and has been becoming one of favorite artists to listen to in recent times. The new album Rev 13:6 definitely crushes indeed! Total hammer of crushing nihilism, not only in the sounds, but also in the imagery and aesthetics as well.

[Manhog_84]

JSH - Rev 13:6 CD (OXEN)

This CD absolutely fucking crushes. God damn! The artist has a very strong opinion, which he expresses in Special Interests #16, regarding his favorite kind of noise and the noise he likes to create. Hard to argue with the results of that process here haha.

The last release on Phage Tapes, Rev Job 16:9, was also a complete gut punch, but this new album takes it to the next level. The artist's general process is that everything is done in one take to get a live feel and no overdubs. Full rock 'em sock 'em rock and roll vibes.

The only exception to the one take and no overdubs rule is the final track on this album which contains some help from a few friends. Some junk source material provided by Richard Ramirez, Bizarre Uproar, and Claudio Frassine from Mademoiselle Bistouri.

If you are looking for harsh, this is it.

I definitely concur! JSH is definitely a hard hitter within harsh noise and has been becoming one of favorite artists to listen to in recent times. The new album Rev 13:6 definitely crushes indeed! Total hammer of crushing nihilism, not only in the sounds, but also in the imagery and aesthetics as well.

Thanks for bringing this up. I have not read yet the latest...three SI issues I think (too much to read, listen, watch etc.) but this was right up my alley. Brutal, ripping and extremely addictive. From the Ominous Recordings guy. I did not properly listen other albums but seems that Rev 13:6 hits the bullseye.

[mag-maa]

FUNCUNT

I recently found them, but it's kind of strange that I didn't know anything about this project until now, because their releases are already from the early 90's! It's Finnish band, and "normally" the circles here are quite small and if you're interested of some "strange stuff" you will find out the stuff if not immediately but at least in few years. But that's not always the case, like this time. 

They are not NOISE - but very experimental... maybe metal, with a progressive/psychedelic rock swing, and lot of all kind of strangeness, also noisy elements. Doesn't open easily, but it's quite captivating.

One member of this group (duo) is Jussi Saivo, who is probably known more from Tiermes and Ovalki. Jukka Sillanpää (the other member) uploaded the remastered versions of their demos/CD/splitLP (8 years ago), here's one (the rest you will find from the same account)

COLDEACCOL DEMO 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZGDxlcbCYc

[moozz]

FUNCUNT

I recently found them, but it's kind of strange that I didn't know anything about this project until now, because their releases are already from the early 90's! It's Finnish band, and "normally" the circles here are quite small and if you're interested of some "strange stuff" you will find out the stuff if not immediately but at least in few years. But that's not always the case, like this time. 

They are not NOISE - but very experimental... maybe metal, with a progressive/psychedelic rock swing, and lot of all kind of strangeness, also noisy elements. Doesn't open easily, but it's quite captivating.

If you like Funcunt you need to check out F as well. I might not remember it right but F is just Funcunt after a name change. They released one album called I-III which is like calmed down Funcunt. Still not radio-friendly :)

[mag-maa]

FUNCUNT

I recently found them, but it's kind of strange that I didn't know anything about this project until now, because their releases are already from the early 90's! It's Finnish band, and "normally" the circles here are quite small and if you're interested of some "strange stuff" you will find out the stuff if not immediately but at least in few years. But that's not always the case, like this time. 

They are not NOISE - but very experimental... maybe metal, with a progressive/psychedelic rock swing, and lot of all kind of strangeness, also noisy elements. Doesn't open easily, but it's quite captivating.

If you like Funcunt you need to check out F as well. I might not remember it right but F is just Funcunt after a name change. They released one album called I-III which is like calmed down Funcunt. Still not radio-friendly :)

yes, already listened that one (basically the same band). Discogs says it's just F, but but...

[Moran]

Vile Vulgar - Private Art

Hard object sounds and wet or organic-sounding synth that abruptly alternate among dense and sparse arrangements. Very big dynamic range. Many parts are reminiscent of Hardly Lethal, faster and sloppier.

[Zeno Marx]

JLIAT – 16:05:94 (1994)
JLIAT – The Dancing Horse (1995)
JLIAT – The Ocean Of Infinite Being (1996)
JLIAT – The Nature Of Nature (1997)
JLIAT – When We Focus On Nothing As Opposed To The Set Or Subset Of Infinite Events With Whatever Intellect We Have In That Moment The Conscious State Becomes Aware Of The Alternative To The Infinity Of States Which In Its Apprehension Is Enlightenment. (2000)

Such a great run of ambient/drone/minimalism.  Also great sleeping music.  Another box set waiting to happen.

[Baglady]

MOGAO - Hidden God CD (Hiisi, 2023)
I received a generous stack of noise when three finns played in our space three weeks ago. First one I played was this one, and I haven't moved on  to the others yet. It's just too good. It's not a difficult listen, but definitely not an album that will introduce and convert people to noise fandom, so to speak. On the contrary, it's for the jaded noise heads. No full-bodied crunch here. Just room recorded live noise with intent and determination. Gear and technique bores me to death, but that this was recorded just good enough does so much in its favor and has to be mentioned. It's far from the distant mess it can be if the (room) recorder doesn't know what he or she's doing; a crispy grit to it, with plenty of air. But it's also a wee bit unstable (the recent and great Commando 15 CD on Freak Animal shares all these traits). The noise itself then? Acoustic racket upfront, with some electronics frying just nearby now and then. High paced, spirited!, mid frequencies bursting with color and nuance, ripping screech, sudden pockets of depth (much thanks to said electronics). Oh and the alien/Kenneth Grant theme certainly lifts Hidden God a notch too. It's an absolute joy. Perfect noise album. Names and albums that fly by are Stewart Skinner, Changez Les Blockeurs, Robochanman and whatnot, but ultimately it's just another very personal album by Mogao. This is my favorite of his so far, but hell knows where he's headed next. Pretty sure I'll dig whatever he comes up with at this point.

MORTAL VISION - Nacht Musik C50 (G.R.O.S.S.)
Perfect night music really. Hasegawa of CCCC fame with a guitar and some pedals, making more than most of it. Nightmarish guitar noise. Love this tape! Insanely tired at this point, so I'll just replay and nod off in my rocking chair. I believe the reissue on Urashima is still not too expensive, but I'm not sure. For all who finally found CCCC via recent CD reissues, this is a safe next step.

[Fistfuck Masonanie]

Gourmet Shit Scene - Family Portraits c30 (Room 2A)

Side A: Ear splicing, absolute cochlea surgical feedback knife apparatus. Those that like high end should seek out this tape. This kind of shit is my absolute favorite.

Side B: A little crunchier and more full sounding frequencies at the start. Then delves into ear splicing feedback again. The new Priest in Shit tape that just came out had me revisiting this tape. Excellent textures and crunch.

Priest In Shit - Playground c30 (Deadline Records)

Oh this one CUTS. Heavy heavy feedback.

Those feedback sadists take notice. Metal junk clang and clap with punishing sounds.

Brides of Blood - Meat c30 (Deadline Records)

God damn, blood is dripping everywhere...

Heavy heavy electronics. The artwork and the title hit just as hard as the sounds. Full screeching feedback with a good mix of crunch.

[Commander15]

MOGAO - Hidden God CD (Hiisi, 2023)
I received a generous stack of noise when three finns played in our space three weeks ago. First one I played was this one, and I haven't moved on  to the others yet. It's just too good. It's not a difficult listen, but definitely not an album that will introduce and convert people to noise fandom, so to speak. On the contrary, it's for the jaded noise heads. No full-bodied crunch here. Just room recorded live noise with intent and determination. Gear and technique bores me to death, but that this was recorded just good enough does so much in its favor and has to be mentioned. It's far from the distant mess it can be if the (room) recorder doesn't know what he or she's doing; a crispy grit to it, with plenty of air. But it's also a wee bit unstable (the recent and great Commando 15 CD on Freak Animal shares all these traits). The noise itself then? Acoustic racket upfront, with some electronics frying just nearby now and then. High paced, spirited!, mid frequencies bursting with color and nuance, ripping screech, sudden pockets of depth (much thanks to said electronics). Oh and the alien/Kenneth Grant theme certainly lifts Hidden God a notch too. It's an absolute joy. Perfect noise album. Names and albums that fly by are Stewart Skinner, Changez Les Blockeurs, Robochanman and whatnot, but ultimately it's just another very personal album by Mogao. This is my favorite of his so far, but hell knows where he's headed next. Pretty sure I'll dig whatever he comes up with at this point.

Great album! Truly perplexing moods and sounds at times, doesn't really open up on first listen so be forwarned on that matter. At first some parts of the album sounded bit... maybe shoddy and messy? But during the listening session it started to grow in me and slowly the pieces really started to connect.

Crude layering of the noise (i suspect that Mr. Mogao played noise live in the room on top of the prerecorded noise playing thru PA while recording the whole shebang with main recorder) is really the "thing" here as it exhibits the several room sounds at the same time creating strange atmosphere. Not ritualistic but... Urban esoteria of an sort? Really, really good. The recent Satatuhatta tape was also super brilliant and in the same general ballpark as this cd, but showed more of this certain spiritual and "weird" side of Mogao, even touching the Popol Vuh-ish heights at times.

[HateSermon]

A couple of new ones in today:

Nostovaki: Raudalla ja verella cassette. Freak Animal 2024.
Very solid release. First two tracks are my favorite. Slow banging percussion, metal abuse, and droning synth. Vocals sound straight forward with no effects, first track being more spoken word style and second track screaming torment. Track 2 is eerie as fuck. Sounds like slowed down church bells or something in the background. Cold atmosphere overall. Language is Finnish so the lyrics are lost on me. Recommended.

Snuff "V". Filth & Violence 2024.
I survived Snuff V. I knew going into this that it was going to be a difficult listen based off of what other people have said, and that ain't a lie. There are subtle layers of vocals and other things but your bleeding earholes have to dig through the copious amounts of feedback to find it. For the true sadomasochists.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Einleitungszeit batch!! huh... damn! It took a while, but now that they are out, looking and sounding even better expected! Each one uses the original art from the release, modified very little. Label info stylishly just tiny logo on the back, hardly any revisionism here! I like.

Die Menshchzerstorung - that's the early tape, almost 70 minutes of them being at their noisiest and most aggressive, but also the known industrial sound is present totally.

R Mensch - E Tanatologie + 1, originally double LP on Recalcitrant now sound vastly stronger and it varies greatly. From 1991 early industrial percussion works, to almost kraut-electro soundscapes and the heavy duty Einleitungszeit crunchy industrial noise.

L'Accouchement Des Machines Humaines, originally LP on Freak Animal, also thinking how 20+ min sides may have been notch dirtier on LP, CD sounds very neat. For me, and not only because it was originally on FA, but simply because it sounds so, is THE most advanced of old Einleitungszeit material. Already when hearing it first, was blown out by more atmospheric approach with female voices, even more industrial sounding percussive loop material and heavy grinding electronic sounds, two long tracks that really could be thought also as multiple songs since segments have distinctive things, even if they may have this gradual development more often than early tape material.

Aus Der Leichenkammer: "Klonieren Des Machinen Lärms", originally LP on Art Konkrete was already back then not as amazing as two other vinyls mentioned above, but by no means it is bad. Not at all. Great release nevertheless!

It is curious to think how many things resemble what for example CONTROL was doing later on. Multilayered, efx fueled vocals, heavy slow crushing loops and that somehow sizzling distortions. Talking about "industrial noise", you can easily check how the mid 90's CRUNCH is applied within stuff that has musical qualities. It's almost like SPK mixed with Dead Body Love:

https://phagetapes.bandcamp.com/album/laccouchement-des-machines-humaines

[Zeno Marx]

Aus Der Leichenkammer: "Klonieren Des Machinen Lärms", originally LP on Art Konkrete was already back then not as amazing as two other vinyls mentioned above, but by no means it is bad. Not at all. Great release nevertheless!

This was also on RxNx, not Art Konkret.  Here's to hoping sales are good and encouraging, so the other two early cassettes and LP (the one on Art Konkret) get reissued too.  Thanks to Phage Tapes for hitting these reissues hard.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

ah yeah! The Art Konkrete was the other corpse cover album, hah.. Whatever the "less interesting" Einleitungszeit, I must underline that even those are very top of the game. I fully realize that I may be biased due getting exposed to them via their early tapes (and Crewzine) without having even heard many of the classic industrial at the time. For me at least it really survived well the test of time, perhaps nowadays being even better. If some of the old industrial sounds "old", I think maybe with exception of old style short sample lengths, most of stuff sound almost contemporary? Something like new take to industrial-noise, not being retro sound from the 80's.

[Manhog_84]

Couple of Pentti Dassum -related tapes first.

Kartio - Liskoaivo CS (Nekorekords)

For a long time my brain transferred the label name "Nekrorekords". Anyway this tape is beautiful. While sitting on the shelve, the orange plastic cover looks like emitting light itself. Even as I usually tend to listen more darker/edgier/violent sounds, there's time and place for projects like Kartio. I like a lot this "sound laboratory" vibe. Somehow very calming experimental electronics. Not really ambient in my book, but a collage of blips and glucks.

Umpio - Unsafe Space CS (Nekorekords)

Recycled tape and sound varies from clattering metal to fast paced avalanche of electronics with warm sound. Might not be mandatory Umpio, but I still like it a lot and listened several times. My favorite Umpio work is the massive Kulotus double cd. Unsafe Space cover features Pope and...some weird shit going on. The B-side of the tape had an old news recording with history lection about christian artifacts in viking era. Sort of fitting with the pope cover.

The New Boyfriends - Universal Noise CD (Satatuhatta)

I nitpicked that the band name is irritating and makes me not want to check the material blah blah. When everyone says that this is great, just better to believe it. Very unique concept and also amazing craftsmanship of sounds. This might the best "joyful noise" album I have heard. The cd has a picture booklet of field recording techniques, abandoned buildings, Finnish nature and bikini beauties.

Then something more vile:

Snuff - V CD (Filth & Violence)

There was already talk about this being especially extreme, so I had to check out what it sounds like! For some reason, Snuff has never appealed to me, even though all the elements are there that should be my thing. V might be band's best work. The first track has the banging metal with high pitched sounds, it's not too painful. The second track on the other hand, is an endurance test. The combination of abrupt cuts and looping high frequency squeals start to stress ears after a while. On a second listen, I had to skip the track. First time this actually happened when listening to cd at home because of the piercing sounds. MK9 has some tracks that are equally painful, but this is harder one because of the length. Third one is easier on ears, even though the same elements are here. It has a great double vocal delivery and looping rants...daddy's little cocksucker! Best song of this album. Might be a time to give another go to older Snuffs.

Commando 15 - Inner Insurgency Manual CD (Freak Animal)

Very different from Vauhkola tape and screeching metal is the main element here. It has multiple shorter tracks and the overall sound is ace and similar to Sewer Election Internal LP's A-side. Track number seven has a loop of galloping sound, like a horse running. Somehow it irritates the hell out of me. Cannot really explain why it feels so annoying heh. For this reason the cd felt a bit disappointing first, but I need give it more listens. Obscure themes, collages and concept feels like the project can expand to almost anywhere. It also has darker undercurrent and makes this project interesting follow. The enthusiasm comes across from the interview in SI #16.

Kylmäkovamaa - Fuckdoll CD (Freak Animal)

This project has been on my checklist list for a while. I love those cover arts and track titles of Kylmäkovamaa. Pimeyteen tape looks the most charming. This has the broken doll face that immediately takes mindset to themes of sexual abuse, incest and depression. Maybe this is the reason this cd also felt slightly disappointing to me. I expected something darker and more oppressive. All tracks are untitled and sounds are surprisingly light. Not meaning this is bad, just that it didn't match the image I had conveyed in my mind. Album is most likely to grow on me when after few more listens.

Leather Dog - Chain Bondage CD (IOPS)

The screeching is the theme of the week clearly! And this one delivers extremely tasty sounds. Amazing noise cd, and those booklets of latest IOPS releases add something and makes them worth owning as an objects. Leather Dog has drawings of bondage and sadism, compiled from multiple sources. Steel Corset was really good, but I think this is even better.