PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Manhog_84]

Archipelago Solution could be interesting, but the use of AI covers is the limit for me. There are no samples online, and I don't want to put my money into records with artwork clearly made using a ChatGPT prompt or whatever. The same goes for other artists and their albums, like Absurd's Werwolflicht or the Merzphysics box. The latter is especially great, but those fucking AI birds... A better option would be to track down the original release. If the Helsinki gig is good, I might get excited enough to buy it anyway. Otherwise it's a pass.

[k.p.g]

First listen of 2026 was...

Spate - Dogmono (Sinkhole)
Very harsh and abrasive electronics, yet so mysterious.  Wondering how the sounds are made.  Wondering what the insert story have to do with anything on the disc.  Curious about the imagery.  This guy really knows how to confuse the listener while simultaneously giving some of the harshest feedback roars you can hear.  Lovely.

[Fistfuck Masonanie]

Richard Ramirez + Contagious Orgasm – Different Substances (SSSM)

20 minutes in length, but so much is done in that time. Incredibly detailed. Deep, ominous metal resonating percussive strikes. Cinematic field recordings and accenting electronics. Incredible collaboration.

[Zeno Marx]

listening to the 25YLOKI compilation from 2016, and I was reminded of both how good Fir§t Law could be and that nobody talks about him.  It's in that Clock DVA > LOKI > Galakthorrö > John Carpenter soundtrack realm.  Not exactly in this forum's wheelhouse, but not outside it either. Anyone have a favorite Fir§t Law or care to talk about him? He's often uncredited for his mastering on classic dark ambient/death industrial LOKI recordings. Is LOKI his label? Or just a resident mastering tech?

[BatteredStatesofEuphoria]

listening to the 25YLOKI compilation from 2016, and I was reminded of both how good Fir§t Law could be and that nobody talks about him.  It's in that Clock DVA > LOKI > Galakthorrö > John Carpenter soundtrack realm.  Not exactly in this forum's wheelhouse, but not outside it either. Anyone have a favorite Fir§t Law or care to talk about him? He's often uncredited for his mastering on classic dark ambient/death industrial LOKI recordings. Is LOKI his label? Or just a resident mastering tech?

I always had thought Loki was the Inade guys' label, and Wahnmann was yes, pretty much their standard go-to guy for post-production. Or that's what its always seemed like.

First Law is a bit of an outlier and oddball on the label, which might be why it isn't mentioned much. Instead of the more straight up "dark ambient" and ritualistic elements you get with Inade or Herbst9, instead its a mix of dark ambient with psychedelia and Tangerine Dreak-like krautrock elements (not that that's a bad thing, by any means). But that kind of "cosmic" sound that's present across Loki's roster is there as well, so its not THAT much of an outlier. It just goes about it in a different way. If the typical Loki sound is a "massive presence reaching out from a vast void," First Law is "drifting peacefully through vast spaces while stoned."

I always like Beyond IO and and Chaos Structure quite a bit, although its been a while since I've pulled any of his stuff out. The psychedelic elements do make it so I have to be in the right mode for it, kind of like LPD, but it hits a certain sweet spot nicely.

[John Cagefight]

Taint - Recycled
RRR, (?)
So much variety of soundspaces. A real tour of the Taint world, and some of my favorite pained woman screams muffling under beds of distort to be found in Brewer's catalog. I suspect everyone on this forum is sitting on a copy of this one, so not sure what else I could say that you wouldn't already know. But it's the perfect hellscapes tour for a Monday back after a long winter break.

Residual - Mythology of Brain & Body
Satatuhatta, 2024
A real exercise in force. The timbral spectrum is so far out and everything is mixed so crystal-clear. Perhaps the thesis: It never lets up, not for a second. A special shout out to the fast wriggling mechanical eel sounds around 20mins in. Layer of ballistic white noise tumult and tumble over feedback and bellowing furor. The abrupt ending leaves me gasping for breath. This is some real "lay your dick out on the table" sonics.

Opulent Adversay - The Threshhold of Anger
Nil By Mouth, 2023
For the Glory of Our Folk. For The Destruction of Theirs. All That is Containted Within is For This Purpose Solely. So much hate. Goddamn. I picked this one up a few years ago and played it once or twice and put it back in the pile. So much of this style is based on my explicit mood at this time, and it just didn't hit the way I wanted it to when I first played it. I'm so glad to have come back to this. Absolute violence, from the opening battle siren I'm locked in to this one today. Protivnik's declarations to will quite targeted atrocity lands for me this time around. Different distortions and time-based effects on her vocals set up different character types, while all staying quite clearly her. Actual sung, female, near-operatic vocals against a militant German spoken word loop just has me all-in. Very incendiary, racy samples and package, and basically the whole thesis of this affair - you know if this is in your lane or not.