PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Skin Flick]

Anenzephalia - LURKING IN THE SHADOW OF THE BROADCAST EMPIRE (2026, Tesco)

Was already excited when I saw the announcement for this go up, then became even more excited when it finally hit digital to tide me over till the CD came. Threw this on while driving with my partner and initially we started laughing over the opening sample...how quickly that faded. This album is grim, claustrophobic and VERY European. Just how I like my death industrial. It's full of amazing transitions to the point I didn't realize when the songs ended, it flows seamlessly which I am a massive sucker for on albums. I also could be mistaken, but isn't this the most vocals B. Moloch has done on an Anenz album? It seems like a great mixture of equipment as well, some sounds are clearly the MS-20 and others are just mysteries as to what's being used. Perfect sample placement, perfect themes and yet another masterclass from the legend.

10/10

[Balor/SS1535]

Merzbow - Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance: resonating echoes of auditory noise explorations

My listening today was interrupted by a brief dinner break, so that might account for some of the differences in my thoughts on the first and second half of the album.  Continuing with the darker turn that Akita seemed to have taken in these recordings beginning in December 2024, some portions of this CD almost sound like Alfarmania!  Dense layers of rather simple sounds, but recorded with a weird, muffled, resonance.  The final track departs from this a bit and becomes, in one instance (the piano), probably the most "musical" I have ever heard Merzbow.  Varied and interesting overall.