Old Tower – Rise of the Specter CassetteTour de Garde website LINK
There’s a new wave of dungeon synth music coming out as of the last couple of years and it seems that Tour De Garde has been helping to proliferate it. Old Tower has a pretty decent discography ranging from somber medieval ditties to full on epic fantasy war battle leitmotifs. Rise Of the Specter opts for the latter.
One may attribute this type of music to prison-era Burzum where he sought out old casio keyboards with murder fresh on his …

Insect Ark – Portal/Well LPSSG BANDCAMP LINK
The woman responsible for Insect Ark used to play guitar for Angels Of Light and has been doing Insect Ark for what looks like close to half a decade. With a cache of singles and EPs under her belt, Portal/Well is her first full length voyage and hits most of the right notes where somber drone oriented rock is concerned.
I’m guessing after Swans reformed (and Angels of Light ended), Dana Schechter probably had a bank of riffs and ideas waiting to be used. Insect …

Hurz – s/t CD
Hurz BANDCAMP LINK
I’ll try to refrain from typing in the name of that one band that scored all those Italian horror movies, but it’s a welcome comparison to the electronic/prog songs that Hurz writes. The band describes themselves as a creator of magic squares where the listener is subjected to symbolic transformations. Very theater oriented stuff here.
I think it’s risky to offer an 11+ minute song up as your first track, but “Il nodo” throws you in the wash. If this track is intended as a …

Never Presence Forever/Isolated Existence –
A Future Scarred By Memory/Forever In The Dark CD-r
Darker Days Ahead BANDCAMP LINK
This CD-r release offers harsh noise and industrial elements split across two pieces by Never Presence Forever hailing from Virginia and Isolated Existence. Similar sonic elements bring these two artists together, but complexity (or simplicity rather) of the compositions are really what sets them apart.
Never Presence Forever‘s constructions of simple sound columns with minimal sequencing are really satisfying. The tracks are succinct and simple, but you will find dynamics here. …

Black Earth – Diagrams of a Hidden Order mCD
Malignant Records
Ambient black metal in this day and age is a far cry from the warped primitive manifestations of Abruptum‘s In Umbra… (RIP Tony), so I really appreciated that Black Earth didn’t go the purely electronic route of flitting evil touches and general “grim” vagaries that adjective oriented artists like. This mCD is a hazy and flagellating test that rewards listeners on multiple levels.
Black Earth‘s bandied color descriptor and geometry cult designs are among the things that make me grimace. …