Pas Musique/Ben Link Collins/Shaun Sandor – Of Silence CD
Silent Media/Alrealon Musique/Blondena
Of Silence is an interesting release on multiple fronts. It’s a collaboration between artists and labels but the 9 tracks are grouped into threes with each group featuring a different combination of the 3 artists that have worked on the material. It’s hard to explain but once you see it laid out in the credits it’s easier to understand.
The compositions featured here are unsurprisingly of the quieter and avant garde variety. But I have to admit I really enjoy how …

Hexen – Hexen C30
Diazepam
I immediately received a ritualistic tone from the second I set eyes on this release. Housed in a small velvet red bag and accompanied by a chunk of bark this release has esotericism written all over it.
Luckily the sounds live up to the carefully planned packaging. Side A features a beautiful mix of experimental atmospheres and sounds. Echoing glassy textures are laid as a bed of sound and added to that are ethereal whispers. All this which is then interrupted by heavy washes of noise blasts. …

Gorduw – XIX CIF. 30/15 CDr
Kadaath Records
Russia: the wild west of the 21st century. With it’s dashboard cams, street fight videos and military aggression it’s no surprise that it is also a hotbed for industrial music. Gorduw is currently on the front lines right now and the project’s style is as multifaceted as their homeland’s antics. Having listened to several albums I’ve come to know that the project spans the genres of experimental noise, electro-industrial, and power noise.
XIX CIF 30/15 tends to the former of the styles with 5 …

Joey Molinaro – The Mephist C12
Auris Apothecary
I had the pleasure of playing with Joey Molinaro in a basement a few years ago. He is a true freak and I mean that in the most adoring way possible. A violin player who delves into avant garde and weird music. Not to mention this is a release from the esoteric Auris Apothecary label; an organization that features some of the most strange and wonderful pieces of art that has graced my sense of sight, sound, and touch.
The style of The Mephist …

Iron Forest – Pantechnicon CDr
Paradigms Recordings
Iron Forest is a project form the man behind A Crown of Amaranth and I believe is now a defunct project but he is still operating under the project name Auditor. Pantechnicon is the first effort for this new project and is coined by the label as “doom-step”.
That description may not be far off as this is somewhat based around odd angular beats with a good dosage of noise and distortion. Lots of experimentation and tangents here. Once you think you have a track nailed …

Cursory – La Sorcière 7"
Blossoming Noise
La Sorcière is my first exposure to Cursory a project which I know nothing about. Starting with the presentation of this release I can say it’s quite an effort where it has been beautifully yet subtly packaged by Blossoming Noise who always manages to put out quality material. Ultra heavy stock with silver silk screen art is very effective but leaves almost no information about the release to be shared.
Side A contains the track Some Men Look into their Minds and Find Naught but Pain …

Aphid Palisades – II C45
Fade Away Tapes
Aphid Palisades is the nom de plume of the collaboration between Lee Tindall (also of Belarisk, and Zerfallt) and Ryan Connolly (also of Sundrips). With II they create a beautiful sound of psychedelic experimental dronescapes.
Guitar is used in a very subtle and thoughtful way and combined with excellent synth work. Nothing feels canned or generic and there is a great sense of movement throughout the tape. The material shows an excellent combination of glassy and bright textures with warm analog goodness.
My only critique …

Tasuketekun – Electrical Lessons CDr
Obfuscated Records
Tasuketekun is a harsh noise artist hailing from Japan and creating noise in a the style of the Japanese greats like Merzbow and Astro. This disc holds roughly 42 minutes of white hot synth-based noise with tons of variation yet using droning synth pads as a base for each track.
Two longer tracks kick things off with Electrical Lessons featuring a low bass tone and cut-up distorted elements above the drone. It is quite consistent for the entirety of the track. Human Weapon is of …

Regosphere/Shiver – There’s Daggers in Men’s Smiles C20
Dumpsterscore Home Recordings
This cassette is an already sold-out split tape from two burgeoning noise artists both tending to lean towards the ambient/industrial realms.
Regosphere tackles side A with Wolf’s Head (Bleeding) which has a much more power electronics vibe than most of his material and I’m really digging it. Beneath the Sheath follows with more of Regosphere’s token sound but as always these tracks are very thick with excellent synth pads and layers of fuzz.
Shiver’s work here isn’t bad but I have to say …

Arabian Blade – Perpetuate Myself C30
Elm Recordings
It’s no secret that Christopher Donofirio’s Reviver is one of my favorite projects currently in operation in New England but here we have him teamed up with Donovan Fazzino, a man who I am less familiar with. Luckily it seems the pairing works quite well together because this tape is an excellent offering of droning ambience and industrial.
Side A consists of a few tracks with the first 2 building up to the third. Beginning with more subtle drones it’s solid work until it gets …