Conure/15 Degrees Below Zero – Split C60
Danvers State Recordings
This hefty split tape sees two artists whom I haven’t heard from for some time. Definitely good to see them back at it though as this is a solid showing of creative ambient/noise soundscapes. I’m not too into the artwork which is all blurry and presents a mix of ugly colors and fonts, but luckily the sounds don’t correlate.
Side A sees Conure strutting his stuff. It’s a good example of electronic ambient noise using a variety of drone textures sounding mostly as …

Vasculae – Cultural Primitivism CD
Monorail Trespassing
Vasculae is a side project of Jon Borges also the man behind the label releasing the disc as well as Pedestrian Deposit and Emeciator among other projects. Cultural Primitivism lays down three hefty tracks in around 50 minutes of no-holds-barred harsh noise with a small amount of experimental atmospheres.
One thing that is interesting is that the quality of the noise is much different from his other projects. It has a very crunchy and up-front sound. There is not much experimentation with space, pacing, and composition …

Massdirge – Untitled CDR
[Self Released]
Housed in a circular metallic box with lightly rusted exterior this CDR is quite a work of art in and of itself. Luckily it’s not just the packaging that makes this release a worthwhile experience.
Massdirge presents intense industrial drone sludge which focuses on repetitive rhythmic elements and elongated guitar riffs. Normally I wouldn’t really go for this kind of thing, and I do think that some of the guitar elements even in this release are a bit overplayed. But luckily Massdirge mixes it up with a …

Andrew Quitter – Forgotten Farms C30
Diazepam
Andrew Quitter is a man of many faces though they all certainly share the same head. Operating under monikers such as Regosphere and Suburbia Melting he also heads the Dumpsterscore Home Recordings label which releases a wide variety of underground noise, industrial and experimental music. In summation, if you’re not familiar with his work you need to get up to speed.
When Quitter operates under his own name the auditory style usually falls into a synth ambient quality with cinematic tendencies. The compositions here reflect this …

The Black Scorpio Underground – …………Pure Hate Fuck…………… C30
Husk Records
This is a sickened tape from this up and coming black noise act. Let’s start with the design here: probably one of the most fucked up collages I’ve ever seen. Putting nun’s heads on porno stars, penises on children, and pentagrams on refugee’s foreheads this is some krazy shite.
Side A represents this artwork well with an audio collage of horror movie samples and awkward noise. One very noticeable thing here is that the panning is really strange and awkward not really …

Summer Scum is the second annual Buffalo, NY noise fest focused on Harsh Noise and Power Electronics. This years fest will take place at The Flesh Tunnel (1245 Niagra st) on July 18th,19th, and 20th. The lineup features over 50 acts from all over the country such as: Ferveur Noire, John Mannion, Ahlzagailzehguh, Deterge, Skin Graft, Envenomist, Gnawed, Xiphoid Dementia, Hostage Pageant, and many many more.

Summer Scum was conceptualized in early 2012 when curators Justin Lakes and Matt Goodrich decided to start doing a fest shortly after Lakes …

Mind & Flesh – Martyr Generation CD
Force Majeure
Mind & Flesh is a project I know nothing about. Besides coming from the Force Majeure label – which apparently is yet another sub label of Nuit Et Brouilliard – the act is unknown to me. Martyr Generation is however, a pretty great introduction to the project.
What you will find on Martyr Generation is rhythmic – but not quite danceable – power electronics/industrial much reminding me of Irikarah, Haus Arafna, and Mind & Flesh’ label mates Objekt/Urian. Some of the tracks are …

Minamata – Niigata CD
Zone De Confusion
Despite being active since 1984 Minamata seems to have had a long bout of absence from 1991 to 2009. It wasn’t until his resurgence in the latter part of the 2000s that I discovered the project for myself. It’s unclear when exactly this particular re-issue of the cassette from 1985 was released but they added into the mix a mammoth 17 minute track to close things out which was recorded in 2002. Quite a nice addition.
If you’re a fan of noise/power electronics or industrial you …

Actuary/The Black Scorpio Underground – Metamorphosis of the Transgressor C30
Love Earth Music
This is a pairing that seems to make sense. Both Actuary and The Black Scorpio Underground tend to meander over that line between ambient and noise in a similar style. This is also, the first release on cassette that I have received from Love Earth Music, is it marking a new era for the label? Who knows, but I am quite fine with it.
Actuary is up first on side A with one long track entitled Stricken Host Lies Down. …

Hheva/Shiver – Troubled Sleep C40
Diazepam
It’s kind of weird that this split should bear the same name as Prurient’s seminal album. There are so many great combination of words and images to conjure out there I don’t know why in hell you would choose the exact title of an already landmark noise album. But besides this little pet peeve of mine I dig the simple packaging and delivery on this release. Shiver is familiar to me as I have reviewed them before but Hheva is a new name.
Side A contains …