Flesh Coffin – Devil Worship In The Slaughterhouse C30
Out-of-Body Records
This my first exposure to Flesh Coffin and goddamn is it a good one! Devil Worship In The Slaughterhouse is a varied harsh noise album that features some very textured junk noise thrown in there. Glass, metal, dirt, and various other kinds of grit make up a dynamic and shifting bed of sound on these 2 tracks, each which span close to the full length of their side.
Simply entitled Stage 1 side A almost has a cut-scene scenario going on. Like …

Francisco López – Untitled (2004) CD
MoSo
Francisco López has been a force in the electroacoustic soundscape field for more than 20 years. His composition of sounds and ultra-crisp recordings truly go lengths to create space in sound. With minor ambient tendencies that mostly devolve into field recording, “Untitled (2004)” is a dark and moving but in a highly removed way. The listener can listen to these tracks and feel immersed in the environment; López presents each track with a vital coherence and balances the minimal sounds highly efficiently and punctuates the …

A Taste for Decay – Beneath Black Waters CD
Black Goat Records
Here is a heaping wad of black noise from Black Goat Records, a label specializing in dark noise and black metal. The design features pitch black, low-contrast images with stark text. Run-of-the-mill stuff but tasteful nonetheless.
The full disc clocks in at about 45 minutes, with 6 tracks. Each of these tracks are very gritty and dusty, lo-fi like the sounds were actually recorded on decaying tapes giving the project name new meaning. Most overwhelming about these tracks is the …

Ur – Trieb CD
Topheth Prophet
Here is an older release from these purveyers of organic dark ambient music. Trieb, having been released in 2008 is still available over at Topheth Prophet. It’s a disc that hasn’t shown it’s age and still lives up to expectations of delivering dark esoteric music.
Split into 4 tracks, each running about 10 to 17 minutes, these are drifting compositions that are allowed time to sink in, expand and evolve to form long stretches of creepy atmospheres. Kicking things off is The Belly Of The Earth Is …

Still a bit of an unsung hero in noise and experimental circles Josh Lay is a Kentucky based artist whose work spans the edges of industrial, avant garde, drone, noise, noise rock, and now even black metal. Currently creating noise under his own name, he is also one-half of Swamp Horse and was a member of the now defunct Cadavar in Drag noise rock band. He continues to produce a varied spectra of sounds as well as release records on his D.I.Y. label Husk Records. He has collaborated with such …

Red Mass – Mule Stone CDR
Brise Cul
Well, I wasn’t expecting this one! If you’re not familiar with Brise Cul releases usually what you can find is a barebones yet classy DIY release. They cut right to the chase, photo copied artwork on colored paper, spray painted CDR. Just enough.
So, Mule Stone kicks off with a power electronics influenced piece entitled Tunnel. Droning electronics, vocals that start out a bit melodramatic but soon turn quite effective. The track seeps in little by little until it finally forms an interesting mixture of …

K11 – Metaphonic Portrait: 1230 A.D. CD
Actual Noise
Deeply contemplative, gorgeously dense, and highly composed without feeling rigid, K11’s Metaphonic Portrait: 1230 A.D. is a collection of ambient sounds and textures recorded in the lower basilica of the Assisi Cathedral. Ghostly and forlorn yet vibrant and fascinating, this album truly presents a vast span of sonic beauty and decomposition. Evolving slowly and patiently, each track presents the listener with a sort of denseness that communicates a real sort of presence in the sound that is highly organic and immediately relatable. Not …

Human Larvae – What Lies Ahead C40
Unrest Productions
What Lies Ahead is the latest release in the works that chronicle this underrated German power electronics act. Utilizing the entire running time of this 40 minute cassette Human Larvae has crafted yet another exceptional full-length album that spans the genres of black noise, power electronics, dark ambient with a very subtle noir jazz influence. The tape unfolds over it’s running time with tact and precision where Human Larvae yet again tells a sordid narrative of loss, hopelessness and no redemption.
Side A consists …

Masaoka/Chen/Grüsel/Nagai – Masaoka/Chen/Grüsel/Nagai CD
Resipiscent
Now here is an odd amalgamation. “Kenta Nagai raises a Shamisan, Hichiriki and his throat together with the far voice and violoncello of Audrey Chen as Miya Masaoka conjures Koto with electronics and Hans Grüsel, rummaging in a suitcase of blippoo box and bugbrand weevil08, douses for… then detonates waveforms.” Definitely a strange collection of instruments and talents here which could easily result in a meandering mutual jerk off session, or an intensely profound and intriguing convergence of styles and instrumentation. Luckily for all of us, this …

A Death Cinematic – A Parable On The Aporia Of Vengeance And The Beauty Of Impenetrable Sadness 2xCD
Simple Box Construction
With a name that easily pigeonholes itself as overtly pompous, this colossal album does very little to live up to the pontifical nature of this droning, dull piece of work. Bearing a likeness in style to artists such as MGR and House of Low Culture (both Isis side projects. A total coincidence, I swear), A Parable On The Aporia Of Vengeance And The Beauty Of Impenetrable Sadness attempts to create a …