Maculatum – The Nameless City CD
Malignant Records
Maculatum is a side project of Collapsar and Rasalhague neither of who I’m that familiar with. In The Nameless City they present several pieces of carefully designed atmospheres.
The general feeling on here is almost of a sci-fi film noir utilizing electronic drones, sound design elements and stylized industrial stings. The atmospheres Maculatum build are quite fragile which makes for a very interesting and detailed execution.
Maculatum skirts on the edge of industrial and even into a slight tribal realm at points which one might …

Black Leather Jesus/Creation Through Destruction – Split CD
Terror
Harsh noise is the name of the game once again from this heavy split release with each artist presenting 2 long ass tracks. The artwork is interesting, yet it seems like this split brings together two quite unrelated concepts so it comes across as more of just a 2 for 1 deal instead of a consistent artistic project, although the sounds do manage to compliment each other well.
Creation Through Destruction kicks things off with pure blasts of pedal noise. The material is nicely …

Gnawed/Ice Volt – Split C20
Insides Music/Spit and Cuss
Here is an absolutely SICK split tape between these two Minneapolis iconoclasts Gnawed and Ice Volt. Of course I am quite familiar with the prolific and devastating project of Grant Richardson that is Gnawed. Ice Volt on the other hand keeps quite a low profile and although I’ve personally met the man I have yet to have heard his recorded material under this moniker.
Well Gnawed is up first on side A with Denied and just from the title I am already loving Richardson’s …

Murderous Vision & Fascist Insect – Primordial Beings From Dimensions Unknown LP
Black Maggot Noise Productions/Live Bait Recording Foundation
Here’s a collaboration between two Ohio-based acts. Murderous Vision is the long-running ambient/industrial act from Stephen Petrus and Fascist Insect is a noisy grindcore four-piece from the Cleveland area. The artwork here is strait forward and the LP itself is clear with blood spatter all over it to make for a uniquely packaged artifact.
Side A features 3 tracks of industrial/noise. The title track is up first and features howling walls of sound and …

Instinct Control – This is Where I Draw the Inflection Line CDr
Liscentric
Instinct Control is Ryan T. Dunn from Chicago also the man behind the infamous venue Enemy. This was released back in 2009 and at the time I had the pleasure to witness him live. I’m guessing this material was created with the same equipment he employed in the live set – circuit bent and manipulated tape machines.
This is experimental sound through and through. It has a very analog sound and every single track is merely one layer of pulsating, …

Robe. – Remains of a Burning World C60
Thors Rubber Hammer
Here’s another effort from Robe. which is actually some older material recorded in 2008 but re-released on cassette in 2009 after an initial first run as a CDr release. If you’re not familiar with Robe. they are a duo from Indiana that create black noise with guitars and electronics.
The usual issue I’ve found with Robe. is that they fall into that muddy rut of creating rather dry sub-par guitar noise. This is not the case for the first two tracks on …

Bagman – Men Who Solicit Sex CD
Murderabilia Records
From the second my hand caressed the black cellophane wrap on this release I knew this would be a power electronics affair. Unfortunately you have to destroy the outer wrapping to get to the CD itself but the design is minimal and tastefully done.
Men Who Solicit Sex is described as “A study in five parts on the topic of unlawful sexual solicitations.” What Bagman presents is roughly 30 minutes of harsh traditional power electronics with plenty of media and news samples surrounding the …

Bitchneck – All This is Yours C10
Self Released
Here’s a quick tape from one of Boston’s finest unsung power electronics projects. Bitchneck creates a range of experimental sounds which usually find themselves falling into the power electronics genre and on this quick tape they culminate into a hearty slab of brutal aural assaults.
Side A consists of two tracks, the first is a mixture of weird experimentation with an almost digital effect to the sound but layers of oscillating synths and noise attacks join it with scathing vocals. The second track is …

Funerary Call – Nightside Emenations CD
Malignant Records
Time for some proper dark ambient music with one of the more recent albums (two were released in 2012) from Funerary Call. If you’re not familiar with the project Funerary Call is Harlow Macfarlane also the mane behind the death industrial project Sistrenatus. Under the FC moniker Macfarlane creates ritualistic dark ambient music with a heavily organic feel.
The sounds on Nightside Emenations are quite well spread out and composed only dealing with thick slabs of layers at key moments. This helps to create a …

The Subtraction – The One Who Infests Ships C30
Land of Decay
The Subtraction is a project featuring J.Soliday of Winters in Osaka and Omar Gonzalez of Machismo. What they present with The One Who Infests Ships is roughly 30 minutes of darkened electronics ranging from bleak ambience to seething experimental.
Side A is the calmer, quieter side but immediately noticeable is the focus on layering detailed sounds. On the surface it feels quite minimal but a more focused listen will yield eerie melodies, dark textures, and morphing elements.
Side B is more angst-ridden …