Iron Fist of the Sun – Danny La Rue Died in His Sleep C50
Unrest Productions
Here is the much hyped project that I have heard so much about yet haven’t gotten a chance to actually listen to their output. The big question is: do they deliver? Do they live up to the hype? Well you’ll have to keep reading to find out.
This is a pretty burly tape clocking in at 50 minutes – these longer tapes are becoming much more rare in the noise world. Side A is broken into 4 …

Josh Lay & PBK – s/t CDR
Syndrom Records
Here’s a collaboration between two noise artists Josh Lay and PBK the latter of which I have not been exposed to before. It sounds however, that they are quite the match because these two tracks fall in line with what I have heard from Josh Lay before. It appears that PBK only stands to compliment Lay’s sound.
What they present are two tracks clocking in at almost 15 minutes each. The style is ambient/noise with musique concrete samples and some vague industrial elements. Noticeable …

Lavas Magmas – Ten Swords C20
Together Tapes
Here’s another installment in the chronicles of Lavas Magma’s discography and still upping the ante for his style of atmospheric industrial music. This is one of my favorite projects currently in operation and Ten Swords is a testament to that reasoning.
Side A contains the track Mall of America and features bubbling oscillators combined with heavily distorted textures. The overblown bits of sound and crunch that Lavas Magmas attains here is impressive with a kind of saturation that overloads the senses yet doesn’t subtract from …

FRKSE – Guilt Surveillance LP
Divergent Series
Here’s the latest release from Boston’s resident esoteric weirdos FRKSE. Mixing noise, black metal, eastern music, hip-hop, and electronica it’s always a genre bending affair when FRKSE goes on the prowl and Guilt Surveillance is no different in that respect. Yet, it is different where composition and aesthetic vision are concerned as this LP is a much more focused and mature release than what they have achieved before.
It might be that the majority of the songs are shorter than FRKSE’s last few releases – it …

Jason Crumer – Let There Be Crumer CD
Second Layer Records
With a pretty significant stylistic departure from the droning monster that is Walk With Me, Jason Crumer has returned. Let There Be Crumer is his fifth full length and is much more diverse. With powerful, tense ambient environments and all out harsh noise, Let There Be Crumer is varied and captivating.
Overall, the most immense parts of this album are the subtle soundscapes Crumer builds through his ambient works. Delicate yet tense drones pervade this album throughout. Lovelock, NM starts the album …

Dead Boomers – Family Money CDR
Sabbatical
I believe this is the first official release from this duo who – with their full-length LP release The Pig in the Python – reminded me so much of The Cathode Terror Secretion. Yet this disc varies from that sound quite a bit.
What is delivered here are seven tracks of subdued industrial noise with muddled power electronics vocals here and there. The style is very much in the vein of newer Sutcliffe Jugend; it’s not loud, but still rather aggressive, almost quiet and academic …

John Mannion – .. …….. C30
Mannion Chemicals
For those of you who have heard John Mannion’s legendary LP Cut Through Glass/Metal you can expect .. …….. to be a different beast all together. Presenting minimalist experimental tracks with a clean picked electric guitar at its base these sounds have an entirely different feel than his Hanson release.
Mannion does a good job with keeping the guitar noodling interesting though by creating huge tone clusters as well as gestures and large movements that sometimes sound quite alluring. Other times, there are synth sounds …

Pulse Emitter – Meditative Music 4 CDR
Self Released
Reviewing music that is made for a certain purpose can be a challenge. Because I always listen to music for the purposes I intend for it, so sometimes it’s difficult to try and remove yourself from what you’re used to and imagine what it would be like to listen to this in the way it’s intended for. For instance I don’t meditate, so the music on this disc may be interpreted differently by a guru, or someone who knows about meditating.
My first impression …

Suburbia Melting/Cory Schumacher – Departure C30
Darker Days Ahead
Here’s a split tape with a side project of Andrew Quitter from Regosphere (quickly becoming the man with many faces) and Cory Shumacher. First off the artwork is great on this beast: high contrast black and white comic style drawing as the cover with simple text and photo on the inside adds a realistic yet fantastic touch.
Mr. Schumacher is up first with heavy noise walls. The distortion is piled on thick as molasses here with a ton of delay in the mix. Not …

V/A – Auris Apothecary Sampler #2 C45
Auris Apothecary
Here’s a very eclectic offering from the excellent Auris Apothecary label. For those that aren’t aware Auris Apothecary defines the concept of a boutique label with elaborate and artistic packaging, strange sounds, and an unwavering aesthetic. They are truly at the top of their game with this sampler smartly packaged in a folding case and sealed with wax. The sampler is also available online here for those who can’t get their hands on the physical release or are too lame to have a …