Black Bloc – No Innocent Civilians 2xCDR
Self Released
This is the first full-length recording that I have delved into from Black Bloc and it’s a heavy effort. Two discs with each containing two tracks and rounding out to about an hours worth of material. Black Bloc’s style here is very unique because in many cases the noise has post-rock elements mixed into it which range from slowly moving piano melodies, guitars, and floating drones. There are even moments on here that remind me quite a bit of something from Godspeed You …

Filth – Winter Mind C55
Out-of-Body Records
Winter Mind is yet another of the first steps from label Out-of-Body Records and they’re off to a great start. This is my first exposure to Filth but I’m happy to report that it is yet another excellent slab of blackened power electronics/death industrial in the vein of Morder Machine, …Today I’m Dead and Atrax Morgue.
Side A features some great sonic shifts, the sound here will be bent into the depths of ugly tape decay and peeling grit only to soar into filter sweeped walls …

T.O.M.B. – Total Occultic Mechanical Blasphemy II CD
Fall Of Nature Records
Firmly rooted in a black metal motif, TOMB presents “Total Occultic Mechanical Blasphemy II”, a compilation collecting TOMB’s “Sacrilegium” and “Black Crypt Worship” along with the unreleased album “Dungeon Sessions”. While the imagery here may come off as somewhat corny and overdone, “Total Occultic Mechanical Blasphemy II” is a solid experimental and black noise album. With vicious, distorted vocals in a typical depressive black style, TOMB explores black metal ideals while heavily branching out into more industrial and experimental themes. …

Diagram A – Limited Guts CDR
Self Released
Here’s a special limited edition CDR compilation of previously limited edition tracks from the cupboard of Diagram A! Tracks 1,2,3 & 5 were previously released on a CDR by RRRecords in 2004 and tracks 4 & 6 were previously released on a cassette entitled Pure Guts in 2004 as well.
Diagram A is the token example of a D.I.Y. harsh noise project, all instruments are handmade by the artist himself, played, and performed by Dan Greenwood. Yet Limited Guts features tracks that are much more …

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 …

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 …