Seth Ryan/Disthroned Agony – split C30
Northern Lord
Here’s a split tape with each side featuring one track from each artist. Seth Ryan is up first with Diabetic Coma 2 which features a heavy oscillator joined by reverberating noise and sickened vocals. The track is monolithic without much going on besides the two main layers and vocals which gives it a heavy feel but also keeps it from being engaging. The sounds seem to represent a kind of nauseous feeling with the low frequencies represented nicely. It brings to mind the sound …

Nyodene D – I Have No Mouth, yet I Must Scream C30
Obscurex
Nyodene D could still be considered a relative “newcomer” having had his first release in 2008 but upon hearing I Have No Mouth, Yet I Must Scream one would be hard-pressed to know. The release is a well composed collection of tracks featuring a heavy death industrial feel with belting vocals which push it over into the power electronics realm.
The vocals remind me of Grunt being relatively clean, with perhaps a touch of delay and distortion, usually in front …

Robe. – The Dying Light CDR
Little Furry Things
Here’s a lo-fi CDR with cheap photocopied paper packaging in a little plastic slip case. There’s little-to-no information provided on the release so I assume all the tracks must be untitled. Robe. play ambient/drone somewhat reminding me of Locrian but without so much of the post-rock influence.
Many of these tracks have a digital feel to them with the first track starting off with some nice low drones and whispy reverberating effects. Unfortunately tracks 2 and 3 are some of the longest on the …

Cowards – Forgotten Resonance CD
Semata Productions
Fuck year-end lists, I find it much easier to pick one, yes, just ONE album for the year of 2010 and this would be it. It may seem quite astounding Cowards has crafted such an intense masterpiece considering this is their debut release but when you consider the fact that the duo consists of Jesse Allen – one half of the incredible Cathode Terror Secretion and Nick Pace – the man behind Diaphragm – it is no surprise that they are the architects of this …

Wilt – She Walks the Night 7″+C30
Husk Records
Not everyday you see a 7″ coupled with a cassette so this seems like a special release from the high-quality D.I.Y. label Husk Records who never seem to disappoint. Another thing this release makes me realize is that with all the comings-and-goings-on and day-to-day rat races I haven’t done very well with keeping up on Wilt’s discography. I think the last thing I may have really delved deeply into was the excellent “Black Box Aesthetic” which may have been their debut from way …

V/A – Localized Epidemic C16
Insides Music
Localized Epidemic is a quick little compilation featuring harsh noise and power electronics from Minneapolis which seems to have quite a burgeoning scene. All-in-all this is a very solid release with no real weak points anywhere and a good introduction to a number of artists that I was not familiar with.
The tracks are short, generally clocking in just over the 2 minute mark. Probably my favorite track here is the opener Grin by Gnawed. There’s just something about the vocals and the lyrics that come …

Blessed Sacrifist – Timeless Losers 3″CDR
FTAM
Blessed Sacrifist is the Milwaukee based project of Jason Linski who is also a part of Owls Cry, XxXAllxForxThisXxX and the man behind BullArt Media. With this project he plays power electronics in an eclectic way employing drone, classical music samples, and heavy dynamics to create a varied atmosphere of concrete and harsh electronics.
Timeless Losers has a similar atmosphere to his full-length Falling. Quiet drones and whispers quickly work up to searing distorted walls of noise with delayed screaming vocals and blunt rhythmic barrages. With …

Girnų Giesmės – Sau Kraštas CD
Self Released
With Sau Kraštas, Girnu Giesmes presents about 40 minutes of flowing, shining, metallic drone atmospheres. The disc is packaged in a simple black and white sleeve depicting blurry images of far-off landscapes which reflect the sound accurately.
Although the opener Brandinta Kupole 1 Dalis is a noisier track, don’t be fooled. Girnu Giesmes keeps the noise and distortion level reigned in for the bulk of Sau Kraštas to form an organic, shifting, and undulating hypnotic experience. The second track Brandinta Kupole 2 Dalis sharing in …

Drowner/Sterile Garden – Split CDR
Basement Tapes
Here’s a short CDR split that makes sense. I’m not previously familiar with either of these artists but they each present 3 tracks of lo-fi ambient noise.
There are more characteristics they have in common than not. Most of the noise has a drone core to the tracks with sputtering distorted layers adding to the textures. Squealing feedback harmonies join the mix. Generally Drowner’s material seems a bit noisier and Sterile Garden tends more toward the side of subtlety.
I find the aptly titled Sterile Garden tracks …

A Snake in the Garden/Zerfallt – Einfgall C44+C14
Gryd Complex
Here are 2 cassettes tastefully packaged together the first being a 44 minute split between Vermont’s A Snake in the Garden and Boston’s Zerfallt, and the second being a little 14 minute jammer which is a collab between the two projects entitled Einfgall.
Zerfallt is up first in this orgy of sound with 3 tracks representing a much louder side to the project then what has been released previously. This is harsh noise with a synthesizer base to the sound. However, pedal effects …