Samarkande – Performance X CDr
Self Released
Performance X is a live recording by this odd experimental outfit Samarkande who actually sounds quite original. That does however come at a cost; the music is a strange combination of sounds and styles which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.
It’s tough to try and figure out a description of Samarkande’s style. Experimental electronic music with touches of drone. Either way the style leans to the more musical side of the genre while using experimental elements to add layers and passages to the tracks.
The atmosphere …

Gnaw Their Tongues – All the Dread Magnificence of Perversity CD
Crucial Blast
Gnaw Their Tongues is an interesting project who I don’t think I’ve completely wrapped my head around yet. First I know of their split with Corephallism which was released in 2012 and was my first exposure to the project in which they present a heaving industrial track. And then I reviewed their full length L’arrivée de la Terne Mort Triomphante which was released in 2010. Now I find All the Dread Magnificence of Perversity in my review pile which …

Gnawed – Fissure C60
Maniacal Hatred
Ok ok. I was going to start this review all gushy over how much I am in love with the work of Gnawed but I have a bone to pick with this tape. How can you call this a C60? It has the same material on both sides! Isn’t it really a C30? I mean, it’s physically a C60; yes. But it has 30 minutes of material on it! I shouldn’t complain, I didn’t pay for this.
So NOW I’ll gush about how much I love Gnawed. …

Sutcliffe Jugend – With Extreme Prejudice CD
Cold Spring
Who would think that after 32 years Sutcliffe Jugend would not only still be creating music under the moniker but would also still be at the head of the pack where noise/industrial is concerned? How did they escape the tasteless fate of churning out dancy techno anthems in exchange for a fate of complete despair in no-holds-barred abstract extreme music?!
I can’t answer these questions but I certainly can enjoy the result. In looking at where With Extreme Prejudice falls on the SJ discography …

Anemone Tube – “The Transfiguration Of The Image” – C25
Danvers State Recordings
Here we have a new tape of three long out of print compilation tracks, as well as shorter new track, by Germany’s long running Anemone Tube. Active since the mid-90’s, Stefan Hanser creates his own unique blend of heavy looping harsh electronics, power electronics structures, dark ambient textures and in more recent years, field recording manipulations. That may sound like a lot to take in, but back before people became stuck in the harshly defined genre separations seen in …

STDFN / Terrorist Financing – Split – C5
Toilet Experience Records
Here’s an extremely short split by two new bands doing there take on the classic noisecore sound that seems to almost have died out in the past decade with the fall of most of the originators. I know for a lot of us into harsh noise, bands like A.C., 7 Minutes Of Nausea, Sore Throat, Gore Beyond Necropsy, etc. are what started our love for harsh sounds. So it’s great to see some newer bands taking up the flag and doing …

Wrong Hole – “Virgins Go To Hell, Fuck Your Way To Heaven” – C15
Monorail Trespassing
Here’s a short but sweet tape by Wrong Hole from Los Angeles. This one came out a while ago, but is still available from the label and was procured from Nile when he was on tour this past Winter. The production is lo-fi but crisp enough to get the point across and the tape it’s self is dubbed loud and clear. The artwork is nice textured close up capture from some video, abstracted and nice colors …

Machinefabriek – Veldwerk CD
Cold Spring
With astute design and bold colors and text Veldwerk is presented. The artwork is curious especially coming from a label that specializes in the dark and gothic. But it appears here that Machinefabriek focuses on carefully composed musique concrete with other subtle elements added.
The compositions are quite effective using delicate sounds that ebb and flow. Peaks and valleys lead to moments of engaging sound effects, subtle haunting harmonies, and finally intense noise swells to form a well-rounded front. There are also elements of guitar which somehow …

Sunken Cheek – Prince Of Mind / Husk 7″
Torn Light
Immediately noticeable is the excellent packaging on this release. The artwork is simple yet effective using silk screened blue ink on black matte and accompanying this is a giant fold-out poster. More than one could ask for in a seven inch record already. One fair warning is that this record plays at 45rpm so it’s very quick, maybe 8 minutes tops.
Sunken Cheek represents everything that I want in noise these days; creepy atmosphere, harsh electronics, tinges of industrial scraping at the …

Encounters – Formless Migration CDr
Self Released
Ok, this was originally reviewwed as a Husere Grav release because it had no info in it and me by the artist. It’s actually Encounters which is a duo of Husere Grav and half of NRIII; the latter of which I am not familiar with. There is absolutely no information provided anywhere on the release but it is a slimline jewel case that comes in a black envelope with a photocopied image pasted on the front. Quite esoteric.
The audio here clocks in at 33 minutes …