Yiodohsan Khallyostro – Caina Monumental 3″CDR
Heretic Recordings
Here’s a quick noise blast from this artist who is unknown to me. It’s been a while since I’ve heard from Heretic Recordings and I’m not sure how old this record is, but here’s hoping that they’re still active because they’re definitely a pretty damn good label. I consistently enjoy their handmade packaging efforts and this 3″CDR falls right in place with the rest of them. Textured paper with heavy silkscreen print and the side of the plastic baggy is sewed up which just …

Veiled – Museu Secret C24
Silvox Recordings
Veiled is a duo of Robert Francisco – of M Ax Noi Mach, Angeldust – and Arnau Sala performing synth-pop mixed with subtle nods to power electronics. This genre mashup seems to be a rising trend with groups like Throat, Haus Arafna and Thorofon leading the way, not to mention the flirtations of Prurient and Cold Cave. Of course there has been convergence with synth pop from other power electronics as well, probably the worst offenders being Strom.ec and Irikarah. I say that with humor …

V/A – Blood Dirt Compilation Vol. 1 CDR
Owl Records/Blood Dirt Cassettes
Here’s a completely eclectic compilation covering folk, noise, indie rock, ambient, and experimental. This is really all over the place yet the material from each genre is of a decent quality. I might even go as far as to say the noise on here – Richard Ramirez, Black Leather Jesus – seems a bit out of place due to it’s S&M nature, aggression and stark contrasts between the other more musical works on the disc.
After a track that is kind …

Sky Burial – Aegri Somnia CD
Utech Records
Yet another Sky Burial release. Does Michael Page ever sleep?! This time we have quite a collaborative effort, with art from famed tattooist Thomas Hooper and sonic contributions from Hawkwind’s Nik Turner and mastering by Justin Broaderick this is a quite a massive work.
The album is broken up into two long tracks, the first Movement I: The Synaethete’s Lament is a drifting new-age track that features bursts of saxophone layered into the mix. Drifting synth harmonies, lightly clanking metallic elements, and very slow …

Hive Mind & John Wiese – …Trick Satanism 10″EP
Chondritic Sound
Here’s a pretty great looking collaboration between these two artists of mammoth sounds. The artwork here is colorful, filthy collage work and contains a heavy vinyl record within. The sound is a really great mix between the staple qualities of both these artists and forms a thick layer of grit and grime on everything within listening distance.
Side A, entitled: It’s exactly What You Think It Is is the more aggressive track here with slowly rotating drones that are absolutely soaked in …

Pale Tongues/Watcher – Split 3″CDR
Waterpower
Here’s a quick release from Waterpower featuring two artists who are new to me. Both present extremely harsh noise with a touch of a power electronics edge. The funny thing about the release is that there is no information contained within, it can only be found on the website and on forum posts, which is strange to me. Why release a hardcopy for collectors but not include the essential information?!
Either way, Pale Tongues is up first and their harsh noise contains a lot of high-pitched …

Stemcell Research Project – Charnel Houses CD
Syzmic Records
Here’s a heavy dosage of black noise from the Syzmic Records camp. This is my first exposure to SRP but not a bad one at all. Lo-fi and minimalist sounds here. Whispers, echoing screams, and slow-moving harmonic drones, especially in The Rite of Ossilegium which is probably my favorite track here with it’s almost peaceful, yet still extremely creepy vibe.
The effectiveness dips in the middle a little bit with Cutting the Vessel which is some crackling lo-fi, possibly digital noise which doesn’t do …

S.T.U.G. 218 – Order 218 C54
Violent Noise Atrocities
S.T.U.G. 218 is a side project of the man behind Deadwood. Previously, if I recall the sound has been more along the lines of harsh noise wall, but with Order 218 the artist presents a sickened array of harsh noise, death industrial, and power electronics. This is probably the first time I’ve thoroughly enjoyed material from this artist, and I can say with confidence that Order 218 is top-notch.
The production on the tape is excellent, all the harshness is bold and in-your face, …

Roto Visage – Where The Mandrakes Grow CD
Autumn Wind Productions
Roto Visage is a project who’s name popped up a few years ago along with a barrage of releases. Possibly one of the most prolific dark ambient projects around, Roto Visage has released 27 albums since it’s first in 2005. My previous experience with the project has only consisted of a few online releases and although I enjoyed what I heard the material failed to really “grab” me.
Where The Mandrakes Grow is a disc that very much brings to mind the …

Peter J Woods/Brutophilia – Burials, Ruins, Offerings 2×3″CDR
FTAM
Holy shit. I am always so thankful when I find something like this that’s been sitting in the review pile forever and I pick it up and realize how fucking insanely awesome it is that this was even made. Perhaps this is a bit dated at this point, but both artists absolutely rip it up with this split release which is nicely organized on 2 3″CDRs. Gotta love these things.
Peter J Woods takes the white disc with 3 tracks of punishing industrial. The …

Andris Balins – 9.21.11 C20
Owl Records/Blood Dirt Cassettes
Here’s a weird and wonderful release. 9.21.11 is artfully packaged in a melted vinyl record with a splash of red paint across the front. Shaped into a stand-alone holder, the cassette lives comfortably within. The music itself is also quite intimate. Harmonic bells and slow guitar meld with a healthy air of ambience and tape hiss to form a quiet yet melancholy and beautiful piece of music.
My only gripe is that it is one long track split between two sides so when side …

Breaking Wheel – Poise/Ache CDR
Fever Recordings Limited
According to the label this is the only recorded statement of this group whose future is decidedly uncertain. The death seems a bit premature as I’ve never even heard the name Breaking Wheel before, and although the sounds may come off as just a touch generic there is certainly some promise within.
Only 3 tracks grace this little EP that features understated yet classy packaging. Plain white with sparse text provides nothing more than the absolute essential information. The track Poise features crunchy and heavily …

Regosphere / Vexations – Split C30
Horse Worship
Regosphere is a name that is constantly gaining momentum in the noise scene. With dense and apprehensive death industrial work and harshness that is never overdone, the self coined term of “anxiety electronics” is a considerably accurate one. Vexations is a project that I’m not particularly familiar with but this project’s side is an excellent pairing with Regosphere’s sounds.
The Regosphere side, titled “Heat Lightning (Waiting For Blood To Boil), is a constant buildup of anxious atmospheres and weird synth sounds. Industrial loops push the …

Jason Crumer – First Two Records on CD CD
Freak Animal Productions
Here is a mammoth release from Finland’s Freak Animal Productions representing this American artist. Jason Crumer started off as Aluminum Noise and had several great releases under that moniker until he started releasing music as American Band after releasing an ambient album as Amazing Grace. Needless to say he has found his sound now under his own name, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
The CD contains the first two LPs that Jason Crumer released: Future With No …

Brume & Kommissar Hjuler und Frau – Salicylat C40
Blossoming Noise
Here I am again reviewing yet another already sold-out release. If I can’t even keep up with all these great releases from the Blossoming Noise camp how is the hapless collector supposed to?! Well, I guess they have to pay top dollar for it on eBay or something, yet I’m happy to report this cassette would be worth it! Everyone should be familiar with the epic sounds of C. Renou’s Brume project, yet Kommissar Hjuler Und Frau is a new name …

Crank Sturgeon – Mashacoustic CD
Love Earth Music
Crank Sturgeon is an old school experimental/weird noise act that’s been in the game for as long as I can remember. He is the true embodiment of “weird” and Mashacoustic stays true to the aesthetic Crank has been carving out for some time. Floor Gans – the first track – easily sets the tone for the oddness that is about to grace your ears with a purely spoken word affair: “The bundle wine of basketeers weeeeeening their snipped bits of pant leg and beard …

Developer – OOBR004 C30
Out-of-Body Records
Developer is the harsh noise project of Matthew Reis, better known for being the man behind Teeth Collection. Utilizing the catalog numbers as the titles themselves, Developer’s sound is one simultaneously harsh and strange. With smashing industrial sections that constantly devolve into straightforward harsh noise in one way or another, ”OOBR004” takes on a sound that won’t be unfamiliar to harsh noise fans but contributes things like weird field recordings to add a bizarre edge.
The transition here is constant while maintaining a harsh noise base that …

Gnawed – Patience Is Waste C40
Out-of-Body Records
Taking a much more restrained approach this time around, Gnawed’s “Patience Is Waste” retains a lot of the heaviness of 2011’s “Purge”, but this time in a much slower, more deliberate fashion. There is very little blazing harshness found on this tape; most of the atmosphere here evolves slowly and, in a fashion almost rendering the title ironic, patiently.
The title is strange on this release; the biggest factor that comes back to me time and time again for this tape is patience. The drones …

V/A – Divelto CD
Tetsubishi Gob-Stopper
Here is another confusing release. I’m not even sure if this label is still active or what but this is actually a compilation with random information printed all over the packaging so it’s kind of difficult to tell what address leads to what artist/label/etc. Plus there are 57 tracks on this puppy so the track-listing divides up the tracks per artist. It seems this is a mix of noise/industrial and cybergrind type stuff.
The first 6 tracks go to a project called Jesus of Nazareth of which …

RLW – Sechs Abstände LP
Blossoming Noise
RLW is abstract composer, Ralf Wehowsky, co-founder of the Wahrnehmungen & Selektion labels although he is previously unknown to me. With Sechs Abstände however, he offers an excellent introduction to his carefully composed sounds. I would probably file this one under the free improv umbrella but it doesn’t seem to share many of the more negative qualities with the genre.
Side A consists of three tracks each gaining in intensity. Irrung is quiet with slow drones staying very subtle all the way through. While Fragezeichen …

Chefkirk/Marlo Eggplant – Untitled CDR
Control Valve/Corpus Callosum
Good ‘ol Chefkirk! Good to see him back on hardcopy these days as his last few releases have gone strait to mp3. Marlo Eggplant is an artist who I have little experience with, only having seen her live at the Victoria Noise! Fest last year. Both offer some established experimental noise on this split disc.
Chefkirk is up first with an epic 20 minute track entitled Overcoming Computer Anxiety. It’s quite a roller coaster ride with perhaps the first 15 minutes consisting of quiet subdued …

Vice Wears Black Hose – Part 2 CDR
Violent Noise Atrocities
Well, it’s 2012 and wall noise is still here, perhaps going stronger than ever. Although I can’t say I like it much more today than I did when the it first graced my ears I think it’s at least time for me to reevaluate my rating criteria of it, if not try to appreciate it while in the moment of listening. More importantly Vice Wears Black Hose is the wall noise supergroup of Richard Ramirez (Black Leather Jesus) and Sam Mckinlay …

Locrian – Territories CD
BloodLust!/Small Doses
The step between genres, more often than not, seems to be a precarious one for most artists. The choice of what the music gets the most of genrewise can either make an album phenomenally or break one equally phenomenally. Locrian’s Territories is a shining example of the former. Though firmly rooted in a black metal mentality, this lustrous album spans from black metal to power electronics to ambient to drone, all tastefully and masterfully accomplished. The sounds here are sweeping and expansive, giving ear to all …

Winters In Osaka – Mutual Collapse CD
W.K.F.E.W.R.
I immediately found this release rather odd since my previous experiences with Winters In Osaka had always featured them manifesting with a drone based sound. However, with Mutual Collapse the harsh is brought in various formations.
The first three tracks are a mixture of harsh noise and power electronics with vocals, throbbing distortion, and walls of intense sound. The most effective of the three is most definitely Baby Pop with it’s great crunchy bass attacks and screeching highs. The least effective is the 5 minute …

Penetration Camp/Slicing Grandpa – Four Flies on Grey Vinyl 7″
Drug-Front Productions/Strain Theory/Scatological Liberation Front
This release has me really confused in more ways then one. It took a while to actually figure out that the artists are Penetration Camp and Slicing Grandpa because all it says is “Four Flies” on both covers. It’s not really clear what record label actually released this, or even what side each artist is on (luckily it says in the description on the website). I was also curious if this had anything to do with the …

Nyodene D – Every Knee Shall Bow CD
Assembly of Hatred
Every Knee Shall Bow marks the first proper CD release for this newer death industrial/power electronics project hailing from Ohio. So far the releases I’ve been exposed to from Nyodene D have been of solid stature and Every Knee Shall Bow follows suit with what has become expected from the artist.
There are 4 long tracks – each clocking in at over 10 minutes – featured on the disc. They mostly consist of low synthesized drones, industrial loops and heavily delayed screaming …

Sudden Infant – Psychotic Einzelkind CD
Blossoming Noise
Here is a 2008 release from Switzerland’s revered son Joke Lanz who masquerades as Sudden Infant when creating insane art-infused noise. Although I have been exposed to several of his works in the past this is one that I seem to have missed, although I do recognize several of the tracks from the live performances that I have attended.
This is definitely a great release and good starting point for people who are not familiar with his work as the disc spans the many …

Grain Belt – Grain Belt CD
Small Doses, White Centipede Noise, Phage Tapes
Grain Belt appears to be an HNW supergroup composed of the members of Baculum, Willful, and Wince. The sound here is industrial at its basest: extreme squalls of industrial noise with subtle shifts over the span of the album. The pitch here is mostly in the higher range and tends to stay there. The variations in the wall are enough to keep this album engaging and utilize a lot of scrap metal noise. Brief melodic tones in the background …

Flesh Coffin – Folie à Deux CDR
Dumpsterscore Home Recordings
Andreas Brandal is the man behind the quickly rising Flesh Coffin moniker and he is taking the noise world by storm. Offering strange and unusual sounds, Flesh Coffin is easily carving out his own niche in style and sound while sticking to a classic dark and gritty aesthetic. This is what I truly love about noise.
Folie à Deux consists of two long tracks to form almost 40 minutes worth of seething distorted atmospheres, harsh noise bursts, odd textures, and sometimes almost academic …

KVIK – Feeds CDR
Brise-Cul
KVIK is an experimental/drone project hailing from Montreal. With Feeds he presents three long tracks of minimalist experimental tracks with some drone influence. The CDR is spraypainted and features some tasteful and iconic artwork to accompany the music.
Return Signals is the first track and it gradually lulls in with low bubbly synthesizer drones. These are accompanied by other noisy synth elements that become quite screechy and wanky along the way. The Hand That Feeds follows up with a repetitive feedback jolt that continues through the bulk of …

The Kali Ensemble – The Kali Ensemble CD
Phage Tapes/Turgid Animal
The Kali Ensemble is a collaboration between Michael Page (of Sky Burial, Irukandji, and the late Fire in the Head) and Pentti Dassum who I am unfamiliar with. The art on this disc immediately brings to mind a tribal feel with it’s Indian influenced artwork. Both songs clock in at over 30 minutes, and are respectively titled The Seven Tongues MK I & II.
Strangely enough the sounds that the Kali Ensemble present are much more industrial than tribal. The first track …

Gnaw Their Tongues – L’Arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante CD
Crucial Blast
Now my French may be a little rusty but I do believe that this album explores a few concepts centered around death. Death triumphant, songs of death, white death, and any other imaginable types of death that one could possibly want. The concept of death is classicly represented on L’Arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante through somber strings, bombastic chords, and valiant rhythms that fall together like a gorgeous Gothic symphony. This is neo-classical through and through.
Heavy, plodding percussion …

Nxfxtxex – Press Play And Shuffle 3″CDR
Shit Music For Shit People
Nxfxtxex, or Not For Trendy Ears, is a Danish noise project that, from what I can determine based on the material found on Press Play And Shuffle, stays more on the absurd side of the noise genre than anything. Consisting of 99 tracks within about a twenty minute time span, I’m reminded of Sissy Spacek’s self titled album in terms of format but, in terms of concept, Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s Altered States of America is what comes to mind more when …

Churner – Coffin Angel CDR
Violent Noise Atrocities
Here is my first exposure to the already prolific artist Churner. He seems to spew depraved power electronics noise from almost every orifice with this simple CDR release. The packaging is ultra minimal using simple text and stickers on a stock digipak.
The album kicks off with what is probably the most creative track here, a lonely organ tone eventually working itself into a frenzy of obliterating distortion. The rest of the album features sickened power electronics and harsh noise with screamed and distorted …

Josh Hydeman – Chiaroscuro CD
Entropic Tarot Records
Chiaroscuro is a release that is now a few years old and I believe is one that stands out among Josh Hydeman’s release catalog as he is more well known for his harsh noise and power electronics works. So it is that Chiaroscuro explores slowly evolving synthesizer compositions featuring metallic patches, organized drones, slowly moving pitched pads and even the sound of a guitar here and there.
The entire album has the atmosphere of an old creepy sci-fi film. As the album artwork is all …

Shalocins – Scrapped Mold CDR
Dumpsterscore Home Recordings
Here is my first exposure to the project Shalocins. With Scrapped Mold they present almost an hour’s worth of material in two long tracks, both recorded live. The artwork here is simple yet tasteful following the aesthetic of most Dumpsterscore releases.
The style of Shalocins is junky harsh noise with synth and pedal sounds. It’s quite generic and doesn’t really do much for me as it’s also a bit wanky with long passages of fuckery, squealing circuits, and dead radio noise. At first I thought …

Budrūs – Devyniems Rytams Auštant CD
Self Released
Here’s a heavy disc of black ambient from an unknown project to me. I have no idea where Budrūs hails from but I wouldn’t be surprised if they reside in deep dark woods, or some foggy isolated lofty mountaintop somewhere based on the earthly drones emanating from Devyniems Rytams Auštant. They merge harmonic synthesized beds with various black metal influenced vocal deliveries and some tribal percussion to form a unique sound.
Sometimes the vocals are screamed and sometimes they are whispered or spoken gruffly. The …

V/A – Dreadful Passage CD
Hipster Death Records
Here’s an ambient noise compilation that I believe consists of mostly Seattle-based artists. I know at least Joy Von Spain and Cathartech are from Seattle; I guess the rest of the artists are guilty by association. It’s a heavy release, clocking in at over 60 minutes with multiple tracks by some artists; this is a lot to take in.
Joy Von Spain & Patrick Urn collaborate for the first two tracks entitled Walking All Alone Pt. 1 & 2 which feature a weird combination of …

The Ritual Inclusion of Code – Beta Wave Nemesis CD
Small Doses
Here’s a nice flowing ambient album from the Small Doses camp – meaning that the artwork and design is top-notch. The design features symmetrical glitchy computer graphics multiplied to a thousand and cut to hell. Kind of strange because the sounds here are anything but reflective of the art work.
Dense beds of sounds – sometimes harmonic and sometimes noisy – are layered into a 30 minute exercise in ambient drone with some industrial influence here as the track grows. Meandering …

Merzbow – Microkosmos Volume 1 LP
Blossoming Noise
All the years of reviewing and I’m not sure if I’ve even ever reviewed a Merzbow release. I think it’s something I generally try to avoid because of all the baggage attached to such an endeavor. The debate on his proliferation, the analog-vs-digital debacle, his more accessible beat driven works, and finally his hard-edge stance on animal liberation. All of these topics I’d rather not tackle now but how can I ignore them when all those elements have had such an affect on his …

Ur – Clandestine Meeting Park C60
No Visible Scars
Here is the latest effort from Italian ambient/noise heavyweights Ur. With a handful of releases now under their belts they are fully prepared to bring it and on Clandestine Meeting Park they do just that.
Ur come from a unique angle; they merge ritual ambient with industrial elements to form an interesting mix of styles and one that is not very much explored by other noise acts. This is a one-sided 60 minute tape and it kicks off with beautifully resonating Tibetan bells that …

Andrea Pensado – Ktotam CD
Zeromoon
This is my first exposure to the work of Andrea Pensado and I can sense immediately that this is in the vein of free improvisation/academic style work. The noises are of the start/stop variety with intense variation. Differing so much at one time that it begins to blend together. There are many spastic breakthroughs of acoustic and contemporary classical samples of music that tend toward acoustic instrumentation and voice.
The bulk of the disc presents glitch style sounds, crackles and piecemeal. I’m guessing granulation is a heavily …

Regosphere & Extraordinary Pigeons – Split C20
Self Released
Here’s yet another great release from Regosphere this time splitting things up with the unfortunately named Extraordinary Pigeons. The latter of which I am not familiar with, yet Regosphere has been churning out some impressive material as of late and this tape delivers just as well as his previous material and is a good pairing of artists that while not too similar, are quite complimentary.
Extraordinary Pigeons is up first with the long drone track entitled Spirits of the Ice Forest. It’s a rather …

Buildings & Mountains – Summer Gut String CDR
Self Released
Here’s a hefty CDR with a menagerie of different sounds and styles. These tracks remind me a lot of the varied albums of Coil but there are moments of heavy experimentation, Muslimgauze-like beats, and even more melodic ambient pieces featured here.
It took a few listens to really fall in with what was going on here but after delving into it a few times I can safely say I find this release thoroughly enjoyable. The first few tracks lean more to the electro-Muslimgauze …

The Tenants of Balthazar’s Castle – The Moon CDr
A.Star
The liner notes for this release suggest one to wait until dark and listen in headphones with one’s eyes closed. With a preface like this, I expected some deep, dark ambient or some pulsating, entrancing death industrial. On “The Moon” by The Tenants of Balthazar’s Castle, that’s not quite what I got. The first track takes on an extreme ambient quality, then suddenly segments into The Voice of the Moon, an obnoxious piece with “random” synth wankery. While the transition is sudden …

Drape Excrement & Söldnergeist – Black Rider CD
Steinklang Industries
This is an oldie, but a goodie that I just got my hands on and simply have to write about it. What an impressive collaboration from these two excellent death industrial/dark ambient artists. First off, the packaging is simple with a classic dark feel featuring some great abstract artwork which bookends the release quite well.
Two shorter pieces kick things off featuring dense sound design, glassy textures and organ tones with even a very subtle glitch feel to I was a Fool which …

Flowerday – Snuff Film C30
Cathartic Process
With a brutal artistic direction, Flowerday’s Snuff Film is a fairly typical harsh noise wall release. While Flowerday doesn’t do much to break from the mold on this tape, the sound is vicious and HNW fans will appreciate Snuff Film for sure.
Side A contains the most variation on the tape. The sound consists of harsh, HNW textures with subtle shifts in tone and odd noises rising out of the wall. Frequency and tone plays a big part here; sounds like high pitched squalls and low …

V/A – Anhedonia C20
Fusty Cunt Tapes
Here’s a hyper-active compilation that consists mostly of American artists from the Midwest but a few from New York as well. The packaging is pretty over-the-top coming packaged in a diaper with the title of the comp written in sharpy on it. It’s definitely good for a laugh, as are a few of the other photos contained in the booklet, but you’ll have to pick this puppy up to find out which ones. Obviously part of the aim was to have fun with this and …

Kazumoto Endo & Kazuma Kubota – Switches and Knobs CD
Phage Tapes
Here’s another pummeling harsh noise release from the Phage Tapes camp once again representing 3rd wave Japanese noise artists. Kazumoto Endo is an artist I am familiar with as delivering some of the best in cut-up harsh sounds with a start-stop technique that he employs, almost as if he is playing a wind instrument and must take a second to breath for more air. The name Kazuma Kubota is one that I am not familiar with yet it looks like …

Hunted Creatures – Fall 2010 DVD
Dynamo Sound Collective
Here’s a varied DVD from Pittsburgh’s Hunted Creatures, a project which has been faithfully spearheaded by Ryan Emmet since it’s inception; yet now frequently features collaborators and a rotating cast of members. The DVD comes in a clear slimline case which somehow seems to be a bit more professional than a regular DVD case. On popping this puppy into the DVD player it’s nice that it has a full interactive menu that is tastefully designed.
The release features 4 short films with visuals created …

K2 – Abdominal Electricity CD
Phage Tapes
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a proper harsh noise release and what better act to get my hands dirty with than the ever-impressive K2. Coming from the steady caring hands of Phage Tapes this CD features some impressive graphic design along with its translucent jewel box case featuring strange diagrams, anatomical and mechanical outlines mixed with subtle textures and smart text to create a truly professional looking endeavor.
The sounds are a great reflection of the smart and complex design with tons of fast, …

Buildings and Mountains – Underwater C10
Blood Dirt Records
This cassette is possibly one of the most mysterious pieces of sound art to come my way. With minimal cardboard packaging with the only identifying factors scrawled in pen, “Underwater” by Buildings in Mountains represents a fierce DIY aspect that is only complemented by the weird, tweaked out basement sounds featured here. The sound here is mostly drone with fleeting ambient sounds and weird, ritualistic gongs and bells. Subtle textures weave their way in and out of the sound and create a twisting, …

Shiver – Born To Lose 3″CDR
Diazepam
Here’s my first exposure to this Italian project and it’s a solid one. The disc clocks in at about 18 minutes and features some decent noise/power electronics sounds.
The House of the Others kicks off with blaring noise feedback joined by a sample of the infamous Bud Dwyer suicide tape. It’s well-tread territory and clearly the mark of a newcomer but luckily the seething wall of noise that eventually blends in is intense and aggressive.
There Was Blood Everywhere is up next with a slower droning noise …

Flesh Coffin – Seeing Things C32
No Visible Scars
“Seeing Things” is a harsh noise entry by Flesh Coffin, and while this cassette doesn’t do much to deviate from a pretty typical harsh noise sound, “Seeing Things” has a nice dichotomy between cold, unrelenting harsh noise and lonely, isolationist ambient music going for it. While I feel like the juxtaposition of these two unlikely genres could have been exploited to a much greater extent on “Seeing Things”, the use overall is effective and creates a suitable contrast between the styles.
While the harsh …

Belialist – Belialist 3″CDR
Silken Tofu
Combining the cold industrial ambience of Sewer Goddess with the intense analog warmth of Brutophilia will get you Belialist. This is their first recording for the collaboration and I believe it is still the only recording available. One can only imagine the insanity that arises from a sum of their parts, but I will do my best to describe it for you.
Influences here seem to range from Italian death industrial greats like N. and Morder Machine to more atmospheric projects like Megaptera and Inade. Ridged Teeth …

Robe. – Fragile Construct 3″CDR
Tuguska Label
Fragile Construct is a quick disc not quite scratching the 20 minute mark featuring 3 tracks from this guitar ambient/noise duo.
The short intro track Fist puts things in the right direction with a shifting glassy textured drone that lasts for about a minute thirty. Next up is the main track Collapse which spans roughly 14 minutes. Immediately there joins wanky meandering guitar fuckery which just bores the fuck out me. There’s nothing worse than having to listen to a soloist shred it up with no …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Human Larvae – What Lies Ahead C40
Unrest Productions
What Lies Ahead is the latest release in the works that chronicle this underrated German power electronics act. Utilizing the entire running time of this 40 minute cassette Human Larvae has crafted yet another exceptional full-length album that spans the genres of black noise, power electronics, dark ambient with a very subtle noir jazz influence. The tape unfolds over it’s running time with tact and precision where Human Larvae yet again tells a sordid narrative of loss, hopelessness and no redemption.
Side A consists …

Masaoka/Chen/Grüsel/Nagai – Masaoka/Chen/Grüsel/Nagai CD
Resipiscent
Now here is an odd amalgamation. “Kenta Nagai raises a Shamisan, Hichiriki and his throat together with the far voice and violoncello of Audrey Chen as Miya Masaoka conjures Koto with electronics and Hans Grüsel, rummaging in a suitcase of blippoo box and bugbrand weevil08, douses for… then detonates waveforms.” Definitely a strange collection of instruments and talents here which could easily result in a meandering mutual jerk off session, or an intensely profound and intriguing convergence of styles and instrumentation. Luckily for all of us, this …

A Death Cinematic – A Parable On The Aporia Of Vengeance And The Beauty Of Impenetrable Sadness 2xCD
Simple Box Construction
With a name that easily pigeonholes itself as overtly pompous, this colossal album does very little to live up to the pontifical nature of this droning, dull piece of work. Bearing a likeness in style to artists such as MGR and House of Low Culture (both Isis side projects. A total coincidence, I swear), A Parable On The Aporia Of Vengeance And The Beauty Of Impenetrable Sadness attempts to create a …

Swamp Horse – Oracle 3″CDR
Dumpsterscore Home Recordings
Swamp Horse is the legendary Josh Lay and for this project he is joined by Morgan Rankin, the latter is a name that sounds somewhat familiar but I can’t quite recall where from. This is another quality release from Dumpsterscore Home Recordings, a label which is impressive with it’s consistent aesthetic and smart packaging. The simple lined black work on metallic gold paper being a nice touch to this minimally packaged 3″. I really love the 3″ format because with 22 minutes it provides …

Steve Bates – The Dim Coast CD
MoSo
With a sound that basically qualifies as a noise collage, The Dim Coast involves scraping, minimal noise, environmental effects and ambient tendencies to fill it’s time. The sounds range from cut up found sounds to meandering piano to spacey synth work with even a few post rock tendencies. While some tracks flow very nicely and effectively straddle the line between slowly evolving ambient works and minimal but noisy, others don’t boast the same effectiveness.
Our Previous George is apparently either an attempt at a mood …

Regosphere/Content Nullity – Claws Of The Witch C36 –
Dumpsterscore Home Recordings
Claws of the Witch is an excellent split between two great up-and-coming artists. Both represent solid compositions of death industrial power electronics with a more atmospheric edge. The pairing of Regosphere and Content Nullity is a good one and makes for a coherent welding of styles.
Regosphere is up first with two forlorn death industrial tracks. The tracks feature thick beds of synthesized sounds, slow and plodding with rhythmic pulses of heated frequencies. I really dig Regosphere’s style in general, …

Troum – Ljubimaya|Daur CD
Abgvrd
This CD is a re-release of two 10″ records from 1998 and 2003. If you are at all familiar with Troum you will already know that they are one of the top acts creating guitar-based drone and ambient atmospheres and have been at it since the mid 90s. Luckily they never fell completely into the post-rock genre so even with the material from 2003 we can hear creepy airy ambience with guitar often at the forefront but no drums anywhere in sight.
The first 3 tracks are from …

Fermentae – Diaspora 3″CDR
Black Goat Records
Immediately making an impression on me is the excellent color design and packaging on this little disc. It’s a triple gatefold pro-printed digipak with a pro CDR. Very impressive looking. This being my first exposure to the project Fermentae, I had high expectations set by the visuals.
Diaspora is one long track of blackened industrial drone. The record label cites influences such as Wilt and early SUNN0))) which definitely isn’t far off. I would almost say it’s a healthy combination of both those sounds. There are …

+Dog+/Actuary – Concordia Dischord 7″
Love Earth Music
This is a split seven inch between two acts, the prolific +Dog+ and I’m guessing what might be a new project Actuary. Each artists presents one track per side, probably around 5 minutes or so each. The artwork falls on the better side of what Love Earth Music has created in the past with ink line drawings of devils stabbing people and-so-on and-so-forth.
+Dog+ is up first with Specific Ocean which is a glitchy noise piece that sounds like a bit of a step back …

White Reeves – Ultimate Pleasure Til Death C20
Dynamo Sound Collective
Here’s a tape from Ryan Emmett – the main person behind Hunted Creatures – and Micah Pacileo who is also from the same project. Apparently the material here is culled from hours of recordings, presenting only the best moments. I wish every noise act did it this way. The artwork here immediately stands out with a photo of David Letterman. I can’t really figure out how it relates to the sound.
Side a opens with a kind of wishy-washy stew of psychedelic …

Blue Sabbath Black Cheer – Witches C20
Destructive Industries
This is the second release from BSBC I’ve been exposed to and it is easily up there with my last glowing review of the project. The cassette is simply entitled Witches with the track Witches III on the A side and Whitches IV on the B side. One long track for each side makes for a great goddamn tape here.
The enormity of sound and intensity that is Witches III is phenomenal and overpowering. Deep booming rythmic swashes of distorted bass ring like the …

Blood Box – Funeral In An Empty Room CD
Loki Foundation
It’s tough for me to think that it’s been 8 years since Blood Box released The Iron Dream, but it’s true. Although Michael Hensley is touted as a member of Yen Pox it’s becoming clear that his focus tends to lean towards that of his solo project Blood Box. With only 2 full-length albums previously under the project’s belt, Blood Box is a name that has already reached legendary status. Yet this is a legend that still lives on. Funeral In …

Michael Graeve – Simple Methods For Complex Times CD
Megalomania, Micromania
Released as an aural accompaniment to Simple Paintings for Complex Methods, an abstract art exhibit in 2001, Simple Methods for Complex Times is a short collection of minimal, improvised sounds. Overall, the sound stays very minimalistic with very minor sections of harsh noise. The sounds are scratching and atmospheric and at times take on a very minor industrial sound.
This 14 minute long album touches on ambient and noise music effectively, and while the minimal motif isn’t always pulled off, I feel …

Metaconquerer – Of Steel, Bone, and Fire CD
Syzmic Records
Metaconquerer is the solo project of John Stillings who is also one half of the power electronics unit Steel Hook Prostheses. With Metaconquerer Stillings focuses on a more minimalist atmospheric sound, yet there are still plenty of industrial elements at play on Of Steel, Bone, and Fire. This is a record that is as black as the darkest night, perhaps a perfect soundtrack for a satanic mass, and it may just be Metaconquerer’s strongest effort to date.
Most recognizable is the airy low …

Vipcancro – Tropico CD
Lisca Records
Vipcancro is a new project to me and appears to have been going since 2008. Not new, but not too old either. With Tropico they present about an hour of rough-around-the-edges but well crafted ambient noise.
The sounds are wallowing and contemplative, lo-fi yet with an academic edge that adds just a touch of sheen to the production. Slow moving but with a healthy dosage of layers Vipcancro succeeds in creating atmospheres with some depth on Tropico.
The album evolves nicely with the tracks becoming more engrossing the …

Death Factory – Chilling Impressions C30
No Visible Scars
Yet another great release from the No Visible Scars label. Somehow they manage to keep churning out some of the best death industrial that I’ve heard released lately and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. With Chilling Impressions Death Factory presents two long tracks, each one “dedicated” to a horror film.
Side A presents Manifestation of Fear which is dedicated to the film Phantasm, which I am actually familiar with. If I had to choose though, I would say that …

Demonologists/Deathstench – Incantations in Dead Tongues CDR
Black Goat Records
Here is a sick split between two artists who I’m unfamiliar with. I always enjoy hearing new stuff that peaks my interest, and there’s nothing like a good dosage of black noise to do so. First off the artwork on here is somehwere inbetween black metal and stoner ink drawings which represent the sounds accurately.
Demonologists kick things off with a mix of wall noise and creepy ambience. With song titles like Corpse Orchard and Blood Soaked Pregnancies this is a dark, soulless …

D.S. Miller – The Glass Snail CDr
Self Released
D.S. Miller’s The Glass Snail is an album that’s as beautiful as its subtle cover art. With sounds ranging from intrinsic, complex, and glitchy IDM-esque electronics, to dark and progressive, to high-floating, ethereal ambience, this album contains an impressive array of electronic tastes without ever becoming sparse or scattered.
The amount of influences present here is what really causes The Glass Snail to shine. If I had to pin this album to one genre overall, it would probably fall fairly nicely into “ambient”, but …

Bastard Noise/Actuary – Skeletal Uncertainty LP
Love Earth Music
Here we have a split LP between the mighty Bastard Noise and the lesser-known Actuary. Of course I am familiar with BN but I have not yet been exposed to the sound of Actuary. The packaging of this is pretty strait-forward with text and simple logos. The only issue I have is that cover looks a rather shoddy with a skull graphic that reeks of cheap photoshop filters. Aside from that the inner spread is pretty sick with a nice variation on the …

Dead Body Love – 10 Luglio 1976 C45
Terror
This is my first exposure to Dead Body Love and looking back it’s tough to believe the project has been active since 1995. 10 Luiglio 1976 could fall under the harsh noise wall banner with 3 long tracks of harsh noise. Exploding distortion, white hot blaring synths, skronking frequencies.
This material reminds me a lot of later digital-era Merzbow. It’s pretty lo-fi and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that it was produced on a laptop, although I suspect this may just a …

Pedestrian Deposit – Austere CD
Monorail Trespassing
Austere seems to mark a new turn for Pedestrian Deposit. Now a duo, they create electroacoustic atmospheres that sometimes wanders into ambient or industrial territory. Of the old harsh noise sound, there is little to be found. Although I do enjoy this new shift, there is still part of me that yearns for the intensity of previous harsh blasts. The change in style isn’t all that surprising though, as Pedestrian Deposit’s more recent CD release Fatale, proved to be just as much of an outing …

Dementia and Hope Trails – Ethereal Hurt C20
Dynamo Sound Collective
Dementia and Hope Trails is yet another one of the many faces of Justin Marc Lloyd perhaps better known as Pregnant Spore or less well known under a multitude of project names such as False Flag, Sensible Nectar and Ghost Volcano. This particular project sees Lloyd on guitar, some extraneous electronics, tapes and field recordings. I would be hard pressed to know this however, because Ethereal Hurt offers up 20 blissful moments of spacy, undulating drone.
Apparently both sides are untitled here …

Custodian – I CD
Syzmic Records
Here’s a BURLY offering from Custodian. Yet the album title has me wondering whether this is entitled the roman numeral “1″ or I as in me, myself and I? Quite unclear due to the fact that there is very little information provided here and all the tracks are left untitled, which may hint at the title being the former because the entire album almost runs as one long track, not because of the fades in between – which do occur – but because of the monochrome …

Al Qaeda / Dried Up Corpse – 1309 C27
Rainbow Bridge
Sporting a beautiful, double sided insert abounding with images of the grave and the single inscription “Fuck you”, Al Qaeda and Dried Up Corpse treat the concept of Fucked in their own individual ways on this 1309.
Al Qaeda’s side consists of some ambient-esque electronics with avant-garde aural environments: chimes and bells sound off continuously and regularly while distorted voices narrate the empty, hostile atmosphere. The right touch of paranoia is found here and the track stays minimal and only briefly brushes …

Pestdemon – Doppelgänger C30
Unrest Productions
Doppelgänger is Pestdemon’s latest output on Unrest Productions, a label boasting an array of artists such as Richard Ramirez, Gelsomina, and Black Leather Jesus. With an amalgamation of sounds centered on a solid, wall noise base, this cassette provides a sense of mystery and familiarity simultaneously.
Consisting of heavy electronics and mostly wall noise, Pestdemon provides a slow but tense buildup on Hemsökelse – Ritual. The tones shift in a subtle but consistent fashion; high frequency background noises rise out of the mist and industrial noise matches …

Reptile Worship – Formosa 3″ CDr
FTAM
Reptile Worship is just one of the many promising experimental artists to release content on Peter Woods’ FTAM label, an organization designed to give a home to Milwaukee’s avant garde and experimental community. With a strong Reptilian agenda motif, Formosa is a short release with hostile industrial tendencies and dark, bassy drones. With an ominous, crackling backdrop, the environment created here is nothing new but interesting indeed.
The textures presented on Formosa mesh into each other very slowly and tediously, making this release somewhat slow to …

Climax Denial – All Of My Loves Are Like Dreams CD
Assembly Of Hatred
Here is Climax Denial’s first proper CD release, but with such an extensive discography I don’t really know if that means anything special. All Of My Loves… thankfully lives up to – and might I dare say – exceeds expectations.
The tracks are just as aggressive as always with all aspects of Climax Denial’s sounds represented. Creeping ambience leading into heavy distorted ambience (see the opener Oh Mommy, I am Dying), pulsating power electronics with sickened vocals (see The …

Wolfskin – O Ajuntar dad Sombras CD
Malignant Records
This is my first exposure to Wolfskin and it features a solid representation of the artist as most Malignant releases do. With muted earth tones and understated artwork the visuals reflect the sound well.
These are synth ambient tracks with some subtle tribal influences here and there. Sometimes in the form of shimmering chimes glittering on the edges of the harmonics, other times manifested as drums loops yet at all times layered beneath the swirling drones.
The overall atmosphere features nothing new, this is well …

Serge Modular Users 2009 CD
Resipiscent
Released as a showcase of experimental musicians that make use of the Serge modular synthesizer system, Serge Modular Users 2009 is a collection of an amalgamation of styles, but only to a certain degree. There are a few gems to be found here, but overall, this compilation is rather dull.
M/N/M/L kicks the album off with Breath, a expansive and spacious track that effectively utilizes minimalistic tendencies. STRK is an Autechre-esque track with hints of skewed rhythm and avant-garde electronic environments. Distress Call is an aptly named …

Reviver – Drilled for Life DVDr
Self Released
Reviver’s Drilled for Life is a short but fairly engrossing piece of distorted electronics. Approximately five minutes in length, Drilled for Life is live music set to a video of dental extraction. The unpleasant visuals are perfectly soundtracked by Reviver’s groaning, frustrated sounds. It’s like Drilled for Life is the metaphysical recording of the pain and brutality of surgery.
Reviver manages to strike a balance between heavy, dirty electronics and a sort of spacey, reverb heavy sound laden with shouted vocals and rhythmic drones. The …

NRYY/DMAH/A.R.GH/Kenji Siratori – Split CDr
Prime Unit Records
This four way split is Prime Unit’s latest output. Showcasing one of the label’s regular talents, alongside some others (not to mention the ubiquitous Kenji Siratori), this split has a nice variety in tone and feel going for it, almost to a fault. While that variation helps, I feel like this split may be lacking in consistency and focus.
NRYY begins the album with Resistance of a Silence, which sounds like a highly warped and distorted dance track. Gradually, the track devolves into pure noise. …

2673/Unicorn – Split CD
Kitty Play Records
Boasting a personnel of Kevin Winter and W.T. Nelson (ex-Man Is The Bastard/Bastard Noise), this split has some weight behind it. Unfortunately, the music doesn’t particularly live up to that weight. While the aim here apparently is to be engrossing yet minimal, neither act pulls it off well. The effect, unfortunately, is rather dull and strikes me as rather pretentious.
2673’s side is the biggest culprit here. Far too minimal, the sound variation approaches nil. Droning, minimal synth at its worst, I can’t imagine it getting …

Aaron Dilloway – Chain Shot CD
Hanson Records
Here is my first album experience of the now well-known artist Aaron Dilloway. I have seen him live in the past and enjoyed his performances and it is interesting to hear what his style is on record.
Chain Shot doesn’t feature the intense contact mic’d noise that I expected. This is a much more restrained album and I would almost say it has more to do with avant garde musique concret and electroacoustic sounds rather than a harsh noise extravaganza.
There are three long tracks …

Úden/Nagrindr – Split CD
Departed Souls Productions
Úden and Nagrindr seem a pretty natural match on this split. There’s not a whole lot of noticeable difference between the artists soundwise. The Úden tracks start the album. Titled Wandering and Wandering II, these monikers fit the tracks very well. Both have a mysterious, ethereal feel that is at the same time evocative and sensual. The feel here is one of something impending combined deftly with a touch of wonder. The first track does this the best while the second one tends to meander. …

Robe. – Antiquated Silhouettes CDr
Dirgehead Distribution Company
With a sound like equal parts of a transmission from a lost era and odd signal patterns emerging out of the void of space itself, Robe.’s Antiquated Silhouettes is an experience that is constantly evolving and emerging out of a desolate gap in time. These tracks seem to create aural depictions of a complete and desperate sort of emptiness, yet the complexity and depth of the sounds creates a work that prefers to stay sensitive; cold and bleak but never harsh. Opening the album …

Jim Haynes – Sever CD
Intransitive Recordings
Jim Haynes is a new artist to me and what he delivers with Sever is almost and hour’s worth of carefully sculpted minimalist soundscapes. One could guess that he is exploring the elements of decay, rust, grit and grime as the sound is quite dirty. Like the persistent smog hanging over L.A. it is just layered on, yet still far from opaque. It really does feel like you are almost breathing in the sound on Sever.
The first track entitled “:” is the longest here and …

Gnawed – Purge C40
Maniacal Hatred
Heavy is the dose for the day when I popped in Gnawed’s Purge cassette. I had been exposed to a few tracks here and there but it didn’t properly prepare me for the full-frontal assault that is Purge.
Purge is a pummeling attack of rhythmic synth pulses much recalling the classic death industrial sound of Mörder Machine and even with similar flanger-induced vocal hatred. Although Gnawed seems to enjoy the low-end a little bit more with less synth fuckery in the higher registers.
The tape is quite consistent …

Envenomist – Bound Dominions CD
Fatal Beliefs
Bound Dominions is the latest full-length from David Reed’s underwater concept based dark ambient project Envenomist. Seems it is a separate project from his other dark ambient project Luasa Raelon because of this conceptual difference, as I don’t hear much difference in sound or style. Yet that can be considered a good thing because with Bound Dominions Reed continues to pump out the shiny synth-based industrial ambient that he has become known for.
As much of his work, the first few tracks are very call-and-response between …

Controlled Bleeding – In Blind Embrace CD
MVD Audio
It’s kind of embarrassing but this is only the second full-length I’ve heard from the long-standing eclectic act Controlled Bleeding. Previously I had been exposed to Shanked and Slithering on Hospital Productions which was balls-to-the-wall harsh noise. Of course this is something completely different, but in a great way.
In Blind Embrace is a interesting mix of different styles, there are elements of neo-classical which are strongest in the opening track Tormentor’s Song reminding me of Arcana, Sophia, and Puissance. Then there is the …

UNSUB – Interstitium
Dark Winter Moon Recordings
Power electronics and ambient music. Two genres that would seem an unlikely pair, but on Interstitium, UNSUB pulls off this combination masterfully. Utilizing drum beats over deep, rhythmic drones, UNSUB creates an engrossing sound that strikes a balance between esoteric and listenable with no real compromise to either side. The effect is harsh, hateful electronics with a very hypnotic side to it. The recording quality here is quite high, so both sides get equal sonic representation. Even though the power electronics are definitely present here, …

FRKSE – FRKSE C45
I Had an Accident Records
FRKSE creates Middle Eastern and Indian inspired heavily distorted beats very much in the vein of Muslimgauze, or Telepherique’s split with Maurizio Bianchi entitled “The House of Morning” and also reminding me of the project Ginger Leigh, of which I have reviewed a few times before. What’s different about FRKSE is that they feature live drum machine performances combined with heavy synth drones or at other times combined with guitar or bass lines.
There is a general smattering of random and rough samples both …

False Flag – Lucre/Teeth 2xFD
Auris Apothecary
So, if you’re wondering about what the fuck kind of format this release is, “FD” stands for FLOPPY DISC. Yes, that’s right kids, I’m talking 2x 3 1/2″ 1.44 MB FLOPPY DISCS. Of course people will have differing opinions on the relative usefullness of this format but personally I don’t care. I appreciate the effort to have to find a floppy drive, download the tracks and also enjoy the monumental packaging in the process. With cut-out elements, gold silkscreen and phenomenal minimalist text design this …

Funerary Call – Dark Waters Stirred CD
Fall Of Nature Records
Here’s another release from Vancouver’s Funerary Call, as stated before this is the more black ambient styled project of Harlow MacFarlane also of Sistrenatus. This material is more recently recorded in 2008. Dark Waters Stirred is a more restrained album than the previously reviewed The Black Root and seems to feature the use of guitar in the bulk of the tracks much more prominently, yet never really coming out with it.
I would most easily compare this to the style of sounds …

Funerary Call – The Black Root CD
Fall Of Nature Records
Funerary Call is the black ambient project of Harlow MacFarlane who also performs more varied death industrial sounds under the moniker Sistrenatus. Although Funerary Call is an older project of his, he is still active and churning out new material. This particular release happens to be a reissue though, originally released on Fluttering Dragon Records in 2004.
The Black Root definitely stands the test of time as this is some top notch black ambient/death industrial music. This is the kind of noise …

Subklinik – Musik for Dekomposition CD
Fall Of Nature Records
It’s been a while since the name Subklinik has graced my eyes and ears and so I was quite ecstatic when I received this gem. As far as I can remember Subklinik has been around for quite some time but is a lesser known and less prolific project. They create dark electronic music and do so with clarity and vision.
The style of music on Musik for Dekomposition is somewhere between The Slaughterhouse era Brighter Death Now and the sounds of the more …

Cock E.S.P. – Historia De La Musica Cock CD
Little Mafia, Breath Mint, Sun Ship
Cock E.S.P. the infamous misfits of noise return with the mammoth release of yes, a full 99 tracks, technically more if you count the goddamn “medley” on here. This is total aural terrorism and I really expected to hate this album with all my heart, but after a closer inspection and listening to it, I can’t help but respect and adore what Cock E.S.P. has done here.
With each track painstakingly titled in satire it’s hard not to …

Baby Daddy – Hungry Hungry Nipple CDr
Slut Factory Records
Baby Daddy is a harsh noise duo out of North Carolina, and their sound is a pretty typical one. With metallic, spacy tones, robotic, warbling effects and Masonna-esque intensity, Hungry Hungry Nipple does very little to deviate from the harsh noise sound. What this album does best is create a tense atmosphere without scathing the listener’s ears. The sound is much more cosmic than harsh and the progressions have just enough psychedelic undertones involved to keep the sound interesting.
The major transitions here …

+DOG+ – Bliss CDr
Love Earth Music
Part wall noise, part power electronics, Bliss is the latest of a project I had previously unheard of called +DOG+. With a fairly decent sized catalog behind their name, +DOG+ is no newcomer to the noise scene. Bliss consists mostly of loops and heavily distorted guitar work with some drums thrown in at times. The feel ranges from droning and lethargic to crushing and in your face. The influences apparently range here from some obvious Masami Akita homage to even a Sunn O))) feel (particularly …

Concrete Isolation Box – Love Under Steel and Concrete CDr
Self Released
Love Under Steel and Concrete is Concrete Isolation Box’s debut. The idea here is harsh drones and pounding walls of noise. This is a formula that I’ve seen countless times in the noise music scene and, unfortunately, Concrete Isolation Box (C.I.B. from here on) doesn’t really do anything that hasn’t been done before. Pure blasts of distortion with vocals ominously rising out of the mix is something that noise and power electronics acts have been doing for years, and while …

Peter J Woods – Songs for Nothing LP
After Music Recordings
Songs for Nothing continues where Peter J Woods has left off and explores the eclectic form of experimental crossover music that Peter is well known for. A mix of sound collage, drones, vocals and power electronics the album brings the listener through passages ranging from harsh, balls-out power electronics complete with screaming vocals, throbbing distortion and walls of noise, to high tension orchestral strings and even into lo-fi scattered sounds.
Although there are separate tracks on each side, the sound flows, or …

Boy Dirt Car – Familia LP
After Music Recordings
Sound collage, spoken samples, field recordings, experimental noise, and guitar noodling are what Boy Dirt Car seem to specialize in with Familia which proves to be an enigmatic effort that – even after repeated listens – I cannot seem to yet solve. There is more then one instance where intense spoken samples come to the forefront to spout monologues of profound outbursts and it feels that this is where the strong point of Boy Dirt Car is focused.
Some of the samples take away …

Fat Worm of Error – Ambivalence and the Beaker CDr
Yeay! Cassettes
Thoroughly embracing the stereotypical avant-garde, Fat Worm of Error’s album Ambivalence and The Beaker is one of unsettling weirdness and alienating environments. The impression I got from listening to this album was one of something breaking for a half an hour straight, while we as listeners are witness to this bizarre display of pure, stream of consciousness sensory output. The sound mostly consists of a combination of unaltered field recording and improvisational guitar, alongside other instruments. The cowbell is used …

Dan Greenwood – Guts:Render 3xC20
Self Released
If the name Dan Greenwood sounds familiar to you, it should. He is the man behind the cult harsh noise project Diagram A and the collaboration “Proof of the Shooting” with the late John Brown. Of course now releasing material under his own name the influence of these previous projects are still very much in play on Guts:Render as well as the influences of Chris Cooper, Patrick Oneil, and Dominick Fernow of Prurient as source material which is culled from each of these artists.
I fully …

Pusdrainer – Instant Death/Total Shit 2xC30
Dead Pope Productions
Here is my first formal introduction to the project of Pusdrainer and what is presented is a nice looking double tape package with simple black/white artwork and spraypainted tapes. Quite the DIY affair but one that obviously has some effort put into it.
The sounds here range from – most notably – harsh noise, to power electronics, a small dose of industrial here and there, and finally a good handful of wall-noise thrown in for good measure. To give you a general vibe of …

Lavas Magmas – Phantom Limb C30
Zen Enthusia
Yet another excellent release from the enigmatic Lavas Magmas. The project hails from Portland and uses a smattering of electronic effects combined with guitar, field samples and many times video accompaniment. This release is audio alone, but it is just as effective, if not moreso.
Most of Side A consists of a soaring drone track somewhat reminding me of the best moments of Troum. Drifting and floating to form a clear precise sound, but with enough dirt to hint at the industrial atmospheres that are …

Mazakon Tactics – Adorable Atrocities C30
No Visible Scars
Here is yet another quality release from this consistent tape label. Mazakon Tactics presents the darkest of death industrial sounds in this brutal 30 minute cassette.
Merging the death industrial influences of Brighter Death Now with power electronic death grunts and some clanking metallic sounds Mazakon Tactics has formed one of the most dismal and hopeless records I have heard in recent memory. The cover is quite fitting as this could definitely be the soundtrack to someone being pulled down into the layer of …

Rei Rea -Quel Que CD
Brise-Cul Recordings
Rei Rea’s Quel Que is a short album that consists mostly of ominous drones and lonely ambient melodics. Occasional bursts of distortion appear here but this album is mostly repetitive drones and spacey synth work. Unfortunately, it seems as though the concept has consumed Quel Que, leaving us with a stripped down chunk of boring, monotonous ambience.
Quel Que is obviously supposed to be a haunting and moving piece; the fact is that it is neither. The only sort of variation present here is the difference …

OGOGO – Redux CD
III Records
“Free jazz” and “avant garde” are the two best words I can come up with to describe OGOGO’s Redux. The sound throughout this entire album is very progressive and guitar/trombone based, and while it can be noisy at times, it’s hard to call this a “noise” album in the traditional sense, though I doubt that’s what OGOGO was going for. With rambling tones and endless prog-rock guitar noodling, Redux comes across as fairly sophisticated but also rather pretentious.
I can detect some fairly complex work being done …

Squid Fist – Face/Off CD
Hidden Birdhouse Records
With squealing feedback and rampant drums and cymbals, Squid Fist’s Face/Off is an interesting piece of improvisational work. At times, the beating drums add this strange, frantic effect, as if this album is the soundtrack to a futuristic, ritualistic tribe of savages enacting some sort of grisly rite. At other times, the album takes on a very ambient noise, incidental, found sound feel, as if recording to audio the bizarre situations said savages get themselves into.
The album starts out with Flesh Chair, which reminds …

Hated Bruit Kollektiv – Aktion One CD
New Nihilism
HBK is an ephemeric project held among musicians behind Genetic Transmission, Moan and Nojsens. Aktion One seems to be the groups first release and is a surprising collage of harsh noise, musique concrete, electroacoustic and industrial/dark ambient. The release is packaged in an enormous and well designed poster on heavy matte paper.
Quite lush and intense it really sounds like all kinds of sound sources are used here. Field samples, digital processing, distortion, collage work combined with heavy metallic clanking and even some human …

Government Alpha – Impregnable Storm CD
New Nihilism
To those out of touch with the world of harsh noise Government Alpha is a long standing Japanoise act and often referred to as one of the leaders of the second-wave of Japanese noise. With Impregnable Storm Government Alpha offers a hefty barrage of harsh frequencies by way of the Polish label New Nihilism which has uniquely packaged the disc in an enormous well designed poster.
Impregnable Storm is just that – a wailing downpour of unhindered powerful sound without respite for about an hour. …

Dan of Earth – …I Can Still See The X 3″ CDR
Colbeck Labs
The name Dan of Earth is kind of an ironic name for this artist, because …I Can Still See The X is pretty otherworldly. Taking a  heavily ambient route, this short (it clocks in at just over twenty minutes) but absorbing album sounds like a transmission from some point far into the future. Utilizing avant garde tendencies and a general, Kafkaesque weirdness, …I Can Still See The X is a solid release from this obscure act.
New Smooth Jazz …

Churner – Boneyard CD
Violent Noise Atrocities
Boneyard is one of the many 2010 releases from the prolific Churner, and where he took the lo-fi, melodic sound on the previously reviewed and ill-planned Florescent Bondage, he goes for a much more straightforward approach on this EP. Boneyard is a very appropriately titled EP; the moody, dismal sounds presented here completely evoke the mood of a creepy, fog filled graveyard. Nothing here is very innovative or original; Churner just traverses the soundscape deftly and has created an atmospheric, albeit short soundtrack to an …

Corephallism – Corephallism 3″CDR
Lascivious Aesthetics
Corephallism is a side project of Shane Broderick of TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck fame. What we have here is the debut release of his solo project with 2 tracks totalling in just shy of 10 minutes of material.
It’s too short for me – and consider that a good thing. Speaking In Tongues opens with a creepy church organ sequence and is quickly enveloping me in it’s seething and throbbing drones of pure blackened bliss. The production quality converges perfectly with the composition to form a sound that is …

Haus Arafna – You CD
Galakthorrö
You is an immediate continuation on the twisting narrative of the German husband-wife duo Haus Arafna. The album is their 4th full-length among a hand full of 7 inch records, singles, compilations, and collections. You continues Haus Arafna’s foray into more accessible synth-pop territory but still has a few industrial/power electronic gems thrown in the mix for good measure.
Kicking off You is the dreamy, melodic Pain to Love sweeping in and encouraging the listener to let down their guard. Don’t worry your trust won’t be betrayed …

Control – Deadly Sins CD
Malignant Records
Deadly Sins is Control’s latest contribution to the power electronics genre. With a distinctly dark ambient feel, Deadly Sins provides a dismal soundscape for a theme that has been addressed in nearly every type of media. Most of the sounds consist of heavily distorted drones and a thick, suffocating atmosphere. Thomas Garrison, the man behind Control, obviously has a handle on the use of theme and mood when it comes to sound creation.
Deadly Sins consists primarily of a give and take act of hostile aural …

Churner – Florescent Bondage CD
Violent Noise Atrocities
Florescent Bondage is an album that took me by surprise. With a sexual theme from the get-go, I expected some considerably dirty electronics. Churner took a route on this album that could be considered a polar opposite. Surely, Tied in Knots/Princess starts out with a mesmerizing, overwhelming wall of sound that is similar in style to the power electronics of The Cathode Terror Secretion and Halflings, but none of the tracks do much to continue on this theme in the least.
Graceful Abuser takes on …

Lungwash – II CD
Void Seance
Lungwash’s II is the latest entry in Void Séance’s (with releases from groups such as Churner, Werewolf Jerusalem and Ritual Stance) Fortress series, and it’s no wonder as the labels website states that releases in this series are “concerned with concentration, focus, and texture.” II is an album that doesn’t really deviate from its own formula. While fans of simple, reflective and nihilistic noise will appreciate this approach, listeners looking for lots of variation are bound to be disappointed.
What Lungwash do on II they do well. …

TL0741 -Magnetic Injuries CD
HC3 Music
TL0741 is Pat Gillis, and Magnetic Injuries (HC3TLCd2) is a new version of his previous Panic Research Audio release simply titled Magnetic Injuries. The album consists solely of tape manipulation and synth effects. Using ambient sensibilities combined with ominous analogue wizardry, Gillis takes the listener on a journey that relies almost solely on mood and atmosphere. Gillis apparently has no desire or even reason to abrade the listeners’ ears; while he does include short bouts of aural aggression the key here is defining sonic space using …

Blown Doors/Hunted Creatures – Split C62
905 Tapes
Here’s a great split with two very well paired artists. Hunted Creatures appears here as a 4 piece and Blown Doors a duo. Both projects play a kind of experimental/musique concrete style of composition that has an improvisational feel to it, but also with elements that are well though-out and expanded on.
Blown Doors presents Unseen Glaze a highly layered and detailed track that features a heavy dose of bass, with shuffling textures that converge and elements that sync up rhythmically only to break down …

Max Lord – Ghost Grass 02 C45
Self Released
A sparsely labeled tape in simple hand-made packaging. I didn’t even know who this was I was listening to until emailing the artist right before posting the review. Ghost Grass 02 is a intriguing little tape that grows from the subtle roots of minimalist synth throbs into a multi-layered journey of pulsating psychedelia.
The first minutes of Side A feature minimal synth drones slowly morphing into each other and finally building to a layered composition. The structure really ebbs and flows quite nicely and …

Author & Punisher – Drone Machines CD
HCB Records
Author & Punisher creates doom metal, industrial and drone based music compositions and has been doing so for some time with the use of mechanical sculptures that Tristan Shone – the sole person behind the project – has created. I had the opportunity to witness his live performance last year where I was surprised that the use of guitar was completely non-existent and instead Shone relied on the controls of his machines.
Although Drone Machines relies heavily on the use of processed guitar it’s …

Content Nullity – Absolute Dread C30
Phage Tapes
Yet another excellent and consistent label presenting a quality item. This time it’s Content Nullity from the U.K., a country which has spawned such greats as Whitehouse and Sutcliffe Jugend, and which gives Content Nullity some big shoes to fill indeed. Luckily the project has already released a number of quality albums and Absolute Dread is no exception.
Although this is perhaps not my favorite material from the artist it’s still a solid release creeping in with one long track on side A entitled The …

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 …

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 …

V/A – Singles Series Vol. 2 3″DVDR
Table of Contents
Here’s an excellent 3″DVDR – a format you don’t see too often – with really interesting packaging consisting of full-color printed transparency around a sheet of metal. The disc has 2 chapters on it each featuring the visual work of Christopher Cichocki with the first chapter utilizing audio by Warm Climate, and the second by I Heart Lung.
The first presentation entitled Synovial Moves uses Cichocki’s token video techniques of kaleidoscope images, fast cuts, and geometric-like movement of mainly water, but eventually fades …

Lavas Magmas – Black Friday DVDR
Self Released
Lavas Magmas is the ambient/noise project of Luis Gonzalez based out of Portland, OR. From what I’ve encountered many of his works include a video element including his live sets. I was lucky enough to catch him on his tour with Regosphere and The Dios Project where he put on a brilliant performance utilizing video projections, metal sculptures, electronics, and guitar. Black Friday is a DVDR containing a studio version of the live set with the visuals included.
The sound on here is phenomenal. Swaying, …

Mortuor – I’m Waiting for You… CD
Syzmic Records
Here’s another simply packaged CD from the Syzmic Records front, this time presenting about a half-hour of sickened sounds from this new death industrial act Mortuor. With the lines “Dedicated to the memory of Marco Corbelli and the Italian Death Industrial Movement.” on the back it is clear the direction this disc is trying to go.
Luckily Mortuor is not only successful in re-creating the great sounds of Atrax Morgue, …Today I’m Dead, N. and many of the other great death industrialists, he also …

Valerio Tricoli – Metaprogramming From Within The Eye Of The Storm CD
Bowindo Recordings
Metaprogramming is a disc with one long track ranging roughly 30 minutes in length. This is electro acoustic music through and through with long bouts of silences, shuffling about, loud/soft dynamics, random machine sounds, and subtle drones.
Tricoli has an aptitude for building these kinds of sound structures through what seem like random sounds collected and processed but there isn’t really anything that separates Metaprogramming from the bulk of electro acoustic music I’ve heard. It seems very traditional and …

Hugfucks – Vehement Caress CDR
AsteroidMProject
I really wasn’t expecting much from the goofy named “Hugfucks” project but this D.I.Y. flavored CDR is a creeping, lurking, burping, banging, seriously hot mess in the best kind of way. The packaging design is simple and to the point as is the noise here in style somewhat reminding me of Wolf Eye’s Always Wrong.
Once the opening track Self Immolation has worked up to it’s heavy blast of noise from it’s humming beginnings it’s clear that Hugfucks has a way with controlling sound and frequency that …

Halo Manash – Am Kha Astrie CD
Aural Hypnox
As much times as I’ve reviewed Halo Manash they still manage to just stay one step ahead of me. This time however, I believe this is actually their latest release available and I’m happy to report Am Kha Astrie delivers and veers Halo Manash back into the right direction. The release follows the more recent packaging designs that Aural Hypnox have been employing with heavy cardboard stock and silk screened/stamped ink adorning the surface. Simple yet effective, and it all has a very …

Phragments – Earth Shall Not Cover Their Blood CD
Malignant Records
This is my first exposure to Phragments and is more or less what I was expecting based on the bleak artwork. What they offer here is slow, melodic, synthesized dark ambient in the vein of Raison D’Etre, Endvra, or Atrium Carceri. If you’re at all a fan of Cold Meat Industries then you will be sure to dig Earth Shall Not Cover Their Blood in some form or another.
Of course there are negative aspects that come along with this style of …

Peter J Woods – Creation Death Machine CD
MaxCorp
My ears are consistently left ringing after listening to Peter J Woods’ Creation Death Machine because it’s noisy, destructive and filled with sneaky dynamics but I just keep turning it up and playing it too loud because I want to catch every moment, each minute detail. If you’re familiar with Woods’ work you can expect blasts of noise and sounds, spoken word and screamed vocals, sound collage, snippets of field recordings, static blasts and walls of noise. This is artsy power electronics for …

Proof of the Shooting – Untitled C20
Collapsed Hole
Proof Of the Shooting is a collaboration between Dan Greenwood of Diagram A and John Brown who I am unfamiliar with. This untitled cassette is a strange one with Proof of the Shooting’s last release having been issued in 1998 and now this cassette in 2010 with dedication “in memory of John Brown.” One is to only assume he passed away and this was perhaps left over material from their collaborations.
Sonically Untitled is an intense barrage of everything and the kitchen sink harsh …

Inhalant – Save Our Souls CD
Syzmic Records
Expectations can be a funny thing. I don’t know why I keep setting the bar so high for Texas’ Inhalant, perhaps because I dig the name and the aesthetic, or perhaps because he’s been functioning under the name for 10 years now. Unfortunately I can’t help but just feel a bit under whelmed when experiencing his releases.
Save Our Souls is no exception with the major issues lying in the production. It’s lo-fi in a very exhausting way, and the hypnotic and repetitive nature of …

V/A – Hate Tasting CDR
Sickcore
Here’s a solid compilation from Sickcore records, an up-and-coming label from our great mother Russia! Presenting a hefty lineup of favorites from the harsh noise and power electronics crowds Hate Tasting is a journey through sickened atmospheres, harsh intense waves of sound, cut-up brutality and warbling synths.
Immediately kicking things off in a very high style is Molester’s Eye For An Eye with some great treatment on the vocals along with some decent distorted noise. High points include Fecalove’s On the Toilet Floor for ultimate Atrax Morgue-like …

Plastic Boner Band – Plastic Boner Band C60
Self Released
Here’s a LONG release from the strange Plastic Boner Band. Finally they have released the record I have expected them to release. Maybe it’s just based on the silly name but this – contrary to their other recorded material – is a long meandering pile of wankery if there ever was one. The thing that still leaves me puzzled is: why now? Why after the release of their competent Isaiah 66:6 CDR and shortly before their solid full-length The Way of All …

Nyodene D – Pogrom C30
Phage Tapes
Gotta say I’m a sucker for simple artwork and no bullshit tapes like these. Black and white with cheap text and photos of what I’m guessing are from the Rwanda genocides, this seems to be a concept album based on those atrocities. Nyodene D delivers some strait forward power electronics and industrial reminding me of the sounds of Climax Denial and Grunt.
Side A’s Marched Into the Streets is a shifting barrage of junk noise, sounding great in all it’s lo-fi glory. Along the roughly 15 …

Redglaer – Radioactive Concept C30
Abandon Ship Records
This is my first exposure to Redglaer although the name sounds familiar. This a simple tape with black and white illustrated imagery as the artwork. One track graces each side and I’m guessing each one runs about 15 minutes.
Side A features “Longmont Improvisation” a droning noisy assault that features a constant mid-range frequency accompanied with a good dosage of feedback, distorted interruptions, and along the way there appears some subtle vocal cut-up samples. I like the general production, it’s nice and crunchy but the …

Liz Allbee – Theseus Vs. CD
Resipiscent
Be prepared for a strange and varied release when you pop in Liz Allbee’s Theseus Vs.! Packaged in a slick cardboard box with artwork printed right on the front – how’d they do that? The image of the double-headed lamb working quite well to represent the sonic mutations that are housed within. Theseus Vs. is innocent and playful, but also inexplicably weird, and I sense some tongue-in-cheek humor within these odd passages as well.
The sounds represented here range from experimental, electroacoustic, dark ambient textures merge …

Belltone Suicide – E.P. Reissues 2003-2006 CDR
Gilded Throne Recordings
Here’s a long ass CDR in hefty DIY packaging. To be honest the packaging looks like a rainbow vomited but it’s thick and durable and has that unmistakable hand-made touch! I have no idea how I came about this release but I could have done with out it.
The first few tracks are the only tracks I really dig. Untitled No. 580 starts off with some looping unending choral samples merged with synth noise and low drones to make a good blend of …

RU-486 – Iron Empire C52
No Visible Scars Cassettes
This one was a little tricky. Here we have a “C52″ but it’s the same material on both sides so don’t think you’re getting that much bang for your buck. That’s ok though because this is some effective and dynamic thrashy harsh junk noise that hits hard right in all the soft spots. The packaging is a little awkward with 7″ artwork which is rad, but a tape just thrown in the bag.
The opener “Cast Iron Effigies” is also a little deceiving …

Plastic Boner Band – The Way of All Flesh CDR
Power Silence
I have to admit I was totally fooled by this release. It looks so pro I thought it was a real CD. Although this may be a CDR don’t let it fool you, it looks and sounds very professional. The artwork is simple but great and definitely works to further the concept here. Kind of strange because the last release I received from Plastic Boner Band was this crusty CDR in weird bulletin board style packaging and heavy spraypaint junk …

Weak Sisters – Final 7″
Secret/Wasting
I have no idea how I came across this quickie little 7″. Maybe it was sent to me, maybe some touring dudes gave it to me? There’s no information on the record save for the group name and album title on the cover. Black ink silkscreened on grey matte paper sets the tone of a high-contrast lo-fi power electronics album.
That’s basically what is delivered here, with maybe a little more of an experimental noise influence than I expected. But this material reminds me a lot of …

V/A – Untitled 6xC10
Phage Tapes
Here is an INTENSE release and the first Phage Tape release that has fallen into my grubby mitts. How to tackle a review of 6 separate cassette tapes all rolled into one release has been wracking my mind now for some time. This is certainly a most ambitious project. What we have here are 6 10 minute cassettes each with material from one of the following artists: Climax Denial, Discordance, Human Larvae, Moribund, Sewer Goddess, and let’s not forget our favorite Yankees Sharpwaist!
Packaging is pretty nifty …

Concern – Truth and Distance CD
Digitalis Recordings/Iatrogenesis
Concern is the ambient project of Gordon Ashworth who also is the sole proprietor of Iatrogenesis Records, and records under both Oscillating Innards and Deep Jew. Truth and Distance is his latest EP of flowing, droning, light ambient music and although it’s a shorty it delivers!
With three tracks spanning roughly thirty minutes Concern pulls out the shining, triumphant, harmonious drones right from the get go in the epic 16 minute opener “Truth and Distance”. With subtle field samples mixed into shimmering metallic layers of …

Andrea Borghi – Moltiplicazioni CD
Lisca Records
Here’s a sexy looking CD and although it’s packaged in a standard jewel case the inserts are heavily textured canvas-style paper with what seems like silk screened artwork. Coupled with very precise text this immediately has a high-tech academic feel. Andrea Borghi is apparently an Italian artist who creates experimental sound using CSOUND and Max/MSP software. The digital element can definitely be heard on much of Moltiplicazioni but it doesn’t hold it back.
The first three tracks on the release are listed as the first “Accumulation” …

DDDD – Frustration Music CD
Love Earth Music
Here is a full length recording from another project unknown to me. With a photograph of a photocopy featured on the front cover I just have to question what kind of aesthetic these guys are going for. The artwork looks pretty bad with black text overlayed on high contrast black and white collage work which makes it unreadable.
Unfortunately the sound doesn’t fare much better. The disc is comprised of 4 long tracks, two of them being close to 10 minutes with the last two …

Cloama – Lernaean Catacomb Complex C55
Erratic Sporadicism Tapes
Now here is some elaborate packaging! With 2 plexiglass pieces screwed together containting a tape and transparent inserts to form an odd-looking object here I’m boggled at how Erratic Sporadicism had the time and resources to make 199 and of these puppies. Very creative but unfortunately not very practicly designed as the case is extremely frustrating because you have to assemble/disassemble the tape and artwork every time you want to listen to this. But definitely worth picking up for the odd packaging alone, …

The Teratologist – Cabinet of Curiosities C30
Cathartic Process
Cabinet of Curiosities is a standard tape in a plastic case with simple text and graphics in high-contrast black and white adorning the j-card. It’s a simple, professional looking item and after dealing with all this weird packaging I’ve been collecting it seems somewhat refreshing. The tracks are simply named “Cabinet of Curiosities Part I & II” one track for each side.
Slow, dirgy, awkward, The Teratologist delivers industrial experimental music here. The strange torture device that adorns the cover seems so fitting for …

The Vomit Arsonist
Force of Nature/Cipher Productions
The Vomit Arsonist is the project of Andrew Grant based out of Rhode Island. Although he has been coined as power electronics in the past Wretch walks the line between death industrial, dark ambient, and power electronics effortlessly blending the genres together to form a cohesive and strong work. As the first proper CD release from the project Wretch is a success in all aspects.
The opener “The Warm Body Complex” introduces the disc well with a low-end drone that builds into textured ambience with …

Irukandji – Urine Nation CDR
Audio Immolation Industries
Irukandji is the harsh noise project of Michael Page who is also the man behind the former power electronics project Fire in the Head and the current ambient/noise/industrial project Sky Burial. Out of the three Irukandji is certainly the harshest, but the least atmospheric as well. Generally there are small bits of 80s and 90s music mixed with with just a touch of sarcasm, but not as much irony as Page professes to being a large fan of much of those songs.
Urine Nation is …

Sistrenatus – Magnetic Resonance CDR
Sophisticate Pleasure Records
Yet another nail to your coffin hit right on the head by Sistrenatus. Magnetic Resonance is a CDREP from this behemoth Canadian industrial project taking the genre by storm and treading new ground in the realm of death industrial. This little release is no exception.
Magnetic Resonance consists of one track that spans 20 minutes and more-or-less contains 4 separate movements. The first portion is a throbbing industrial dirge that slowly builds to a heavy rhythmic séance and straddles the line between death industrial rhythms …

K11 – Waiting for the Darkness CDR
AFE Records
The packaging for this was deceiving. From the photos of forests and runes that adorn the graphic art I was expecting something in the realm of neo-folk or neo-classical, or even dark ritualistic ambient. What K11 delivers here quite different and reminds me much more of the recently reviewed Anemone Tube, or the long-ago reviewed Canadian project Nebris.
Waiting for the Darkness makes a lot more sense after reading the liner notes: “Waiting for the Darkness is an action of instrumental transcommunication with short …

Anemone Tube – Dream Landscape CD
Silken Tofu
Here is something quite a bit different from the Silken Tofu camp. Regarding the packaging here, this is a phenomenal looking release, very professional and quite gorgeous. The CD is housed in a 10 panel, odd sized, folder with black and golden print. The text and minimalist artwork look great and reflect the atmosphere of the sounds well.
Anemone Tube is mostly a dark ambient project that wanders into noisier realms every once in a while. The general rule of thumb for Dream Landscape seems …

Lavas Magmas – Toxic Communion C26
Self Released
I had the opportunity to witness Lavas Magmas live and it was a barrage of sights and sounds which I could only behold in wonderment. I was lucky enough to be given a few releases of his among which this one-sided tape was one of them. Housed in kind of shabby and bedraggled scrap material with stickers and wrapped in wire this D.I.Y. effort is just a bit deceiving because Toxic Communion delivers one hell of an auditory experience that transcends your typical limited …

Cloama – Death Certificate 7″
Freak Animal Productions
Cloama is a project with many faces. Check out the Self Titled CD from a few years ago and you will hear a clean electroacoustic ambient atmosphere. Listen to his earlier Revisionist Knowledge CD on Freak Animal Productions and you will find searing power electronics noise attacks. Finally, pick up one of the collaborations with Blutleuchte and you will discover a surge of blackened noise. Whatever the face though, Cloama always tends to please in one form or another and this quick 7″ is …

Brandkommando – Patria Socialismo o Meurte! CDR
Sickcore
This disc from Sickcore has a special handmade D.I.Y. touch with thick stock and minimalist packaging that works perfectly. The entire presentation is quite impressive. I wish the audio was as consistent as the packaging though Brandkommando tends to have more ups and downs than I would prefer on this release.
The style that Brandkommando employs is somewhere along minimalist death industrial atmospheres of Atrax Morgue or N. However, a lot of the synth work featured on Patria is a bit under whelming seeming to …

Antoine Chessex – Fools LP
Tourette Records
Antoine Chessex is a Berlin-based musician exploring the world of noise with – love it or hate it – a saxophone. Luckily, you’d barely have any idea this is derived from a sax in any way shape or form by merely listening to Fools but the live photo on the back and the credits to Chessex for “tenor sax, amp & electronics” says it all. I am perfectly ok with this because after experiencing his intense miasma of sound live, I just had to pick …

Propergol – Ground Proximity Warning System CD
Annihilvs
This is actually the first complete Propergol album I have immersed myself in and I believe it is one of his later efforts. Ground Proximity Warning System predictably explores airports, airplanes, flight, and subsequently all the many things that can go wrong with this system. An easy way to describe Ground Proximity Warning System is to say it is the evil twin of Brian Eno’s Ambient Music for Airports. And let me say I’d much rather be listening to this when preparing for …

Gerritt & John Wiese – Panoramic Glass and Mirror LP
Misanthropic Agenda
Panoramic Glass and Mirror is a collaboration between Gerritt – who seems to be going by his full name Gerritt Wittmer now – and John Wiese two noise artists who have been drifting closer toward the electro acoustic realms. This collaboration here certainly enforces that theory, with pretentious minimalist artwork and carefully edited, fragile sounds that click and pop their way into my subconscious.
Despite the nice thick clear vinyl there’s not much here as far as the graphic art goes …

Corpuscle – Jaguar Mask C64
Waterpower
Here’s a new project hailing from Boston, MA. Neatly packaged in a standard cassette tape with color artwork on the cover and some decent black and white collage on the inside. This is a one-sided tape that consists of 3 tracks.
The sound of Jaguar Mask is the harshest of the harsh. Total pushing wall-noise that is completely relentless. Lo-fi and uncompromising among the crackling distortion lives sickened vocals settled in the mix. There’s a strange kind of reverb in the mix that pervades each track and …

Reviver/Medicine Lake – Split C30
Self Released
Here’s a quick split from these two Connecticut artists. There must be something heavy in the air there because this is drone-laden doom ridden washes of sound that these guys deliver. Not much to say about the packaging, a cassette in a plastic bag with some less-than impressive artwork on it.
Medicine Lake is up first with “Mandible Feast” a lo-fi smoky blur of a track with black ambient tendencies, echoing metallic sounds, subdued noise, and distant moans. The composition here is solid and the sounds …

The Vomit Arsonist – Reason C30
Nil By Mouth
Black on black, black tape with a black label and a black spray painted cassette case. The Vomit Arsonist presents some fucking bleak shit with his latest release “Reason” coming from the Nil By Mouth camp. Packaging is well thought out as usual and creative in a D.I.Y. kind of way. I really dig all the interesting things Nil By Mouth does, and this release is no exception because it is packaged in a fused black plastic bag, somewhat reminding me of a …

Sensible Nectar/Mannequin Hollowcaust – Predator Plague C62
Rainbow Bridge
NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Sensible Nectar is back! Predator Plague haunts the airspace in my room. So many tapes… so little time. I will for a change, start this review off on a positive note. I really dig the packaging on this release. Bright orange graphics and the brightest neonist cassette tape I have ever seen. It’s visually offensive in the best of ways.
As for the sound, I am still baffled how Sensible Nectar manages to record this stuff without ripping out his eyes due to …

+DOG+ – Acoustic Shadow CDR
Love Earth Music
+DOG+ is a project that has been active for quite some time now, 1994 according to discogs. Acoustic Shadow is their most recent effort and it seems +DOG+ has got the idea by keeping this puppy around the 30 minute mark. What to expect here is mostly buzzing feedback and synth walls with blasts of noise, amplified and manipulated acoustic junk percussion, and layers of electronics.
The production on acoustic shadow retains a very lo-fi tone but it’s obvious this is intended and it works …

Regicide Bureau – Zugzwang CDR
Side of the Sun Recordings
The thing about Zugzwang is that it’s not a particularly bad disc, it’s just not good. This is a disc of over an hour’s worth of material all apparently recorded live in St. Louis Missouri on 7/18/09. It pains me to think that this dude played this set that was almost one fucking hour.
The production really holds this disc back. It’s obviously a room mic that has recorded the set so it kind of sounds like everything is being played in a …

Sigulda/Sensible Nectar – Split C20
Side of the Sun Recordings
Here are two artists, one of which, unfortunately I am already familiar with that being: Sensible Nectar. This is a short cassette with both artists presenting 2 very mediocre noise tracks, Sensible Nectar’s side is a bit more ambient though.
With “Three in One” Sensible Nectar combines some harmonious ambient drones on top of subdued pedal noise. Well, subdued might not be the right word, it’s really just turned down a lot. Delayed and reverbed-out the first part of the track is ok, …

Patrick Emm – Mythics CDR
Self Released
Patrick Emm is a drone musician who is previously unknown to me but apparently lives right around the corner. I love little surprises like that! Mythics is an easy 3 track disc spanning 45 minutes of minimalist synthesizer and guitar drones reminiscent Michael Gira’s short lived project The Body Lovers or perhaps even the more experimental sections of Godspeed You Black Emperor!.
The first track entitled “Like I Used To Could” features alternating sustained chords of harmonious tonal drones. Skirting along the edges is Fennesz-like electronic …

V/A – Summer Tour 2010 CDR
DumpsterScore Home Recordings
Summer Tour 2010 is a tour release from the Regosphere, Lavas Magmas, and Dios Project summer tour which is happening NOW. Don’t miss it!!! Check here to see if there is a show happening in your city. What they deliver with the release is 4 tracks 1 by each artist and an extra thrown in from the Dios Project.
Lavas Magmas is up first with “Just Ghosts, No Shell”. Not sure what the title is about but the track is a sick barrage of …

Doornen – AIDS Loves You To Death 3″CDR
Scrape Tapes
AIDS Loves You To Death is a quick little blast of the harshest, crunchiest noise that has graced my ears for a while. The disc simply just does not let up. Housed in stolen public service announcement ads the concept here is really doing nothing but reveling in the fact that anyone is susceptible to this sexy death.
With two long tracks totaling twenty minutes the disc is chalk full of harsh cut up destruction. Blaring distortion, washes of harsh noise, moments where …

Hjorten – Travel 3″CDR
FTAM
Hjorten’s Travel is based on just that and with two tracks on this quick little 15 minute release the concept is very clear. This is my first exposure to the sounds of Hjorten but right off the bat it’s obvious he likes to use the sounds of field samples heavily processed.
“Trains” is the first track here and uses sounds of trains creatively to produce an atmosphere that both abstracts the sounds but also pounds them into your skull. It’s like he turns trains into these enormous subterranean …

Martin Bladh – Study for a Theater of Cruelty CD
Annihilvs
Study for a Theater of Cruelty is a solo outing from IRM frontman Martin Bladh. Adorned with his token collage work, the art is succinct yet somewhat darker than the sounds represented on the disc. At 5 tracks and roughly 35 minutes Bladh takes the listener into an electronic drone soundscape akin to Birchville Cat Motel, Concern, or even Hermann Nitsch.
There are moments when things get kind of noisy the first being the start of track 2 where a high-pitched whine …

Retribution Body – Retribution Body CDR
Self Released
Retribution Body’s debut self-titled CDR is a winding journey through mantra-like modular synthesizer drones. Being influenced by Buddhist philosophy and thought, it’s no wonder so many of these tracks seem to offer a moment of stasis, of balance, and of a certain stillness produced of course through the vibtration of soundwaves, tactfully revelling in the physical irony of such an act.
Although stillness is a factor here, there are signs of evolution and change which can’t be ignored. The sounds are well devoloped and the …

Fire in the Head – Carrion Wind CD
Turgid Animal Records
Michael Page is a man of many faces and subsequently sounds. Some may be more familiar with his ambient Sky Burial project, others with his harsh noise project Irukandji. Still others may just know him as the fun loving 80s music fan and front man of brutal power electronics unit Fire in the Head. Of course, people aren’t always so easily pigeonholed and Mr. Page makes it especially difficult by releasing this over 60 minute track of dense drone and experimental …

Blank Verse – Karelia Ingria CDR
Visceral Circuitry Recs
Yes, I knew this release from the moment I received the black and white photocopies booklet in a plastic sleeve on a blank CDR. The “bedroom” noise crowd. Not like we all aren’t bedroom noisers or anything but this is a specific brand I feel because a lot of this material seems like they are “half songs” or merely fucking around and recorded and then of course subsequently released.
Blank Verse almost had me tricked with “Vivian Krystal L.” one of the better tracks …

D/S/Miller/Hunted Creatures – Split C20
Dynamo Sound Collective
Another great ‘lil split tape for me to spin this time with 2 more ambient/experimental artists that seem to know their stuff quite well. The printing is nice full color artwork with a Jon Lennon lookalike dude on the front holding rosary beads or something? I dunno. Standard tape packaging, nothing special here.
D/S/Miller is up first with “Blowing Out a Match”, a nice wafting, floating drone track. It’s got some glitches along the edges and just a very vague touch of electronica to it. …

Mutations In The Gryd – Seance For Mutation/Calibration Gryd C31
Gryd Complex
Here’s a synth duo from Boston good friends of mine in fact. They play 2 synthesizers together with the result being some vaguely structured improvisational experimental synthesizer music. The tape is of good quality with some subtle artwork that I really appreciate.
Side A has these warm throbbing tones that are almost alternating chords. There is a little delay and a lot of noisy lo-fi overdrive in the mix. At times the space seems a little empty, kind of reminiscent of …

Locrian – Falling Towers/After the Torchlight C40
Black Horizons
Yet another tape from Chicago’s Locrian. If you’re not in the know, this duo creates harmonic drone music with a dosage of noise layered in. Mostly centered around guitars and synthesizers. They pretty much stick to their sound throughout this cassette, really no surprises here.
Side A consists of two tracks the first being a guitar based track. Slow chords droning on, kind of remind me of early Earth material which I tend to find rather boring. This is a little more layered with …

Halo Manash – Taiwaskivi CD+DVD
Aural Hypnox
Taiwaskivi is Halo Manash’s latest effort and it picks up where Am Kha Astrie left off, despite having a limited CDR – that apparently I was not deft enough to purchase in time – squashed in between the two last CD releases. If you have no idea what the true sound of Finnish ritualistic ambient is like, I strongly encourage you to keep reading this, for you are truly missing out.
Deep gongs, disembodied chants, rattling organic objects, rocks, sticks, chimes. Hidden ceremonies, secret spells, spiritual …

Fear Konstruktor – Preparation of Humanity CDR
Sickcore
Here is a blistering no-holds-barred power electronic noise fuck from what I believe is a project hailing from Russia. One thing that really stands out about this release even before spinning it is the rad packaging which includes a hand painted envelope, a silkscreened canvas patch glued to the front cover and some excellent graphic design. Very classy D.I.Y. packaging here.
The packaging gears me up for the sounds pretty well, because Fear Konstruktor delivers the harsh shit. Very rough and tumble with a rhythmic …

Sensible Nectar/RJ Myato – C62
Rainbow Bridge
Here’s a split tape from two artists who are unknown to me. Basic sticker slapped onto a tape with purple artwork and an insert card so small I can barely read it already lowering my expectations for what I might hear.
Sensible Nectar is up first with some extremely lo-fi electronic noise wankery. Plain feedback sounds, blurry distortion all mashed together under a thick pile of reverb and delay. Reminds me of when I get served a plate of tasty Mexican food and mix it all …

Deterge – Parlous C10
Fusty Cunt Tapes
Hell yes. Here’s a great shorty tape brimming with harsh synth noise, power electronics and some hardcore-styled vocals on top, think Charles Bronson! Most noticieable is the mouse trap glued to the front of the package! Charming, D.I.Y., original, and hard-fucking-core!
Side A features the track “Daily” which thrives off it’s fluttering synth core. Blasting along the edges are layers of noise which are soon joined by screamed vocals delayed into the wind. Short, simple and to the point. Harsh, but well composed and layered. The …

Noveller – Wolf 7″
FTAM
Here’s a quintessential 7″ from Noveller, Sarah Lipstate’s ambient/noise guitar project. This is record was released in between her two latest full lengths and the tracks work well as they compliment each other. The material is a bit more detailed then what appeared in Red Rainbows which clearly shows that Lipstate is stepping up her game, capturing the listener’s intrigue more efficiently then she did in the full length.
The textures on Wolf are dense, but don’t suffocate at any time. The harmonies are much more apparent making …

TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck – Champagne and Biological Women 7″
Bloodlust!
Here is an absolutely depraved record from the annals of the Bloodlust! catalog. The artwork and titles really put things in the right mood for the sounds so upon spinning this little gem I’m all revved up for some totally sickened noise. As with my classic complaint about TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck, it’s too short! I just want more more more.
Side A builds slowly with “Covered in Shit” and works into a heavy rhythmic power electronics frenzy. All lasting probably 2 minutes in total. Immediately …

Kave – Hidden Fields 3″CDR
Scrape Tapes
This is the first I’ve heard of the project Kave, and with little-to-no information provided in the booklet – besides that the tracks were recorded in 2007 – Kave remains quite a mystery. I don’t think it’s wrong however, to assume that these sounds have something to do with outer space, possibly the existence of aliens or something along those lines.
The sounds here aren’t too far off from what I could imagine might be the hum of an alien spacecraft if I were to be …

Waterdogs – In Limbo C12
Breathing Problem Productions
The once defunct project of Brandon Terzakis is now back, this little tape having been released before the project went on hiatus. It’s a short tape, minimal artwork but that is certainly part of the charm. Two tracks one on each side, this couldn’t be simpler.
If I were to judge Waterdogs on this cassette alone I would be more likely to group him in with the death industrial crowd rather than the power electronics homo sapiens. Despite the fact that these two tracks both …

Reviver – Ocular Prolapse CSLOOP
Self Released
Here’s a strange one. I’ve never quite seen or heard anything like it before. It seems to be a modified cassette tape featuring a 30 second loop containing Reviver’s token death drone sounds. All black, with no packaging and a simple label this is as minimalist as minimalist gets.
The loop is unfortunately broken up by about a half second of silence. It is how these mechinations work. The sound here is a low synth growl with some kind of subtle chant in the background but …

Ahlzagailzehguh – Misinterpreted Injury 2×7″
Razors and Medicine
It’s been a while since I’ve heard much from Ahlzagailzehguh and even this release is a few years old at this point, but still available! Apparently Misinterpreted Injury is his first release on the 7’’ format and deals with the trauma associated with the loss of a kidney at the age of 9. Definitely some interesting subject matter here, and with Ahlzagailzehguh being the kind of harsh, junk, cut-up noise I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to be pulled out of …

Zerfallt – Decomposing Towers C31
Self Released
I believe Decomposing Towers is the debut release of Boston’s excellent industrial ambient noise project Zerfallt. Previously reviewed was Zerfallt’s “To Know the Love of Young Witches” which was actually released after this. Going back one can see the evolution in Zerfallt’s sound because where Witches was heavy, clear, concise, and sometimes even had a strange pall of calm, Towers is gritty, filthy, repetitive, and dissonant.
Side A contains the title track “Decomposing Towers” which is a barrage of heavily distorted sounds. Somewhat reminding me in …

Eva Mendoza – Shadow Stories CD
Resipiscent
Here’s an album I was very close to not reviewing. Eva Mendoza is a guitar player who plays this kind of bluesy, folk, Hawaiian music on Shadow Stories. It’s “solo” guitar music with perhaps some multi tracking here and there. I’m not a guitar player but I would guess she is a damn good guitarist. The songs are relaxed, peaceful, and daydreaming. Something I wouldn’t normally be too into but Shadow Stories doesn’t seem to be showing off. Rather the songs here are perfect for …

Arktau Eos – AI MA RA 2xCD
Aural Hypnox
Listening to Arktau Eos’ latest offering AI MA RA reminds me of all the times I’ve heard the term “ritual ambient” thrown around only to hear something quite different then what I expected, I can safely say this is what I might consider the epitome of ritual ambience. Arktau Eos manages to capture the best of the Finnish ambient sound and even combine it with a bit of the famous Finnish psych-folk influence here, especially when the album delves into it’s repetitive sitars …

V/A – Gasmoney CDR
Crank Satori
Five artists in 6 tracks make up this nifty little tour CDR in a slim DVD case. Simple black and white collage artwork adorning the outside while the CDR itself is a pale red it’s easy to get it mixed up with some other faceless CDR. Luckily the same cannot be said for the sound contained within.
Pyrrhic Thanatolgy Monger is first up with a whining feedback tone interrupt by outbursts of harsh noise and vocal fits. Simple and effective, the feedback never gets old and the …

Noveller – Red Rainbows CD
No Fun Productions
Having the opportunity of seeing Noveller perform at the last No Fun Fest I had some idea of what to expect of Red Rainbows, but it also meant that my expectations were set high. Perhaps I was a bit put-off by the cover featuring a kind of half-assed painting of Jim Morrison, but luckily the disc is all I had hoped for.
Red Rainbows is an ambient drone album but one that is melodic and harmonic with the best of guitar fueled textures, feedback, and …

Irukandji – The Suicide Jump E.P. CDR
Silken Tofu
Irukandji opens this twenty minute behemoth of a track with some glowing synthesized textures. The sounds are somewhat familiar but it’s not until the Tangerine Dream-like harmonies begin to form into a melody that this sample becomes quite obvious to me. A perfect tongue-in cheek reference where the home-run break down arrives just in time to be completely blown out by an insanely heavy blast of noise.
Perhaps Irukandji could have fooled the most benign of listeners, but it’s because of the apparent non-irony …

TwoDeadSluts OneGoodfuck/Cock E.S.P. – Split C4
Lascivious Aesthetics
The world is moving fast. Faster and faster every day. Each friend added to my stupid Facebook page just makes the endless spewing of information wash by like water flowing through a breaking levee, flooding more and more with with each opening fissure. Is information cheaper today then it ever has been? Or are we actually valuing it more by spending more time mulling over it, archiving it, and finding new ways to present the same old shit.
These questions are heightened by this fantastic …

Wether/A Snake in the Garden – Split C20
905 Tapes
A perfect pairing of only the grimiest of harsh noise hell. This is a no frills release with the sickest sounds from Delaware’s Wether on one side, and Vermont’s A Snake in the Garden on the second side.
Side A is Wether’s turn for air time and they present one track entitled “Spoken in German”. Well, everyone knows that German sounds bad-ass and this track is no exception. Of course I can’t hear any actually spoken words, German or otherwise, but what I …

Clew of Theseus – Meridian CD
Cathartic Process
Clew of Theseus is the ambient/noise/industrial project by main proprietor of Cathartic Process Ben Brucato. I believe this is the first that I have heard from the man, his project, or his label. First off, the packaging comes across as quite artsy. Different textures align all sides somewhat reminding me of a Groundfault release. The information is plastered on in a small box but colored to blend in just right.
The sounds are not too far off from what the cover represents. The tracks are …

V/A – “It’s Battery Acid, You Slime” C60
Heavy Psych
I always find compilations such a fucking pain in the ass to review. Having so many artists jammed into one release, so many different sounds and visions and worrying about those each specifically. Then there’s always the question of how uniform you prefer things to be. Should all the artists sound very similar? Should they all bring something different to the table? Add to that an unlabeled cassette tape. You have to either remember what track you’re on or pay attention very …

Benjamin Nelson – Untitled C42
Semata Productions
This is the debut release from Boston’s Benjamin Nelson presenting two fluid tracks of minimalist modular synthesizer drone. The description alone is already well-treaded territory so it’s a wonder that Nelson succeeds in using this method to create these gorgeous flowing sounds. Given that Untitled is almost devoid of any threads one could grasp that could lead to a concept here it’s quite surprising that the sound is one of deep emotion and mental clarity.
The creatively titled “Live at the Piano Factory 9.23.08″ lives on …

Jute Gyte – It was a Great Marvel that He was in the Father Without Knowing Him 3″CDR
Jesimoth Entertainment
Here’s a little three incher blast of noise and subversive atmosphere from the enigmatic Jute Gyte. Not sure exactly why this project seems so strange to me but there’s something about the titles, the sounds, the overall feel of his work that has depth to it. It was a Great Marvel that He was in the Father Without Knowing Him is no exception, and it’s impressive how Jute Gyte can manage to …

Sharpwaist – The Night Of and the Morning After C22
Nil By Mouth
Unnggghhh, this tape is like a fucking heavy punch to the gut. I’ve been experiencing Carl Haas’ live assaults as Sharpwaist for quite sometime now, and sometimes it stabs like a knife in the back, sometimes it’s a raw thud in the gut. But after hearing a few of his releases I’ve noticed he has some trouble capturing all the ferocity of his live performances. Apparently this is an issue no longer because with The Night Of and the …

Ginger Leigh – Merchant of Death CDR
Self Released
Here is another disc by Ginger Leigh, once again bringing the strange, Middle Eastern psych rock mixed with the rare noise outburst and distorted vocals. It’s like a sample-based Muslimgauze because this feels more like someone got their hands on a large library of old-school psych records from Cambodia (yea, Africa I know, still a similar sound) and edited the tracks ever-so-slightly adding an electronica element here, and experimental noise element there.
With 19 tracks on Merchant of Death it’s pretty surprising how consistent …

E.V.P. – The Postmortem Canticles Of Necromancy CD
Autumn Wind Productions
EVP creates music that will fall squarely into the neo-classical genre. If you don’t dig that stuff, I’d recommend you stop reading immediately because this is not your cup of tea. I tend to enjoy some of it however, so I was pleasantly surprised when I popped in The Postmortem Canticles Of Necromancy and found an excellently mixed variety of atmospheres, sounds, and compositions.
The first part of the disc focuses heavily on the neo-classical side of things. EVP likes to do …

Swamp Horse – Gravity C45
Husk Records
Swamp Horse is 2 man project featuring Josh Lay who records noise under his own name, and an unknown to me; Morgan Rankin. These two apparently create lo-fi drone/experimental with some folk influences. The sounds on Gravity are succinctly exemplified in the artwork which features bleak, muddy textures, a sketchy rendition of horses on one side, and a fading sepia photograph of treetops on the cover.
Gravity consists of two tracks on side A and one longer track on side B. I’m assuming they’re all untitled …

Blessed Sacrifist – Falling CDR
Bullart
Blessed Sacrifist’s latest effort Falling is a release fraught with contradictions. It’s a quiet power electronics album, filled with moments of silent sound textures, it begins with “An End” and each track contains at least 3 or 4 different tracks in itself. All this and it still only clocks in below the 30 minute mark. Is it a full length, or an EP? Only one thing is certain here and that is that Falling is one strange beast.
The opener “An End” really does feel like one. …

Carlos Giffoni – Adult Life CD
No Fun Productions
After witnessing 4 of Giffoni’s sets live at No Fun Fests this is actually the first time I’ve ever heard any of his recorded material. Adult Life has all the aspects that should make up a great release. A thick cardboard digipak with great printing of some classy artwork, interesting and cryptic track names that give the illusion of depth, and some great thick and full production for the sounds. Adult Life does offer some solid strange synthesized atmospheres but tends to be …

Medroxy Progesterone Acetate/Regosphere – Split C60
Dumpsterscore Home Recordings
Here’s a great split from these two artists who are both new to me. The tape is nicely packaged on some off-white paper stock with clear black print. It’s simple and effective and looks quite classy right off the bat. Each artist has one side with Medroxy Progesterone Acetate kicking things off on side A.
MPA’s track – entitled “Scum of the Morning Star” – is a noisy drone fest that makes up all of side A. Screeching synths, shiny wails of feedback, incessant …

TL0741 – Back To Minus CDR
HC3 Music
Back To Minus is a detailed disc of ambient textures ranging from squirming digital synths, to analog hums, delayed guitars, subdued feedback and probably even some subtle samples here and there. Clocking in at about 50 minutes the tracks are layered, lush and dynamic. There is almost too much going on here as one sound leads into the next so quickly. The overall feel of the record has a mostly digital synth quality, the sounds are well produced, mostly light sometimes wandering into glitch …

Mystified – Phantoms 3″CDR
Jesimoth Entertainment
I really love 3″CDRs. Their whole concept goes so against the idea of “convenient listening” which permeates so much of people’s music listening habits today. Only allowing about 25 minutes on a disc really let’s the artist focus on each second with more fervor then before. Something about their restricting play time just encourages artists to really “make it count” a bit more. Mystified uses the 3″CDR format in a good way with Phantoms delivering 4 noisy digital drone tracks in about 20 minutes.
Each one of …

Sektor 304 – Soul Cleansing CD
Malignant
Here’s a little something different from the Malignant camp. Sektor 304 plays rhythmic industrial in the old school vein reminding me much of bands like SPK, Test Dept., and maybe even a little old school Skinny Puppy thrown in there. A lot of drum-machine type rhythms and beats but always on the more distorted and aggressive side of things. That combined with noise, subtle guitar layers, and plenty of synthesizers and samples create a densely layered and composed album.
Probably my least favorite track of the …

DeepKiss720 – DK720 CDR
Unverified
Another one from Unverified which I was really dreading and rightfully so. Although the disc is off to a decent start with some choppy, very noisy experimental electronics a la Jazzkammer. Once the “vocalist” is introduced into the mix during “Removals/Set One” – an epicly annoying 19 minute track – this gets pretty unbearable. The first 10 minutes are ok, not at all my preferred style of noise, but fine for what it is but I really wanted to just turn it off after about the 10 …

+Dog+ – Spiritual Awakening CDR
Love Earth
Expectations are a funny thing, they can really affect how I end up feeling about something. The god-awful design on Spiritual Awakening really sets the bar very low and got me expecting the absolute worst from this full length. Of course, looks can be deceiving, and a good musician does not always a good graphic designer make. Am I still making any sense here? Well, Spiritual Awakening is about an hour of what I can only describe as “mid-paced noise”. The material presented here is …

Katchmare – Lotus Village Plan 3xCDR
Scissor Death
Oh god, this was a tough one. 3 fucking discs of ultra-minimal drone I had to sit through, but I did it, the whole goddamn thing. I dunno, I just don’t have the patience for this kind of stuff. So quiet and slow moving that you are actually focused on the volume of the “tape hiss” which I’m sure isn’t actually tape hiss, maybe just a bed of white noise? But yes, it’s treated as a layer here, and fades in and out at …

Locrian – Greyfield Shrines LP
Diophantine Discs
Greyfield Shrines is a record that is successful on at least a few levels. The first is that it’s just a damn solid release, and the second is that it’s actual guitar drone that I like. I really appreciate when artists can break my jaded opinions and Locrian has done just that. It was only about 5 minutes into the one track – that takes up both sides of this LP – that I starting thinking about how Locrian sounds much like a darker Emeralds …

Lid Emba & Bobcrane – We Substitute Radiance CD
Stickfigure
Here are two new-to-me artists delivering a collaboration of experimental guitar driven electronica in a very colorful digipak. The art kind of looks like the fruit section at the supermarket. Definitely an eyebrow raised when I first peeped this shit and I can say right off the bat this isn’t my thing.
The weird sounds and experimental aspect of We Substitute Radiance is pretty neat. “Ear candy” type sounds glistening, squiggling, chirping along in every track. The electronica aspects are a bit weaker, …

Steel Hook Prostheses – Atrocitizer CD
Malignant
Ah yes, the SHP boys are back with this full length now coming in from the Malignant front. If you’ve ever heard SHP before you know you can expect some top-quality industrial noise/power electronics with perhaps a bit of an atmospheric touch. The latter of which is much more apparent over the almost 50 minutes that Atrocitizer spans.
If you took away the scathing vocal attacks – which are often the loudest element in the mix when they appear – and merely focused on the sounds, …

Fossils – Waterboarding CDR
Unverified
I stopped asking why a while ago. Probably after about a year of doing reviews, I figured out it’s better just not to ask why, but to outright state why not. Asking why is just an exercise in futility at best, at worst it’s a colossal waste of time energy and frustration.
Waterboarding is a badly packaged CDR that features an even worse recording of even worse improvised sounds. Experimental music without the experimentation. Fuckery without the “FUCK”. The recording on this is barely as loud as the …

D/A A/D – This is My Hell CDR
Snip Snip
This is my first exposure to D/A A/D and it’s a bit of a surprise. Don’t know why, but I was expecting some harsh noise. This is My Hell is instead 3 longish tracks clocking in around 40 minutes of slow modular synthesizer compositions. It’s pretty minimalist and sounds like it’s half way in between Pulse Emitter and Klinikal Skum.
The first track doesn’t really do it for me. I find the sounds run-of-the-mill with the evolution of the track to be so-so. …

Caustic Castle – Makepiece 3″CDR
SMTG Limited
Ah, good ‘ol Caustic Castle. Caustic Castle is Kenneth Yates, one half of the experimental unit Harm Stryker. For Makepiece he is joined by the meandering saxophone stylings of Clifford Schwing. Makepiece is one longish track clocking in around 18 minutes which features barrages of high pitched squeals, mid ranged squiggles, feedback, organs, and even a little bit of melody here and there.
The piece starts off at it’s most caustic with harsh high-register sounds of the sax bleeting away while joined by feedback and organ …

Hunted Creatures – The Failure of Human Instincts CDR
Dynamo Sound Collective
Human Creatures is one Ryan Emmett of Pittsburgh, PA. I was introduced to the project when I had the pleasure of playing with him while on tour back in March of ’09. The Failure of Human Insincts is an earlier effort of Emmett’s and it is a varied disc of found sounds, ambient atmospheres and slow-moving melodies seemingly culled from guitars, synthesizers and feedback.
Generally you will find a layer of ambience, or found sound to start. Weaved over that are …

RØD STÆR – Tilbake Til Varmland CD
Roggbif
This is a fucking weird one. Probably took me at least 5 listens to get my head around the whole album, and another 2 or 3 after that to form an opinion of it. Well, I was pretty fucking sick of it after that. I kind of suspected something like this after looking at the artwork, which I actually enjoy quite a bit more then I do the sound here. At least you don’t have to sit down and spend an hour experiencing all …

Peter J Woods – Afterthought 3″CDR
FTAM
This little 3″ clocks in around 17 minutes, but oh, what an intense 17 min it is. Afterthought presents a varied array of sounds, ranging from musique concrete, power electronics, spoken (screamed) word, and drone. I was lucky enough to also witness these works live as well and to have this as a document is just the icing on the cake.
The first two tracks are around 7 minutes, with the opener “Inanimate Portraits” bring a bit more ambient fading in with some singing vocal drones …

Crepuscular – Deep Slow Majesty CDR
Black Drone
If I were to take a stab at this judging by the packaging, I might say it’s Lustmord-inspired dark ambient with too much low-end, not enough interesting textures, too much reverb, maybe a little orchestral elements here and there to give it that Stanley Kuberik 2001 feel, and although it may be aesthetically consistent, it is very likely that those aesthetics reek of late 90s mp3.com dark ambient characteristcs. I would also, be right.
Deep Slow Majesty isn’t an album that is at all “bad”, …

Hum of The Druid – Raising the New Wing/Braided Industry LP
SNSE
Raising the New Wing/Braided Industry contains some of the scummiest, filthiest, rawest sounds I’ve possibly ever heard. Listening to this thing is like being dragged through an old rusty storm drain to only to emerge at a demolition site. This is truly industrial music. Hum of The Druid is Eric Stonefelt, not just a man talented in the realms of experimental music, but also in art and visuals.
The LP is quite beautifully packaged with artwork created by Mr. Stonefelt. Although …

Breathing Problem – Kimberly C20
Breathing Problem Productions
Kimberly is a quick photocopied cassette release from Breathing Problem, the first I’ve heard of this project. I like it. Harsh noise and power electronics with some trashy vocal samples reminding me of Taint’s “Whoredom” album. I’m not sure exactly what the purpose of this release is, if it was some sort of primer for something else as the text on the inside says “tracks to appear on the upcoming ‘mattresses on the floor’ 7 song cd/cs”.
The concept here seems to be pretty simple, …

Drone Lebanon/Wertham – Roma Yerushalayim CD
Topeth Prophet
You know you’re in for a tough review of a split when you really like one artist and are not at all into the other. Roma Yerushalayim is a split CD that deals quite a bit with politics, politics mixed with religion. The concept here is one that has and will be explored endlessly because it is always changing. Since I know little about the plight of Israel or Judiasm and even less about the Zionist political situation I am going to refrain from …

Emeralds – Solar Bridge CD
Hanson Records
Emeralds present some soothing sounds from this blue-tinted digipak released by Hanson records. If you are not familiar with them, Emeralds are a trio who play 2 synths, a guitar and effects. They form a sound somewhat similar to Cluster, or Tangerine Dream, a floating sparkling wall of harmonic drones.
Solar Bridge is split into two tracks with the first entitled “Magic” which clocks in around 12 minutes. Magic immediately pulls the listener deep into an entrenched wall of drone slowly shifting in …

Katchmere – Acid Test CDR
Scissor Death
Here’s a great splash of spastic experimental electronics from a project I am once again unfamiliar with. Acid Test is about 30 minutes of seemingly random bursts of sound ranging from blasts of noise and found sound to the occaissional instrumental outburst. What starts as a more industrial tinged release with the minimal “Premonition” and more cryptic “Icicle” and “Your House is Next” eventually works into more up front jagged cut-up sound.
Worth mentioning here is the endearing handmade packaging utilizing the classic spray …

Paranoid Time – Rat Life LP
Troniks
Here’s a quickie once sided LP from the man behind the label SNSE utilizing the Paranoid Time moniker to deliver a harsh torrential downpour of hard water noise. It’s a total barrage strait from the outset with a thick wall of pedal distortion throwing me back and forth, to and fro, in my puny little life raft. At least it feels small compared to these gargantuan waves of feedback.
Perhaps the most notable track here is the rhythmic jammer “RATTail”. The track is actually a bit …