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Nikkatsu Erotica: Volume One is a new Blu-ray box set from Australia’s Imprint, as part of their Imprint Asia sub-label. It brings together two rather creative, well-shot & well-acted examples of Japanese Roman porno from Nikkatsu, one of the country's biggest studios. Between the early 70s and late 80’s, they completely switched over their production to producing softcore adult films, which would become known as Roman Porno- the company produced around 800 to 1000 of these titles. This boxset features a commentary track from genre expert Jasper Sharp for each title, a few video essays, trailers and two classy ‘n’ crisp HD scans.
It’s a bold and precarious thing to try and marshal sound into a viable relationship with events, things, etc., that are not, strictly speaking, about sound. Sound is so ephemeral that it can be easily bent to whatever agenda, as score or testimony, or something in between.
Berlin-based composer Eliad Wagner, whose work with Serge modular synthesisers I have previously heard as part of the Modulisme series, is here collaborating with Werner Dafeldecker, Austrian bassist and composer, for a thirty-seven-minute album called Fray Field. It is an evocative deep listening electroacoustic work, a modern musique concrete, with an esoteric and otherworldly post-industrial feeling, and sound textures you can taste.
Heresy (2024) is a Dutch folk horror film directed by Didier Konings, a concept artist whose previous works include Stranger Things, and Thor: Love and Thunder, and written by Marc S. Nollkaemper (The Space Between Us). The film stars Anneke Sluiters (Hotel Poseidon) as Frieda, alongside Len Leo Vincent as her husband Hikko, Léon van Waas (Brimstone) as the butcher Gelo, and Nola Elvis Kemper as Sasha. Set in a medieval Dutch village, it follows a woman ostracised and accused of witchcraft when a dark entity latches onto her infertility. It's drawn comparisons to Eggers' The Witch off the back of a strong festival run. It makes its UK digital debut on 28 September courtesy of GrimmVision.
Here’s a rather roughshod, seared, and crudely cluttered wall noise split, bringing together two Italian projects. There’s Cuneo’s Spietate Agonie, and Turin’s Rumonoise- with each severing up a thirty-minute ‘wall’
The God Of The Sea finds this long-time wall noise scenester offering a rather primal and abstract wall, with both bassy batters & textural knocks, scrapes, and swirls.
Here’s a brutal ‘n’ searing wall of noise split, bringing together Holland's Uitgeschakeld and USA’s See Through Buildings. Both offer up a single thirty-minute wall, and each is as thick & punishing as the other.
Stockholm and drone music have become synonymous over the past few decades. Stretching back to the pioneering artistry of Catherine Hennix - herself influenced by the likes of LaMonte Young and Henry Flynt, Stockholm has produced some of the most prominent musicians of the genre. Kali Malone, Ellen Arkbro, Caterina Barbieri - artists who have taken ambient minimalism and drone to a new intensity and continue to do so. And this evolution of the Swedish capital into the epicentre of drone music is in no small part thanks to support from state-funded institutions and artist-led non-profit enterprises such as Fylkingen and Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) - nurturing environments where musicians can meet and alliances flourish. One such connection is that of musician, sound artist and EMS sound assistant Mats Erlandsson and renowned experimental double-bassist Gus Loxbo. Longstanding collaborators, as well as, old friends who have worked together so regularly it’s surprising that Minnets Långa Kedjor marks their first recorded album.
From the early 1970s, The Last House On The Left stands as possibly one of the most influential and problematic grindhouse/ cult films of all time. It was also the first major work of two figures who would become key horror directors in years to come- directed by Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), and produced by Sean S. Cunningham (the first Friday the 13th). The film tells of two teen girls who are picked up, abused, raped, and tortured by a band of escaped criminals, and the ensuing revenge carried out by one of their parents. Here from 88 Films is a recent Blu-ray release of the film- taking two cuts of the picture- two new commentary tracks, two new documentaries- one on the rape-revenge genre the film spawned, and one on Wes Craven. As well as a selection of other new and archival extras.
From 2025, My Only Friend's a Corpse is a lo-fi/punked mix of horror, comedy, and dark fantasy. It regards a runaway teen metalhead who finds a one-eyed ‘n’ fixed rictus flayed flesh corpse. It turns out it can talk and convinces him to go on a ramshackle quest- for vengeance & seemingly saving mankind. The budget is less than a shoestring, but it has both ghoulish invention, charm, and a few neat practical effects. Here from MVD Visual is a Blu-ray release of the film, with a commentary track & interview/ behind the scenes featurette..
The mighty Godflesh needs no introduction on these pages, having left a wake of devastation and blasted eardrums since their inception nearly forty years ago. While the project's future seemed uncertain for most of that duration, the release of their tenth album, Decay, sees the act in their second-to-last chapter, the long-anticipated finale close at hand. With Justin Broadrick's health becoming a major factor in the band's efficacy, its conclusion is well timed, although quite bittersweet. Thankfully, the six tracks on Decay were recorded before Broadrick's hernia surgery, coming from the same sessions as their last album, Purge, and fans are treated to dark and punishing new industrial metal from these legends.
From March this year, Energia Exhausta is a new full-length album from the long-reigning king of euro-wall noise Vomir - aka French man Romain Perrot. The CD release takes in a single sixty-minute wall, which is focused on rapid battering & cluttering ‘walling’. I’d say it feels a little looser/ roughshod than the project's other work- though maybe this is down to it being sourced from a nearly broken amp
From early 2020’s, Stéphane is a French found-footage film that blends awkward/ cringe inducing comedy, a wonky buddy movie, and uneasy/ creepy thriller. It follows a full-of-himself short-film director who gets involved with an unpredictable, odd, and highly manipulative middle-aged man who claims he’s an effects artist/stuntman. Here from Arrow Video UK is a Blu-ray release of the film. Taking in a new commentary track and never-before-seen deleted scenes.
Killer Party is a late 1980s Canadian film that attempts to blend frat-boy comedy, slasher and foaming at the mouth/ climbing the walls possession action. With side orders of female romantic drama and creepy ‘n’ creepy dark house suspense. It’s certainly a film that tries to mix a lot of genres/ different tones- with decidedly mixed results. Here from Arrow UK is a Blu-ray featuring an HD print and a selection of new & archive extras.
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is a songwriter/musician hailing from Ålesund, Norway, and the leader of both the Hedvig Mollestad Trio and the Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns. Weejuns are a trio named after a slang word for Norwegians, featuring Hedvig Mollestad on guitar, Ståle Storløkken on organ and synth and drummer, Ole Mofjell. The band released their debut self-titled album in 2023, which was unusual in that it was a live album; however, it was a powerful way to announce themselves to the world. Bitches Blues is the follow-up to that album and is the band’s first studio album.
Goh-Ka finds these Japanese experimental metal warriors in very fine form, with their genre blending magic at its most focused, technical, and inspired. The eleven-track album somehow manages to perfectly balance metal craft and moody-to- dramatic genre mixing, with often tuneful & decidedly groovy moments.
Pre-Historic Metal is the twenty-first studio album from the Norwegian two-piece Darkthrone. It’s an eight-track affair that’s a rough ‘n’ ready mixing pot of 70's & 80’s metal styles, with a few non-metal genre twists' n' turns to add the element of unpredictably/ surprise to the mix.
Dans L'ombre is a sluggishly churning ‘n’ shredding example of long-form walled noise from this highly prolific Bordeaux-based project. The single ‘wall’ featured here runs at eighty-two minutes- remaining thick, heavy, and muddy throughout.
Daniel Goldhaber (Cam, How To Blow Up A Pipeline) works wonders with this neat 2026 meta-horror he directed and co-wrote with Isa Mazzei. Not bad going when the inspiration is a notorious moment in horror cinema history.
Marshmallow is a 2025 film that utilises the campground slasher format to create something rather unexpected/ different. It weaves in elements of coming-of-age drama, straight horror, and sci-fi. It has a decent cast, a moodily throbbing synth score, some nicely effective moments of tension, and rewarding twists' n’ turns. Here from Toy Robot Video- a new genre/ cult film label is a Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a director's commentary, short films, and a few other things.
Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 is a highly intimate, at times obsessively focused documentary about a film director who just won’t let go of the love of his life. It’s also a warts-and-all character study of a woman trying to be independent in 1970’s Japan. Filmed in a very lo-fi, crude, and at times up-close manner, it stands as one of the most intimate, at times awkward, yet oddly fascinating documentaries I’ve seen. Here from Second Run is a Blu-ray release of the film- featuring a full & uncut version of the picture, a newly filmed appreciation by author and film critic Chris Fujiwara, and a twenty-page booklet with new writing by author and critic Tony Rayns, and an essay by film writer Ela Bittencourt.
Leather Narcissus is a new six-track album from Black Leather Jesus, the long-running US noise collective who create a searing and often dense sound with very prominent gay porn/ leather clad/ S&M themes. The project features two key/ important figures in US noise/ HNW: Richard Ramirez & Sean E. Matzus
No Tuck Summer severs up a single thirty-minute slice of thickly spinning, churning & aquatically boiling walled noise from this Saarbrücken, Germany-based project.
Here’s a US wall-noise split with some rather depraved themes. Each project offers up an around thirty-minute wall, and each is a very scuzzy/ nasty example of the form fitting the release's themes.