Five Thousand Pretenders Who Passed the Test By Luck Alone is a new(ish) long-form work from Massachusetts-based drone maker/moody noise creator Howard Stelzer. The single, just over fifty-minute track moves through a fair bit of varied sonic territory, from ringing and dense soundscaping, onto smaller/ detailed sound crafting, through to drone/ field recording crossbreeds, and beyond.

Scat Punk is the first slice of scuzzy & crude walled noise freefall from this new project from UK’s Tom Wilson(The Night Porter, Slowgurn, and Death To Dynamic label).  This digital release takes in a single nearly hour-long track, which blends a constant searing rush & churn with fleeting darts of other tone/ texture.

Alpha Omega was album number three from New York’s Cro-Mags. First released in 1992, the nine-track album saw the band tighten up their sound, which blended elements of hardcore punk, metal, and thrash.

First released in 1993, Near Death Experience was the fourth album from Cro-Mags. It saw the New York band deepen their Crossover thrash/ metal sound from their hardcore punk roots. It found the more pumped-up metallic/ punk attack tempered with moments of moodiness and spiritual themes. Here from Arising Empire is a recent CD reissue of the album.

Plot Of Fear is a mid-1970s gialli that blends in elements of Poliziotteschi and proto slasher. The film centres on a group of people from an exclusive and kinky club, who are being murdered, with each body a page from a children's book is left. As you’d imagine with such a plot, there is a fair bit of sleaze/flesh on display, and while the killings themselves aren’t elaborate, they are varied- all finished off with an unmasking/resolution I didn’t see coming. Here from Powerhouse- as either a UHD or Blu Ray- is a new release of the film, taking in a well-defined 4k print, a new commentary track, and a selection of old and new extras.

From the early 70’s, Craze is a British film focusing on an antiques dealer, who accidentally kills someone in front of an African idol,  finds a fortune coming his way, and decides to take up murder. In the lead, we have Jack Palance, with appearances of the likes of Trevor Howard, Suzy Kendall, and Diana Dors. The film is a thriller/ horror crossbreed- with light touches of both gore and nudity, making for an engaging enough & lightly campy 70’s cinematic ride. Here from 88 Films is a recent release of the film, which is available as either a Blu-ray or DVD, taking in a 4k scan, a new commentary track, and a few other old/ new extras.