Off Balance (aka The Phantom Of Death) is a decidedly wacky & often camp euro-horror/Giallo crossbreed from the late 80s helmed by Ruggero Deodato. It regards a ‘handsome’ & talented pianist played by Micheal York been diagnosed with a rapid ageing disease- who then goes on a killing spree. He’s been tracked by a bewildered-to-ranting police investigator played by the wonderful Doland Pleasence. With the whole thing topped off with Giallo legend Edwige Fenech, as the film's love interest. The film is a blend of hamming-it-up acting, ridiculous/ erratic plotting, arterial spray-bound murders, and a big dose of 80’s camp. Here from Cauldron Films is a Blu-Ray release of the picture- featuring a new/ fully uncut scan of the film, a commentary from genre experts, and an interview with the director.

Confessions Of A Serial Killer was made in the mid 80’s, but due to its similarity to Herny: Portrait Of A Serial Killer didn’t appear until the early 90’s. The film is a blend of police interaction, and flashbacks to the murders/ crimes- with a fairly creepy lead, who does look like the real Henry Lee Lucus, and a few moments of nastiness. Here from the Unearthed Classics series is a new region A release of the film- taking in a commentary track, and a few other extras.

The cycle of the Buck Moon passed a few days ago, and while most of us set our clocks (both internally and externally) to the standards provided by GMT, Harvestman (aka Steve Von Till) follows the lunar cycle, which, unlike the green laser beam in Greenwich, projects its own light over the planet. This subtle but important re-orientation is central to Harvestman's work, which takes its departure from such natural cues as the moon, in evidence on the second instalment of this Triptych series. Like film, music is bound to the forward march of time -sequential or purely abstract – which means that finding a measure for the temporal horizon and structural organization of a given composition is something that might otherwise go unnoticed when we listen. In lieu of a click track or other artificial beat, Harvestman, like Martin Heidegger before him, distinguished between the measurements offered by technical or mechanical time, and those offered by the larger network instantiated by nature and honored by earlier societies. If all of this sounds rather luddite; it is not. Harvestman is well at home in the field of modern production, even if he deploys its media to counter the standard. 

'Miniatures in the form of ethereal experiences or sound trinkets; timbres in perpetual morphing from the rawest to the most delicate and the voices, coming from the bowels or from the heavens, interlaced into a single hyper instrument.' There is probably no one better placed to describe their inimitable and unique explorations of sound than avant-improvisational musicians Fanny Meteier and Andrea S Giordano themselves. While the definition of music can be exceptionally broad and all-encompassing, the duo’s first release sorry babe, I have weird legs, is irrefutably focused on sound, Meteier and Giordano using just their voices, electronics and wind instrumentation to create something rather astonishing in its innovation and vision.

Loop Track is an original, at points subtly awkward humour-lined New Zealand psychological thriller from 2022. It’s a decidedly paranoid-fed affair, which finds a very nervous/on-edge man going for a hike convinced that someone or something is following him. The film manages to make the most of both its simple concept & clearly small budget- to create an engaging, tense, at times lightly amusing thriller which blends in subtle action & horror tropes. Here from Arrrow Video is a new Blu Ray release of the film- taking a commentary track, and a good selection of other extras.

Remembrance is an early 80’s UK drama regarding a group of Royal Navy ratings, spending their last few days in Plymouth before they get shipped off to the US for six months. The film is an interesting/ if a point frustratingly darting study of the hopes, fears,  and boozed-up interactions of the sailors. It’s notable for a few reasons- it was the first production from the Film Four brand, and it features early performances of notable British actors Gary Oldman, Timothy Spall, and John Altman. Here from the BFI’s Flipside is a reissue of this rarely seen drama- taking in a new HD scan of the film, and a good selection of extras.

Here’s a two-disc CD set from UK ‘s BGO, which combines three late 80s/ early 90’s albums from French violinist, composer, and bandleader Jean-Luc Ponty.  The albums feature a mix of electronica, ethnic and world music elements blended into Ponty’s jazz fusion stylings- for often creative, tuneful, and atmospheric results.

Appendage is a twenty-six-minute slice of walled noise, which blends earthy rubbles/ reverberations, with giant wormy-like tunnelling/ boars. All giving one imagery of something huge & shudder-inducing, stretching its thick appendages through a weighty dark earth underground- so a most fitting title.

Hong Kong experimental musician Olivier Cong has a number of recordings dating back to 2018.  His website refers to this new release on Room040 as his 'second album', entitled Tropical Church.  It is a rather ambitious sprawling experience, with thirteen different tracks, mostly two to five minutes in length, that each explores wildly different instrumentations and composition styles.

Somewhere in between Heaven and the heavens, between 'could' and 'clouds' is Marc Behrens Clould. Composed of sounds recorded inside aeroplanes, airports, and other flight-related locations, this work brings together the reality and myth of the skies. An area once dominated by deities has now become a travel lane for millions, and while the mystery seems to have disappeared, the fascination with this aerial realm is as strong as ever. Clould combines these by taking the physical aspect, manipulating the recordings, and delivering an intriguing, mysterious-sounding work.

Breathing In Dust servers up two thirty-minute examples of nasty, intense, and unforgiving HNW from Cincinnati, Ohio's Whore's Breath. The release appears on Milain-based Deepthroat Records as either a C60 cassette or a digital download- I am reviewing the former.

晩夏( Later Summer) is a four-track wall release from New Jersey-based 肉便器( Niku Benki). Each of the around fifteen-minute tracks presents us with decidedly urgent textured-based wall matter, with a few tracks having ambient undercurrents be they lightly seared or taut.

In 1990 two of the horror genre’s finest directors got together to produce one of the most exciting collaborations we had seen up to that point. Dario Argento (Suspiria, Deep Red and Tenebre) and  George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead) each filmed a classic Edgar Allan Poe story, Argento tackled The Black Cat and Romero, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar. The two stories were released as an anthology called Two Evil Eyes (Due Occhi Diabolici). The soundtrack to the movie was recorded by Italian soundtrack composer extraordinaire, Pino Donaggio (Don’t Look Now, Dressed to Kill and Carrie to name just a few of his many scores), and whilst the movie struggled to make an impact, largely down to Romero’s lacklustre segment, the score was definitely worth a listen. 

The Shop At Sly Corner, a well-regarded crime drama by cult British director George King has been made available in a remastered Blu-ray limited edition (4,000 copies) by reliable label Indicator/ Powerhouse.

Night Of The Eagle is a British witchcraft chiller from the early 60’s. It blends atmospheric and brooding melodrama with moments of eeriness & outright terror- growing slowly but surely in unease & horror as it unfolds. Here from Studiocanal's Cult Classics series is a recent release of the film- taking in a nicely crisp scan of the picture, and a selection of extras.

Always fear the roommate who seems too good to be true. A relatively well-worn trope and one that finds itself at the core of Barry Jay’s 2022 thriller The Way Out as we follow troubled protagonist Alex who finds himself trapped in a nightmarish scenario of his own making. 

Tower Levels XV & XIII presents Gods of Leeds by Forest Altar. Forest Altar is one of many projects by Sean E. Ramirez, also known for the Whitehorse, Black Leather Jesus and Thin Mountain. As the moniker suggests, this particular project is the harsh noise soundtrack to some dark, woodland rituals. 

Jon Rose has been building aeolian instruments since the late 1970s, which are unique stringed objects that are articulated by the unpredictable movement of the wind. Rose’s latest work, Aeolian Tendency, features two such instruments – the Monolith (2021) and the Tube (2022) – whose rather prosaic monikers belie their whacko sonic characteristics. Each Aeolian contraption is featured on two, long tracks respectively (4 in total), and one really needs to pay attention to distinguish their unique sonic characters. If all of this preamble were not available, you might be convinced that Rose went to outer space briefly, and took a good field recorder with him.

The Devil’s Honey is an erotic thriller from 1986 directed by horror legend, Lucio Fulci (Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond and City of the Living Dead). Fulci, who was best known for his over-the-top zombie movies takes us on a wholly different ride with the fairly sleazy, outlandish, and almost pornographic thriller that is, The Devil’s Honey. The film stars Brett Halsey (Return of the Fly, Today We Kill…Tomorrow We Die! and The Godfather III), Corrine Cléry (Moonraker, The Story of O and Plot of Fear), Blanca Marsillach (Flesh and Blood, Day of Wrath and The Rogues) and Stefano Madia (Body Count, Dear Father and Ernesto) alongside Lucio Fulci himself.

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs ( aka Zeroka No Onna: Akai Wappa)  is an early 70’s Japanese action thriller that is knee-deep in sleaze, violence, a mix of both, and lots of artery-spurting gore. The film is part of a small series of extreme exploitation films released by the prolific Toei Studios in the 1970s- going on under the banner of Pinky Violence, basically being an OTT mix of sex & violence. Here from Neon Eagle / Cauldron Films is a recent region A locked release of this sick, sleazy, and snappy puppy of a film. Taking in an intense and often blood-red seared  4k print of the film, a commentary track, and a few other things.

From the late 70’s Voodoo Passion is a mystery-edged slice of softcore sleaze from prolific Euro cult director Jess Franco.  It regards the wife of a British consular- who goes to visit him in Hati and starts having dreams about being part of voodoo rituals & murder. The film mixes mellow jazz to ritual percussive scored erotica, is she-going-mad- or-not mystery, and moments of unease/disquiet. Here from Full Moon is a region-free Blu-ray release of the film.

In A Violent Nature is a recent slasher, which attempts( and largely succeeds) to present the genre in a decidedly creative and distinctive manner. The Canadian-produced film is set in the forests and lakes around Ontario- bringing nature together with stalk, slash, and brutality. It’s presently showing in UK cinemas, and I watched a VOD screener of the picture.

At Future Dawn collections together six ambient guitar-scapes from long running/ respected Belgium sound maker Dirk Serries. The tracks utilizers both  gentle feedback & subtlety moody electro detail in their make up, for an ambient album that is nicely nudges at the genres edges.

Defiant Ilussion is an eight-track journey into taut, brooding, at times moodily atmospheric, at others noisily seared electro-acoustic improv. The four-way collaboration features players from the Portuguese scene, and it most certainly highlights the skill and scope within the secene.

Many years and thousands of miles in the making, Ben Powell (as Llyn Y Cwn) brings forth his reworked field recordings on Megaliths. Recording the giant stone structures placed all over Britain, he is giving the listener an intriguing look into an ancient time where science and mysticism meet, but seen through the modern lens of engaging ambient. While the stone circles, pillars, and other structures will give unique experiences to those that visit, Llyn Y Cwn strives to give the same personal experience to those unable to make the trek to these fascinating places. Hoping to recreate the magic that the sacred spaces exude, the recordings are rife with reverb and a darkness that helps to bring one back through time as well as to feel the essence of the stones themselves.

Cannibal Error is the truly definitive and wholly fascinating chronicling of the Video Nasty phenomena/era. The truly huge tome moves from charting the rise of video culture, to its brief uncensored roll, onto the over-the-top clamp down, and its aftermath. With an in-depth look/analysis of each of the titles on the video nasty list, as well as related stories & documentation. 

Active during the early to mid-70s Carmen where are American-British band that blended prog, rock, and flamenco music/ dance. Here’s a CD boxset bringing together the band's three albums ( plus bonus tracks) -which shifted ‘n’ darted between the playful, groovy, spacy, flamboyant, and tunefully urgent. 

Sweden has a proud history of producing music that is darkly atmospheric and brooding. From the black metal for which Sweden has cemented itself as an enduring wellspring to the more ethereal, but pervasively occultish ambient music that bears all the tropes of the former without the accompanying instrumentation, this is the domain of Beckahesten. Barely five years old, the Swedish trio have established themselves as the creators of sonic soundscapes that borrow heavily from the metal aesthetic, but through which ambient noise and lingering vocals reverberate resulting in music that is much harder to categorise. 

Tim Ritter stands as one of the key figures in US low-budget/ SOV horror.  Here from SRS Cinema is a four Blu-ray set bringing together all of Ritter’s SOV work- aside from the Truth Or Dare series. It takes in six films in all- each featuring a commentary, as well as interviews and other extras.

The cover of Demetrio Cecchitelli’s Jump features an equestrian predecessor to Yves Klein’s famously staged, “Leap Into the Void”, which might give listeners an indication of what exactly is meant by the “jump” in the work’s title. It is definitely not the Van Halen version; rather, it is, as Klein later demonstrated, a jump into the unknown.

Bandits Of Orgosolo sits somewhere between a drama and a documentary- blending barrenly beautiful landscapes with a story of fear, pride and family. The early 1960s Italian film focuses on a Sardinian Shepard whose encounter with Bandits, lands him going on the run with his flock and younger brother. Here from Radiance- both in the UK and stateside- is a new Blu-Ray release of the film that gained praise from the likes of Scorsese and Pasolini. The UK edition adds an extra disc of the director's short films/ related interviews, with the US version being just a single disc affair taking in a 4k scan of the picture and a few extras.

Tchao Pantin is a decidedly glum, down-beat, though kind of enduring at points emotionally felt blend of character study and neo-noir. The mid-1980s French film regards the relationship between a middle-aged late-night petrol station manager, and a twenty-something small-time drug dealer/motorbike thief.  Here from Radiance Films is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a 4k scan and a few extras.

Rat Patrol is a just over half-hour example of walled noise, with a rather nice/ effective undercarriage of hauntingly warbling ‘n’ drifting ambience. Burial Garden is a relatively new Serbian project- going by their band’s Bandcamp page this is just their third release, as it started in June of this year.

სოციალური ზეწოლა ( English translation Social Class) is a twenty-five-minute slab of raging ‘n’ sheering  HNW from this Mtskheta, Georgia project.

Henrique Vaz' De Silenti Natura is an ambient soundscape album with a freeform style similar to Italian artists like Alio Die or Aglaia, though Henrique himself is Brazilian.  Rather than use sequenced chord progressions from a synthesizer like the German school would, this is a glimmering, undulating collage of field recordings, shifting air, incidental resonance tones and harmonics, and other difficult-to-identify sounds, which occasionally seems to cohere into something melodic before dissipating again.  With patches of light and shade, it is like observing a cloud movement overhead, which parts on occasion to create moments of stunning brightness.

Originally released on CD-R in 2012, Celer's Perfectly Beneath Us gets a well-deserved vinyl release and remaster courtesy of Field Records. This four-part ambient work revels in the soft, shimmering atmosphere of highly distilled drones and oscillations. Like an audio recording of the moving sky around us, Perfectly Beneath Us is enigmatic and beautiful, all while remaining fairly simple and classic. The original was limited to 100 copies, so thanks to Field Records, Celer's gem will be exposed to a bigger and wider audience.

Here’s a tape from the esteemed Ciel Bleu Et Petits Oiseaux Records, released a few years back, I think. The tape features two long tracks, around 25 minutes each, from M. B. aka Maurizio Bianchi - is there a difference between M. B. and Maurizio Bianchi releases? The artwork features colourful photos of microscopic cells (?) on the outside, whilst the inner inlay has a medical photo of parts of a human skeleton.

Here’s the follow-up to Bear Family Records 2023’s compilation Destination Jail, with its focus on being locked up behind bars, and everything connected with it. This new collection takes in twenty-four tracks from between the 1950s and 1960s- with its genre make-up of rock ‘n’ Roll, the blues, and related- with a fair focus on black American artists

Sleeping Dogs, a new mystery thriller directed by Adam Cooper and based on The Book of Mirrors a 2017 best seller by E O Chirovici makes its streaming debut on 21 June via Prime Video

Obsession is a late 1940s British noir/ thriller regarding a psychiatrist who decides to kidnap his wife's lover and carry out the perfect murder. The film weaves clever/well-realized plotting, with moments of tension & subtle dark humor. Here from Powerhouse- both in the UK and stateside- is a new Blu-Ray release, a 4k scan of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other extras.

Recorded live at the Plaza in Houston, Texas on the 9th and 29th September 1999 This dual media set features 10 tracks from classic 70s Brit rockers, Foghat. This release from Cleopatra Records features an elegantly designed digipak rammed with band photos, posters and a brief history of the band, as well as the live video and audio recordings compiled from the two concerts at the Plaza.

Stopmotion is a British horror film from last year regarding a twenty-something stop-motion animator who is struggling after her overbearing mother is taken ill. It mixes a pervading sense of unease/disquiet, with ghoulish effects, grim fantasy traces, some effective moments of fear/ dread, and a good enough cast who sell the whole thing well enough. Here from Acorn Media International is a new Blu-ray release of the film- taking in a selection of extras.

Andrea De Witt is a seasoned traveler in both acoustics and electronic fields, having cut his teeth as a bass player in the 1990s, and later, moving into collaborative work with a host of electro-acoustic acts. I say this because the measured and deeply intentional way that the music on his first solo album develops over the course of its 12 tracks is the not the work of someone who is merely experimenting willy-nilly with synthesis. No, De Witt is like a semiotician, breaking down the component elements of his sounds, one by one. With the exception of two tracks titled, “PIANOCHROM”, the album is arranged according to dates.

Curva Triangulus is a decidedly warped ‘n’ wavering modern ensemble composition work. It shifts in & out of the harmonic & at points forlornly rising, and the nonharmonic & pitch-bent. As a piece, it feels akin to looking through a bowed, aged, and water-damaged book of paintings/ illusions- as you see equal beauty in both the original grand works and those that have run or warped.

Here’s a recent four-track album from Worship- the rather mysterious walled noise project, which often adds creative twists to its take on the genre. As well as theming all of their releases on celebrating the female form in a non-smutty manner. 

This decidedly blunt and charmingly entitled release features a single-slice ruggedly rolling & tautly seared walled noise from this New Jersey’s Magda.  The track slides in just under the nineteen-minute mark, providing an unforgiving & intense ride.

California technical death metal group The Last of Lucy have existed since 2007, but didn't release their first full-length until 2017.  This was followed by Moksha in 2022, and now this latest epic, Godform.

While one may not picture Birmingham, Alabama as a hotbed of death metal activity, Black Hole Deity once again arises to shift the world's focus to this inconspicuous city. Coming three years after their very well-received EP, Lair of Xenolich, the foursome unleashes their debut full-length, Profane Geometry, via Everlasting Spew. Eschewing the traditional violence, evil, gore, satanism, etc, lyrical content of the genre, Black Hole Deity chose to take the sci-fi/supernatural horror approach with Profane Geometry, and the lyrical tone certainly matches the fun, engaging metal behind it. The end result is an old-school influenced, but forward take on modern death that moves at the perfect pace to enjoy every element while continuing to propel forward and not get self-indulgent.

The Man Who Haunted Himself is a taut, tense, and wholly compelling early 70’s psychological thriller/ mystery regarding a man who after a car crash has someone trying to steal his life- is it someone pretending to be him, is he losing his mind, or is something else afoot?. In its lead role, we have Roger Moore- most known for his role as James Bond- giving a career highlight performance as the troubled business executive, whose world is slowly but surely unfolding.

The McMasters is a US-produced racially focused western from the early 1970’s. It’s set just after the Civil War regarding an African American man returning from war to the small town where he grew up- finding largely prejudice and threat. It’s a mean-spirited if not particularly gritty & overtly brutal film featuring the likes of two Carrdine’s- David & his father John, and Jack Palance. Here from Cheezy Films is a region-free DVD release of the film.

Here's a double CD release with a comprehensive German language booklet featuring some of the heaviest German rock from between the years 1970-1976. 

Extinct brings together the king of Japanese noise Merzbow and British electro-industrial collective Meat Beat Manifesto. The two-track album runs around the thirty five mark-  and it finds seared, often dense noise-craft meeting jack-knifing, at points careering beat ‘n’ bass tones. Feeling like a more wild, unpredictable, and engaging take on the material found on  Merzbeat and related albums.

“It felt like a remedy to some of the existential stress we were feeling during the time,” says songwriter, composer and producer Khari Lucas aka Contour and one half of Black Decelerant. “Simultaneously being in the height of lockdown and thinking about encroaching fascism and anti-Blackness, in the US especially, the making of the record felt very meditative and offered a dimension to ground us.” The urgency of the pandemic may have lifted, but the political and social necessity has not, and the duo’s reflections ring throughout Reflections Vol. 2: Black Decelerant - their jazz-driven sonic experimentation debut and the second in the RVNG Reflections series

Just for argument’s sake, there might exist a divide within the field recordings genre (assuming there is such a genre), between the ethnographic and the musical. In the first instance are those practitioners who chase the authenticity tail and try to bring their acoustic “discoveries” closer to those listeners who are at some remove from the source material. What else would merit a listen? This makes establishing any critical language around such work incredibly difficult, if not downright fatuous. In the latter category, on the other hand, are works like Pablo Discerns’ Turning Porous, an album full of in situ documentation and musical acumen.

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is a South Korean found footage film from the late 2010’s, regarding a group of internet ghost-hunters who hope to get lots of views/ hits from visiting said asylum, but get much more than they bargained for.  Over the years there have been more than a few haunted asylum/ hospital films released- and I’d say this stands as one of the better additions to the genre- with a likeable/ believable enough cast, a neat location, subtle touches of humour, and some general chilling/ terror-inducing moments in the films last quarter. Here from Second Sight Films is a new reissue of the film- either in a Ltd edition with a seventy-page book & six art cards, or a standard Blu-Ray edition.