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When one thinks of 1990’s horror there are only a handful wholly rewarding, memorable, and creative films released in the decade. One such film is Brain Dead, a twisting ‘n’ turning horror/sci-fi film that’s edged with dark humour & some great imagery. From 101 Films here’s a much needed Blu Ray release of the film- it's part of the labels Black Label series, which sees ultimate edition of cult films taking in a slipcase, booklet, and a good selection of new & old extras.
Massacre In Dinosaur Valley is a prime slice of 1980’s euro exploitation pie that flip-flops between action hero campiness, leering sleaze, and gut gorging gore. It’s a film that nicely darts between charming hammy-ness, sudden bloody & brutal shock, and soft-core flesh-ness -so if you like a little bit of everything in your exploitation- this will most certainly satisfy. Here from the folks over at Severin is a recent region free Blu Ray release of the film, taking in an uncut 4k new print of the film, and a few extras.
The Strangers stands as one of the more memorable and unsettling films of the home invasion genre. It aptly shifts between lulling unease, effective creepiness and heart bounding fear- creating not only a classic of the genre, but one of the great modern horror pictures. Here on Second Sight is another one of their classy & ultimate edition of respected genre films- taking in two cuts of the film, a good selection of new extras, a booklet featuring new essays- all packaged in an ltd edition boxset.
Chaos is an early 2000’s attempt to return to the grim ‘n’ gruelling rape-revenge of films the 1970s. And while it's not quite as brutal or shocking as it wants to be, it’s a passable addition to the genre- with a good nasty lead and some fairly inventively unpleasant moments along the way. Here on Dark Force Entertainment is a recent region free release of this uncut/ unrated feature- taking in directors/ writers commentary, and a few interviews.
Newagehillbilly, is the solo project of Baltimore based Alex Strama- it started life in the early 2000s, and its musical scope is fairly wide. Alex does not limit his creativity to any single chosen style and prefers to work in many experimental genres - from industrial, noise-rock,drone and Harsh Noise.
Belgian death metallers, Carnation, return to Season of Mist with their second full length, Where Death Lies. A worthy follow-up to 2018's Chapel of Abhorrence, these nine tempestuous tracks spew forth old school death through a modern filter. No frills, just pure death, Where Death Lies is a straightforward pummeler of an album.
Day Of The Phoenix were a late 60’s-to-early 70’s Danish five-piece who managed to blend the bounding-to-edgy side of euro Prog, with the more tuneful/mellow US West Coast psychedelic rock-making for a rather distinctive, at times darting & fairly unique sound. Here from Esoteric Recordings-Cherry Reds prog label is Mind Funeral- a two-disc set that brings together the bands only two albums 1971’s Wide Open N-Way, and 1972’s The Neighbour’s Son- along with a few bonus tracks.
Here’s a sixty-five-minute example of long-form wall-craft from respected London noise maker James Shearman. The release was recently released in the form of a CDR, which appeared on the Harsh Noise London label- presented in a DVD case with warped & glitched out pictures from London.
Here we have a just sly of a thirty-minute slice of nicely taut ‘n’ tense walled noise from this Eugene, Oregon project who themes its work around sleaze, mental health, and degradation.
Released back in 2019 Channelling Fire is a C30/digital release that blends together raging walled noise with densely seared psycho ambience. It brings together respected Serbian wall noise project Dosis Letalis, and Kansas based harsh drone/ dark ambient project Endless Chasm- the release features two around fifteen-minute tracks, and each nicely sears & moodily creeps one out.
Experimental jazz rock guitarist Hedvig Mollestad has returned in 2020 with a new lineup, separate from her famed Hedvig Mollestad Trio, the group from which most of her music has emerged over the past ten years. Her new band is larger, including two percussionists, a keyboardist and a trumpet player. Ehkidna is an album of lightly overdriven pentatonic blues shred set to a polyrhythmic afrobeat pulse, executed with clear-headed prog rock precision and jazz fusion tonal knowledge.
The Consuming Flame is three CDs and nearly three hours worth of material, with sounds from 99 artists compiled and arranged by Matmos: this is my excuse for not even attempting any meaningful summary of the album. Instead, I’ll hopefully give a sense of how it sounds in a broader sense. Matmos, M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, invited 99 incredibly eclectic projects and musicians over a period of time to contribute anything they wanted - as long as any rhythmic material was 99 beats per minute. The resulting submissions were then crafted into three long collages - A Doughnut in the Sky, On the Team, and Extraterrestrial Masters - all around the hour mark, and all wildly colourful. These collages are also mapped out on a huge poster that accompanies the release, giving a neat visual sense of just how big the whole project is.
Krabi, 2562 sells its self as an arty & dream-like critique of Thailand- its present/ past, and it’s tourist trade- focusing in on the coastal town of Krabi on the southern coast of the country. The film is decidedly slow & lulling mixture of slightly quirky & mysterious drama, travelogue footage, and interviews with local folk. From Anti-World Releasing here, we have a recent Blu Ray release of the film- bringing together a directors commentary, a selection of other short films by the same team, and a few other extras.
The Bloody Judge( or as it’s sold here under its German title Der Hexentöter von Blackmoor) is one of the more grand & larger budgeted releases from the king of euro exploitation Jess Franco. It’s a period piece set in seventeen century England, focusing in on the darkly devious Judge Jeffries- played by horror legend Christopher Lee- on the whole, it’s fairly tame by Franco standards in both sleaze & distinctive Franco touches, though there are a few here & there. From Koch Media here’s a super classy deluxe boxset release of the film- bringing together two Blu Rays, two DVDs, and one CD taking in the film's soundtrack.
Originally released in 2003, Tracers is sixty-minute collaboration between respected Belgian ambient project Vidna Obmana, and New York City-based feedback scaper David Lee Meyers. The whole thing has very much of a darkly abstract space like vibe, giving one the feeling of travelling to some strange & gloomy planet. As part of Zoharum’s reissuing of Vidna Obmana back catalog- here’s a recently CD reissue of the album featuring a new remastering of the album.
The Sphere Of Density is the 15th full-length album from S.E.T.I, who create darker hued-to-moodily extraterrestrial and space-themed ambience/ largely beat-less electronica. The new album is presented as a two-CD set- on disc one we have seventy-four minutes of studio material, and on the other disc a forty-three-minute live performance.
Next City Sounds: Interfaces is a sixty-two-minute work that moves between music, sound art, and field recording. It’s certainly a shifting & drifting, at times fairly daring sonic experience which largely managers to keep ones attention held & focus, which is a fairly difficult feat for a work that blends & shifts through different genres of the sound.
Pulsing through the crisp detritus of a 2020 street, Blakk Harbor's second album, A Modern Dialect, teases at a techno future sound while still firmly placed in the present, expounding upon modern ideas. It's this relatable foresight that gives A Modern Dialect its charm; it's the friendly tour guide from the future. Not capitalizing on set rules of sound for any genre, Blakk Harbor's latest is an interesting, propulsive thought piece of techno industrial.
We Were Here Before, We Will Be Here After is a recent album from Yair Etziony- an Israelian artist living in Berlin, who creates electrionica soundscape that move been downtempo and ambient. The album appears as a digipack CD on Seaside on Postcards.
Parallel Words presents the listener with three examples of atmospheric & often drone edged modern chamber music. Eventless Plot is a three-piece from Thessaloniki, Greece- they've been active since the early 2000s, thus far putting out eight full-length releases. The project blends & meld different genres- such as free improv, noise, electronica, electro-acoustic composition, and jazz. This recent CD album appears on the respected British label Another Timbre- presented in the form of the labels house style mini white gatefold.
Stockholm based improviser/composer Magnus Granberg is one of the more distinct, yet at the same time creative modern composition artists around. All of his works are sparse-yet-micro detailed in their unfold- but each takes his sound in a slightly different direction. Let Pass My Weary Guiltless Ghost is a 2019 work for ten players-that sees him working with modern ensemble Skogen. It slides in at just shy of the fifty-eight & a half minute mark- and the focus here is very much detail, and it’s shift/change.
Very little is known about the band Mythology, except that they play their own brand of jazz-influenced progressive hard rock, their artwork is utterly fantastical, there are no credits on the album for producer, editor, mixer, or artist. Their identities, like several bands who have gone before them, are hidden by pseudonyms, all we can surmise is that as they are released on Italy’s Black Widow Records there is a good chance they are from that part of world, although that is no guarantee.
Mon Creation is a recent long-form slice of baying 'n' buffeting walled noise from Serbian wall maker Dosis Letalis. The release appears as a CDR and is part of a recent large batch of noise releases put out by Harsh Noise London.
Nihilism severs up two thirty-five minutes dwells in bothersome & brutalizing HNW from Bradford based Niks. The album is presented in the form of a CDR- that is one of a recent large batch of noise releases put out by Harsh Noise London.