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From Vinegar Syndrome here we have another example of 1980’s horror wonkiness ‘n’ haphazard camp. Flesh-Eating Mothers is a off-key collision between 1950’s small-town-in peril, sleazed body horror, zombie-like limb ripping & gut-munching, and suburbian satire. Think the type of thing Rick Slone(Blood Theatre, The Visitants, the Hobgoblin films) did, but with a bit more gore & sleazy suggestiveness- and you’ll get an idea of what's on offer. Here we have the standard VS dual format release of the film- bringing together a new scan, commentary, and a few interviews.
Collaborative albums of have always been interesting propositions - as you often get rewarding blend between two different sounds/ ways or working Here we have a collab between two artists in the ambient side of things, and I’d say for the most part this is a short-but-worthy joining.
Based on the bestselling novel by Richard Condon, Winter Kills is the 1979 movie directed by William Richert. The film follows the story of the Kegan family in the years after the assassination of US President Timothy Kegan in 1960. Nineteen years later, Timothy’s half-brother Nick Kegan (Jeff Bridges) is introduced to a dying man who claims to have been the second gunman who shot Timothy. If this tale sounds a little familiar, the story draws inspiration from the true-life mystery surrounding the assassination of President John F Kennedy. On the word of the assassin Nick heads to Philadelphia to retrieve the gun he used from its hiding place, however after doing so Nick’s companions are murdered and the car containing the weapon and their corpses is stolen. This is merely the beginning for Nick as he follows clue after clue, leading him further down the rabbit hole.
Demoniac Ethics is the fourth full-length release by Zifir, a black metal trio based in Istanbul, Turkey. The album has been physically released on vinyl and compact disc by the Norwegian underground label Duplicate Records. Duplicate Records is home to perhaps one of my all-time favorite records (Virus’ Oblivion Clock), so I’m always curious to check out what new releases they have in store. This is the second album by Zifir on said label. I remember having heard the previous one on the label’s Bandcamp page, a record which I enjoyed a lot. If my disastrous memory allows me to recall that listening session correctly. Here’s hoping it does.
Here’s a fourteen/seventy-one-minute compilation of recent improvised music from Buenos Aires- and it’s certainly instrumentally and sonically varied in its make-up. With the tracks moving between rapid & angular, through to stripped back & forlorn, onto darting & nervy, on to more harmonic and bright. So it’s certainly a sonic chocolate box of collection, as you really you don’t know what to expect from track-to-track, which is always positive for a good & balanced compilation that you will want to revisit again.
Mass Production were a ten-piece Funk/ Disco band from Norfolk, Virginia- and during the late ’70s to early 80’s the band put out eight albums, and had a handful of low key hits. So while the band where one of the lesser-known names in the flare shaking 'n' glitter ball spinning stakes, they put out than more a few finger-snapping & body-jiving tracks in their time, and this recent three-CD set brings together the cream of the crop from their singles, B sides and album tracks.
Taking on the topic of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Portugal's Colosso unleashes their most ambitious release yet, the aptly titled Apocalypse. With four tracks of varying flavors and vocalists, each track represents one of the aforementioned horsemen, complete with its own personality. Deftly tackling this fun and creative project, Max Tomé. lined up a talent crew to help him complete his vision, and Apocalypse certainly bears the fruits of their collective labors.
The Culture of Fear is a C40/ digital release that highlights both sides of this Serbian walled noise project sound- moving seared & tight intensity, to more detailed & creavlity textured. This release appeared back in 2018, and is now sadly out of print in physical form- though it’s well worth tracking down in digital form, as each of the side long tracks are great- showing off the projects ability to pick 'n' build great textured 'walls'.
Here we have The Vast Apart, a curious project from experimental guitarist Mike Fazio which was apparently begun all the way back in 2007, left dormant, and only recently finished. It also differs from his usual work by being a collection of short pieces, as he has often been inclined to fashion twenty minute longform collages.
For today's review, we have the new Jessica Ekomane album Multivocal. The album features two long-form pieces created by on what I assume is a hardware synth or soft synth on a laptop (kudos to the artist for not mentioning what kind of synthesis was used though because it doesn’t matter ever). Both pieces are slowly formed and use minimal arpeggios, which add little textures and sounds over time.
Appearing in the early 1990’s Prehysteria! was a campy, tacky, though often charming/ lightly amusing slice of family fantasy- featuring a group of miniature dinosaurs turning up in a US family home. The film was the first feature to appear from Moonbeam Pictures- which was the family-focused branch of Charles Bands Full Moon Pictures. Here we have a dual format Blu Ray & DVD release of the film from last year- it features a director's commentary and a making-of from when it originally came out.
Released in 1981 The House By The Cemetery was the third, and final part in Lucio Fulci's ‘Gates Of Hell’ trilogy. It stands as not only the most coherent & balanced of the trilogy, but one of Fulci’s finest films & a classic example of creepy-to-gory 1980’s horror. The film perfectly balances creepy house gothic horror and splatter gore- with very effective moments of dread,campy acting, bizarre dubbing,and subtle Lovecraft like touches. Here from the folks over at Blue Underground is another one of their great & classy deluxe editions of the film- taking in two Blu Rays- full of new & old extras, a CD with the soundtrack on, a glossy color booklet, and a neat Lenticular 3D cover in the Ltd edition of the set.
Recorded at the Intraspect Concert Series, the aptly named Intraspect sees the drone-noise stylings of Phil Durrant and Bill Thompson on their first ever recorded improv session. With Durrant handling the modular electronics and Bill Thompson playing the Moog guitar, the duo manages to create quite an atmosphere. Build with slowly growing and moving layers, Intraspect is a wonderful document of their 2018 performance. This second release on Burning Harpsichord shows great direction for this fledgling label.
Concrete Vital is the latest work from noisepoetnobody- it was released on CD and in digital form by Scry Records. Behind the project is the experimental musician Casey Chittenden Jones, who is a well-known artist from the Seattle scene.
Madame Delbène is a two-track C40 from this Swedish project who creates blistering thick ‘n crudely cluttering walled noise themed around 1800-1900 erotic literature & fetishes. This tape appearing last September, and seemingly the label still has copies for sale as of this review.
From last year Life Feels Empty is a C50 spilt bringing together one starkly focused example of droning bound wall noise, and a more formal- though-no-less bleak HNW. The release brings together two US projects from Texas N0123noise and Tissa Mawaryassari.
Viy is a 1967 horror movie based on the 1835 novella of the same name by Russian literary giant Nikolai Gogol, however, it was not the first version of the story to make it to the big screen, having been adapted previously by Mario Bava as a segment for his 1963 portmanteau, Black Sabbath. On a side note Viy has the somewhat dubious honour of being the first horror movie ever produced in the Soviet Union.
During the mid-1980’s most teen films fitted into two or three categories- drama with touches of comedy, campy slashers, or cheesy Sex comedies. The Boys Next Door stood apart from many teens focused fare of the period, as it was often fairly disturbing/ alarming, and it largely took its subject matter in a serious and un-flippant manner. The film tells of two troubled small-town teens going on a violent crime spree in LA just after they graduated high school- it brings together a largely effective believable cast, moments of explosive violence, and a feeling of little or no hope. Here from the folks at Severin is the first-ever Blu Ray release of the film- which offers up a region free pressing- taking in a new vibrate print, and a great selection of new extras.
Anatomy Of The Beast is the recent full-length album from Fouke- the bigfoot walled noise project of US Noise Legend Richard Ramirez. Over the years I’ve enjoyed many of Mr. Ramirez projects- but I’ve always seen Fouke as my favorite- as it finds him perfectly distilling a distinctly atmospheric vibe that conjures up both feelings of been stalked by something huge, the bigfoots often forest bound domain, and other facets related to this most allusive of creatures. This release from the tail end of last year came as either a C50 or digital download- and features two side-long tracks.
Here’s a two-way wall split featuring two Russian HNW projects- each offering up a single around the twenty-minute track. We have the up and coming Shumoizolyatsiya project, and Train Cemetery whose one of the more creative and respected names in the Russian wall scene.
No Feeling is a decidedly nasty ‘n’ dense slice of harsh noise- with the C20/ digital release finding two around ten minutes examples searing noise matter, that feature occasional touches of more nuanced & moody texturing.
So for today’s review, we have the latest release from Edition Mego runner, Peter Rehberg AKA Pita. The release Get On follows from Peter’s 2016 release Get in, and finds the former Magma keyboardist in familiar territory; glossy minimal blasts of rhythmic synthesis interspersed with moody ambience, and harsher Haswell style digi-noise (Russell Haswell mastered this it seems? So Cool).
Arkofagi Nocnych Zjaw is a recent mini-album by the Polish black metal band Krypta Nicestwa. This single-sided 12” vinyl has been released on Harvest Of Death, which is part of the Signal Rex label. Signal Rex operates out of Portugal, and has been responsible for releasing some absolute jewels throughout recent years; the most recent one being Glacial Conjuration by Occelensbrigg, released in November last year. Sarkofagi Nocnych Zjaw is the first release I’ve heard coming from the Signal Rex stable since that one, so I was really excited to give this one a listen.
Ludwig Wittgenstein once contended that if a lion were to speak we would not be able to understand him. This is for the reason that we have no access to the world of the lion out of which its utterances come. On The Hour in the Woods is New York based British artist Viv Corringham's attempt to circumvent this seeming aporia and spend 24hours communing with the denizens of an American forest.