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Splendeurs Putrides is an album by the one-man black ambient project Uno Actu; located in Québecq, Canada. The man behind this project presents himself here as Le Cyclope (The Cyclops), though black metal enthusiasts might be more familiar with his other alias Néant (Nothing,) which he goes by in the absolutely brilliant band Akitsa. This album was released on cassette in 2012 on the equally praiseworthy Canadian underground black metal label Tour De Garde, which is run by O.T., who is the other half of Akitsa.
This self-titled CD is a decidedly haphazard & often highly chaotic bringing together of amass Dada vocalizing, unwell improv, and primal-to-deranged retarded folk. This CD is the first release from this new project that brings together two infamous names from the French experimental underground/ noise scenes- Romain ‘Roro’ Perrot , of Legendary wall noise project Vomir, and various low-fi improv/ shit folk projects. And Yves Botz- of noise band Dustbreeders & free form noise project Mesa Of The Lost Women.
Angesichts Konstanter brings together tight 'n' dense noise texturing, with distant/murky locked bass or percussive elements- to create an extreme crossbreed between walled noise, and bluntly repetitive industrial dance-like vibe- I’m guessing you could call it Club music for wall heads. This six-track release appears on Brooklyn New York-based Modern tapes- coming as either a C60 or digital download.
Shoegaze on Cold Spring? Sure makes more sense than Southern Rock on Earache! With their 10th LP, The Telescopes have shown that they've come a long way since the classic The Perfect Needle. Drifting, droning, and perfectly warbling, 2017's Stone Tape shows a mature, experimental approach to standard Shoegaze. This release is certainly a surprise, but very highly welcome.
Every once in a while, a band comes along who challenges the natural order of things, Bȕtcher is one such band. 666 Goats Carry My Chariot is the band’s sophomore release, the follow up to their quietly acclaimed debut Bestial Fȕkkin’ Warmachine which was unleashed upon the world back in 2017. Sadly, until now, I was one of the uninitiated, but after one listens I was scouring the internet for more information about the band and where I could get a copy said debut, that is the power of 666 Goats Carry My Chariot.
Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Jo Berger Myhre and Ólafur Björn Ólafsson have teamed up again for Lanzarote, their 2nd collaboration following The Third Script, released in 2017 on quality jazz/instrumental music label Hubro, which has really opened my eyes 'n' ears to the vibrant Norwegian art music scene.
Wreckord sounds like it could be maybe a grim-yet somehow groove bound BM project, or possibly a bombastic ‘n’ crushing doom band. But in reality, the projects present us with blend shifting noise texturing, wallish moments, and modified-to-melted choral/ gospel/ easy listening music elements. This self-titled release is the first offering from the project- coming as either a C60 or a digital download.
The Bodies Beneath is a recent-ish book that digs deep into the more bizarre, quirky, and strange side of British film & television. The four hundred page paperback selects, then thoroughly dissects around forty titles- with the twin authors nicely balancing well-researched facts, personal observations, sly humor & scholarly critic of these oddities- that come from both the large & small screen.
Resurrected is an often moodily lulling, at times fairly harrowing-to-disturbing British drama about the effects of war & institutionalized bullying. From Powerhouse here we have a recent Blu Ray release of the film- featuring a new scan of the film, and a handful of extras.
Farpoint Recordings have since their inception in the mid 2000s quietly been releasing a series of quality records pirouetting through the hinterlands of improvisation, electronic experimentation and performance. Paul Hegarty is better known as a writer an academic working in aesthetics, and has authored books on modern French philosophy as well as the history of noise music. He puts theory into practice as a member of both SAFE and Maginot. Here he collaborates on a suite of live recordings made on Sherkin island and the city of Cork with Mick O'Shea, who is predominantly known for his live homemade electronics.
At the tail end of 2019, German label Iron Bonehead Productions released the debut album from Dutch Black Metal band Hellehond- entitled Verslonden it severs up crude ‘n’ primitive, if not very original BM.
From May last year, Wild Holocaust is a three-track CDR release from this German walled noise project. And it’s very much of a statement in battering monotone wall-craft, that’s very old school, unforgiving & brain rattling in its attack.
Originally released back in 2014 as a cassette, 01 was the first album from Negativa- a Depressive-Black Metal duo from Alicante, Spain. Now, nearly 5 years later, a new version of the album appears on Nebular Carcoma Records, as a single-sided LP, which is limited to 120 copies
Sadistic Murder is a 3inch CDR that brings together crude & nasty noise texturing, darkly purring synth focused noise, and darts into more vocal-less PE territory. Black Slaughter is a new/recent-ish project from German noise maker Ron H, who is most known in noise circles for his blunt & brutal wall noise project Cannibal Ritual.
Here we have a self-titled CDR split- which finds two of the more known, prolific & respected figures in the French walled noise. Each severs up a twenty-minute track of moody & drone-based walled matter, that has often subtle grey industrial edges to it. Featured here are Mathieu Wagner with his project Volhnn, and Julien Skrobek with his project Sihir. This release appeared only as a CDR, with no digital option- so if you fancy this you’ll have to go old fashioned & track down a copy of this.
From late spring last year here we a two way split that severs up two wonderful taut & sly creative examples of textured noise texturing- we have Stockholm based Rien, and USA’s Zachary Ledsinger. The release appeared on Spanish noise label Marbre Negre- coming as either a C20 or digital download.
Myth, Magic and Steel is the third full length album from Savage Master, an old school NWOBHM inspired Heavy Metal band from Louisville, Kentucky. Formed in 2013 by vocalist Stacey Savage and guitarist Adam Neal the band have developed a cult following, fuelled not only by their old school tunes, but through their larger than life image and a succession of crazy live shows. Myth, magic and Steel is the band’s first album for new label Shadow Kingdom Records.
Q is album number four from this progressive, at times free Jazz collective Krokofant- who come from Kongsberg, Bukserud, Norway. For the album the band expands from a guitar/sax/drums trio to a quintet adding in Keys and bass- all to offer up a propulsive & often urgent album that seemingly effortless & masterful shifts between jazz genres- moving from grooving-to- jam-based jazz-rock, through to free jazz, jazz fusion and beyond.
Buried within the dirt, Worm wriggles forth to put out their second full length on Iron Bonehead. Following 2017's Evocation of the Black Marsh, 2020's follow-up, Gloomlord, sees Worm once again returning to the grim, stagnant marshes of slow, bleak metal. Low, slow, and thoroughly doom laden, Gloomlord does its best to darken even the brightest days.
As part of Wild Eye Releasing Raw & Extreme series here we have a region free DVD of Erotic Nights of the Blind Dead- a 2007 Spanish cheapie that attempts to resurrect the skeletal & creeping Blind Dead franchise of the late ’70s, which saw living dead temple knights stalking the Spanish countryside. And it’s fair to say this is a very mixed bag- that moves from abject boredom, sexualized violence, back to boredom, then onto fairly competent limp ripping & ghoulish stalking.
Metallic is a six-CD boxset bringing together a selection of Merzbow recordings from the 1990's- the set features stand-alone albums, compilations, and a live album. With the material moving nicely from creative & at times moody harsh noise, dense loop-based material, and more noise jam-like material.
Kagami Smile (Ryan Hill) is one of a number of artists including the likes of 2814, Remember, Yoshimi and Subaeris, affiliated to the recent musicological neologism 'Ghost Tech'. For those of you who follow the mulching machine of musical microgenres, this is a marginally more "bangin" variant of 'Dreampunk', which itself is an extension of Vaporwave's ambient tendencies, distilling them towards a more sci-fi and dystopian form. Both terms have their origin in the Dream Catalogue label's output. Ostensibly drawing on the tradition of ambient techno, these artists take the latter's sense of space and introspection, wedding it to some of Vaporwave's notable tropes; not least the penchant for 80s and 90s synth sounds and a certain pan-Asian (though predominantly Japanese) consumer aesthetic.
Mythical and Magical is the latest reissue from English Doom Metal pioneers Pagan Altar, originally formed in Brockley in 1978 by father and son team Terry and Alan Jones.
Underworld Transmissions is a six-track CD release that complies together the three C20 tape volumes of Underworld Transmission series, which appeared on the Finish dark ritual ambient label Aural Hypnox between February 2014 and April 2015. The collection often shows the more abstract, loose & jam like side of the labels work, as well as their slightly more noise bound & experimental side too.