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Mutant Hunt is a cheesy splat of 80’s sci-fi/ action Schlock- with a paper-thin budget, tacky effects like stretching arms ‘n’ melting cyborg's heads- it features black shoulder padded bad guys, dumb heroes, and sloppy kung fu fighting. Originally released in 1987, here we have a recent(ish) region free DVD of the film as part of Full Moons Grindhouse collection.
Like a death metal phoenix, Nocturnus AD arises from the body of the now defunct Nocturnus with their first full length, Paradox. With founding Morbid Angel member Mike Browning at the helm, fans of old school death metal are in good hands. Paradox is a follow-up to the themes and events presented on 1990's The Key, and sonically, it's a wonderful transition.
Raison D'Etre is, perhaps, the most famous and significant Dark Ambient project in the world. Founded by Swedish musician Peter Andersson in 1991, to date, the project has in its discography 25 full-length albums. In 1993, on the cult Swedish label Cold Meat Industry, the first full-length album of the project was released, entitled Prospectus I- in the ensuing 25 years, the album was reissued three times on various labels. The 4th and most recent edition appeared at the tail end of 2018, as a joint release of the German label Cyclic Law and the Italian label Old Europa Cafe. It should be noted that this is not just a reissue of the original album, but a newly assembled, remixed and re-recorded material. So it can be said that this is an update of a classic Raison D’tre album.
Hardy Fox was one of the truly unsung, and largely unknown key figures with-in wider experimental music, and more than a few of its sub-genres. For most of his forty plus year career he remained hidden, under an eyeball ‘n’ top hat( and other disguises) as one of the key songwriters in The Residents. He left the project in 2015 due to ill health, going onto release eighteen solo albums under the pseudonym of Charles Bobuck…then in 2018, he put out his first self titled album, and revealed his many years of work for The Residents. Sadly, in October of last year Hardy passed away from brain cancer- 25 Minus Minutes is the final recordings he made just before his passing…and it’s a release that is both poignant, yet devilishly creative- highlighting his talent, and the great hole his passing has left.
Fabio Orsi is an electronic musician from Taranto, Italy, specialising in atmospheric drone. Inspired by the pre-war folk recordings made by Alan Lomax, Orsi uses field recordings as the basis of his music with the intention of creating sonic images. He is known to admire the way in which Lomax used folklore and folk music as the basis of something that goes beyond mere historical artefact. He describes it in his own words as “an expression of suffering with a thirst for rebellion.”
Built around mostly retro synthesizers, mellotron's, and organs The Haze of Sleeplessness moves between quaint & playful early electronica/ambience, and noisier to more moody fare. The CD album comes in with a relatively short/almost EP runtime of thirty-two minutes; but it’s a nicely satisfying at this length- as nothing ever feels overstretched, indulgent, or contrived.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so, I’m sure you’ll be aware of this controversial film based on the equally controversial book of the same name. Lords of Chaos attempts to chronical what went on in the Norwegian black metal scene in the early 1990’s- the church burnings, the self mutation, murder, metal mayhem & backstabbing (literally & figuratively)…and it’s fair to say it’s a decidedly muddled, unevenly acted, at times shocking & semi-effective film, which has really split my option unlike any other film in recent memory.
The always reliable No Rent Records presents Jaki Crush, the latest album (available on cassette and digital download) from Chicago-based sound artist Mukqs. For those unfamiliar, Mukqs is one Maxwell Allison who is a member of free music trio Good Willsmith and co-founder of tape label Hausu Mountain. This is my first foray into the artist’s work so I got to experience Jaki Crush intently with a fresh pair of ears.
Chicago based Bloodyminded is a fairly unique project within the wider noise scene, and in particular, Power (Heavy) electronics / Death Industrial sub-genre. As these genres are often one-man affairs, & Bloodyminded is made up of six members, each of whom is already quite famous in the world of experimental music. Perhaps this is the only PE group in the world with such a large line-up.
Mill of the Stone Women or Le Moulin des supplices to give it the French title is sold under here. Is one of the lesser known entries in the early 60’s euro horror genre- it’s an at times overly melodramatic blend of gothic horror & mad doctor sub-genres. Here from Artus Films is a recent duel Blu Ray & DVD presentation of the film, presented in a sixty four-page media book format.
Even though it was released thirty-nine years ago Maniac still stands as one of the most grueling, intense & deranged slasher/ psycho thriller ever made- it’s a film that oozes sweaty unsettlement, tense stalking scenes, and extreme/ prolonged killings. Here from Blue Underground is the ultimate edition of this sleazy & brutal masterpiece- bringing together a three-disc set- which takes in a new Blu Ray 4K print & two commentary tracks, a DVD loaded with extras, the full CD soundtrack- all topped off with a lenticular cover, and a glossy inlay booklet.
Formerly half of Zombi, Steve Moore has made quite a career for himself after going solo. Scoring more than twelve feature films and TV show, Moore made his return to non-soundtrack work for the first time in five years. Marking his first album with Temporary Residence Ltd, Beloved Exile is a contemplative, ambient synth work pretty distant from Moore's earlier catalog. Reflective and meditative, bordering on New/Age, Beloved Exile is a wonderful experience for mind, body, and soul.
Hungarian percussionist Balazs Major has teamed up with guitarist and instrument inventor Kevin Kastning to create their first collaborative album of free improvisation, titled Kismaros, released last year in 2018 on Greydisc. The liner notes state that it includes a 30 string Contra-Alto guitar, immediately making me curious about the timbres to be heard within. I am wholly unfamiliar with the previous works of both musicians.
Here we have a two-way wall-noise split themed around grueling ‘n’ sleazed 1980’s house invasion thriller The House On The Edge Of The Park- it brings together US Horror themed wall brutality of Burial Ground, & seared wall noise crudity of Germanys Bloodcraving. Originally released back in 2008 in the form of a C40 on Black Graves Tapes, here’s a 2018 CDR reissue of the release.
Released in 1987 by George Harrison’s Handmade Films, Bellman and True is the gritty, British, crime drama directed by Richard Loncraine (Brimstone and Treacle (1982) and Band of Brothers). The films stars Bernard Hill, who is most famous for his roles as Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff and Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This new Bluray from Powerhouse films features two different cuts of the movie, the original theatrical cut that runs for 114 minutes and the longer pre-release version that was screened at the film’s London premiere and ran for an extra 8 minutes.
Negative to the Power of Infinity is a decidedly moody & space-bound walled noise release- it offers up three twenty minute tracks that blend together static texturing, with a darkly interstellar ambient backdrop. This release appeared in March of this year on Bangkok label Perpetual Abjection- who focuses in on art edition walled noise releases.
From March last year Fluidity In Despair is a pro-pressed CDR wall noise split, with a toad/ frog theme. The release brings together two tracks a piece from respected & prolific Serbian project Dosis Letalis, and Maryland US based Phyllomedusa.
Here we have a four-way wall noise split, that brings together fairly different-yet equally intense examples of this most extreme of genres. This split appeared in March of this year, in either the form of a CDR(15 copies) or digital download- and as of this review writing the label still have copies of CDR available for purchase.
Foot Fetish severs up two sonically roasting ‘n’ searing slabs of walled noise from this Florida project, who themes all its work around pigs & pork products. The release comes in the form of a C30/ digital download- with each 15-minute wall been equally nastily appealing, like munching down on a extremely grease & crunchy side of pork roast.
WOMB is the first full-length release from Swedish composer and sound artist Kajsa Lindgren. She studied Western contemporary art music as well as electroacoustic composition, has a Bachelor (2015) and a Master (2017) in electroacoustic composition from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. In her work, she mainly uses field recordings, which she presents in different ways and often reflects through spatial multi-channel distribution. Her work includes electroacoustic compositions, sound installations, and compositions for acoustic traditional instruments.
Screen Off is a searing, often noise-bound, at times playful journey into the jazz form- at it’s most virtual, jarring & fiery. The twenty-one track CD finds respected Norwegian bandleader/ drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, joining American Avant/ free Jazz saxophonists Ken Vandermark for a release that literal jumps ‘n’ bucks all over the place- the album consists of snippets of live recordings of the pair from youtube, and these are edited together into a gapless & fiery flowing forty two minute runtime.
From Stockholm based improviser/composer Magnus Granberg Nun, es wird nicht weit mehr gehn is another lengthy, but very worthy slice of modern composition that moves from gloomily eventful, sourly shrill, to atmospheric- yet angularly darting. This is the seventh CD release of Granberg’s work, on the always worthy Another Timbre.
Black metal, originating from the Scandinavian coasts, has always been the object of close attention to fans of this genre. Nordjevel is a fairly young Norwegian black metal band that has existed since 2015. The debut album was released on Osmose Productions in 2016 and was a self-titled affair. In 2017, a mini album Krigsmarkt was released on the same label. At the moment, Nordjevel are a quartet of musicians, hiding under the names Doedsadmiral, DzeptiCunt, Dominator and Destructhor. Some band members have already been involved in bands such as Morbid Angel, Myrkskog, Dark Funeral, Ragnarok, and so on. So, there can be no doubt about the professionalism of the musicians involved.
The Corruption of Chris Miller is a moody, at times slowly paced & drama filled Spanish Gallio from the early 70s- it's not the goriest, or gruelling of the genre, but it does feature some chillingly memorable & fairly bloody set pieces along its nearing two-hour runtime. Here on Vinegar Syndrome is a duel Blu Ray/ DVD reissue of the film, which apparently is released here for the first time in digital format- and as we’ve come to expect from VS, you get a nice new scan of the film, along with a splattering of extras.