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There’s a rich history of ‘heavy’ rock adherents switching up and embracing the more ambient side of musical life. This isn’t that outlandish, of course, given the obvious overlap in meditative intensity and emotional depth inherent in both music that is relentlessly dark and noise-driven and music that is cosmic and ethereal. In fact, it’s in this very space that we find Norman Westberg, long-time (on and off) guitarist with original art-rock daddies Swans. No stranger to ambient composition and with several such releases under his belt, it is to this familiar territory that he has returned for his latest album, Milan.
When Evil Lurks is a 2023 Argentine film that tries to do something a little different with the demonic possession genre. Set in a small rural town, it regards the dumping of a bloatedly infected and possessed body, which makes things a hell of a lot worse. The decidedly bleak and glum-toned film brings together elements of supernatural horror, family drama, and body horror- blending broodingly unease with moments of jarring/ brutal violence. Here from Second Sight Films- coming as either a standard UHD or Blu-ray, or dual ltd edition- is a new reissue of the film. All versions feature a new 4K scan of the picture, new commentary, and other new interviews/ featurettes.
With a title like Nothing Underneath, you may be expecting a highly sleazy/ possibly violently nasty giallo similar to the likes of either 1975’s Strip Nude For Your Killer, or 1979’s Giallo in Venice. But instead, the mid-1980s Italian film is a blend of murder mystery, lightly erotic thriller, and largely bloodless Giallo/ slasher. Think a more Euro cult focused, at points fairly vapid take on Brian De Palma, and you get an idea of what we have here. From Rustblade, here's a forty-anniversary Blu-ray release of the film.
After a number of appetite whetting, shorter releases, Florida's Plasmodulated blast forth their debut full length, An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell. Hitting digital, CD, vinyl, and cassette with the help of Personal Records, Gurgling Gore, and Dawnbreed, this forty minute chunk of metal mayhem captures the band's hard work after getting their recording lineup squared away. The year spent writing and recording were well used, and Ocean is a ripping death metal romp inspired by the guitar tunings of old. Using standard tuning, Plasmodulated pay homage to their influences while separating themselves from the pack, where down tuning has become the norm. Although the band aims for a "yucky" sound, Plasmodulated feels more traditionally rooted with nice jaunts into modern arrangements keeping the album fresh and invigorating, but never really descending into the vileness that the lyrics and titles would let on.
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is a songwriter/musician hailing from Ålesund, Norway, and the leader of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio. The band is made up of Hedvig on guitar and vocals, with Ellen Brekken handling bass duties and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad on drums. Bees in the Bonnet is the band’s 8th studio album, and their first since 2021. Stylistically, they create a fairly unique mix of 70s style instrumental hard rock with jazz, prog and psychedelia, and they have an excellent reputation as a live band, having played concerts to enthusiastic crowds across the planet.
Here we have the second volume in Creepy Images giallo movie poster book series. For this glossy/ colour throughout book, we focus on two of the most important years in the genre's development, 1970 & 1971.
Reggae Steady Go is a two-CD collection bringing together four albums released by British label Creole Records in the early 1970s. There’s a classic album from Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Upsetters, and three compilations, as well as a great selection of bonus tracks. The selection over the set is nicely varied, moving between the grooving, quirky, and more mellow/ playful. Over the two discs, there are a whopping fifty-three tracks.
Sex Rider: Wet Highway is an early 1970s Roman Porno, which blends in elements of thriller and action into its sleazy and softcore fleshy template. The film regards a woman who runs over a man, thinks he’s dead, but he isn’t and has other plans for the woman. Here from 88 Films, as part of their series reissues of Roman Porno released by Nikatsu studios, is a new Blu-ray release of the film, taking in an HD scan, a commentary track, and a few other extras.
Tokyo Emmanuelle is a blend of roman porno and euro softcore, with light arty ‘n’ moody touches. It regards a Japanese woman going back home, after falling out with her French lover, to go on a journey of sexual discovery, some of which isn’t consensual. This Blu-ray is part of 88 Films Nikkatsu Studios series, which sees the label reissue Roman Porno films the studio released in the 70s- taking in new film scan, new commentary track, and other extras.
From Dissonance Productions, here’s a double CD reissue of the first two albums by Canadian Death Metal project Gorguts- 1991’s Considered Dead, and 1993’s The Erosion Of Sanity. The band started a more straightforward DM venture, before later morphing into a more technical, at times avant-garde example of the genre. These two albums chart the beginning of that switch, so they are certainly key/ important albums, not just in the band’s history, but the development of the DM form in general.
Here’s a very diy release from (K)Anál Records, a CDR with a colour copied (or printed) inlay. The disc has six tracks, all pushing synth/electronics-driven harsh noise. Each of the tracks is around ten minutes in length, and all of them explore the (apparently) same set-up and sounds.
Roughly speaking, there are two kinds of drones within the genre, if it is indeed a genre. There are linear or durational drones, which tend to go on toward a particular horizon, driven by forward progress more than the articulation of specific sounds. The other, less popular, it seems, is the cyclical variety, in which a phrase or partial composition is repeated over and over, the drone serving as the ultimate endpoint of these repetitions, though not its telos per se. If you'll excuse this rather cursory parsing of the genre, Amoshpère's latest release, Cosmogonical Ears, definitely falls within the cyclical camp.
Terminus is a 1987 Franco-German sci-fi movie directed by Pierre-William Glenn (23h58, Death Watch and Extérieur Nuit) . The film stars Jurgen Prochnow (David Lynch’s Dune, Das Boot and Judge Dredd), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Starman and Animal Lampoon’s Animal House), the man known as the French Elvis, Johnny Hallyday (The Man on the Train, Crime Scene and Pourquoi Pas Moi?), and Gabriel Damon (Robocop 2, The Land Before Time and Tequila Sunrise).
Appearing in 1993, a year after A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Under A Funereal Moon saw Darkthrone clarify and crudely distil their black metal sound. The eight-track album found the band iron out all the death metal elements from their last album, amp up the distortion, and let the blackened ice-coldness rush in. Here from Peaceville Records is the next in the series of two-disc CD reissues of classic BM albums from the band, with the first disc taking in the original album, and the second disc features a full-length commentary track from drummer/songwriter Feriz.
It’s always difficult to add something new, different, and worthwhile to classic/genre-defining albums when reissuing them, but this two-CD reissue of Darkthrone’s genre-defining black metal masterpiece does just that. On the first disc is the original album, and on the second disc, we get a full album commentary from drummer/songwriter Feriz- with some wonderful, honest, at times amusing insights. Here from Peaceville Records is the first in a series of four two-disc CD reissues of classic BM albums from the band.
Night Terror doesn’t waste time making us think the horror might all be in the characters’ heads or, for that matter, their dreams.
Father son duo ZD Grafters are dropping four new tracks of improvisational, jazz based experimentalism, crafted with synth and drums. Starting with a single chord and going outward, Dave and Zac are able to keep together through their unwritten journey and deliver a rich and fulfilling mix. Working with repetition to add stability instead of chaos, Chop Club On Road shows a team that is in step in both playing and thought, keeping the pieces coherent and unified, all while allowing the wonderful tumult of improv and jazz to shine through.
During the 1980s,a fair few films locked into heavy metal themes/ concepts, be they horror, comedies, or documentaries- one of the most successful/memorable of these was Trick Or Treat. The mid-80s film blended elements of revenge-focused supernatural horror, high school angst drama, with light touches of comedy & satire. Its plot is fairly simplistic- shock rocker Sammi Curr( Tony Fields)- a Alice Cooper/ Blackie Lawless crossbreed- dies in a fire, but manages to come back to electrified life via raven-haired/bullied teen Eddie, played by Marc Price, who is most known for his role in US Sitcom Family Ties. Here from Synapse Films is – either a UHD, Blu-ray, or DVD release- taking in a new 4k scan, new audio commentary, a lengthy new doc, and a few other things.
The Sweet House Of Horror was the second of two films Lucio Fulci made for Italian TV in the late 80s. It's a tonally haphazard blend of children’s fantasy, haunted house horror and murder mystery, with playful visual effects, and a few moments of brutal gore. Here from Cauldron Films is a recent region-free Blu-ray of the film, taking in a new 2K/uncut print of the film, with a new commentary track by genre experts, and a mix of new and archive extras.
Skullcap is a trio that plays dark folk rock with a heavy emotion and room for the players to solo and improvise. Lightly distorted blues rock fuzz guitar meets a vibrant, expressive folk lead cello, with a drummer who plays with a jazz subtlety. Snakes of Albuquerque is the band's debut album
German Kosmische legends Can have a reputation for being innovative musical pioneers. During the late 1960s and 1970s, they released a number of groundbreaking records and were renowned for their live performances. Held together by the metronomic drumming of Jaki Liebezeit, and the supreme bass playing of Holger Czukay, the band forged a career built around a solid, faultless rhythm section. This allowed guitarist Michael Karoli and keyboard wizard Irmin Schmidt to unleash their creativity over the top, with occasional vocals from original vocalist Michael Mooney or, later and more significantly Damo Suzuki. This recording was captured slightly later in their careers in 1977, and by this time, they were performing long jam-style pieces without a vocalist and had added former Traffic bassist Rosko Gee on bass, thus allowing Czukay to step away from the bass and mess about with shortwave radios and tape loop
Zonal Disturbances II finds long-term experimental mood setter and improviser offering up four slices of brooding to raw ambient guitar scaping. The CD release appears on Poland’s Zoharum, whom have been a long-term supporter/releasers of Mr Serries' work.
Here’s a CD release of a set recorded in London’s Café Oto in 2023. It finds this Belgian pianist inviting a selection of kindred spirits and collaborators to create two slices of eventful and often dense improv.
Vampire At Midnight is a late 80s film which blends elements of crime thriller, action, fanged horror, and unintentionally awkward romantic drama. The film features a soundtrack that shifts between 80s muzak, moody synth ’n’ beats, and cheesy hip-hop, with the addition of sudden/ ill-fitting street dance scenes. Here from MVD’s classic line is a bare bones/region-free DVD release of the film.