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The Lime Twig is a recent C120 cassette/ digital release from Big Hole- the fairly scene popular HNW project of Denton Texas-based Christopher Charles Robinson. The release features two hour long walls, and as we’ve come to expect with this project- we get two subtle shifting examples of wall matter, which taking in both dense, heavy though interesting/creative use of texture.
The Extreme experimental music sub-genres of Power Electronics and Death Industrial are often closely related to each other, & at times the boundary between these two genres, sometimes blur & ceases to exist. However, Death Industrial is a deeper, lower-frequency and meditative genre than PE. Palinodie (Anticinéma) is an album that is squarely selling its self between these two genres.
Hailing from Berlin, sound and media artist Jana Irmert returns to Fabrique Records with her follow-up to 2016's End of Absence, Flood. This texturally impressive sophomore effort is inspired by Chyngyz Aitmatov's novel The Mark of Cassandra. Presented in three distinct parts, Flood is a flowing, moving work based on drones, oscillations, and deeply altered field recordings.
Coming at the end of the summer, perfect to partial those post-sunshine blues here’s a decidedly wacky and at times frankly schizophrenic summer creature feature from the mid 60’s. The Horror Of Beach Party blends together corny rock ’n’ roll soundtracked beach drama, amusing aquatic monster action, with moments of fairly extreme gore and nightmare fuel imagery. On either Blu Ray or DVD from Severin Films here is the first ever uncut release of the film.
There Will Always Be A Reason is a CDR box set that severs up four unwieldy brutal, terminal bleak & hope- crushingly stark examples of the walled noise form. Each CDR presents the listener with a single slab of HNW, and each is as unrelenting & crudely unbreakable as the next- all making this a release more for the seasoned wall-head looking for a true sonic brutalizing.
Finnish Black/Death Metal legends Archgoat were originally formed in 1989 by guitarist Ritual Butcherer and bassist/vocalist Lord Angelslayer. The band were initially active until 1993 when they disbanded after a disagreement with their record company over the terms of their contract. Fortunately the band returned to action in 2004, and have been pretty prolific ever since releasing four full length albums and numerous EPs and splits. The Lucifer Crown is the band’s fourth full length and the first to feature Diabolus Sylvarum on keyboards, and Goat Aggressor on drums.
Veteran sound creators Strafe F.R ("Strafe Für Rebellion") have existed since 1979, with a sporadic release pattern. Their music exists on the boundary between industrial and musique concrete/avant-garde. The Bird Was Stolen is their first album since Sulphur Spring in 2014. This is my first exposure to the group's music.
The latest album from Clive Henry's 'House Mother' alias, "Chant", comes as a 4-CD set housed in a glassy blue plastic case - as far as casings go it's not one I've ever come across before and so feels very unique and identifiably self-released, with no allusion to label affiliation anywhere on the exterior. There is artwork pasted on to both the back and front of the case, black and white symmetrical full body shots of a man in staunch poses, no text at all - the impression I get is as though these are images taken from a fashion photography shoot, something immediately bizarre to see paired up with a noise release but also comes with its own flood of connotations and reference points. I'm reminded of Opaque's HNW fashion obsession and various other "unorthodox" topics that a very particular circle of the HNW realm has taken on in the past. Clive is no stranger to taking on such unusual thematics and from all of the outward signs, it appears as though this project is no exception.
The Women Of Inferno Island was one of the later additions to the Women In Prison (WIP) genre. This Swedish 1980 production was filmed in Ibiza, and focused in more of the flesh/ soft-core(both female & male) side of the genre, and less on the torture/ grimness side of things- so it’s more fun, campy & un-PC, than gruelling & stark. Here we have a region free DVD reissue of the film from Full Moon Productions.
Destination Crampsville is a two-CD journey back to the 1950’s & 1960’s for a hearty- yet- often rough ‘n’ ready selection of lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll, crude rockabilly, raucous surf, and quirky/ cheesy guitar pop.
Rooms & Rituals highlights the depth, scope & versatility of the female voice. This CD brings together a selection of real-time performers between Norwegian female choir Trondheim Voices, and subtle digital manipulation/sound designer from Asle Karstad.
Originally broadcast on UK’s BBC in the late 1970’s 1990 was a wonderfully taut, always clever & often tense dystopian drama featuring Edward Woodward. The show ran for two series (seasons) & focused in the UK in the near future, which is under the control of tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy that controls every element of the citizen's life. The show is often overlooked in both Woodward’s impressive acting career, and wider cult TV of the 1970’s- so it’s great have here a four DVD release of both series.
The Song Of Solomon takes the demonic possession/ exorcism movie, and liberally peppers & splashes it with brutal & gooey gore. All to create a fairly unpredictable beast of a picture- that shifts from well-researched & broodingly moody priest/ demon action, through to lingering self-torture, mutilation & all manner of bloody depravity.
Italian sound artist Sonologyst makes his Cold Spring debut with Silencers, a sonic journey touching on the "silencers" of conspiracy theory. Using bleak sounds to further the blackness of these sub rosa programs, Sonologyst crafts an eerie atmosphere that mimics a victim's solitude. Alongside this bleakness are high, alien notes that reinforce the ongoing contact with visitors, be it real or perceived.
Formed in 2013, Finland’s Teksti-TV 666 are a seven piece with a difference, they feature no less than five guitarists in their lineup. While their sound can become quite chaotic at times it is nothing like as noisy as one would expect from a band with quite so many guitars. The band have released a succession of EPs, so of which have been collected together on the album 1,2,3, however their first true full-length album Future Future is due imminently, however today we shall be reviewing their most recent EP Aidattu Tulevasuus.
Here we have a 2017 CD reissue of the soundtrack for this early 1980’s euro- trashy/ Nazi zombie movie. The scores a wonderfully unbalancing blend of hazed easy listening, weirdly discordant sound-tracking, and primal avant mood setting- all mixed in with French language dialogue samples & trailers from the film.
Musique Pour Le Lever Du Jour( Music For The Daybreak) is a soothing, hypnotic, though slightly melancholic solo piano work. Over it’s just over hour runtime we get a series of repetitive/ simplistic notation that has a fairly harmonic & hopeful flavor to them- all of this creates both the feeling of slow changing grandeur, and the longing mystery & sadness of time its self.
Koufar is the American power-electronics project of Mack Rabiech Chami, also known for his more wallish projects Bachir Gemayel and Insurgent. Koufar adheres to the theme of political and social injustice in the Middle East region, and this theme runs through all the albums of the project. It is worth noting that most projects that play in the PE genre often turn to themes of violence, sex, death, and crime. So the Middle East focus makes Koufar stand out from the crowd. The album, titled Phoenicianism, focuses on political and social instability in Lebanon. I, as a person far from politics, would not like to comment too deeply about this theme.
Untitled is a CDR reissue of an original digital only release from this Russian project, who blends together HNW with Hash noise shift. Discipline And Order put out their first release out in 2015, and have since released around thirty or so releases- the CDR to hand comes in an edition of ten copies, and as of writing the label still have copies available.
Now here’s a real oddity-a 1970’s British anthology/portmanteau film, that blends together elements of soft-core, horror, surrealism, and philosophical themes. Really I can’t think of anything quite like the aptly entitled Bizarre, and here from Chezzy Films, we get a much-needed DVD reissue of this true oddity.
The Violence Movie & The Violence Movie 2( neither typos)- are inventive, and at times fairly gorily creative tributes to the slasher films of the 1980’s. Here for the first time ever are both films brought together on DVD, with a fair selection of extras, and a new score by Harry Manfredini- who of course scored most of the Friday 13th films.
Hitting the world's ears last year, Cavurn's Rehearsal was initially self-released via Bandcamp. Despite the fact that Rehearsal is indeed just that, Blood Harvest heard the talent on display and decided to release this tape to the masses. Filthy, gruff, and very engaging, Cavurn's debut shouldn't be overlooked.
My acquaintance with sludge started with Neurosis’s 1996 classic Through Silver In Blood. And, of course, I’ve compared each band I’ve heard within this metal sub-genre to this landmark album. Many bands have their own take on the sludge genre, but I ’ve never heard the same atmosphere from any collective ...until now.
Eddie Romero is a Filipino film maker whose work within the field of horror cinema has become legendary due to his creative approach to low budget film making. He is to Filipino cinema what Roger Corman is to American cinema. In fact, Roger Corman was an uncredited executive producer on this particular feature, and the two share an aesthetic for creating low budget monster movies.