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Finished in 2015, but not properly released until now, Dødsmaskin's debut, Ingenting, is forty minutes of harsh, bleak industrial from Norway. The duo have since released three other albums, but Cyclic Law has resurrected their debut and given it a loving re-issue. Deftly switching between grim death industrial and full on noise assaults, Dødsmaskin challenge the listener at every turn with dark, heavy electronics.
Cemetery Lust are from Portland USA, and their sound is a blend Thrash Metal, with early Black and Death Metal stylings. Since 2014, they have released 3 full-length albums, with their most Rotting In Piss appearing on Hell Headbangers- in either CD or LP, with a cassette version on Headsplit Records
Size 36 is from early March this year- it presents the listener with two side long slices of bothersome-yet-moorish HNW, that blends choking bass weight & detailed choppy-ness. Fitting it’s title the physical version of the release comes as a C36 tape- and as of this review, there are copies still available at Ominous Recordings.
Here we have the follow-up to last Octobers excellent Pink Foot Bandage Volume 1 - and it’s another distinctive & subtle shifting blend of walled noise & drone matter from this California based project. As with the first vol, this release appeared on Stockholm based Ominous Records- and it came out in December of 2017- either in the form of a tape( sadly sold-out) or a digital download.
Lost Graves in the ANW project of Rock Island, Illinois Harrison Phillis- who maybe know to fans of the USA wall- scene for his industrial influenced HNW project We Also Let Blood. Cave Burial is the projects third physical release- and it appears on UK’s Void Singularity Recordings in the form of a CDR or digital download.
Bong are one of my home city’s finest exports. I have seen them perform through various incarnations and lineups, but the hub of any Bong lineup remains the three men on this, the power trio of Mike Vest (guitar), Dave Terry (bass and vocals) and Mike Smith (drums). The album, their sixth for Ritual was recorded at XL studios, and follows what has been a longer than usual break for the band. It is three years since their last album was released, although Vest has remained incredibly busy during that time with his many other projects which include the rather wonderful Blown Out and Haikai No Ku. Thought and Existence features two long tracks of psychedelic guitar drone, both running at just under twenty minutes each, although in Bong terms these can be seen as pretty short as they regularly release tracks that are double the length of these two.
Following on from their recent reissue of the arty coming of age film Vigil, here from Arrow is another New Zealand film from the 1980’s. The Quiet Earth is a low-key post-apocalyptic film- with some interesting trippy visuals & some fairly original touches.
This first volume of computer music created by the Rosenberg Algorithmic is a wonderful heady & brain twisting journey- think a more manic & rabid take on Zappa’s Jazz From Hell, or the more abstract & dense piled-up moments from latter-day Autechre.
Sissel is a fragile, sparse, often forlorn- yet at times haunting slice of improv- bringing together the talents of English pianist John Tilbury, respected British improviser Keith Rowe, and live video artists Kjell Bjørgeengen. The release comes in the form of a CD/ or vinyl release on the Norwegian based SOFA Music label, who of late have released a few interesting titles with-in the improv/ modern composition bracket.
Here’s a double feature of trashy, campy, yet kind-of-charming 1980’s films from writer/director Rick Sloane- who is best known for his lo-grade/so-bad-it's-good Gremlins rip-off Hobgoblins. This Blu Ray/DVD set from Vinegar Syndrome takes in 1984 ’s supernatural slasher parody- based in a picture house Blood Theatre, and 1986’s The Visitants- a 50’s themed Sci-fi comedy.
The Aftermath is a cheap and cheerful entry in the post-apocalyptic film genre. Director, writer, producer Steve Barkett stars as Newman, an astronaut who returns to earth after completing his mission to find the majority of the population has been decimated by nuclear warfare.
New Italian trio Creta launches their debut LP on German label, Karlrecords. Comprising three different, but very talented musicians (guitarist Roberto Zanisi, DJ/electronic musician Luciano Lamanna, and bassist Massimo LPupillo), Creta brings forth an engaging, atmospheric bit of ambient that, despite their new formation, feels very seasoned and tight. Managing to be both Earthly and otherworldly, Creta has intricate layers and goes by quickly, so multiple listens are required in order to absorb it fully.
Panamanian-American drummer Billy Cobham is seen as one of the great fusion drummers- working with the likes of Miles Davis & Mahavishnu Orchestra. Here from BGO we have a double CD reissue of two Columbia albums from 1970’s - bringing together a studio album, and a live album featuring the likes of Steve Khan & Tom Scott.
1974’s Things To Come was the first album from this British two-piece prog-rock project. And it offered up a decidedly uneven blend of bounding, melodic & symphonic 70’s prog pop-rock, and instrumental tracks with a more experimental & moody leaning. On Cherry Reds prog sub-label Esoteric Records here we have a recent CD reissue of the album.
Thy Catafalque are an experienced Hungarian progressive rock/metal outfit. This new album "Geometria" is the group's 9th full length.
I first discovered Power Electronics genre back in 1996 or 1997. And since then this extreme electronic music has been close to my heart- as I’ve enjoyed the social/political manifestos, the sometimes quite violent and painful subjects of the genre, and of course the noise that surrounds these themes
Penny Pinchers is a 2016 documentary about low/no budget horror film production. The hour & a half feature takes in interviews with some of the big names in the genre such as Lloyd Kaufman( Troma), Tim Ritter( Truth Or Dare series), Donald Farmer(Vampire Cop), Todd Sheets( Blood Of The Undead series). Here on SRS Cinema, who of course have a history of releasing low-budget horror fare, is a recent region-free DVD release of the film
SP's "Under The Needle" was released in a run of twenty CDrs by the Ukranian label ShchYL Records in March 2017.
Fitting its name Dejection is Cory Strand's (Fantome De Sang, Lethe, Dreamless) project for his more introspective & hopeless sonic outpourings. Here from late 2016, we have a CDR severing up a selection of four ten-minute tracks. These move from doomed keyboard scaping, onto pressing & pitch black ANW, through to bleak electric guitar work-out. This release is themed around one of the bleak classics of English literature Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
From 1979 The Sadist Of Notre Dame finds euro arty-sleaze meister Jess Franco offering up one of his more grim & bleakly moody films. It follows the exploits of a defrocked priest( played by Franco himself) killing women in the streets of ‘gay Paree’ - which (mostly) here is decidedly stark & brooding. The film has long stood as one of the rarer Franco titles, so here from Severin films we get a much needed Blu Ray reissue of the film.
Originally released back in late 2015, but shortly to be reissued - this four C90 box set brings together two French walled noise acts- the searing & total unbreakable crude-ness of Vomir, and the often more moody & creative walled noise of Trou. The set presents both solo tracks & collaborations for six-hour worth ‘wall’ attack- all in all making for a truly epic release, which switches from furnace-like intensity, onto seared-yet moodily creative, through to the very occasional dips into more atmospheric fare.
Architectonics is the 5th full length from Lilly- the ambient/ drone project of Russian noise maker Vitaly Maklakov (Light Collapse, Obozdur, etc). The album comes in two different versions- a pro-pressed CDR, and a digital download- I’m reviewing physical version of the album.
The Dead Yesterdays is a recent addition to the walled noise scene- the projects seemingly from Scotland, and has been active just this year. Happiness Is An Illusion is the projects full-length physical debut- it offers up two twenty examples of seared 'n' slightly industrial noise tinged wall matter.
Throwback thrashers and death metal disciples rejoice as Gruesome returns to Relapse Records with their latest LP, Twisted Prayers. Once again returning to the well of old school, Floridian death, Gruesome churns out eight tracks of tight, classic death that, while paying tribute to the tried and true sound, still heaves with a modern intensity and fresh feel. And, with Ed Repka's inimitable art gracing the cover, Twisted Prayers answers many metalheads' twisted prayers.