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Death Has No Companion stands as one of the more terminally bleak releases from this British dark ambient/ ritual doom project. The CD offers up just three lengthy tracks built around an often pared back sound that sits somewhere between mournful soundtracking, acoustic doom, and dark ambience with subtle ritual & industrial elements.
Effects is a 1980’s slow-burn thriller/ horror focusing in on a crew filming a horror film in rural Pittsburgh, and whether or not the cast/ crew are been killed for real. It’s somewhat of a lost film, only getting it’s first official release back in 2005 on Synapse Films- here we have the first region free Blu ray release of the film.
Lea Cummings (Kylie Minoise) and Sarah Glass (Grimalkin555) are back with their Okishima Island Tourist Association project. Breaking from the noise routine, Okishima peddles their wares in other electronic realms, with rough and grim, but exciting results. Blurring the lines between EDM and industrial, Evil Ok is a fun foray into electronica.
Another of the classic Skyclad reissues is their full length debut The wayward Sons of Mother earth. Originally released in 1991, the album is the first of its kind to blend folk influences and thrash metal. Formed in Newcastle by Steve Ramsey and Martin Walkyier the band would go on to reinvent and reinvigorate the metal scene, making huge strides forward at a time when most metal bands had collapsed or had gone into hiding, grunge ruled the waves and metal was about as popular as leprosy, but none of this disheartened Ramsey and Walkyier who continued to forge a well-received career throughout the 1990s until they went their separate way in 2000 after the release of their tenth studio album Folkémon.
Avant electronic duo Atonalist paired with Irish vocalist Gavin Friday for this 2016 full length, "Atonalism", their debut collaboration. I am unfamiliar with any other works by Atonalist or Gavin Friday, together or apart.
The rather puzzlingly named Stack Waddy where a British three piece who created ultra crude, noisy, and boisterous blues rock. The band where briefly in existence in the mid sixties- but seemingly only became a firm project between the years 1970 & 1972. This three disc CD set on Cherry Red Records brings together their two 1970’s albums, and a disc of live/rare recordings.
This untitled cd is a compilation of six untitled tracks originally released on various compilations across a couple of labels. Ahlzdeveloper themselves are a (harsh) noise duo who’s only release is this album and a cassette of twofurther untitled tracks.
Of all the films to appearing in the Italian horror cycle of the late 70’s/ early 80’s Buio Omega( aka Beyond the Darkness) stands as one of the most transgressive & disturbing entries. It an unsettling (after-life) love story that blends together elements of necrophilia, cannibalism, limb hacking, nudity & all manner of depravity. From Severin Films here we have a double disc Blu Ray/ CD soundtrack reissue of the film.
Every Worthless Moment presents the listener with two thirty minute journeys into terminal bleak & at times suicidal ambience, which sits somewhere between oppressive drone & pared back walled noise. The release appears in the form of a C60 on German based label Geraeuschmanufaktur, in an edition of 35 copies, and as of writing the label still has copies.
Split releases can often be a little hit & miss, and sadly more often than not there are issues with them- and a perfect split is a fairly rare beast. Either one contribution is better the other, there’s a lack of flow & themes between the two contributions, or one contributor is just plain bad & the other is mediocre. Here we have a split C20- focusing in on wonky keyboard atmospherics & creepy synth scaping, and sadly it’s another problematic split.
This is a reissue of French trio Instantaneous Musical Drama's second album which was originally released in 1980 on their own label GRRR. I must say I'm a newcomer to their brand of surreal avant-garde happenings; my only previous exposure being the track Tunnel Sous la Manche which appeared on the Steven Stapleton curated compilation In Fractured Silence in 1987 and which is included here as a bonus track in extended form. The three members: Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé bring together a wide variety of electronic and acoustic instrumentation, sliding to and fro from free jazz experimentation to more contemporary rock, electronic and classical styles.
Producer Lee Bannon continues his experimental/ambient work on Dedekind Cut's newest release, The Expanding Domain. With the help of a handful of other musicians, Dedekind Cut's newest 12" deftly dances between thoughtful ambient to smooth electronica. With delightful bits of crunch added, The Expanding Domain is a very entertaining listen.
Skyclad have been around for 27 years and for no good reason I’ve largely ignored their output, so the release of these new reissues provides me with an opportunity to see what I’ve been missing all these years. Originally formed from the ashes of English thrash metal legends Sabbat by Martin Walkyier and guitarist Steve Ramsey formerly of Satan and Pariah, Skyclad were one of the pioneers of folk metal, long before it became a popular subgenre of metal. The band have released a respectable 13 studio albums during their lifetime thus far. Walkyier left the band in 2000 and went on to form Clan Destined, whilst Ramsey has remained the driving force behind Skyclad. A new album Forward to the Past was released in April of this year and highlights the fact that there are no signs of the band stopping any time soon. This seems like the perfect time for the reissue of some of their classic material.
Of Grog Vim is a cinematic take on the epic life of an apparent visionary legend called Grog Vim. However I’m of the opinion this is a fictional character as I can’t find a single reference to this person barring this album!.Moving on, this is the 15th album from Italian cult band, Larsen, who happily play and frolic in the mixed arena of sound-art and avant-rock.
Over the last few years, there has been a real resurgence in the horror/ sci-fi side of Mexican cinema and 2016’s The Untamed is another arty & thought-provoking example of this trend. Here we have a recent Arrow Academy release of the film- in either Blu Day or DVD format.
Originally released in 1984 Pagan Day was the fourth album from Psychic TV. It offered up a blend lo-fi, sketchy, and at times haphazard tracks that move between: wavering blends of keyboards, drum machine beats & guitar. Onto off-colour light folk-rock or 60’s guitar pop. Though to dower & wound down (un)easy instrument music, and sparse/ off- center acoustic singer-songwriter fare. Here from Dais Records/ Sacred Bones Records, we have a recent reissue of the album- either coming in the form of a CD, or two different vinyl variations- standard black, or ltd red Vinyl. I’m reviewing the CD version.
Vocatique Sunt is the second release from this Seattle Washington based project who offer up a fairly original sounding take on textured noise with a ghost/spirit based theme. This release appeared in July of this year- coming in either the form of a C60 or digital download. Sadly all that is now available on the label is the download.
Big Hole is the HNW project of Christopher Charles Robinson- from Denton, Texas. Christopher has been making HNW for some time now, with many self-released editions and a large amount of work featured on the Minneapolis label of Cory Strand, Altar of Waste. Much of his previous work is known to me and so I went into this review very aware of how my reception of these previous releases might affect and inform how I receive this one. This release, 'Corll Revisited', appears on [listen loudly], which is a label founded in 2014 by Christopher for self-releasing some of his output as Big Hole.
Digitally released on Halloween (with physical copies set to drop next year), Hell's Headbangers brings the sounds of the season with the third album from Acid Witch, Evil Sound Screamers. Mixing layers of synth with metal mayhem and a dash of goofballery, Acid Witch's third album may not be for everybody. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, there is a lot of solid music on Evil Sound Screamers, and it definitely warrants a few spins on the table.
Hippodrone Club is collaborative album between Josette Ponette and the Poneymen. And according to the Discogs listing, is a blend of the alternative and surf rock styles with female vocals.
Here we have a double shot of late 80’s horror schlock ‘n’ sleaze from Roberta Findlay- an infamous New York City-based filmmaker, producer, and director, who between the 1960’s & late 1980’s moved between porn, exploitation & horror filmmaking. The two films on this dual format release blend together campy horror plotting, soapy moments, some effectively bloody & at times shocking scenes, with more than a good selection of female nudity. All wrapped up with cheesy dialogue, decidedly mixed acting, and a sometimes nonsensical & unpredictable unfold.
Wide-Eyed In The Dark brings together two of the originators & true legends of the wall noise scene, Richard Ramirez & Sam McKinlay. The release comes in the form of a pro-pressed CD, which features three fifteen plus minute tracks. The release comes in a very scene generous edition of 250 copies- so all been well you should be able to get still get hold of a copy of this.
Carach Angren are a Dutch Black Metal band, with one foot firmly planted in the sphere of the symphonic. The band released their demo The Chase Vault Tragedy in 2004, this was followed up quite quickly with the release of their debut EP Ethereal Veiled Existence the following year. It was another three years before their debut full length Lammendam was released in 2008. Dance and Laugh Among the Rotten is the band’s fifth full length release, and their third for Season of Mist records. The band’s style has matured over the years into their own unique brand of symphonic horror soundtrack inspired Black Metal.
Blut Aus Nord have been the leaders of the French Black Metal scene for around 23 years now, they flourished from the ashes of a band named Vlad who had recorded two demos in the early 1990s. Whilst they are most definitely a Black Metal band Blut Aus Nord are innovators and are always looking to take their brand of Black Metal in new and interesting directions, never happy to settle with a generic sound they constantly challenge themselves incorporating elements of ambient electronics, doom metal, industrial and death metal into their sound.