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Sabbath Assembly burst onto the rock scene in 2010 with their sublime debut album Restored to One. A masterpiece of psychedelic occult rock, the album took the scene by storm, featuring the vocal talents of Jessica Toth (Jex Thoth) their brand of Process Church infused psychedelia was a tonic to the soul. A masterpiece of occult rock to rival the greats, Toth’s vocals were the icing on the cake, the songs, or perhaps we should call them hymns, were hypnotic and beautiful and owed more to Jefferson Airplane and Coven than to more recent bands. Seven years later, Toth left the band after one album to be replaced by Jamie Myers, formerly of Hammers of Misfortune and Wolves in the ThroneRoom. Myers tenure started off a little unsatisfactorily for me, the band dropped their psychedelic leanings in favour of a straight forward metal vibe.
Debut album by this Norwegian dark ambient outfit, Fullstendig Brent, is a sonic masterpiece consisting of five very heavy, very detailed and atmospheric tracks. From quiet beginnings to bombastic climaxes Fullstendig Brent is nothing short of perfect.
From Arrow Video here’s a deluxe blu ray reissue of one of the great Dario Argento movies of the 1980’s Phenomena. The film blended together elements of Giallo, a teen girl with psychic powers, fairy tale imagery, and the expected gory murders- to make a film that’s both charming, inventive, and macabre quirky in only a way Mr. Argento’s cinema can be.
Here’s a release that brings together two of my favourite things- static noise/walled noise, and the supernatural. Unstable Spirits was the debut release from this project, and originally appeared in a three CDR set on Altar Of Waste- sadly this had now sold-out, and the release is just available now as a digital download from Geisst bandcamp.
Homemade Recordings, the first release in 5 years from this outfit, is a collection of recordings that includes A Dancing Beggars first EP,album and an array of remixes of selected tracks from the same period.
Well, here’s a strange one to review… This is a limited (20 copies) cassette reissue of an even more elusive release (10 CDRs) from Small Hours, which was originally birthed on Sweet Solitude, back in 2011. So, we have a shiny, silver, one-sided C112 tape, and new artwork. The piece is a reflection on the film Blade Runner, and this obviously informs the inlay, which uses a font from the film throughout, as well as imagery derived from the sci-fi classic. Perhaps the most notable difference, is that where the original CDR had a photo of Rutger Hauer’s character in the climatic end scene, this reissue has a painting of that same image. Earlier I said that this is a strange one to review, this is because I actually reviewed the CDR version, about five years ago… So I won’t be clinically picking it apart, but perhaps more generally reflecting on it.
This Place To Be is another slice of long-form, ebbing ‘n’ flowing deep ambience from one of the master of the from. The release is available in both CD & digital download, and I’m reviewing the CD version of the release.
Escape Mask, either in CD or Vinyl format, is a rather intriguing & sonically unexpected reissue of a very early Merzbow release. It sees the noise legend offering up four tracks that blend together psychedelic ‘n’ spiralling guitar/ violin scaping, electro drum beats, industrial textures, the odd sample, & even buried vocals. But the most interesting & surprising thing here is a lot of the tracks have often fairly harmonic moments, as well as periods of almost groove like dwells.
I think it’s fair to say I’m personally more of a walled-noise/ textured noise fan, than a fan of more general/ straight harsh noise- so I think that’s possible why I have such decidedly mixed feelings about this recent CDR split. It brings together Ohio based Village Creeper, who offer up a sifting, though seeming fairly random & decidedly cack-handed harsh noise. And French RRR- who creates uniformed & creatively seared industrial tinged HNW.
Paul Wirkus is a Polish born electronic avant garde composer whose first released work came out in 1999. He released two albums in 2016, breaking a 7 year silence, one of which was Discours Amoureux. It is a concise, 34 minute work with 4 tracks, each 7-11 minutes in length. Their titles are four digit numbers of unspecified meaning.
Spanish duo LCC (Ana Quiroga and Uge Pañeda) are back on Editions Mego with their sophomore effort, Bastet. Letting their creation shimmer and unfold, LCC's latest works as a contemplative piece as well as abstract electronics. Named for the Egyptian goddess music, Bastet works within a realm of near ritual, but never gets constrained by what their release should sound like, and allows it to just be.
Music In Eight Octaves is a dizzying, disorientating, yet often captivating journey into piano composition. The fifty-minute piece on offer here finds this pair multi tracking four takes in each octave of the piano, to creating a rapidly spiraling, kaleidoscopic, and exhilarating rush of pure piano.
In the tape trading, pre-internet days, it was much harder to hear material from bands in other parts of the country, an even more so if they didn't tour. Such is the case for Milwaukee death meatallers, Dr. Shrinker. Not part of an exploding local scene and not embarking on national tours, Dr. Shrinker was forced to be part of a tape trade only network, and their material was grievously underheard. Relegated to being a footnote in American death metal history, Dr. Shrinker broke up. Fortunately, they had recorded a number of demos, and Nuclear War Now! is giving them the deluxe treatment. Over two LPs, Nuclear War Now! gives metal fans access to all of Dr. Shrinker's pre-breakup material, and introduces this once again active band to a new generation.
Here's a double headed feature from Vinegar Syndromes Drive In Series. The region free DVD release features two Bigfoot themed productions- a documentary from the 1970’s, and a family film from the 1980’s.
Portrait Of Miranda is a C40 & digital download from October last year. It features two dense-yet-layer detailed examples of wall noise, from this tight & leg themed Swiss project.
Is Life Truly Beautiful? is a two way split bringing together two twenty slices of walled noise. One track blends in elements of dark ambience, and industrial murkiness, while the second is a more formal example of ‘wall-craft’.
This CD brings together a selection of tracks from the 20-year career of this North Queensland Power Electronics project. The Australian duo utilise static analogue tension, feedback squeals and pitched rhythms.
Here we have a recent CD reissue of one of the more strange, unpredictable & quirky releases to appear from out of the 1970’s progressive/ psychedelic rock scene. Originally released in 1971 the rather wonderfully entitled Death May Be Your Santa Claus, blended together zany like composition, diverse & crazed vocal performances, bizarre composition twists ‘n’ turns, and a more organ and Mellotron focus.
Here we have a C60 split from two of the longer serving projects from with-in the worldwide walled noise scene. Vomir, is one of the most known projects in the genre- this French project who has been active since 2005; releasing a truly huge body of work. And Quebec based Bleak Existence, who’s been active since 2007.
The late 1960s and early 1970s was probably the most creative and experimental period in the history of both music and film. Alejandro Jodorowsky, Kenneth Anger and Jean Rollin, were but a few of the incredible talents working within cinema at the time. In music we had the Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band and even pop superstars The Beatles were pushing the boundaries to see where new sonic techniques and psychedelic drugs could take them. During this era film and music became almost synonymous bed fellows. The Beatles were at the forefront of those utilising psychedelic imagery to expand on what they were doing in the recording studio with songs like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, or It’s All Too Much. The resulting films Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine work as signifiers of the future development of the music video. The Incredible String Band made the film Be Glad for the Song Has Ended, and even in America hallucinogenic films, many featuring the involvement of Jack Nicholson, included heavy participation from the likes of the Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Chocolate Watchband and The Electric Flag on their soundtracks.
Here’s a tape from Phantom Cadaver, presented in suitably sombre grey tones, with red titling. The front cover features a washed out photograph of a house, and that’s really all there is to say! Side A has four tracks, whilst B has two, however, in practical terms it’s rather hard to tell where one track might end, and the next start. The material is homogenous, though, and it’s therefore easy to see the pieces as larger wholes, rather than needing to worry over track divisions. Both sides are unmistakably HNW.
Bow brings together a selection of modern classical/ improvised pieces from this Canadian based composer & percussionist. The seven tracks offered up here move from often angular improvising to lush & harmonic string composition. All making for a release that quite a unbalancing-yet- enjoyable proposition that shifts between skewed ‘n’ soured, majestic ‘n’ lush, and somewhere inbetween the two.
In recent years the interest in throat singing, overtone singing, or khöömii(Mongolian throat singing) has grown & grown. With a project like Russian Phurpa, causing much interest & critical praise with their dark blend of throat singing & dark ritual music. Here we have a nicely presented double CD & colour book compilation, which focuses purely in on Mongolian throat singing- collecting together forty three tracks, from between the years 1954 & 2016.
British jazz-funk-disco outfit, Shakatak, sees the re-release of 1982's classic Invitations via Secret Records. This newly expanded edition features six alternate remixes of four Invitations tracks. A must for any fan, this easy, light, danceable album will get you moving for sure.