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Song Over Ruins, the debut by Desiderii Marginis, was originally released by Swedish label Cold Meat Industry in 1996. This, long out of print, dark ambient classic is finally reissued by Cyclic Law.
Train To Busan is a recent Korean addition to the zombie movie genre. The film takes a more emotional, action- packed & character based tilt on the Zombie apocalypse. And I must say it’s one of the more original, memorable & captivating Zombie films I’ve seen in many a moon. I’m reviewing the DVD version of the film, but it’s also available on Blu Ray, Video-On-demand, and download
Concrete Mascara is a power electronics name I recognise, but this is the first time I’ve properly listened to them, and - as the artwork, and titles, suggest - this is filthy, unrelenting stuff.
Fade To Grey is a recent long form slice of deep ambience from US Ambient legend Steve Roach. The release comes in the form of a CD on his own label Timeroom editions, and offers up a single seventy three minute track that blends together deeper/ darker tones, with more space-bound & harmonic tones.
Ter Ack is a recent two CDR set from French HNW/ ANW project Black Matter Phantasm. This project has been active with-in the euro scene since 2013, & slowly but surely releasing a fairly large body of work. With a discography now moving towards 90 releases, taking in a fair few digital releases, splits, and stand alone physical releases. I’ve followed the project on & off since its beginnings, and I must say in recent years each release I’ve heard from the project has been both worthy in its blend of textures & general wall- enchantment, and Ter Ack is no exception.
Krokofant is a Norweigen jazz rock trio with an electric guitarist, alto saxophonist and a drummer. They debuted in 2014, and continued with this, their 2nd album, in 2015. It's 44 minutes of fairly straightforward riff-oriented grooving out.
Swiss black/death merchants Eggs of Gomorrh see their debut release, Rot Prophet, on Toronto's Vault of Dried Bones. Not to be confused with their demo of the same name, Rot Prophet unleashes 26 minutes of hazy, pummeling blackened death on a hungry audience. Having spent five years between demo and debut, Eggs of Gomorrh have had the time to fine tune both their playing and their recording.
Tentacles brings together a selection of bridge based field recordings made on rivers & canals between Berlin and North-East France. The release comes in the form CD, and 44 page colour booklet from respected German field recording/ sound-art label Gruenrekoder.
Lightning The Nations is one of the cornerstone releases of the NWOBHM scene, a great & near perfect début album, and one of the classic metal albums of 1980’s. Here we have a late 2016 double CD reissue of the album; taking-in the albums original seven tracks on disc one, and on disc two a selection of singles from time.
This review is for the reissue of Gehenna’s “Seen Through the Veils of Darkness (The Second Spell)”. Their first full length release, and the follow up to debut EP “First Spell”. Thematically the album delves into the darkness and comes up with certain recurring lyrical tropes, of a satanic and mythological nature. Dark, visceral images of cold, apocalyptic landscapes, war and the occult dominate the album from beginning to end, however it also features the only song the band ever wrote in their native Norwegian language, Vinterriket, which features a guest performance from Ulver’s Garm. The album has been remastered by Danny B in order to highlight the dynamic range of the tracks, and eke out every last detail within.
Normal Bias is a six tape set from Howard Stelzer- the Lowell MA based sound-maker who creates electro-acoustic noise, detailed ambience, and distinctive & often layered drone matter. I’ve always enjoyed Mr Stelzer's work, but I must say this set really is a high water-mark, in both terms variation of track & depth of work on offer here.
Buried Wish is an off-kilter journey through alternative rock, tape manipulation and improv based psychedelic instrumentals. This is like Pavement with Sebadoh meeting Neubauten, with a bit of Beefhearts Magic Band in the background.This album simply shouldn’t work, it should be utterly awful…. but somehow it isn’t.
Unsung Horrors is a glossy, colourfully, yet informative & often enjoyable book focusing in on lesser known horrors films. Moving from black & white campy chillers, though to swinging 60’s shockers, onto to more gore bound 70’s fare, creature features, haunted house movies, obscure Giallo’s and beyond. The book really is perfectly primed for the horror movie fan, who feels they’ve seen it all.
Sakset, the collaboration of Finnish sound artists Läjä Äijälä, Jussi Lehtisalo, and Tomi Leppänen, teamed up with Ektro Releases for their debut album, Lahja. Soft, haunting, and oddly smooth, Sakset's non-traditional approach allows them plenty of leeway in the electronic realm to craft something uniquely them. While there is a certain familiarity to it, it's tough to pin down, and therefore, enjoys a life all of its own.
Here’s a three-way split on Torga Amun, which arrives in a folded, glossy, card inlay; it’s covered in a colourful, scratchy collage of textures and photographs. The CDR has three tracks, one from each participant, and amounts to about an hours worth of wall noise.
We Are Flesh is a Mexican art house horror film from last year that’s been causing a fair bit of a stir. The film blends together a stark post apocalyptic setting, transgressive acts, surreal & deranged womb like imagery, and a general feeling that anything can, and will happen. I’m reviewing the Arrow Video release of the film (both US & UK)- which either comes in DVD or Blu ray format.
Dune was the eleventh album from this respected German electronic composer, Berlin school pioneer and ambient/ Electronica innovator. The album originally appeared back in 1979, and here we have a 2016 CD reissue of the album on the MIG label.
Stadium is the most recent release from this Australian sound artists & field recordist. It comes in the form of a CDR, and offers up eleven tracks taking-in field recordings captured over a five year period in & around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) stadium.
Snake Goddess is a C60 split bringing together two Euro walled-noise acts. We have Toulouse based Chier, and Stockholm based Gamiani- both acts are fairly new additions to the scene with Chier starting in 2015, and Gamiani starting last year. The tape features a single track per side, and each are dense/ layered examples of HNW.
Opollo's "Stone Tapes" is the debut of a new alias of melodic guitar drone/ambient musician Jarek Leskiewicz, a former member of Echoes of Yul (whose album "The Healing" I also reviewed on this site last year) and other projects such as Blurred City Lights and Naked On My Own. This particular album is themed after space exploration, and more specifically the moon landing, with pictures of astronauts and the surface of the moon all through the packaging.
Bill Moseley has been a hero of mine since the first time I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as an impressionable teenager. His character Chop Top remains my favourite member of the crazed Sawyer clan. His appearance in the movie sporting a metal plate in his head and experiencing what can only be described as some of the most wicked acid flashbacks, endeared him to myself and thousands of other young gore hounds. His recent revival under the guidance of Rob Zombie was a pleasure to see, starring in the messy but fun House of 1,000 Corpses and the eminently more impressive Devil’s Rejects seems to have brought him back into vogue.
Here we have the third in the series of reissues of early releases from Austrian industrial innovators Allerseelen-this new CD release follows on from 2014’s Schwartzer Rab, and 2015’s Requiem.
Steel Hook Prostheses have been knocking about the death industrial scene for 15 years now – a fact that makes me feel bloody old! - and have belted out 9 albums during that period.Calm Morbidity, their latest 10 track release, takes their level of despair to an otherwise unfounded level.
Bloodshock is the second chapter in the American version of the Guinea Pig series- which of course started off as a sequence of short Japanese of films back in the 80’s. Featuring extreme & intense special effects, prolonged torture, and little or no story. As a long term fan of all forms of extreme art( be it music, sound, art, or film)- I was aware of, and had read about the series. But had never really felt the urge to investigate them, due to the real lack of story/point to these films…so when I read Bloodshock was attempting to inject more story/ depth into the series I decided I’d give it a look.