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Czech musician Ursula Sereghy has a background in jazz, but for this new recording, Cordial creates cleanly produced, digital IDM with a classically trained harmonic logic and many cut-up samples of sung female vocals. From what I can tell, she has one other solo recording, released in 2021.
From the early 1980s, The Mysterious Castle In The Carpathians is a Czech film that blends pulp adventure, proto-steampunk, wacky Sci-fi, light gothic horror, and comedy- be it slapstick, parody, or the surreally edged. The 1897 set picture regards a pompous-yet-heroic Baron, who goes to investigate a castle, where the devil is meant to live, but instead of finding the horned one, or a vampire. He finds a diabolical bad guy with a long-permed beard, and a crazed/ constantly inventing professor. Here from Deaf Crocodile is a region A Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a new scan, new commentary track, and a selection of new/ archive extras.
Eat The Night is a 2024 French thriller directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel (Jessica Forever, As Long as Shotguns Remain and How Are You?). The film stars Theo Cholbi (As Above, So Below, The Night of the 12th and Le choix de Cheyenne), Erwan Kepoa Falé (Passages, Winter Boy and Chica Checa), Lila Gueneau (The Fantastic Journey of Margot and Marguerite, Les Temoins and À bras-le-corps) and Mathieu Perotto (The Rapture, Les Melange des genres, and The Bureau).
As a teen in the 1980’s I was completely and utterly fascinated by special effects, and if you’d asked me what I wanted to do as a career then, it was an FX artist. More often than not, when renting a VHS during the decade, it was either a horror film or a cheesy sex comedy- but there were one or two exceptions- and 1986's F/X was one of these, as it was an action thriller- focused on an effect artist, so it was right up my teen self’s street, and since released I’ve seen in numerous times. It still stands up with its neat mix of effect illusions, suspense, and action. So, when I saw that the fine folks at Arrow Video were releasing FX, and its 1991 sequel, it was a no-brainer release for me. The two-disc Blu-ray set takes in an HD scan of each film, new commentaries, a blend of new & archive extras, a sixty-page inlay booklet, a double-sided poster, and stickers.
In recent years, Wilmington, Delaware born director & writer Ti West has become one of the most notable/ known horror filmmakers of today. But his career started back in the early 2000s with his first feature film being The House Of The Devil- an early 80s set slow-burn blend of creepy house horror, dread-filled thriller, and jarring satanic terror. It’s a skilful shot and moodily tooled debut film, which managed to recreate the late 70s early 80s horror vibe perfectly, adding in darts of gore and shocking horror. I’ve seen, and largely enjoyed all of Mr West’s cinematic output, but The House of the Devil still stands as his masterpiece, as it perfectly builds its mood & tone, with some general moments of fright/ intense shock appearing later on in the film. So it is wonderful to see here a new boxset from the folks at Second Sight- taking in a great selection of on-disc extras, a seventy-page booklet with new writing about the film, colour art cards, and a hard case slipcase.
In 2014, one of the more original/simply plotted yet creative found Footage horror films appeared, Creep. It regards Arron( Patrick Brice), a young videographer, taking a job filming Josef ( Mark Duplass)- who he believes to be a dying man, but as things unfold, it becomes clear that Josef is not dying & he’s a cunning killer, and Arron is his next victim. The film blended awkward and dark humour, with some effective jumps, and several unsettling moments. In 2017, there was a second film, Creep 2- which managed to keep the spirit of the first film, and add to it. And then in 2024, we got The Creep Tapes, a six-part series on Shudder, which found us being presented with the tapes of victims from the killer's cupboard. Here from Acorn Media International is a Blu-ray release of the series, including commentary tracks for all six episodes, and a short interview with actor Duplass & director Brice.
The Grimorian Tapes is the newest collaboration between She Spread Sorrow and Luca Sigurtà, coming this month through The Helen Scarsdale Agency. Dealing with the idea of eluding death through magical or alchemical means, the duo handle the task through grim industrial textures and haunting vocal approaches, as She Spread Sorrow is known for. Like the spells and processes in the grimoires that inspired the album, The Grimorian Tapes has a hypnotic, ritualistic feel, immersing the listener in a world of esoteric volumes, knowledge, and occult practices.
Ectoplasm is a new single/ EP from Poland’s Olion- a walled noise project that has been active since 2022. It takes a single twelve-minute ‘wall’ which blends constant bass cluttering drone, with splashing/ slapping static-bound elements on top.
Kotwica is a bleakly moody example of the ANW form. It’s a mix of constantly rolling low-end gallop with tautly jittering static tone. It feels like it could be possible, slowing down/ thinning out, but I think this is just an illusion, and the whole thing is relatively fixed.
Ode à l'échec (Ode To Failure) is a recent four-track release from the French wall noise project Raté. Each of the tracks runs between five and thirteen minutes, with the sound moving between very full/ overloaded, taut, and seared.
Liverpool born folk singer/songwriter, Steve Tilston released his debut album, An Acoustic Confusion in 1971, since that time he has recorded a host of other records, both solo and with a host of other bands/ artists including two albums with his ex-wife Maggie Boyle, an album with the band Waz! and Jez Lowe, to name just a few. Last Call is to be the final album in a career spanning more than 50 years.
Open Flask is a recent long-form track wall noise release from Cincinnati’s Whore’s Breath. The single forty-five-minute track is built around a punishing, yet oddly engaging pelting & juddering static grain-toned wall, which is woven into a thick/ impenetrable mass.
Fear Below is a 2025 Australian film that tries to do something different and original with the tried, tested, and to be honest, tired Sharksploitation genre. The film is set in the year 1946 and focuses on a van full of stolen gold at the bottom of a large river, with a bull shark circling & darting through the murk of the water. Here from Signature Entertainment is a digital first(May 19), and later DVD release(June 6) of the picture.
A Spaceman Came Travelling is a three-CD set from the German MIG label, bringing together four mid to early 80’s albums from Eella Craig- an Austrian project who present a fairly synth-heavy blend of prog rock & jazz/funk-classical fusion, which had either a Sci-fi or Christian theme running through it.
Shrunken Headss is a mid-90s horror/ dark comedy film with a very EC horror comic vibe. The film is set in a reality that sits somewhere between the 50s and 90s- focusing on a group of comic-loving pre-teen friends, who get tangled up with the local gang, get murdered, then become reanimated in the form of floating heads by the local newsagent/voodoo doctor. Here from 101 films is a Blu-ray release of the film.
Pinocchio 964 is an early 90s Japanese cyberpunk/ surreal horror film regarding an abandoned cyborg sex slave, who is found and initially helped by a homeless woman. The film is often a maniacal, deranged ride, full of up-close/low-angle shots, twitching limbs, with moments of vomit, blood, and a generally anxiety-inducing tone/ feel. Here from 88 Films is a recent Blu-ray release of the film, taking in new/ archive interviews, and a few shorts by the same director.
Mermaid Legend is a mid-80s Japanese film that shifts from being a small fishing port set drama/ murder mystery, onto being a blood-spurting vengeance thriller, with slight fantasy/ supernatural undertones. It’s a decidedly tonally shifting affair-moving between the dramatic, laidback underwater mellowness, sleazy obnoxiousness, and seared brutality- it’s certainly an interesting/ intriguing mix of genres/ tone. Here from Third Window Films as part of their Director's Company Collection, which focuses on the legendary 1980s Japanese production company, is a recent Blu-Ray of the film, featuring a new scan of the film, a commentary track, a writer's interview, and a visual essay.
Squeal is a crude, crust grinding, and terminal nasty example of wall noise. This is a short, but effective shot of walling- that will reward you when you're after a quick dose of set noise crudity.
The Harrowing Of Hell is a dense, gloomy, and truly oppressive slice of drone-bound wall-craft, with moodily effective/ distant industrial undercurrents. This recently released digital album from Poland’s Sado Rituals rolls in at seventy-seven minutes and seven seconds long, remaining bleakly tolling and grimly thickly grinding throughout.
London-based death metallers, Vacuous, make their Relapse Records debut with their sophomore LP, In His Blood. Fast, furious, grim, and guttural, this latest shows the band expanding upon their varied influences and moving their sound forward in fun and frenetic ways. Mixing this speed with a dark, brooding ominousness, In His Blood delivers on atmosphere as well as intensity, utilizing both with aplomb and keeping the varied tempos and structures fresh and interesting. With a nod to their influences, Vacuous move forward on their own path of darkness and destruction, and In His Blood is the latest chapter in their story.
Taba is a work of unbridled interiority, cloying at times, others, downright claustrophobic. Spread over 14 short pieces, the album, by Japanese artist, Satomi, is predicated on the simultaneous existence of the individual and the larger collective (Taba) to which it inevitably belongs, however fraught that relationship.
Andreas Oskar Hirsch is a composer of unconventional and meticulous electro-acoustic music, who I reviewed once previously, in 2018, with his album Early Carbophonics. He has been largely silent since that recording, only now returning with The Salamander Treaty, his new LP, in 2025.
Zound Delta 2 is, unfortunately, one of the last things that Phill Niblock was working on before his death in January 2024, and in that regard is a fitting tribute to a sorely lost figure. Niblock was known for constructing monolithic drone works, often as installation pieces, and indeed I was lucky enough to see one - many years ago, in Ghent - and it was a visceral, compelling experience. Anna Clementi and Thomas Stern had been working with new Niblock scores in the years before his death, and these tracks came from that work. Clementi is a singer who works in the experimental sphere, whilst Stern is a musician who has worked with numerous people like: Phew, Nick Cave, Jaki Liebezeit, and Swans, and was a member of one of the Berlin incarnations of Crime & The City Solution.
The Coffee Table (aka La Mesita Del Comedor) is an early 2020s film, which blends dark-as-night humour, domestic drama, and visceral horror in a highly troubling and at points very comfortable/tension-inducing manner. The Spanish film focuses on, as its title suggests, a simple Coffee Table- building its disturbing, and later soul-numbing, unfold from its purchase. Here from Second Sight Films- as either a Ltd boxset release, or a stand-alone Blu Ray release- is a release of the film, both versions take in a new commentary track & other new extras. With the box set adding: a one-hundred-and-twenty-page book, art cards, and a rigid slip case.