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Recouvre La Merde (En Trois Mouvements) is the latest of the larger pressing titles from Frances king Of Walled noise. And fitting it’s title( roughly translated The Shit covers (In Three Movements)), this CD offers up single seventy two minute track- which has three defined changes along it’s crude & all engulfing wall-craft unfold.
One of the oldest, most well known names in Death Metal is Tampa Florida's Obituary. With thirty years in the game, The Tardy boys have influenced countless bands and sold tons of records (well, for a death metal band, that is). Their ninth full length comes to us courtesy of Relapse Records. After all these years, how does Obituary manage to keep it fresh and interesting? Unfortunately, John and Don never figured out the answer to that question.
Here we have the debut album from Amulet, a five piece band out of London, formed in 2010. They haven’t been around long but already there’s a buzz about this band and rightly so. If there is a band more firmly entrenched in the NWOBHM sound they would certainly be Amulet. As a side note, three of the five members are writers for Iron Fist magazine. Raising the flag of British heavy metal high, they have already received accolades for the integrity and focus.
Southern Lord offers up another classic hardcore reissue. A label known for exploring the darkest regions of extreme music, Southern Lord has also been reacquainting the world with some classic hardcore acts. Over the last couple years they’ve released some deluxe reissues by B’last! and now have given a similar treatment to Texas’ Offenders. In this case, we are presented all of the Offenders’ recordings: Endless Struggle, We Must Rebel, & I Hate Myself as a 2XLP in a beautifully constructed gatefold cover. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t at all familiar with Offenders, but as hardcore aficionado I was excited to give this album a spin. Offenders ruled the early 80’s Texas punk scene alongside fellow travellers M.D.C, The Big Boys, D.R.I. and the Dicks. Sadly, two of the founding members: Anthony Johnson and Mikey Offender have passed away in recent years, making this reissue a fitting tribute to the legacy of this furious quartet.
Imperial Triumphant is a relatively new band with just one full-length under their belts released back in 2012. Shrine to the Trident Throne is considered a compilation by the band even though it’s really just their first album Abominamentvm with the previously digital only EP tacked on as a bonus. Hailing from the US and just recently signed to Code666, I was curious to see what warranted essentially a re-release just two years after the album was released. After giving Shrine to the Trident Throne a number of spins I think I know why, and it’s not because the album is good.
From late 2013 Petoviha is the latest release from this atmospheric & genre blurring instrumental project from Finland. Verde is the solo project of Mika Rintala, who’s worked with the likes of Circle and many other underground Finnish bands- the projects been active since 1998, putting out around twenty releases(taking in two collaborations with Circle).
Yûrei offers up a just over eighteen minutes worth of searing yet unsettlingly atmospheric walled noise from this female HNW/Harsh Noise project. Tissa Mawartyassari is all the work of Texas based Mexican Monica Isabel Sanchez, and it’s been active since 2007 releasing sporadically around twenty release in total,which take in stand alone tapes, splits & CDR’s.
This recent two Cd & one DVD set brings together three string quartet work from one of the great avant garde classical /minimalism composers of the 20th century- Morton Feldman. New Yorker Feldman is most known for his slow & quiet compositions, which revolve around steadily evolving asymmetric patterns, angular notation, and moving/deeply sad harmonic patterns. The central piece of this collection- the hour & an half piece String Quartet No 1, is some what of a departure from Feldman’s normal slow/ quiet musical landscape- as it’s mixes together his patterned based music with sudden jarring dwells in loud & dense compositional rises.
"The East Village Other" is a re-issue of a very odd 1966 ESP Disk compilation, which has quite of 'beat' cred right off the bat for including Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground, Allens Ginsberg and others. It's largely a non-musical release: most of the album is comprised of snippets of dialogue or TV programs in fuzzy vintage fidelity. The subject matter discussed is as random a selection as one would get from choosing an article at random from the newspaper.
Jazz drummer, composer and bandleader Barry Romberg and his ensemble Random Access have an extensive history / discography sadly not often heard, and unlisted on such places as discogs. com. They play a smoky, relaxed and open ended flavor of largely improvised electric jazz fusion, generously layered with fluid, ethereal guitar work and extended saxophone rants. Their music is instantly listenable and likeable for extended relaxation and flights of the mind.
The digipak that “Ritual” arrives in, manages to be simultaneously gaudy and dark; with rough strokes of paint that remind the eye of smears of blood. This tension between colour and darkness is played out in the music too - though not to the extent that it should be over-emphasized.
Some members of the noise world need no introduction, and Sutcliffe Jugend and Junko happen to be a part of that group. Power Electronics legends Sutcliffe Jugend and Noise icon Junko have teamed up for a grating slice of noise on Sans Palatine Uvula from 4iB records. On the surface, the pairing of these legends seems like a dream come true. Overall, it's a quality, noisy release, but just not as fantastic as it could be.
Factotum Tapes offers up a newish cassette single length split tape between PCRV and Developer. PCRV, the acronym for Pop Culture Rape Victim, is the moniker of one Matt Taggart. Hailing from Montana, Taggart is a long-running harsh noisician and also owner of the appropriately named Fluxus Montana label. Developer is the alias of cut-up, heavy-hitter Matthew Reis. Reis’ seemingly insane recording schedule, has produced an ubiquitous stream of: split, collaborative, and solo releases, in 2014 alone. Released early in the year, this slim c10 presents another swift, statement of cut-up noise aesthetics.
Dyster is a one man black metal band hailing from France. The product of one Nokturn, Le Cycle Sénescent is his first album and was released in 2010 by Drakkar Productions. Now with Drakkar re-releasing all of its releases digitally through Bandcamp, Le Cycle Sénescent can be acquired legally online. For those who prefer physically copies, Drakkar still has some available from their webstore.
This pro-cd comes in a simple, elegant, Stumptown-printed cardboard wallet. The cd has four tracks, all recorded in Japan, 2012; with the tracks culled from two performances a week or so apart. It all amounts to a focussed thirty-four minutes of of equally focussed exploration.
Here’s a reissue of the first album from this dark ritual ambient project who are one of the most known names within Aural Hypnox- the mysterious Finnish label & collective. The album originally appeared back in the form of a CDR in 2003- this was put out on the now defunct Blue Sector label(which was a precursor to Aural Hypnox) in an edition of just a 100 copies, so really this will be the first time most people will have heard this rare/ early release.
Scorpion Milk finds this Finnish ritual ambient collective offering up some of their most stripped back & sparse work. The release originally appeared back in 2006 as a CDR, which was part of the ltd edition box set of version of the projects first album Mirrorion- which came in edition of just 80 copies. This 2014 reissue presents the release in CD form in an edition of 500 copies.
GRY SMK is the truly bone chilling & eternally stark synth drone project of Halifax, NS, Canada based Alex Pearson (also of In Negatives, D/A A/D and runner of the Snapped In Half label). Rendition is the third release from the project, and it comes in the form of a CDR on the highly consistent Minneapolis based noise & drone label Altar Of Waste.
The Black Album is a full length vinyl release on Texas based Tourette Records, which brings together two of the world most respected figures within noise. We have japans godfather of Masami Akita(aka Merzbow). And Wichita, Kansas based John Duncan- a respected US noisemaker & soundscaper.
Factotum Tapes presents Collaboration, a c20 by Ahlzadevelopr. As the name implies, Ahlzadevelopr is a collaborative effort by a two of America’s cut up heavy-hitters: Ahlzagailzehguh and Developer. For those unfamiliar, Developer is Matthew Reis, an Ohio-based harsh noise monger, who also runs Factotum Tapes. Ahlzagailzehguh is the moniker of James Cooke, a long-running harsh noise act residing in New York. In addition to this cassette, the pair performed a live collaborative set at last summer’s Summer Scum Festival and have plans for a 2nd Ahlzadevelopr release down the road.
Growing up in the 80's, movie soundtracks made up a big part of my musical exposure and a huge part of my movie experience. Instrumental synth tracks dripping with feeling and emotion sometimes added more to the film than the visuals on the screen. This was obviously a huge influence on many others as well, and most notably, Zombi's Steve Moore and Anthony Paterra. Their brand of lush synth rock hearkens back to the soundtrack output of Goblin and John Carpenter. They used this as a stepping stone to hone their own sound, and have done quite well working their way into the hearts of fans worldwide. Zombi drummer Anthony Paterra teamed up with British film composer Paul Lawler to form Contact. Their first release is the EP First Contact from Temporary Residence, available only via a limited edition vinyl.
Along with bands such as Rotting Christ, Necromantia, and Thou Art Lord, Varathron pioneered black metal for Greece in the late eighties and early nineties, with classics like His Majesty at the Swamp and Walpurgisnacht cementing their status as legends. Untrodden Corridors of Hades is the band’s fifth full-length and first album in five years, and shows that Varathron isn’t going to rest on its laurels. The album is set to be released November 21st by Agonia Records on CD and LP.
Following on from the recent reissue of Roger Ruskin Spear’s first album Electric Shocks, here we have a reissue of his second album 1973’s Unusual. For those not in the know- Mr Spear’s was one of the key figures & songwriters behind cult British comedy rock/ Psychedelic pop/ Trad jazz/ dada music hall band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
Finnish avant electronic artist Mika Vainio's latest album under the 'null' alias (not to be confused with Japanese noise artist KK Null) is titled "Konstellaatio". Traditionally devoted to the 'techno' side of his musical output, he's kept this alias alive since the early 90's with new albums every few years. The earliest Ø releases predate the first Pan Sonic full length.