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Had the Mayan Apocalypse "prophecy" come true, the world would've suffered devastating cataclysms resulting in the death of mankind. While definitely a bummer, this destruction would've saved me thousands of dollars on hookers and, more importantly, it would've saved me from having to hear Mayan Apocalypse - Disconnect. I know what you're thinking, "Really? Thousands?" Yeah, probably, but lets focus on the review at hand. Mayan Apocalypse comprises the cats behind Voidmind and Black Beast of Arrrghhh. Having never heard either act, I went into Disconnect with an open mind. As open as a mind can get, though, it's nearly impossible to escape all the dislikes that have helped to shape that mind over the years.
Factotum Tapes presents another split tape of raging cut-up madness by Developer, this time teaming up with Japan’s Facialmess. Matthew Reis’s Developer project has had quite a busy year, releasing a number of solo, split and collaborative releases (many on his own Factotum imprint), including with the likes of: PCRV, Scant, Custodian, Hostage Pageant, Ahlzagailzeguh, and now with long-running noise act Facialmess. The split is available on a c40 cassette and digitally through the Factotum Tapes bandcamp site.
Kuilu is a live album from two piece Finish dark/ritual ambient project I.corax. The album originally appeared back in 2004 on Blue Sector- this 2014 CD reissue appears on Aural Hypnox, and comes in a edition of 500 copies.
The Swift is a single 65 minute track that blends together layers of drone matter, subtle textured noise repetition, and field recordings to create a fairly entrancing long form work.
To Be Kind is the thirteenth album from Swans, and their third album since they resurrected in 2010. Following on from 2012’s The Seer this is another lengthy double disc CD set, and it sees the band continuing on with their often taut, tensioned & repetitious sound, which here moves from: noise rock, slurred blues, edgy dark funk, apocalyptic rock, & post-rock, with some side roads into more noise-bound & expermentail based sounds.
As I so rarely dip my toe into the waters of symphonic black metal, Eldritch is my first experience with Belgium’s Saille. Released in November by Code666, this is the band’s third studio album. The reason I generally avoid symphonic black metal is the emphasis on the synths and keys, while the guitars take a back seat on the safe and inoffensive album. Saille avoids this common pitfall for the most part and has actually made a fairly solid, surprisingly aggressive release with Eldritch.
Heavy Metal Vomit Party take classic 1980’s hair/glam metal fare, and convert it into a dense, searing, truly overloaded & intense walled noise. For this CDR release, on Minneapolis based Altar of Waste, the project utilizes a tape copy of US glam metal band Cinderella’s 1988 album Long Cold Winter, to create four slices of densely roast & slightly psychedelically seared walled noise.
This split CDR release brings together two euro walled noise acts, and they come in the form of Germany’s Ataraxy, and UK Southampton based Clive Henry. Both parties offer up a thirty minute track- the Ataraxy track is a dense ‘n’ brutal wall-craft, while Mr Henry’s is an equally intense yet more progressive take on wall-making.
Black Meat is an atmospheric yet brutal walled noise project, that brings together two French noise-makers: Julien Skrobek(of Butch Bag, Static Park, Sadistic Fall, Ghost, The Sandman Wears A Mask, ect) & Joseph Szymkowiak( of Black Matter Phantasm & Uv Ursa Spr). L'Homme Ecorché, is seemingly the projects first release, and it comes in a c40 cassette edition of 20 copies, and a digital download from the labels site. I’m reviewing the cassette version of the release.
Beyond Creation are part of a crop of classically informed technical death metal bands that I've noticed emerging in the last few years, sounding most similar perhaps to Obscura (the band, not the Gorguts album). The emphasis of their music is on tasteful and musical use of technicality, allowing intelligent theory based passages and melodic jazz fusion style guitar playing to blend comfortably with more typical tremolo and pinch harmonic dominated death metal riffing styles. This is their second album, "Earthborn Evolution".
T.E.R.'s "Fingerprints" is a back-to-basics album of electronic ambient/downtempo, similar in style and mood to the output of the Fax label in the early 90's, or to the ever popular Biosphere. The songs are minimalist constructions of interlocking melodic loops, softly understated beats and circling murmurs of synth. According to discogs, it's the group's first release.
This cd, from Gruenrekorder, is presented to their usual smart standards; with a full colour digipak and booklet. The album contains thirteen tracks, recorded in Cameroon by Kubisch and Guther; all of which are field recordings, unprocessed but sometimes collaged.
The Dokura imprint presents Brayton Point by long-running noise artist Howard Stelzer. Available on CD from the label or digitally (through Stelzer direct), Brayton Point represents Stelzer’s first solo album since 2008. Despite being active since the mid-90’s, my experience with Stelzer’s output is minut at best. He’s one of those artists I’ve had on a list to check out for some time, but I’ve never quite got around to listening to his recordings in earnest. So when I saw this album in my review queue, I was quite eager to give it a spin.
After releasing two demos and an EP, Edmonton's Dire Omen has teamed up with Dark Descent Records to release their debut full length, Wresting the Revelation of Futility. Mixing the frenzy of death metal with the dense atmospherics of black metal, Dire Omen create a fast, brutal, unrelenting slab of extreme metal. Though not overly long, they manage to get their point across, show off their chops, and create a pretty solid piece of metal.
I didn’t catch Laster’s demo when it was released back in 2012, so the band’s first full-length is my first glimpse at what this Netherlands based project has to offer. De verste verte is hier was released in November on CD, tape, and vinyl, as well as being available for “pay what you want” on Bandcamp. I’ve spent the past few days giving this some play time and while it’s not necessarily an album of the year contender, it’s a damn fine piece of atmospheric black metal.
It's been over seven years since Murcof's last studio album Cosmos. Since then the mercurial Mexican electro-acoustic composer has appeared primarily in collaboration, notably on First Chapter with Philippe Petit, and Mexico an EP with trumpet player Truffaz. By far the most fruitful of the collaborations the latter's bluesy tone and willingness to embrace the potential of electronic intervention cried out for a fuller treatment. What we have here is the best bits culled from the duo's multimedia collaboration with celebrated French comic book creator Enki Bilal who also provides the album cover art.
I’ve reviewed a few Richard Chartier releases, but this is the first one I’ve heard under his Pinkcourtesyphone moniker. Indeed, I actually initially mistook the album for a Line release, given the artwork/wallet packaging. “A Ravishment Of Mirrors” has four tracks in all, with two short (in this context) pieces bookended by two longer works.
Winter Songs /Caneuon y Gaeaf brings together folk singer/ songwriter Sharron Kraus, and harpist Harriet Earis for a collection of charming, warming yet earthy renditions of carols, winter songs and seasonal songs.
Here's a recent HWN/static noise compilation from a new British based label that’s set up to focus in on all things ‘wall’ like. The release comes in the form of a CDR, and takes in nine slices of wall-craft that run between just under the seven minute mark, to nearing the 12 minute mark.
Theu Anagnosis offers up a heady, sleek yet mysterious, and often highly memorable mix of: ritual dark ambience, moody & stark piano/ sitar/ koto structures, atmospheric synth/ synth orchestration, & stark electronica, which is all topped off with layers of haunting & mumbled arcane vocals.
Much like 1950's America*, current synthesizer music is focused on the vastness of space and the the long, cold journey between distant destinations. The newest slice of space-faring, cold synthery comes to us from Giuseppe Tillieci, Roman audio engineer using the moniker Neel. Tillieci is not only known for his work behind the boards but also for his role in techno duo Voices From The Lake. Taking a break from techno, Neel's Phobos focuses on cold soundscapes that are as bleak as the Martian moon that shares its name.
French sound artist Frédéric Bigot presents a new EP entitled La Voix De La Route. It’s available as a digital release on Germany’s No School Today imprint and as 10” vinyl on French boutique label Les Disques on Rotin Reúnis. As the story goes, Bigot travelled around America in 2011 funded by Institut Français's research grant 'Hors-les-murs' and Gaite Lyrique in Paris. This album is part of the documentation of his journey.
Voices are made up of former members of noted UK black metal outfit Akercocke whose be-suited image and no less sharply presented vision of satanic metal gained plaudits with a series of albums released during the early to mid 2000s. To some extent Voices continue that band's take on "blackened death metal" while amplifying the progressive elements and toning down the traditional black metal themes and imagery.
From November 2013 Devouement was the 3rd release from Cory Stands Les Legions Noire influenced noise/ambient project. And this four track CDR focused in on a more defined & repetitive drum based sound- which takes the lo-fi blacked metal sound, and filters it into locked down & battering noise jams.