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If 2014 is proving to be anything it’s going to be known as the year of releases. Ever since January 1st, it’s been an avalanche of not only new releases but debut releases too. Add to the list Otavan Veret with their self titled album. The band, consisting of Kaarna (of Tervahäät and Slaves Mask) and Kivelä (also of Tervahäät,), come from the mystical magical land of Finland. Their self titled debut is a conceptual piece dealing with the journey into the vastness of the universe. Sectioned into 3 pieces (aptly titled I, II and III) each piece envelopes the listener on a far away expedition.
This 3inch CDR box set offers up three slices of mars themed walled noise from these two German projects. I guess you could say this is some what of a sequel to last years Martian Impressions( also on Vomit Bucket Productions)…with the pair offering up a track a piece, then a collaborative track- all of which shift between HNW & ANW.
Being an Altar of Waste release, “Earth’s Hum, Vol. II” comes in a dvd case with smart graphics and art - the usual standard maintained. Though the artwork is perhaps more austere than most AOW albums I’ve seen, adding an element of science/mysticism to the overall package. Monuments Are No Good To The Dead offer up one long track, thirty-one and a half minutes, of fizzing Harsh Noise Wall textures.
I Praise The Scars On Your Body is a C30, which offers up two prime 'n' brutal slabs of walled noise from this highly prolific Serbian based project. The release appears on Canadian Noir Sur Noir – a Harsh Noise, HNW, Power Electronics label, and the release comes in a great pro looking & grimly arty sleeve that features black in on black card packaging.
Originally released in 1984, Structures From Silence was the third album from US ambient legend Steve Roach. The album is often considered oneof Roach’s most influential, respected and celebrated albums- it conists of three lengthy tracks that are built around simplistic interlocking textural synth patterns, which are both soothing, melodic & atmospheric.
NYC's Serpentine Path is, as Relapse Records calls them, a "doom super group." Consisting of members of Electric Wizard, Unearthly Trance, and Ramesses, their claim to the title is definitely warranted. However, output trumps pedigree, so does Serpentine Path have the chops to remain "super?"
Legendary Japanoise musician Kazuyuki Kishino presents Extropy Zero 1, a full length CD, under his Null moniker. Released on his own imprint Nux Organization, the Extropy series is designed to showcase Kishino’s progress in both the studio and live performance. The material on this release was created between 2009 and 2010 in Kishino’s home studio in Japan (called “Prima Natura”) and then performed and recorded live in Hamburg, Germany.
I guess you could call Blood of Kingu a supergroup of sorts. Except instead of the members coming from various other bands they basically all come from Drudkh. We have Roman Saenko pulling guitar and vocal duties, Krechet on bass, Thurios on guitar, and Vlad playing keys. The only member of Blood of Kingu to come from outside of Drudkh is drummer Yuriy. Dark Star on the Right Horn of the Crescent Moon is the band’s third opus, released just a couple weeks ago.
Codgers On The Moon is a collection of mainly up-beat, moody, and ethnic tinged electro instrumental pieces from one of the main minds behind The Residents. I guess if you were to compare this to anything in the Residents forty year catalogue, it would be their soundtrack or PC game soundtrack work, which they’ve released on & off over the last twenty or so years….so really this is not a new/ full Residents albums, but more of a sonic side thought.
Bly de Blyant is a jazzy psychedelic math rock trio from Norway, whose first album "ABC" on Hubro I gave a mildly positive review, thinking them incredibly talented but unfocused. With their new album "Hindsight Bias", also on Hubro, they correct many of the issues I had with them on their first recording, and deliver a stunning piece of work.
This lengthy, rigorous compilation is a digital only release, arriving accompanied with a short pdf of liner notes. Its also a really interesting concept for a release, blending interview extracts from pertinent persons with passages of music. I’ve seen this kind of thing before, but often on cd; whereas it seems to me that the mp3 route is perfect for this idea: you can arrange files/playlists to just listen to the music tracks (for example), given that you might want to skip the interview tracks over time. The release, as it says in the title, tells the story of Albert Ayler; a key figure in free jazz, and arguably the most “out there” of the major players. If you’re unaware of Ayler’s work, this compilation is made for you. Personally, I sit in an awkward limbo, where I’ve heard a few recordings but can’t pretend to any great knowledge or even appreciation of the man; so listening to this has been an education as well as a spur to further listening.
Augmented Studies offers up four (mainly) lengthy studies in angular, off-kilter & sometimes balance effecting flute pieces by Austrian composer Peter Ablinger.
Noise collaborations have always been very common, and the internet has definitely helped to make these collaborations easier. Russell Haswell and Kohei Gomi (Pain Jerk) met at the 20000 Volt Club in 1997, and the two decided to collaborate in the future. Fifteen years later, the stars re-aligned, and both Haswell and Pain Jerk were asked to play together in Nottingham. Digital files of their solo work were traded, the show was recorded, and the pair walked away with loads of material to transform into their collaboration. Two years and many edits later, Editions Mego presents us this collaboration via the 2 CD set, Electroacoustic Sludge Dither Transformation Smear Grind Decomposition nO!se File Exchange Mega Edit.
Gruenrekorder presents Elegy For Bangalore, a full-length CD by Indian born (now Denmark-based) multi-media artist Budhaditya Chattopadhyay.
There aren’t many bands as archetypically black metal as Tsjuder. From the two inverted crosses and goat heads in the logo to the straightforward second-wave sound, Tsjuder revels in their unabashedly stereotypical approach to black metal. Demonic Possession is the band’s second full-length, and it serves as the perfect stepping stone to Desert Northern Hell.
Chillingly tense ritual ambient project Aeoga was possibly the darkest and greatest of the 'Helixes' collective of artists released by Aural Hypnox, a Finnish label which prides itself on its mysteriousness, very limited runs and meticulous, handmade magickal packaging.
Here’s a split on an emerging label of HNW interest: Hissing Frames. It’s had a few outstanding releases of recent and this is another successful venture. The split links up Robert Ridley-Shackleton - the force behind Hissing Frames and an apparently new practitioner of HNW - with Nightmare Castle - a more seasoned HNW devotee. Both contribute one long track each, both untitled according to the inlay. This photocopied artwork is wonderful: scribbled biro words and lo-fi collage work - it reminds me of ancient tape inlays from the noise “underground” and certainly sticks out aesthetically from the usual HNW fare.
This c60 tape from 2013 finds Nar- the mysterious, densely structure, yet always enthralling walled noise project offering, up two side long ‘walls’ on RRRecords Recycled series.
Willowbrook is a Springfield, Oregon based noise project, whose sound has shifting though HNW, power electronics,harsh drone, and ANW. This CDR/ digital download release features a single track of walled noise.
Swedish death industrial act, Shift, is back with a vengeance on his newest slice of harsh carnage, Altamont Rising. This album comes to us on CD and LP, released by both Cold Spring and Unrest Productions, respectively. Although nothing groundbreaking, Altamont Rising is a harsh, engaging slab of death industrial that should slake any genre fan's thirst.
Frattonove presents Erm, a full-length split CD by international soundscapers Francisco López and Luca Sigurtà. For those unfamiliar, Francisco López is long-running avant garde musician based out of Madrid, known for crafting musique concrète soundscapes. Luca Sigurtà is an italian experimental artist with a penchant for both noise and silence who, along with his solo output, has also collaborated with To Live and Shave in LA, UR, xNoBBQx, and Panicsville.
This recent reissue brings together two full albums from Les Baxter’s 1960’s forays into exotica. Along with a handful of tracks from a Don Tiare album, which offers up covers of some of Baxter’s work. Both the Baxter albums are enjoyable rides into topical & mock ethnic tipped easy-listening, but I’m a little undecided about the quality & the addition of the Don Tiare tracks here.
The Dead End Street Band are a three piece project from North East of England who simmer up a decidedly 70’s/80’s focused sound that falls somewhere between synth bound horror soundtrack, subtle noise tone creep-ness, and eerier semi-industrial ambient tinged tone manipulation. After The Funeral is a CDR release from late 2013, and it features four fairly lengthy tracks that fall between the 15-20 minute mark.
Do you like Deafheaven and Alcest? Do you want to listen to more black metal but the scary screaming is scaring you? Does the idea of one-woman black metal intrigue you? If you answered “Yes” to the following questions, Myrkur may be the band for you!