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III is, presumably, the third statement by Netherlands-based HNW act Immaculate Affection. After producing a pair of releases with the Vagary imprint, Muzikaal Kabaal does the heavy-lifting on this cassette. For those unfamiliar, Immaculate Affection is a wonderfully-themed HNW project by one Sven Klippel. The object of desire for this playful project is Glee’s Dianna Agron. Truth-be-told, I’ve yet to see an episode of Glee, but as a wise sage once said, “I don’t discriminate between modes knowing.” As with most Vagary releases, they’re in such limited runs that I never got the chance to listen to IA’s first two releases. I can’t say how this will compare, but as a fan of both Vagary and Muzikaal Kabaal imprints, I figure there must be something good to be had. As part of Muzikaal Kabaal’s - Monoise Tape Project, this cassette is released in glorious low-fi mono!
Rage Nucléaire is a new black metal band based out of Quebec, fronted by none other than ex-Cryptopsy vocalist Lord Worm. Though I’m not an avid death metal listener, I really respect the man’s inhuman vocal abilities and was extremely excited to hear him take a stab at black metal vocals. Backed up by drummer Fredrik Widigs of Marduk, Rage Nucléaire is something of a powerhouse. Black Storm of Violence is the band’s second album and was released on July 18th by Season of Mist.
From February 2014 this C20 cassette release offers up two moody ‘n’ chilling ritual séance from members of the mysterious Finish Helixes/Aural Hypnox collective. The recordings were apparently captured in a subterranean lodge located in Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia….and I guess it’s best to describe what have here as drifting & seemingly improvised journey into eerier ritual ambience.
Nashville, TN's Forest of Tygers have a chunky, sinewy and gritty sound equally informed by the chugging mosh rhythms of hardcore and the dissonant textural guitar stylings of black metal. This EP "Bruises" is their first release. I was pleased to find a diverse and developed sound that one might expect from a seasoned band.
Here’s a double cd set on Altar Of Waste, presented in the usual high standards of the label: quality colour printing throughout, in a transparent dvd case - guaranteed to turn heads. Earthenwomb is a name I’ve come across before, but somehow I’d got the idea that they were a black metal leaning outfit; “Blueblood” suggests otherwise. The cover has a group of men and women (the majority armed - though not necessarily soldiers) listening to Lenin orating, with Stalin stood behind him. The cdrs have images of royalty on them, whilst the inside cover has a painting of a dying monarch (one assumes). All these elements combine with the title to provide a clear theme, but a theme without any overt intended interpretation.
Tomb of Trinkets is the new project from Maryland based noise maker Ryne Barber. His past projects (Hearse Fetish & Lurid Hallway) saw him focused in on industrialized Harsh Noise Wall. For this new project he leans more towards an intense industlized mix of power electronics 'n' harsh noise, though there are still some ‘wall-ish’ traits present in the projects sound.
Vessels is a lengthy submersion in stripped-back and melancholic modern classical solo piano composition…think a less sophisticated & more simplistic take on Morton Feldman, and you’ll get an idea of what to expect here.
Québécois designer and artist Joce not only creates vicious visual art, but also dark and heavy aural art as well. After a handful of splits, Joce's Bete Lumineuse project gets a cassette release of his own. Coming from Crucial Blast's Infernal Machine Series, Murmure du Charnier is limited to 200 copies on a professionally manufactured cassette. While it's a very cool looking cassette, it's still a cassette, and I'll judge you for buying it! My hatred of the medium aside, how does the darkness of Bete Lumineuse stack up against the darkness of Joce's artwork?
The Anarcho-Punk scene was one of the most pro-active, prolific, and controversial musical happenings of the early 1980’s britain. It focused Punk rocks original sound into an often more stark & aggressive form, and it also saw bands advocating direct action, concerned about animal rights issues, environmentalism, and anti war/ anti- nuclear weapon propaganda. The scenes golden period lasted between 1980 and 1984, and this is the period that “The Day The Country” covers.
Figures Of Solitude is yet another project from the highly prolific & muilt project linked French HNW/ static noise artist Julien Skrobek (Butch Bag, Static Park, Sadistic Fall, Ghost, The Sandman Wears A Mask). This double disc CDR release is only the 2nd release from project- it’s first release was I'm So Lonely I Could Die-a double C45 cassette set from 2012, which appeared on the sadly dormant British HNW/Power electronics label Kafkex Rex.
Antietam is the 7th release from this extremely mysterious European based HNW project, who focuses their dense, unmoving & truly brutal sound on multi disc sets that are themed around historic battles or war atrocities. This release from late summer 2013 takes in six discs in all, and each features a single slice of unrelenting & truly intense fixed walled noise.
Kovorox Sound presents Phantom Limb Sensations, a new double disc set by Glasgow duo Burning Swallows. Lea Cummings and John Cromar are the personalities behind the project, who are likely better known for their work in Kylie Minoise and Opaque.Despite their harsh noise/HNW/experimental noise pedigree, Burning Swallows is an entirely different animal altogether. The focus of this album can best be described as dark ambient drone colliding with electro-acoustic flourishes.
Nachtmystium has been a controversial band not due to church burnings or murders, but because of the (alleged)actions of vocalist/guitarist and frontman Blake Judd. No doubt you’ve at least heard some of the stories that surround Judd: hard drug use, ripping off fans, apparently being a douche in general. And with the announcement that The World We Left Behind would be the last Nachtmystium album, people were finally thinking that this would be the last we’d see and hear of Judd. But just a couple days ago, Judd issued a statement on Facebook saying that he would continue the band, naysayers be damned! An attempted cash grab? Genuine interest in pursuing the project? At the very least, this announcement has altered how this album is to be viewed. No longer the band’s swan song, The World We Left Behind is just another album (the seventh) for Nachtmystium.
Montenegro born classical guitar virtuoso Miloš Karadagliæ brings us an album of music by Spanish composers Joaquín Rodrigo and Manuel de Falla, rich with gentle, flamenco stylings. The album is titled simply "Aranjuez", containing as its centerpiece Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez", and an assortment of other guitar music by the above composers.
For many years this soundtrack was one of the great lost works of John Carpenter's early, edgy & influential synth soundtracks. It got it’s first release in 2003 as purely a vinyl edition on French label Record Matters, but then in 2013 it got a full & highly deserved multi format reissue on uk’s Death Waltz Recordings- appearing in two separate vinyl version, a cassette version, and a CD version( this is the one I’m reviewing).
This split release brings together two US underground acts that deal in darkly swirling & occult tinged ritual ambience, which is edged with (mostly) subtle blacked noise elements. The release comes in three different versions- a CDR & digital download (on Occult Supremacy Productions), and a C50 tape( on Worthless Recordings)- both the CDR & tape versions each come in a edition of 50 copies, and I’m reviewing the digital version of the release.
This is a nicely, diy packaged release; combining a stumptown cardboard wallet with collages and transparent sheets of text. The cdr contains eighteen tracks, forming a large collage just over an hour long. One of the transparent sheets has a long introductory text, which concerns itself with sleep, memory and “psychoacoustic techniques as a form of data delivery”; and indeed, there is a dream-like atmosphere to the recordings.
Luie Luie is a buoyant, exuberant yet slightly wonky & bizarre one-man-band lounge act from the 1970’s. Touchy was he one & only full length album from 1974(though apparently he’s released a few 45’s), and truly this is a release that has to be heard to believed!.
This 3inc CDR finds Hungarian sound artist Ákos Garai creating a rather enthralling & moodily atmospheric track built around manipulated river/water recordings, & haunting electro texturing.
Normally, extreme metal and subtlety don't go hand in hand (save for some glorious acts like Gorguts), and Kansas City's Torn the Fuck Apart is no exception. If the name didn't tip you off, these guys are a 13 year old's dream. Well, a 13 year old that hasn't heard any other death metal before, that is. TTFA's follow up to 2012's The Dissection of Christ has the quartet moving from cliche'd Christianity hating lyrics/titles to cliche'd gore/murder/cannibalism lyrics/titles. Well, at least the band name is better than Deathchain.
Bored Bear Recordings presents Elegant Domesticity, a CD-R release by Dublin-based noise act Where is This. The moniker of Mark Ward, WIT performs a caustic blend of harsh noise flirting with HNW. A few months back I had my first brush with WIT, reviewing Ward’s split with Sleep of Ages. I enjoyed the split thoroughly, so I was thrilled to go another round with Mr. Ward.
As an American, my education with regards to WWII’s eastern front has always been lacking, no doubt stemming from the fact that America’s involvement in the eastern front is negligible at best. It’s a shame, really, because Russia’s war with Germany is way, way more interesting. From the massive tank battles on the plains of Kursk to the bloody battle for Stalingrad, the eastern front was an awe inspiring theater, ultimately ending with over eleven million dead. Given that war, death, and destruction are favored themes of metal, the eastern front seems like a goldmine for metal band. Strangely enough, I can’t bring to mind a single band that has covered it extensively. Well, thankfully we have the UK’s Eastern Front to fill that gap for us.
Pyre offers up three slices of dense, suffocating and extremely heavy Ambient Walled Noise from this Kansas City based project. I’ve enjoy most of what this project has put out since it started in early 2013, but I must say this CDR is some of the best work I’ve heard the project release thus far.
Here’s an intriguing release: the album notes inform us that Rothenberg has made every attempt to “play along” with insect song - playing along live in the field, playing along with recordings (raw or processed) and creating his own insect sounds artificially. He interacts using “bass clarinet, clarinet, seljefoyte and soprano saxophone”, aided and abetted by a few other hands on other instruments. The cd arrives in a playfully packaged digipak, with album notes and text for each individual track.