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Sulphur, Tarot and Garden of Luxor are experimental Super-8 shorts made by the British avant garde film director Derek Jarman in the early seventies. Working within limited financial means, these phantasmagorical sequences of astral imaginings lacked a soundtrack, so would be projected in the director's studio accompanied by the sounds from various tapes in Jarman's collection. Four decades later, Cyclobe, the UK's most magical musicians, decided to add their own sonic interpretations to underscore these rarely seen ritualistic scenes: dark figures scrying into mirrors (Sulphur), a magus performing a reading (Tarot) and a confusion of people, pyramids and sphinxes (Garden of Luxor). And, arguably, there's no one better qualified for the job - indeed, Cyclobe's Stephen Thrower befriended Jarman in the early eighties and contributed to Coil's soundtrack of the director's mesmeric love story, The Angelic Conversation, in the mid-eighties.
Concrete is a new HNW project from Germany- it’s all the work of Saarbruecken based Wayne, who is known for his harsh noise project Wormhead, and running the noise/ experimental label Puzzle Records. Monument is the projects first release, and it comes in the form of CDR release that offers up two slices of fixed, dense, and unrelenting walled noise.
This split CDR on Germanys Vomit Bucket productions presents the listener with two twenty minute slabs of thick, fixed & battering walled noise, which is themed around the NASA's missions to Mars. The split takes in two Germany projects- fairly long running HNW/Harsh noise project Ataraxy, and more recent North Germany based UFO obsessed HNW/ambient project Malevolent Alien Being.
Nudo e selvaggio (English translation Wild & Nude) is a two track CDR release from late 2013, and it offers up two slices crude ‘n’ depraved cannibal movie themed HNW from this infamous German project.
This two way split CDR offers up six slices of progressive & creative walled noise from these two respected British & Irish projects. The split originally appeared in late 2012, as a private release by Mr Henry, and as with any release put out by Clive the packaging here has a nicely pro & arty look to it- taking in his house style of 5 or so art cards, which feature texts & artwork relating to the release.
The artist formerly known as Brett Naucke (who is currently known as, um, Brett Naucke) is back with his follow up to last year's The Visitor. Seed is Brett's first release on Spectrum Spools and is available in LP format with artwork by Nina Hartmann. Brett's approach to recording Seed may not sound impressive on paper (or on your glowing screen, for that matter), but after hearing the whole album, it really comes to one's attention. For Seed, Brett used the same patch on his modular synthesizer. The album has a very cohesive feel, which is to be expected because of this approach, but it doesn't get tired or worn, like one might fear.
Cold Spring presents No Closure, a collaborative effort from the legendary Masami Akita (Merzbow) and Scott Miller and Lee Camfield of Sutekh Hexen fame.
If ever there was a black metal band that needed no introduction, it’s Mayhem. So let’s cut to the chase and talk about the first new material from the band in seven years.
Gintas Kraptavicius, abbreviated Gintas K, is an absurdly prolific electronic experimental composer from Lithuania, who operates within the hushed 'lowercase' idiom. "Slow" is one of 6 releases he put out in 2013. It contains 11 pieces averaging 4 minutes each.
Cottonwood Hill is often quoted as one of the most tripped-out, and head screwing records of all time. And it was meant to be an attempt to try capture a LSD trip in sonic form.
Morne Diablotins finds Paris based field recordist & sound artists Rodolphe Alexis offering up near on seventy three mintues worth of bird, amphibian, insects and environment recordings from the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Guadaloupe. With the release posing the question ‘What did the Caribbean islands sound before the arrival of Colombus?’
Live In Wien is a double disc CD that offers up a 2011 live set from this distinctive & sometimes controversial neo-folk project. The set offers a total of thirty three tracks, which cover a selection of songs from throughout most of the projects thirty plus years of existence.
Improvisatory lounge rock trio Astro Sonic recently released this debut album, "Come Closer and I'll Tell You" on Hubro Records, a label which also supplied Bly de Blyant's "ABC", perhaps the closest point of reference for the sound to be found on this disk. Though generally subdued and ambient, this 35 minute album never stays in one place for long, creating an odd pastiche effect by leaping quickly between different chilled zones, in which momentum is very slow or totally nonexistent.
Tunnels of Ah is the new dark industrial project of Stephen Ah Burroughs, former vocalist of Head of David. I've never heard of Stephen nor Head of David, but I've never let that keep me down in the past. Cold Spring gives me an idea by writing that it's "a mandatory release for those who worship at the altars of Coil, Psychic TV, Arktau Eos, [&] Z'EV." I expect a little record label bombast, sure, but mandatory? Luckily, I don't worship at any of those altars because Lost Corridors is pretty dull.
“South Of Hebburn” is a compilation of horror ‘n’ dread fed noise and drone projects from the North East of the Uk. The CDR offers up a track a piece from five different acts, and as compilations goes this is rather consistent & rewarding through-out, where more known & respected names like Culver sit along side lesser known acts like the wonderfully named Transylvania Sex Pest.
“Structural Tendency” is the second full length release from Norwegian ambient project Super Fata. This CD release appeared back in late summer 2013 on Norway’s Origo Sound label, and it offers up six slices of drifting ‘n’ space bound ambient fair.
Formed back in 1977, Satan’s Host is no stranger to enthusiasts of classic heavy metal. Although still classic in the Iron Maiden sense, they have also added (what they describe) a “blackened/power metal” sound.Virgin Sails is the bands 8th full length release, and if we are to judge by listening we can absolutely concur with their genre branding style.
The legendary St. Vitus, the purveyors of American doom metal, present us with a re-issue of their early 90’s album C.O.D. This is the only St. Vitus album you will find with vocalist Christian (Chritus) Linderson (currently with Lord Vicar and Goatess, formerly of Count Raven).
Infestus, a one-man black metal band from Germany, returns with its fourth full-length, The Reflecting Void. According to the press release, the album is “A daring glimpse behind the mirror-like emptiness of the mind that only serves one purpose: to hide what lies underneath. A mental barrier unconsciously created by the existential need to burry unbearable emotions and experiences that corrode the “soul”.” The information ends with the grim words, “Catharsis is an illusion.”
Third Wave Holocaust is the 2013 release from Eastern Pennsylvania’s T.O.M.B., and anytime there's a new recording from this project it's a time for silent rejoicing and anxiety. The project has been releasing material since 2002, with each new release seemingly topping the next. With the sole member know as No One, T.O.M.B. takes on a secretive aura which works perfectly with the art that is herein created.
Everyone’s favorite label for wonderfully themed HNW releases presents Dresden by the mysterious Anonymous. On this go around, Anonymous tackles the bombing of Dresden in a massive (and I do mean “massive”) 12 disc, 12 hour box set. The theme itself seems like a fitting match for a mammoth HNW release, but 12 freaking discs, is a lot of static fucking sound to digest. Of course with a slim edition of 6, this will definitely be for the handful of diehards who know what they're getting themselves into.
W>A>S>P>S is a fairly new British based HNW/ ANW project, and this 3inc CDR presents the listener with two ten minute walls, that move from buzzing bass bound wall-making, onto glitch bound grating ‘n’ treble based wall-making.
Germany's open-minded attitude to sound art has seen (or heard, rather) non-musical matter of all tones and textures regularly broadcast on national public radio for decades, and boasts many organisations and support networks, often voluntary, state-funded or both, with a focus on electro-acoustic composition. Frankfurt's Deutsche Gesellschaft für Electroakustische Musik e.V. (DEGEM for short, or the German Society for Electro-Acoustic Music Association) is one such body, run as a voluntary organisation affiliated to the Deutscher Musikrat (the national 'music council').
"Everything Louder Than Everything Else" finds this Minneapolis based noise and ambient artist in his extreme pop song deconstruction setting again. As he takes recognisable tracks & turns them into mostly unidentifiable journeys into extreme drone, walled noise, and HNW/ambeint crossbreeds.