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The NIGHT Product is a new HNW project from Texas scene veteran Sean E. Matzus(Black Leather Jesus, Last Rape, [untitled], A Week of Kindness, ect). And this two track release is the projects first release, and what we have here is two slices of undistorted wall making that are both textural rewarding & damn creepy.
“Lunar Jetman” finds this Circle side project offering up six lengthy tracks of locked groove music that learns towards more metallic waters, though there are a few other genre traits present here too.
For a couple of years now the Lancaster-born, Glasgow resident, Lea Cummings has seemed to be developing a new approach to his art as he approaches his forties. Instead of the chaotic noise hits he regularly dealt under the guise of Kylie Minoise, recent releases under his real name have a surprisingly new age, minimalist sensibility. ‘Order of Light’, ambitiously subtitled “audio ritual for consciousness transformation and universal energy transfer”, is a single, fifty minute meditation that initially feels like the sort of soundtrack used for Eastern spiritual practices such as Reiki with its calming raga-inspired drift.
This split on Sarajevo based Zvukovina label offers up two slices of dense ‘n’ pummelling walled noise from two European acts- firstly you have a track from the black bag wearing French king of HNW Vomir, then secondly you have a track from consistent newcomer Belgium based Goghal.
This was the first release from Carrion Black Pit- the horror themed HNW project of São Paulo, Brazil based Elias who is most known for the great Harsh Noise /Industrial/HNW/noised-up Sword-and-Sandal soundtrack project Sleep of Ages. This release originally appeared on Pigdurt productions in early 2011, but due to label problems it didn’t get a full & proper release. This is a self release by the project it’s self, and it adds in an extra track which was not present on the original release.
This split CDR brings together tow lengthy & totally hopeless slices of suicidal Harsh Noise Wall. We have a just over twenty six minute track from Italian act Nascitari, and one thirty one minute track from Dead Perfection- which is a HNW side project of members of Italian power electronics project Deviated Sister TV.
“City Of The Dead” is a 3inc cdr from 2011 by this Louisiana based horror themed HNW project. And this release is themed around 1960 uk horror movie of the same name.
With "Malpais" we have another Utech release, this time an experiment from drone doom metal stalwart Gog and William Fowler Collins, an experimental electronic artist with whom I have no prior familiarity.
The fan bases of the darker rock genres are legendarily small-minded, which makes it all the more curious that Florida’s Cynic have opted to release The Portal Tapes under their own name when, back in 1994—after they recorded the landmark prog-metal album Focus, toured, then disbanded—the songs were decidedly not meant for Cynic. (They were recorded for a side project/offshoot called... uh... Portal.) Ultimately this means that the young version of Cynic knew their fan base wouldn’t accept the direction they wanted to take, but that the mature version of Cynic has benefited from watching their critical profile heighten over the course of a decade-and-a-half hiatus and now actively chooses to defy fan expectations while keeping a stranglehold on their brand marketability.
This is a double cdr set, on Kovorox Sound; with three long tracks on each disc. The sounds are the work of the esteemed Lea Cummings, best known as Kylie Minoise, and two companions: Fergus Lawrie and Sarah Glass. In brief, each track sits in hazy, noisy, guitar drone territory; and from this somewhat basic palette, Angel Of Everyone Murder fashion six pieces that are the same but different.
Magma, the seventh full length of Thanos Chrysakis (not including his many collaborative projects), is a swiftly-moving demonstration of this installation and sound experimentalist’s massive kit of electroacoustic skills.
“Auschwitz-Birkenau” is the third release from this highly mysterious, fixed ‘n’ seared European HNW project. The project themes all of its releases around WWII battles & atrocities, and this release is themed around possible one of the biggest atrocities of all- the notorious death camp Auschwitz.
Both Actuary and The Black Scorpio Underground come from California, but you will not find the sunny beaches and old Austrian bodybuilder deflated muscles usually associated with the Golden State here. In fact, both sides of this tape are quite dark and nasty.
Yann Novak's "Relocation.Reconstruction" is a single 42 minute track of airy, reverberant ambience at a quiet volume. It sounds as if a microphone were positioned to perfectly capture the passing of a chunk of upper atmosphere, and all of the irregular circling of its currents.
‘III’ is the fourth release in three years from Oakland’s Gaze, a trio of analogue synth experimentalists. Despite the sleeve listing three different names (Ned Flangers, Ron Spoones and Mikael Widener), it’s apparently the work of Collin McKelvey (who also plays as Orbless, Slaughtering Dolphins and Liminal Planes), ex-The Hospitals and Eat Skull guitarist Ned Meiners and Corey Hucks (AKA California Priest and Timeblazers). Together they play the sort of space rock meets noise improv made popular by fellow West Coasters Emeralds, but, on the evidence of this tape, the emphasis is firmly on the latter.
History lesson, St. Vitus began back in 1978, and to most they are the godfathers of American doom metal. Influenced by Black Sabbath, Pentagram and Black Flag, the band hustled out their early years on tours with Black Flag. Slowly their name became synonymous with doom metal. Today bands from Electric Wizard, Corrosion of Conformity, Down and Cathedral all cite the band as a clear inspiration.
Simple but mysterious artwork adorns this cd from Andreas Brandal; with the silhouette of a roof, chimney and tree on the front, and the moon on the back. To add to this, the eight titles are simply numbered: “The First”, “The Second”, “The Third”, “The Last”, etc. These eight pieces exclusively occupy drone territories, and despite the clear quality on display, this exclusiveness is arguably its one flaw.
Draugurinn is a Swedish project formed in 2008 and created by Disa (Turdus Merula, Korpblod and Murmurs). Musically it is a combination of ritualistic and minimalistic dark ambient. Upon first listening it also seems deeply personal, almost like reading someone else’s diary. Even so, Draugurinn has shared their music with us generously in that respect.
Bristol’s David Edwards was a medium-sized player in the indie electronica scene of the new millennium. As Minotaur Shock, he released a couple of records via 4AD and contributed to high-profile remix projects by larger bands like Bloc Party and Super Furry Animals. But he never quite achieved the same level of success as such likeminded breakouts as Four Tet or Caribou, and his first release after four years, Orchard, should easily find his audience wondering why. It’s unlikely that anyone else has made a record that more organically blends electronic and acoustic instrumentation while offering such an astounding kaleidoscope of styles, all presented in a seamless sequence that suggests a musical mind with a built-in Genius or Pandora feature. At his best, he dresses his songs in a variety of outfits as they progress, often carrying unique melodies through multiple styles without losing the plot.
Originally released in 2008, this re-release of the fascinating collaboration between these three artists is very much overdue.
Demonstrating an ongoing progression from his first two EPs, Débruit (a French producer) has chosen to hone in on incorporating West African musical ideas with the (currently trendy) British wonky style on his latest full-length From the Horizon. This is no idle experimentation as visits to the actual soils of Africa have provided sampling material (vocal snippets, indigenous instruments, field recordings), a study of African rhythm patterns is apparent and the entire work has been no less than 3 years in the making.
Not quite two years since DsO’s mammoth trilogy-ending tour-de-force Paracletus, fans of the mighty French metallers have been treated to their next installment: an EP entitled Drought. Less scrupulous listeners may misunderstand the release of last year’s Diabolous Absconditus EP as a new work, but is actually a track which appeared as part of the Crushing the Holy Trinity compilation in 2005.
Ur is a very eclectic ambient/noise/experimental band from Italy. I played on the same bill with them a few times and they were always good, if a bit "soft" for my ears.
GAAAN is a mysterious HNW collective that brings together members from both Europe & the USA. The project themes all of it’s releases around anime, and “Level Five” is project first full length release- it comes in the form of a CDR that offers up just over 70 minutes of taut