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Well, it was bound to happen eventually. This is the first release I’ve seen packaged in one of those translucent blue “Blu-Ray Disc” cases - and it looks so ugly. It really does. Its fairly unsalvageable to my eyes, unfortunately; the case is a beautiful size, but that blue top edge is just plain ugly. Which is all a shame, because Universal Tongue have gone to town with the artwork: evocative, black and white pictures, printed nicely on quality paper. This all houses a seven track cdr; which really contains four tracks proper, with three short, numbered interludes in between - all of which run into each other.
“Quisling” is the second CDR release from this new brutal bass ribbed HNW project from Canada, who have put out a few net only releases over the last six months or so. It offers up one slice of very effective bass pummelling walled noise.
Shining Sex is Richard Ramirez HNW tribute to the sleazy horror films of highly prolific Spanish film director Jess Franco. This new release is a three cdr set, and each cdr offers up one long(ish) wall.
“At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul” finds this Louisiana based HNW project offering up a dense & impenetrable slice of horror movie themed brutality. This CDR presents the listener with a single slab of walled noise that comes in just over fifty minutes mark.
Light Collapse is one of the three or four projects of Russian industrial/noise/ambient artist’s Vitaly Maklakov. “Karabash” is a CDR that offers up one subtly shifting track of fairly dense ‘n’ brutal walled noise.
Wind player Evan Arntzen, bassist Josh Cole, and drummer Dan Gaucher and have joined forces to form The October Trio, and their third album this year, entitled "New Dream", which showcases a fairly straightforward classic jazz sound.
Dylan Carlson’s solo odyssey as drcarlsonalbion continues with this new release that places him back in Earth’s orbit following the extraordinary cassette-only debut, Edward Kelley’s Blues, that paired eerie field recordings from around London’s Waterloo Station (unbelievably avoiding the industrial noise polluting the area) with stream-of-unconsciousness guitar and mellotron drone.
Perhaps the title of Mana-Yood-Sushai may seem impenetrable to those who don’t know what it means; listening to the record won’t answer the question, but armed with the proper knowledge it might positively alter the experience.
Marching drums? Check. Machine guns firing in the distance? Check. The odd requiem thrown in at random intervals? Check. War speeches galore, preferably in German or Russian? Check. Why surely, here is March of Heroes’ latest, recently released on Austrian powerhouse Steinklang Industries. Now, you might be forgiven for thinking that martial-industrial music had sunk into the murky depths of underground oblivion a couple of years ago and that you only really need to own ‘Der Sieg des Lichtes...’ by Der Blutharsch and ‘Herbstwerk’ by Sophia. Truly, does the world need yet another album filled to the brim with samples lifted from a Classical Music for Beginners collection or that sounds like the aural equivalent of a war movie film festival?
Aaron Dilloway and Jason Lescalleet are both well known for their work in the experimental/noise field. Grapes and Snakes on PAN is their first collaborative work. Both artists utilize synths and tapes in their work, so this pairing totally fits. Grapes and Snakes LP is two 19 minute tracks, one on each side. They're pretty different from each other, and I wonder if this is more of a split than a collab.
I was never too convinced by the mix of black metal and industrial of bands like MZ412, and consequently I followed Gnaw Their Tongues' ascension to fame with limited interest and little attention. In fact "Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus", released on CD by Crucial Blast in 2011, is the first chance I've had to listen to a full length by this prolific and peculiar Dutch artist.
“Isolation” finds this Missouri based multi-genre project in their black metal setting, but this been Jute Gyte this is far from standard or common garden black metal by any means.
This CD is a strong improv ensemble release with a striking mix of electronics and percussion from the Chicago-based Peira label.
Since graduating from Vienna’s Institute of Electroacoustic Music and Electronic Media in 2002, Berlin’s Boris Hegenbart has been developing live processes that enable him to create a kind of improvised musique concrète that can manipulate both natural, often unconsciously produced sounds with the very conscious output of live musicians playing regular instruments. Instrumentarium is a complex, diverting series of eighteen examples of this work produced with exclusive material supplied by a cast of characters from the international improv and sound art circles.
This is a short little album, six tracks over about half an hour, on Hubro. I’m reviewing a promotional copy, which is a printed card wallet - I’m not sure if the official release is the same. So, we get six pieces of post rock/jazz/krautrock/fusion, with a lot of processing going on; and, alas, it generally makes the worst of that melting pot.
“The Corridor” is the third release from this US HNW project, which themes all of its releases around the classic 80’s Jim Henson family fantasy puppet/ live action movie The Labyrinth. This release comes in the form of a c62 cassette tape, and each side of tape features one long wall of noise.
“The Rostov Ripper” is the third release in Sweet Solitude’s 'Shades of Grey' series- each title in this series finds a HNW artist theme their release around a famous murder case or murders. This release is themed around the case of Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo.
“Dedicated To Marco Mariolini” is the seventh & last release in Sweet Solitude’s 'Shades of Grey' series- each title in this series finds a HNW artist theme their release around a famous murder case or murders. This release is based on Italian killer Marco Mariolini.
Heroin In Tahiti's debut "Death Surf" is a vinyl release on Boring Machines. I was immediately intrigued by the concept, and it turns out to fit its curious title quite well, arguably creating a new subgenre of "death surf". Murky, ominous lo fi soundscapes are paired with twanging surf guitar riffs for a surprisingly coherent ambience that recalls classic cinema.
Mother Russia has become home to a quite active and interesting industrial scene over the last few years and can proudly boast some of the biggest names in the game – Reutoff, Sal Solaris, Lucisferrato, and the list goes on.
Prussian poet Stefan George (1868-1933) may have left his mark on the European literary scene of the first half of 20th century with quite a few things, from his extolling of aristocratic values to his translations into German of some of the biggest names (Shakespeare and Dante to name but a few) or his conservative revolutionary leanings even (though he never seemed to like the Nazis much) but not quite for his unbridled sense of humour. Appropriately, German neo-classical folk outfit Sagittarius’ third offering, ‘The Kingdom Come’ (the title of which is based on George’s 1928 swansong collection, ‘Das neue Reich’) seems utterly devoid of irony of any kind.
Given the pedigree of Maryland-based music imprint Malignant Records, it goes without saying that you’d be hard-pressed to find anything even remotely hope-inspiring or uplifting on this, Funerary Call’s latest slab of dark malevolence and haunting menace.
The first track on Burial Hex’s Book of Delusions starts with a sample of Charles Manson from the 1994 Freemansonry interview in which he discusses, amongst other things, the source of “rock and roll,” how Shakespeare compromised his art for money, and when it’s appropriate to use a pistol. Underneath his rantings are a variety of overlapping drones, aggressive reverberations, explosive rumblings, and menacing effects. It takes a lot to drown out Charles Manson but Burial Hex manages to do it. Then the sample cuts out and the emphasis shifts to Clay Ruby’s own whispery intonations— “Christ have mercy on your soul” and other Christian clichés—emoted in a way that might actually be a burial hex.
Ruins of Gomorrah is the sixth release from stalwart, Chilean metal-heads, Undercroft. This is their first release on Season of Mist, and is available on CD and 2 x LP (ltd. 250). Ruins of Gomorrah refuses to be pigeonholed to one sub-genre, and it helps to keep it interesting. Sort of..