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Biomass is a solo project of Panos Kyveleas an Italian who for the last three years has lived in Athens. This is his third release and is on Greek label Low Impedance Recordings.
Dan Fröberg is a sound artist from Sweden, of whom I don't know much about. Apparently his label's site calls him a "wild man of the arts". Well anyways there's nothing really outright "wild" about this rather conceptual release, being recorded with glass instruments and found sound, with rather long and windy liner notes going into depth about the theories behind the piece.
Up and coming noisician Kanin Krusete alternately bangs out short, simple stoner rock tunes and 5 minute chunks of harsh noise. "Like A Thing" is my first exposure to Kanin, and contains some of the harshest sound I've heard all year, possibly ever. The almost laughably fuzzed out, crunchy sound of the guitar is immediately satisfying, though it's hard to know what to do with it... You can't blast this album (it will KILL your hearing), jam out to this album, reach a cathartic inner space with this album, analyze its structures or intentions... Kanin's compositional abilities leave something to be desired, his playing lacks any real direction or finesse. He tries to play riffs in about two thirds of the music, and they are uninspired, cliched and simple chord progressions hardly updated from the era when Black Sabbath played them in the 70's. Listening to the album, one gets the sense that Kanin feels the massive distorted tone of the guitar makes up for these riff related shortcomings, but this is only occasionally the case.
This self titled c110 tape offers up two very lengthy slices of grim, hick and very hypotonic HNW from this mysterious, skull and crypt obsessed project from the west of France.
Rob Copper is an Australian sound artist’s, painter and Sculptor. His sonic work is best described as quite barren and often windswept- he uses a mixture of junk yard like drone ‘n’ pick matter along with percussive like elements, windy and barren field recordings, tape noise, sometimes clocks and other unusual mechanised or wind-up objects to create the creaking, bowing and often quite desolate feel of his sound works.
“Of Steel, Bone and Fire” is the second full length release from Metaconquerer. J. Stillings, also of Steel Hook Prosthesis, solo project. This is the first time I’ve experienced Metaconquerer, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Influences of Nordvargr, Lustmord and Sleep Research Facility can be heard but I think it’s more of a compliment than imitation.
Like the name of the album suggests, this is the second part of 'The Empty Circle' trilogy by Portugal based Joy of Nature. Released by the label Ahnstern, Part two of The Empty Circle trilogy is described as more vocal-oriented, and this can be noticed immediately upon listening to these 14 tracks. Not only do all these tracks have singing voices in them, but it is also apparent that these singing voices have different characteristics to them on each track, and combined with the music that ranges from medieval folk to militant anthems and even soft psychedelic music. The result is a high quality, diverse and almost spiritual album.
Tanya and Igor of the Eastern Front label know how to handle the art on their releases, that's for sure. The beautiful cover for Bleiburg's album, one of many in this project's discography, resembles an old book and looking almost authentic. It holds an impressive booklet within it that tells a story in German (I think?), that I cannot understand. The only English text tells about a part in the history of Hungary, which we can assume is related to the concept of the album. Bleiburg's music, a fine blend of Neo Folk, romantic music and militant beats, tells a story with the addition of voice samples and changing musical dynamics and give life to the historic pictures and text.
“Your Persuasion My Perversion” brings together two of Richard Ramirez's greatest loves; pummelling noise and S&M linked gay sex. The release consists of a C20 tape and a ten minute DVDR of manipulated and fucked with footage taken from French director Jean-Étienne Siry's 1976 gay S&M movie Poing de force(Fist of Force).
This C40 split brings together a side a piece from Oklahoma City based doom crawlers Persistence in Mourning and unmoving/unrelenting French HNW master Vomir- it’s a strange mix, but each side mangers to complement each other rather nicely making this a very worthwhile split.
L’Exorcism self titled début album is an extremely grim, nasty and occult licked collusion between drum-less black metal guitar discord and seared waves of extreme noise. The project brings together male and female duo Joseph Gates(Slaughter-Fetus, Vargrwulf, RSP & Peiste) & Vanessa (Slaughter-Fetus, Peiste & Bast).
If Quentin Tarantino ever makes the western he’s often threatened to make, Guano Padano would be the ideal house band of the local saloon, grooving with an unknockable, deadpan resolve despite the gory carnage sliding over the dance floor. Formed by guitarist Alessandro Stefana, whose debut solo album came out on Important three years’ ago, Guano Padano’s core is completed by drummer Zeno De Rossi and bassist Danilo Gallo, both from Italy’s El Gallo Rojo collective.
Oh, how I so wanted this to knock me backwards out of my chair! The concept alone had me clawing the shinkwrap off the packaging hard enough to break a nail: a fake soundtrack for a film by Shin’ya Tsukamoto (creator of Tetsuo: The Iron Man) that is a remake of David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Even if the film didn’t exist, how could something which name- and ambience-checked two of my favorite directors and two of my favorite movies possibly miss?!
Rafael Anton Irisarri is an artist working in the field of what is variously called contemporary classical/home listening/drone/minimalism, what perhaps used to be called ambient music before that term underwent its inevitable diversification. Here on Laurence English’ label Room40 Irisarri weaves five subtle droning ambient pieces full of depth and shade.
'Generous Bandit' is a four c20 tape box set from California based HNW project Tinieblas. All this projects work is themed around Mexican drug wars ,various Mexican gangster and related folklore characters. This box set takes in particular it's influence from the legend of Jesús Malverde- a Mexican Robin Hood type character who was killed for his crimes in 1909.
“Bolt” is a C40 tape that finds the pitch black and often horror movie influenced USA project Foul offering up two side long tracks of thick, black as night and punishing wall making.
I never really cared much for jazz guitarists for the most part. I know there were some greats like Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery. These days, however, I have yet to be turn on by any jazz guitarists, who just aren't as exciting as, say, any good rock guitarist you could name off the top of your head.
I am a long time fan of Markus Popp's Oval project, though admittedly there are a lot of albums I've never listened to. He has a rare meticulousness, but oddly I have seldom felt in the mood to sit down and listen to his music. Loosely describably as glitched-out ambient electronic listening music of the digital age or even the future. Popp's work often sounds similar to other glitch-happy artists such as Four Tet and The Books, but while those artists have often satisfied themselves clicking and popping out sing-songy, 3 and a half minute indietronic anthems complete with sampled hook, Oval has shown, with albums like "94 Diskont", that he is unafraid to remain uncompromising and minimal, not to mention unrelentingly synthetic and sterile. His experimental techniques are not only novel, but produce quite musical results. He has an ear for texture to equal that of any academic savant on the Raster Noton label that gives his music a distinct, deep sound that improves with repeated listening.
2009’s release from Hospital Productions bestows on us the 2nd full length creation from New York’s Malkuth. Only a short 36 minutes in total, but what a raw and brutal time span it is. Touching on influences such as Finnish bands Horna and Beherit, early Mayhem and bits of Antaeus, the band makes music that is excruciatingly bare and melodic at the same time.
Dekadent Aesthetix are a post black metal band from Romania, and with this their debut album they boiling up potent, shifting, grim to playful mixture of : blacked/ Goth rock, synth lined post punk rock, black metal edges, pitter patter piano, soundtrack like moments, touches of low-key electroinca and nu metal, and pretty much what every else they fancy throwing in along the way to makes this self title début so quirky, varied ,shifting and often highly rewarding listening experience .
This split cd from last year brings together two black metal acts that make grim mid-paced to slow ambient/depressive black metal with lots of sinister and slightly off-kilter synth textures. We have three tracks from the infamous and distinctive Tasmania based Striborg, and three tracks from Cheng Du, China based project Claustrophobia.
The Torture Chamber Of Mr. Sadism” finds the always worthwhile and brutally creative Italian HNW/ Harsh noise project Alo Girl (which is of course is all the work of Italian based Cristiano Renzoni- whose also the other half of Richard An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter & runs of the great Urashima label) offer up two tracks and forty two minutes worth of thick ‘n’ truly tortures HNW matter.
“Cobwebs” is a C40 tape that offers up two sides of clamouring, densely morbid, junk metal lined and shifting HNW matter from Norwegian based Hour of the wolf which of course is one of the projects of prolific & creative noise head Andreas Brandal (Flesh coffin, Museums of Sleep, Drevne Bolesti, solo work, ect).
This four-way 12 inch vinyl split offers-up a track a piece from some of the most respected, innovative and know names with-in the worlds HNW scene. We have a track a piece from: Richard Ramirez’s( who needs no introduction if you have even brief knowledge of the scene) bigfoot obsessed project Fouke, Canadian HNW & Harsh noise legend The Rita, French Unrelentingly harsh & black bag wearing Vomir, and lastly Chicago's Is and his interesting use of Harsh noise textures.