Viva Fate

Mid Leopard Violet Prism - Carbohydrate Somnambulism

2011-09-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Artist Mid Leopard Violet Prism
Label Total Vermi n
Year 2011
Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise, Drone

Another tape from the two headed noise monster that is MLVP. Featuring Nackt Insecten and Smear Campaign joining up again to make more long form, psychedelic twinged drones and sharp static bubbles. Whilst both artists are well known in their own right for their other projects they manage to bring their A-game to this tape.

Opening with Battery Acid Pumped Through Veins a tense drone rolls around like a snowdrift. Soothing at one minute, unnerving the next. The juxtaposition twixt the two moods offers the meat of this tape. The noise contained within serves a narrative purpose. From the very opening the listener is transported to a different realm. One full of broken machinery and parched deserts. Soundtracked by the sound of a million blow circuits and mechanical death throes. The A side contains calmer, drawn out music whereas the B side serves up slightly harsher and more disconcerting sounds.

There's always going to be comparisons drawn between MLVP and Smear Campaign/Nackt Insecten, but for me the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Full Meat Jacket - Full Meat Jacket

2011-09-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Artist Full Meat Jacket
Label Fag Tapes
Year 2005
Genre(s) Noisecore(?), Harsh Noise

Yet another mysterious tape from Fag Tapes. There is little to no information on this band available. As such it's up to the music to do the talking, a front that this tape will happily back up.

It's hard to classify many of the acts on Fag Tapes but none more so than Full Meat Jacket. Utilising drums, guitar and vocals to make many short, sharp attacks. It's nigh on impossible to pick out individual elements from the wave of sounds on display. Occasionally vocals will raise out of the swell but never in a fashion that would make them understandable. I find it hard to tell if the tape is one long tracks or if the many pauses denote the end of songs. Regardless when taken as a whole the tape unleashes a fury that is seldom seen in the somewhat bland noise scene nowadays.

Marc Broude - Psychological Warfare

2011-06-11T16:16:00.001-07:00

Artist Marc Broude
Label No Zen
Year 2006
Genre(s) Black Metal, Industrial

A short but sweet 7'' single (Review of a low bitrate mp3 provided by the artist however) from 2006 here. Offering two slabs of industrial black metal? Blackened industrial metal? I don't know quite how to define this. The A-Side, God Smacker, is a droning metal attack. Harsh distorted vocals rest atop a churning sea of droning instruments. If it were to have a motto it would be Carpe Jugulum (Seize the throat) as that is exactly what it does. Closer in nature to Thesyre than Axis of Perdition.

The B-Side is closer to industrial than black metal, steady drumming and what sounds to be sampled alarms provide the backing to the sonic assault. Sparser than the preceding track, allowing plenty of breathing space. There is still the repetitive edge, one that doesn't really work with this track and only serves to make it feel longer than it necessarily needs to be.

This release is pretty good, though it lacks any real sense of purpose. We have one good track and one decent track that don't seem to share any thematic or stylistic coherence. The release simply comes across as music for music's sake.

The Savage Young Taterbug - River Mortis

2011-06-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Artist The Savage Young Taterbug
Year 2009
Label Night People
Genre(s) Lo-Fi, Noise Pop

Have you ever wondered what would've transpired had Daniel Johnston never received help, but rather had stuck with The Butthole Surfers? Me neither. That said, I'm willing to bet that it's nothing like The Savage Young Taterbug, en yet it's still the closest measurement I can offer. I don't know if I've ever heard something quite akin to Mr. Charles Free (If that is even his name, he seems to go by many). Like a jam circle gathering out in the parched desert after hearing of the Tate murders, The Savage Young Taterbug gives forth vibes of both freewheeling hippydom and the destruction of those once great times.

To pin down the music is enough to drive one mad. There's certainly some shoegaze-esq elements to the sound, but mapped down a far more lo-fi path than most chose to tread. Elements of drone and even Americana creep in to the swirling compositions. Each ten minute track tentatively treads through a thousand different genres before landing, foggy as it is, in the listeners lap. The vocals are occasionally ethereal whispers, crooning just beyond comprehension, occasionally emotive rasps still just beyond comprehension.

I really don't know how to best sum this up, all that is left in my mind after a few thorough listens is that Mr. Free has crossed the line twixt lunatic and genius, but I'll be damned if I know in which direction.

Where is This - Digital Fire

2011-06-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

Artist Where is This
Year 2011
Label Kovorox Sound
Genre(s) Harsh Noise/Industrial

Coming at us from Lea Cumming's label, Kovorox Sound, is a full lengh by Ireland's first son of creepy crawly noise, Where is This. A mixture of digital and analogue sources are deployed to forge the sonic whirlpool served up. Across 35 minutes and 8 tracks a distinct atmosphere is created (Which is no suprise for WiT). This time around, however, there is also a much harsher edge than has reared it's head before.

Tracks such as Big Black Sex Cop are more direct and closer to some of the early originators of the genre than previous WiT work. That by no means replaces the more atmospheric style that I, for one, am so enamoured with. The harsher elements act as an excellent counterpoint to the more atmosphere heavy elements. That's not to say that this is a fantastic release, for certain there are a few areas that don't quite work for me, the third track - Your Pop Career's Gone Down in Flames - feels as if there is a tad too much dead space serving no purpose and causes the track to stumble in its flow.

This release manages to serve up the two sides of the Where is This coin, from the harsh electronic assaults to the calm, almost relaxing soundscapes (Obsolete Robots...) with just the hint of psychedelia creeping in (Phobot). If I were to have one main issue with the release it'd be down to the packaging. I fail to understand the gulf in presentation for some Kovorox releases. Here we have a simple cd-r with the Cat # written on and a two panel cardboard cover in a slipcase. Some other Kovorox releases are treated to on-disc printing/disc labels and given the half DVD case treatment. For all it's a DIY label this just feels sort of, I dunno, lacking?

Where is This - Narcissus at the Gym

2011-06-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

Artist Where is This
Year 2011
Label Bored Bear Recordings
Genre(s) Harsh Noise/Industrial

Another release from Ireland's Mark Ward, under his Where is This moniker, Narcissus at the Gym serves up around thirty minutes of tense soundscapes and uneasy listening. Before starting on the actual musical content I just need some time to praise the presentation. Narcissus... is served up with a standard (Though beautifully drawn) J-card that sets the tone and deals with the themes of the release. This is alongside a short booklet with writings also surrounding the themes.

As with previous WiT effort, Elegant Domesticity, the atmosphere is the primary focal point of the release. Heavy electronics serve a specific purpose, bent and twisted into a claustrophobic incantation. The high and low end dance with one another in some insane provocative dance. Whilst each side of the tape is split in to three distinct tracks they flow together and work as a whole. Each side's scant 15 minute duration passes as if it were much shorter. Leading to repeated relistens.

Whilst there are six tracks on this release I feel it would be doing the tape a dis-service by referring to them by themselves. Each side of the tape forms a distinct gestalt, strengthened by the juxtaposition and combination of each of the three tracks. The A Side opens with creeping electronics and soundscapes that call to mind early industrial works, slowly morphing into harsher and more direct assaults. Walls of static being to be erected, adding to the claustrophobia, trapping the listener and forcing them to submit. The industrial styles carry on throughout the release, ending the side with an almost danceable section that calls to mind early EBM. This juxtaposes perfectly with the harsher elements of the music to create even more tense atmospheres.

The B side opens with harsh feedback wailing, subtle changes growing in the background and becoming more apparent. The perfect pace is achieved for the coming tracks, a slow pace allows for the atmosphere to build amidst the tumbling waves of noise. There isn't a minute of wasted space on either side of this tape, both are full, but organically so. Not one single second of this release is misused. Everything slots in to place and makes this release one of the best, so far, of 2011.

I'd also like to take a moment to praise this release for it's thematic concerns. From the art and the booklet there's a very clear theme laid out for the release, a theme which carries over to the noise (Which, and I assume I've done this correctly, makes a perfect soundtrack to reading the mini-book that's included). It's becoming more common for releases to be cobbled together and lack a cohesive narrative or drive, a trap that Where is This has managed to avoid. I really can't recommend this tape enough and I'm fairly certain it's gonna find itself in my best of 2011 list.

Divorce Party - Astrocongertion Oporium

2011-05-22T06:21:00.001-07:00

Artist Divorce Party
Label None
Year 2011
Genre(s) Noise Rock

Yet more balls to the wall Noise Rock from the lads in Divorce Party. Showing definite progression from their last EP whilst still maintaining every element that managed to make that so great. Weighing in at a scant 5 tracks and just over five minutes of all out pleasure. It would take away from the release to review each track as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Almost everything is covered in these short tracks though. As with the last review Divorce Party are clearly influenced by many bands but I'm finding it almost impossible to identify any of them as the band moves around so much within each track, where there was once a trace of Melt Banana there will suddenly by a Jesus Lizard-esq riff. When listening to Divorce Party all I want to do is dance (Seriously). Why are these guys still self releasing? Are labels so blind to good music these days?

Long story short: You owe it to yourself to listen to this, and to their earlier EP. So why not bop over to their Bandcamp page (Linked above) and support some good music? If you're too lazy to scroll up I must demand you FUCKING CLICK HERE NOW!

Toxic Toys Zone - Atropine

2011-05-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

Artist Toxic Toys Zone
Label 17 Sons
Year 2011
Genre Wall Noise, Harsh Noise

With this release Toxic Toys Zone serve up four slabs of Harsh Noise decay. Slow as molasses and just as thick, each passage washes over the listener in an almost calming fashion. Minor variations flow throughout the release, only noticeable with a good set of speakers or some headphones. This is the stylistic mixture of Velvet Cacoon's ambient work and Vomir's Harsh Noise Wall.

Narcosis offers up a wall built from stuttering synth and decaying static. Swirling and shifting until it is gradually overtaken by a bassier tone that begins, itself, to degrade. Eventually everything dies away bar the beautiful shimmering synth to close out the track. Juxtaposed perfectly with the screaming feedback walls that open Syncope. The end to Narcosis offers slight space to catch a breath before being submerged again in the harsher landscapes crafted by Toxic Toy Zones.

Metallic drones shape the subsequent track. Opening with a high pitched wail and slowly morphing into an almost soothing passage, like lying back and letting steel waves wash over the listener. The sounds of steel drums being broken down and echoing throughout wordless chambers. Dense, and despite the calm ever so slightly unsettling.

The final track, Sedation, offers yet more feedback. Ever so subtly shifting drones of feedback lull the listener into a state of sedation. The equivalent of a chill-out track at the end of a Psy-trance album, only for harsh noise heads. Not building to anything, simply existing in a calm middle ground. Closing the release in the most beautiful fashion.

This was my first experience of Toxic Toy Zones and the label 17sons, I can only say that if all the material is of this quality that I will be keeping an eye on both the project and the label. Also worthy of note is the fact that I will be reviewing another 17sons release over the coming days.

Aikichi Kuboyama - Conflict

2011-05-22T05:42:00.001-07:00

Artist Aikichi Kuboyama
Label Self Release
Year 2011
Genre(s) Harsh Noise

A two track, just shy of fifteen minute sonic assault is offered up here by Aikichi Kuboyama. Static rumble and crumbling sonic textures swarm across the tracks. The occasional deliberate bass drop out keeps things interesting and provides a sharp shock. This music is certainly on the harsher end of the spectrum. Never letting up, like having bees make a hive in your mouth whilst you suffer from a coma. Crisp walls of static sound build and build. With the exception of some phaser use towards the end of the first track there's not really much that can be complained about here.

The second track offers deeper textures without sacrificing the dynamic, like the sound of a bombing raid. The second track does suffer from being slightly overlong, but it's balanced out nicely by the first.

There's not much I can say about this release seeing as it is so short. I get the feeling there may have been a slight over reliance on Audacity (Or a similar tool) for the post-production side of things but that's easy to overlook given the relative quality of the release. For a first effort (or early effort, I ain't 100%) it shows a lot of promise and I can only expect good things in the future.

Sir Edgar Carpenter - Broflovski's Killers: A Noise Tribute to South Park

2011-05-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Artist Sir Edgar Carpenter
Year 2010
Label Script Sound Recordings
Genre Harsh Noise

I love novelty releases. I have a crate full of black and white minstrels LPs. I own the metal tribute to Abba. I love having these items in my collection regardless of the music, they're a great talking point but that's about it. You can forgive me for approaching this web only release with equal parts glee and trepidation. Whilst I don't dislike South Park it doesn't really carry the same clout that I look for in my noise. I'm not saying all noise music should be totally serious but I'm certainly apprehensive about how well this can work.

The opening salvo Sweet, Sweet Marsh takes me by surprise. A white noise stab with tortured sounding synth in the background. It certainly promises great things as it leads in to more of exactly the same. For thirty minutes the same basic pattern repeats. Even as a listener that likes repetition I can't help but feel cheated. Slight variations may arise but it is the same basic slog for the best part of half an hour. I can't help but feel let down when change finally does arrive near the twenty-five minute mark, a random drum pattern and reversed samples, presumable to create atmosphere. It might have worked had it come around twenty minutes prior, as it is it's simply even more aggravating.

Up next we have Hello Kyle. A 25 minute track built upon a basic rumbe that loops on and on and occasional stabs of digital squeal. Whilst there is variation on this track it just feels hollow and self-indulgent with it's 25minute run time. Each section seems to stay past its welcome, lasting that long simply because they could rather than there being a specific purpose.

Ass-face features my mortal enemy, the phaser. Throughout the whole ten minute track there is a pasher effect in the background, causing nothing but a headache for me. The track quickly falls into the boring category as, yet again, not much happens.

I think the thing that annoys me the most about this release is the fact that it isn't terrible. There are some good ideas here but the seem to get lost in the self indulgent 10 minute phaser solo. Whilst, on the whole, the noise is a too digital for myself I do recognise that there are fans of this style. I found myself asking "what is this aiming for" when sitting through the nth minute of overblown hiss and I couldn't find an answer. I guess it's noise for noise sake. I also wonder what the real relevance to South Park is, besides the cover art and song titles there's hardly any real link.

Dementia and Hope Trails & Pregnant Spore - Split

2011-01-26T13:19:00.001-08:00

Artist Pregnant Spore & Dementia And Hope Trails
Year 2011
Label Side-A-Records
Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise, Drone

It's nearly the end of January. We've all lost our afterglow from the festive season and no doubt most of our resolutions have been shattered. It's not exactly the most pleasant time of the year, couple that with the hideous weather and dark nights n' you've got a recipe for despondency. Luckily Side-A-Records are stepping up to the plate to provide some much needed entertainment in this gloomy time. There's nothing like a bit of psychedelia to chase the blues away.

Served up in an over sized PVC cassette case (Think old style VHS box) with beautiful Psychedelic covers. These two tapes offer up about an hour and a half of finely sculpted psychedelic noise. Pregnant Spore is the new operative name for one Dim Dusk Moving Gloom, an artist I have reviewed and enjoyed previously. After doing a tad of detective work (Read: Spending mere seconds on Google) I learned that Dementia and Hope Trails is also an alias of Justin Mark Lloyd.

The Dementia & Hope Trail tape opens with a drone, calming and cool. Evoking images of floating in an endless crystal blue stream. The music carries itself slowly, almost as the current, reaching new heights of shimmering beauty. In no way is the music oppressive, allowing the listener breathing space and to be caught up and carried away. The slowly morphing guitar begins to take on a slight soulful edge which carries on until the end of the track. It slowly builds and gains more distortion until becoming a wailing siren, the sound of the guitar imploding. The next track opens with a far more disconcerting air. Slow pulses that sound reminiscent of the transfer into Nightmare Silent Hill (See: Silent Hill series of games). Much heaver than the prior track, crushing despite the minimalism. Soon shudders and thumps begin to merge into a dense electronic hum, the sound of a million angry machines. The overall atmosphere in this track is very close to the works of Akira Yamaoka, something that I wish more drone based works could aspire to. Dementia & Hope Trails creates genuinely affecting drones. The first, more ambient track serving as the perfect foil for the grimy, dirty, creepy second track. Both will carry you off to far away places, the only issue being that you might not want to open your eyes wherever the second song takes you.
Pregnant Spore offers up two cuts of more noise based material. Twitching Minions coils bursts of explosive noise around low rumbles and scrapes. Starting slowly, punctuating an uneasy silence before building into an all out assault. Some fast paced cut-up styled noise sections occasionally break through the blast furnace of sound. Vocals swathed in effects bubble just below the surface, threatening to surge up and burn the face from the listener. Virus Sex bursts forth from the speakers with, if possible, a harsher high end buzz and crumbling low end. Slower than the preceding track but just as tense and unnerving. Screeches and electronic whines flutter around a dying tone, gutted by the side of the road. Letting out it's death throes.

This release offers up amazing presentation alongside two fantastic artists (Well, one, you know.) offering their best. What's not to love? Lift yourself out of the winter blues, you deserve it don't you?

Fuji Mum - An Eye For an Eye Will Turn the Whole World Blind

2010-12-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

Artist Fuji Mum
Year 2010
Label None
Genre(s) Power Electronics...

One of the positive points about Noise and Power Electronics would be that almost anyone can have a go. You don’t necessarily need to know how to play an instrument or have a massive bank roll behind you to afford gear all you need is passion. One of the negative points about Noise and Power Electronics is that almost anyone can have a go. Despite popular belief there can be such a thing as bad noise. As a fan of noise I find it offensive when someone throws any bit of shit out there and expects it to be accepted just because it’s "experimental". Fuji Mum adopts this approach by serving up four tracks of nothing but feedback and vocals.

Whitehouse made power electronics using distorted synth and hateful vocals, even later on when they began to wander into the realms of self-parody they still had a good solid sound and were amusing. Most Power Electronics is built around synth and specifically high end. Fuji Mum is made up of one dude waving a microphone in front of an amp and shouting every so often. Everything has been bounced directly without any mixing or even consideration for composition. The four tracks here are exactly the same thing, microphone and amp feedback and some forced vocals. The overall sound is totally flat and reeks of doing one take and deciding that’s enough. The thirteen minutes here seem to stretch ever onward. This release is punishing in all the wrong ways.

This review isn't very well formed, I appreciate, but there's not much to work with. As I mentioned the compositional elements of the release ammount to recording feedback and shouting (Read: mumbling) vocals at the same time. Feedback is an important element of noise, no doubt, but it's usually much more than simple feedback recorded through a microphone. Some of the best Harsh Noise works are primarily feedback based, however the feedback is treated and run through effects to make it a part of an overall whole. There's nothing quite as interesting here.

The four tracks presented by Fuji Mum here just give off the impression that minimal effort was expelled in the planning (if there was any) and recording stages. It's an insult to ever other recording artist that actually puts effort in to their works. It comes across as someone who wants to feel like they are part of something, that they have created something, and chosing the easiest route to do that. In this case a musical genre that's based around DIY and often lack of structure. I'm wracking my brains trying to think of a piece of constructive criticism or even a positive point that I can include. I'm falling short on both fronts. These four tracks don't deserve your time or attention, and until this project shows that it actually has some artistic merit I advise you to avoid.

Dim Dusk Moving Gloom - Articles of Faith

2010-12-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

Artist Dim Dusk Moving Gloom
Year 2010
Label Datahex
Genre Psychedelic Noise, Drone

I'm not overly fond of netlabels. I feel I should get that out of the way. For every great netlabel, and there are a few, there's about one hundred others that put out releases by the likes of RedSK and Breakdancing Ronald Reagan. Netlabels more so than anything else seem to lack quality control, even the major noise net label Smell the Stench has "put out" stuff by some less than favourable "artists". I know explaining a bias doesn't excuse it but hopefully airing that won't allow it to tain this review.

Dim Dusk Moving Gloom is one of many projects of Justin Mark Lloyd, playing a fucked up mix of Psychedelic Noise, Droning sound scapes and the odd harsh element thrown in. He also heads up the Rainbow Bridge label when he's not record with his plethora of projects. This release, Articles of Faith, finds it's home on Datahex records, a relatively recent netlabel. Looking over their releases is a bit of a mixed bag, though not terrible, with the exception of my excessive recoil upon noticing BRR appearing on one of their compilations. I must say in favour of both Dim Dusk Moving Gloom and Datahex that Articles of Faith is doing a lot to redefine how I look at netlabels.

The release opens with an almost R&B flavoured beat, sounding like a distortion of the opening beat to Amazing (Kanye West). Hints of static creeping around the side. Slight stuttering on some of the beats lends a Chopped and Screwed feel to the piece. The beat is soon overtaken by wailing high end and a crunchy, bassy layer of static. Vocals charge headlong into the mix, drenched in reverb and delivered in an almost Power Electronics style.

The next track is a 17 minute droning dirge. Crumbly walls of bass move at a glacial pace with a well integrated use of religious samples. The matter of fact, mildly upbeat samples is juxtaposed with the static and shrieks low in the mix. Both the music and the sample taken on new meaning when put together, meaning that isn't inherent (Not that I want to discuss the potential of Eisenstein's montage theory in relation to music). Soon high end skree pushes into the piece, the sample still going on in the background, fighting for position and breaking through so only a few seconds here and there are audible. The track does begin to overstay it's welcome at around the 14 minute mark, created as it is around the one sample. Also worthy of note is a high end whine noteable at the beginning of the track which is often found when using a computer programme to artificially slow a piece, whether this is the cause or not it is still distracting.

Next up is a short 2 minute number, bassy noise fliterring between channels, panned perfectly. Slowly starting to get lost in oncoming waves of psychedelic static.

Sundowning is a thirty minute piece that begins slowly and creeps it's way up to a static onslaught. Slowly gathering elements as it progresses, the rumble and crumble of bass is especially prevalent in this track (and the release as a whole) but unfortunately seems to ebb away when the white noise begins. This leaves the track feeling hollow, as it's left with nothing but high end for a while. Like thunder the bass suddenly returns to make a blistering cocktail not far removed from some of the less vocal heavy Masonna 7''s. As the assault collapses into itself the sounds of dying electronics rise to the front, the entire tracks sounding like a spaceship entering a meteor storm and just as it manages to get free all electronics die, slowly.

The final track on Articles of Faith is Prosthetic Relief which mixes the bassier noise with a slowly ebbing drone. This track almost functions the same way as the final song on a psy-trance album. More chilled out and relaxing, bringing you back to earth after the trip you've just been dragged on.

Articles of Faith isn't without fault, certain tracks can feel slightly overlong. Besides this the quality is brilliant however, you can tell that every element is well crafted and put together with utmost care. As I mentioned earlier Dim Dusk Moving Gloom and Datahex have managed to make me rethink (certain) netlabels. That's got to be worth something.

Divorce Party - EP

2010-12-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Artist Divorce Party
Label Self Released
Year 2010
Genre(s) Noise Rock

An interesting little ditty here from Michigan based Noise Rock entity Divorce Party. A two song single clocking in at just under five minutes. Presenting Noise Rock of the more blown out, intense variety.

The first track Doo Dop Top is fast, angry and ever so rewarding. Sounding like some of the classic Noise Rock bands in structure but bringing their own flare to the proceedings. Worth of note is the melodic chanting that forces it's way above the dissonant guitar and thunder drumming.

The second, and unfortunately, final track Tweedy Two Two offers blown out guitar, rudimentary drumming (verging on industrial sounding at points) and obscured vocals. On repeated listens melody begins to rise out of the cacophony and the vocals become more and more apparent.

A million different bands lurk just outside my grasp, suggesting they have influenced Divorce Party. The fact that I can't reach out and grab any do a lot to show just how well the band sculpt their own sound. The genre Noise Rock has been co-opted recently by sub-par bands making sub-par music, Wavves for example. Divorce Party don't sacrifice the rock side of things for the noise. Both elements are present and come together. The whole is greater than the sum of their parts. Defiantly one to watch.

Absurd/Pantheon - Split 2002

2010-11-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Artist Absurd/Pantheon
Label Nebelfee Klangwerke
Year 2002
Genre(s) Symphonic Black Metal, NSBM

There are a lot of problems with the NSBM scene. Even when ignoring the outright stupidity of your average Neo-Nazi follower. Possibly one of the worst issues with the bands in the “scene” would be the valuation of aesthetic and ideal over talent. I want to get something out of the way here, early in their career Absurd were atrocious, barely competent and excessively childish. Pantheon aren’t much better. Unfortunately this split release gathers up some early Absurd tracks and Pantheon’s first LP.

Absurd deal out some standard “punky” black metal. Their collection of tracks ranges from the early “children playing evil” phase right up to some more competent and well-formed material. It’s always interesting to hear a band improve and grow; the only problem is that it’s usually a more rewarding experience if you’ve an interest in the band. This release mixes the different “periods” of Absurd up in the track order, as such there’s a sudden tonal switch from the enjoyable, if not somewhat bland, Böse to the terribly misguided mixture of silly raw vocals and hilariously misguided clean vocals on Der Grosse Tod. Triumph of Death shows a childish Absurd with hideously inane lyrics.

“Subhuman scum you must fear me
it's time to say goodbye
you have no reason to exist
it's time for you to die”

Combine this with the vocals being far too prominent in the mix and the rather generic playing style and the song becomes more of an amusing “how not to record black metal” display. Speaking on what to avoid when recording black metal, every band should listen to Colours of Autumn then promptly make sure they never create something so terrible. Annoying, misplaced clean vocals that sound like a Vaudeville performer juxtaposed with hideous “harsh” vocals that sound like a teenager trying too hard to sound aggressive do not a good song make. Death from the Forest suffers even more problems, the vocals are too fast causing them to sound strained and forced, not to mention the same juvenile lyrical content that plagues the majority of these tracks,

“I am demonic, I am so evil"

Son of Endless Night

Absurd wouldn’t be a terrible band if not for the vocals. Their musical content is enjoyable, if not clichéd. There certainly isn’t any new ground being broken. Absurd seem to be the primary band within the NSBM scene, whilst their newer material certainly shows improvement the question remains how a band that can record such sub-par, uninspired drivel could ever assume that mantle.

Pantheon create a mix of slightly more symphonic and rawer styles. Keyboard passage are liberally scattered throughout their contribution (Re-issue of their first EP) that really don’t gel with the guitar. Also worthy of note is the horrendous drum sound, cymbals that sound like a toy kit and a bass drum that sounds like cardboard. The one instrument that holds any merit is the guitar. Monolithos incorporates infectiously catchy riffs to get the song stuck in your head, unfortunately it’s hard to focus on when the bell of the cymbal is hit and it sounds like someone banging pots and pans together. This is a quality that carries through the entire half hour that Pantheon present. The good elements of the music are far overpowered by the alienating sections. The bass is also a matter of issue for me, occasionally in Det Rase Elig Hygiensk Kanon the bass will rise above the fray, play a few notes out of tune and then sink back into the mess, offering nothing but managing to detract from the whole. Pantheon vocals are on the whole more listenable and actually fit with this music, that’s not to say the lyrics are any better. The opening to The Atavism Into Ginnungagap features melodic repetition of “Heil, Sieg Heil” which sounds more like a teenager attempting to shock than it does a legitimate lyric. The best way I could think to describe Pantheon based on this release would have to be sloppy. The symphonic elements sound cheesy and the music sounds slightly competent at best.

There’s not much of value on this split. I suppose if you’re into the whole NS scene you’ll probably buy it anyway. One thing I’ve learned from NSBM fans is that the value ideal/aesthetic over ability (That said though, Xasthur sells so maybe it applies to all black metal). Whilst I don’t agree with the ideals of bands like Forest or Ad Hominem I can appreciate their music. Even the more symphonic side of things is covered by bands like Kristallnacht, Pantheon don’t do anything you can’t hear (better) elsewhere. Of course it’s always possible this review is just part of some ZOG conspiracy.

Barf Thoth - Peep Roky

2010-11-30T12:50:00.001-08:00

Artist Barf Thoth
Label Fag Tapes
Year 2007?
Genre(s) Drone, Experimental Noise

Barf Thoth is yet another project of Fag Tapes label head Heath Moerland (Sick Llama et al.) Focussing on vocal based noise and drone compositions. Peep Roky is described by the label as:

“The elevator lights went out and the only other dude in there w/ me kept complaining about the silence. said at his crib 13 televisions and radios would be on all the time, 25/8, all set to different stations. he busted me this tape.”

It’s easy to dismiss label description in the noise scene, just have a quick gander at any number of hyperbolic love fests applied to Generic Skaters Release #17,054. For once though I can’t help but feel the label description has perfectly captured the essence of the tape I hold in my hands.

Peep Roky serves up two ten minute(ish) cuts of bubbly drone, corrupted speech and hazy atmospheres. Side A invokes oppressive atmospheres as treated speech crackles away, audible en yet completely obscured. Slowly others voices begin to build into the piece, lurking in the background. As the label descriptor points out it feels like a million different news reports, some rolling backwards, some moving too fast, all rolled into one. Like a panic attack in an electronics store when you’ve left your Xanax at home! The most impressive part of the A Side is the minimal use of electronics, the entire track is driven by the vocal samples and gathers most of its atmosphere from them. The electronics are primarily used to set the mood, oppressive, dank and creepy. Side B has a stronger focus on electronically generated noise. Crunchy drones rise beyond the vocal murk, percussive elements become part of the fray. As if every single TV and radio suddenly fell between stations, rough outlines of shows breaking through the static churn.

Apologies for the shit cover scan, I don’t have a working camera/scanner right now and it’s the best quality image available on the web. Let me just assure you that the packaging is indeed fantastic, sprayed tapes and a collaged cover.

Filthy Turd - The Witches Tit the Golden Dung

2010-11-26T15:57:00.001-08:00

Artist Filthy Turd
Year 2010
Label Side-A Records
Genre(s) Harsh Noise, Sexy Noise

Filthy Turd is the English Noise/Power Electronics project of 'Filthy' Darren Wyngarde. Active since the early 2000s, with a puddle of releases on varying labels such as Hanson and Turgid Animal. Filthy Turd creates harsh soundscapes for sexual deviants. It's time to don the gimp mask and just into the stagnant waters of The Witches Tit The Golden Dung on Side-A.
Insane mumbling, clattering cymbals and dread inducing drones open the release. A slow build punctuated with the occasional burst of static. Almost like stumbling onto a ritual being held by that "town oddball" when walking home through the town centre. Quite unlike any Filthy Turd I've heard before but still just as menacing. Out of nowhere piercing feedback and distorted vocals cut through, absolutely punishing with occasional chanting carrying on. The vocals are low in the mix, almost to the point of inaudibility hidden as they are behind layered screams and static. When part of a lyrics does cut through the cacophony it creates intrigue. I found myself with my head right up at the speakers trying to decipher the lyrics. It didn't work, I also might have tinnitus. Still nothing ventured...

The releases lurches on, dripping bog water all over your carpet. The use of clean singing and chanting doesn't allow you to be at ease, like a house guest who's finished dinner but started to be incredibly nasty whist playing with his knife a tad too keenly, he could lurch forward and stab you at any moment. So to tension is created by Wyngarde, the alternation between all out sonic attacks and the calmer (but no more peaceful) chanting tracks. Worthy of note is the harmonica (??) that shows up midway through the release, creating a far more musical (yet still lacking melody) proceedings. Given the absurdity of the placement it's somewhat surrealistic and in a way quite funny. It lasts for all of 20 seconds before we're flung back into the audio equivalent of a burst sewage main in a psychoward. The percussion begins to sound as if it were played on burnt out car husks adding to the atmosphere.

Whilst Filthy Turd is primarily Harsh Noise there are definatly some Power Electronics elements to his sound and aesthetic. The use of high end on The Witches Tit... is very close in style to White Heterosexuals. Compared to all out Power Electronics thought, the same hyper-sexualised content is there, it's just conveyed in a far more captivating fashion. I advise everyone to pick this up, pour a glass of vino, close the curtains, look out the kleenex and wank yourself silly.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need a shower.

Swans - My Father....

2010-10-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Artist Swans
Year 2010
Label Young God Records
Genre(s) Post-Rock

This album was always going to be polarising. The very announcement of a reformation without Jarboe started some sort of proto-backlash towards the venture. Nine months on from the first announcement and finally My Father Will Guide me Up a Rope to the Sky is pushed out for the baying audience. Swans are back, but is the album any good?

Maybe saying Swans are back is slightly bold… If I picked up a goose and proclaimed it a swans perhaps it could fool people upon a cursory glance, but closer inspection will reveal that it may look the same, possibly smell the same and even have a similar make up, but it ain’t no Swan. I have no problem with Angels of Light, in fact if pressed as I’ve grown older I might say some of the Angels of Light work resonates more with me. My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky suffers the same problem that I had with certain earlier Angels…. Works, after hearing Gira’s touching and powerful acoustic demos the songs don’t feel right being worked into full band mode. The best example I can muse on would be My Sister Said (From: I am Singing to you From my Room & Sing Other People respectively) which lost the majority of its power when rerecorded with a full band.

Far be it from me to tell Gira how to manage his projects but I can’t help feel that as he has grown older that his music has evolved past a very over the top expression of emotion into a more mature and formed emotive output, Swans still holds a place in my heart but the time has passed. Why resurrect a band to play essentially the same music you’re already doing in another project? Maybe I’m just cynical…

My Father… isn’t a bad album, not by a long shot. I do feel it pales in comparison to the more effecting solo demos on I Am Not Insane and I don’t know how well it fits in the Swans canon. Maybe I’m just subconsciously rebelling against growing old. Was it David Fincher that said “Nihilism is a really sexy idea when you’re in your twenties…”? Maybe I’m just not as extreme as I used to be. It’s not really important, you’ll either have this album or you won’t, this review is worthless…. Good old nihilism.

Timothy C Holehouse/Chris Cook

2010-10-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

Artist Timothy C Holehouse/Chris Cook
Label None
Year 2010
Genre(s) Drone, IDM

Another in the long line of Timothy C Holehouse split releases from the past year or so. This time with Same Actor & Hot Roddy, two guises of Chris Cook. This release features a solo track from Hot Roddy, Same Actor and Timothy C Holehouse as well as two collab tracks twixt Holehouse and Cook.

Side A of the tape is dedicated to the two collaborative tracks, The Persian Sea & It Began with Nothing. Offered up are psychedelic drones, bells and swirls entering the cosmic energy. Strings being offered up as a dedication. A ceremony within a vast woodland, I know that Chris Cook plays sitar and I’m fairly certain it’s used in these two collab tracks, offering a krauty/raga vibe to proceedings whilst the electronics burn on. Stunning implementation of crescendos create a pressing urgency in what is essentially a slow moving drone. What I find fascinating is how well the traditional instruments and the electronics combine, both seem to have their own place in the composition. Too often with modern day “drone” works there’s totally useless insertion of instrumentation (See: Not Not Fun and other “hipster”-ish noise), whereas here Cook and Holehouse present a master class in not only playing but composition. Once again this piece is steeped in atmospheres that will evoke different reactions in each listener, you really owe it to yourself to discover this tape. I’m really hoping for further collaboration in the future.

Side B is where we can find the separate tracks by each artist, the first five tracks being by either of Chris Cook’s projects (Which pseudonym to which track isn’t made clear) with a final piece by Timothy C. Holehouse. Cook’s projects were a massive shock, shifting to something close to Dubstep, IDM and even some D’n’B moments. It almost seems at odds with that which came on Side A. No less relaxing for it but defiantly in a totally different spectrum, I had heard mention of an earlier Chris Cook related project (Remote) as having a Warpish/Aphex vibe and I can defiantly see the influence on these pieces. The final Holehouse track opens with slow percussion and alien bleeps and squeaks, a denser and darker approach but making both artists solo tracks stronger via the juxtaposition. Dense and suffocating drones quickly fill all available space and force the listener down, just as crushing as any Moss record!

This is probably my favourite tape out of the recent releases I’ve reviewed, as I’ve mentioned before I’m very fond of split releases that showcase different genres/styles of music and this tape is no exception. The mix of atmospheres, emotions and textures on this release make it a fascinating listen and well worth returning to.

2010-10-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

Artist Timothy C Holehouse/The Reactcore is Splendid
Label None
Year 2010
Genre(s) Ambient, Harsh Noise, Noise Rock

Yet another split tape from the prolific Mr Holehouse, this time a split tape with The Reactcore is Splendid. Holehouse I’m sure is known within the noise scene but TRiS is new to me, a two man (?) project based out of London. Speaking of London it seems to be a heavy influence on the music contained on this pastel yellow cassette, coming as it does, with part of a London calendar affixed to the case.

The Holehouse side of the tape was recorded between London and Bristol (I’m assuming on a train?) via the use of a Dictaphone and then further editing carried out. The track carries a very strange vibe, snippets of conversations (other commuters?) come and go. The sounds of life ebb past and distort. There’s an incredibly sinister atmosphere carried throughout. Running the line from all out haunting ambient to dark stabs of distortion and feedback. As with most Timothy C. Holehouse pieces I find it best taken in whilst lying in a dark room with headphones. Atmospheres that are second to none. The piece calls to mind images of trains, faceless people dragging themselves through endless underground tunnels, dripping water and scurrying rats. Dark, dank and thoroughly unforgettable.

The Reactcore is Splendid serves up Turd Sandwich (AKA Live in Texas) which sounds like a dirty noise rock based recording. Vocals at sub-Albini levels and a whirlwind of guitar noise. I think there are drums somewhere in there too but I couldn’t make a guarantee. Sounding like more of a mixture of rock stylings and straight out noise than the usual ideas that are conveyed with Noise Rock. More noise based than The Cows but more rock based than the likes of Air Conditioning. The recording seems to leave a little to be desired but otherwise the TRiS is good, offering areas of noise, rock, Whitehouse styled power electronics etc. A wide area is covered with the live side and I’d really like to check out some studio works to see how they sound.

Nryy - Bird

2010-10-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

Artist Nryy
Label Side-A
Year 2010
Genre(s) Harsh Noise

Side-A-Records is a fairly new label, you can find reviews for all their prior releases (bar one…) slightly down this blog. I’ve found the output, packaging and basically everything pertaining to this label to be nothing if not innovative and compelling. Focussing on a good mix of known and unknown artists and offering a great view of the current noise scene. Brought to us today by the label is Bird by Japan’s Nryy. Nryy come off the back of a series of splits and other releases on his own label Silent Novels (Which also functions as a web-label). Bird serves up three tracks of harsh noise, sculpted to perfection for a total of just over half an hour of torture/pleasure, if not both.

The main issue with Japanese noise is that any newer artists will instantly be compared to the “Japanoise” greats, even breakout artists like Govt. Alpha seem to find it hard to shake the “Like Merzbow but/if/with….” allusions. I can hopefully avoid the “Like [Japanoise artist x], meeting [Japanoise artist y] in [unexpected location] with [American band Z] sensibilities” although I make no promises.

The first thing I notice upon removing this Cd-r from its beautiful packaging is how well the overall aesthetic is carried, packaging like this really makes me hope for the music. To the CD player with it! Budgerigar opens the releases with an almost danceable beat structured bout of noise with a sci-fi edge. It may just be the release title but instantly bird song comes to mind, there’s an almost chip tune element to the noise but it first perfectly with the established nature of the piece. Whilst the noise is harsh it’s not an all-out assault as with certain contemporaries in the genre that will remain nameless. The second track, Lovebird, opens like an inferno, the noise crackling like fire. Scorching the ears and brain, a less structured and much, much more violent outburst. The sheer amount of elements that make up each of these three long tracks can’t possibly be listed, there’s not enough room for that. The tracks flow on with their individual elements, refusing to stay still.

The very nature of this release sets it aside from most current noise works. It’s almost refreshing to be served up a slab of harsh noise in the boring plains (with some exceptions) of wall noise that seem to be in vogue recently. Nryy is defiantly one to keep an eye on, and this release serves much as a statement of intent, worth grabbing. Oh, and because I've earned it, Masonna, Merzbow, Pain Jerk etc etc.... Good to get that off my chest.

Euhedral/Timothy C Holehouse Split Tape

2010-09-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

Artist Euhedral/Timothy C Holehouse

Label Self Released

Year 2010

Genre(s) Drone, Dark Ambient

Yet another split tape featuring the ever wonderful Mr. Holehouse and this time he has teamed up with Oxford based drone and dark ambient project Euhedral. Euhedral offers up one track split into two parts of creepy drone/dark ambient soundscapes, whilst Timothy C. Holehouse presents three tracks of dark improv. and shuddering melody. The information with the insert is somewhat sparse, offering artist and track names (and e-mails etc). The only other bit of info to be found is that the tape (I'm assuming both sides?) was recorded in Peckham on a bleak Sunday. I can't say for certain that this had any effect on the outcome but this split is definitely dark and brooding.

The Euhedral side side starts off with a drifting sound, echoes and slow methodical drum beats filling the plain. Self described by the artist as dark (which is an understatement) Mantis Song Parts 1 & 2 offer dense yet spacious atmospheres, drums bouncing off slick cave walls and dread filled drones rising from blackness. Damaged and shuddering walls of noise closing in from every side. The production and the drum sound almost lend a dub sound to the proceedings. As Part 1 fades into oblivion the dense silence is punctured by screams, at which I'm getting a similair vibe to In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebrarum by Abruptum (Except executed in a much more competent fashion). A metallic nightmare begins to stalk closer and closer to the forefront, like a mechanical beast rising from a misty chamber. Female vocals dance in the ether fitting the mood perfectly. All the components of the release joining into a sonic miasma. It's here however that I have a slight problem with the work, I was taken out of the experience somewhat by what sounds to be the use of a wah effect on the track, I was very aware of the nature of the track and it dulled the atmosphere that (until this point) had been created perfectly. Gone was the creeping sense of dread. There is a quick stop/start used to great effect, just as I was getting up to change sides the assault returned and resulted in me cowering like a little girl. I'll happily throw some Euhedral tracks on in future, however it's not exactly comfortable listening in a dark room en yet at the same time I would advise it to get the most of the experience.

Timothy C. Holehouse starts off with a calm piece of guitar, slowly repeating and dying away. Electronic flourishes ebb alongside the guitar. As the volume and intensity increases an air of menace becomes apparent. What sound like whispered vocals lurk just behind the instrumentation, haunting the listener. Soon the guitar is overpowered by a thudding pulse of a beat, steady and omnipresent. A swirl of electronics offering only slight suggestions that the guitar still exists as part of the composition. More urgent and pressing, there is a slight drop out on the tape at one point which I'm not entirely sure is intentional. Just as soon as the hazy electronics began they start to fade away, leaving the pulsating beat and gentle guitar, sounding ever more alone. The beat eventually vanishes until the guitar is all that's left, sounding sorrowful and alone due to the juxtaposition with the harsher point of the track. Track two carries with it an almost Moevot vibe, carrying the sound as if it were recorded in a cathedral, there are also flourishes of almost Kluster-esq electronics, psychedelic en yet melding perfectly with the composition. The Moevot vibe only increase as the side rumbles on, especially when the sinister, whispered vocals return.

There's much been said about the genre of Black Noise, despite being a loose term which covers the more bombastic (Emit) to the slightly calmer and more ambient (Dapnom/Black Seas of Infinity) there seems to be a lash back from the noise community at large. It's releases like this that might be able to turn the tide and show there can be a good mix of Dark/Black Ambient and Noise/Drone elements to create something greater than the sum of it's parts.

SeaBuckthorn/Timothy C Holehouse - Split Tape

2010-08-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Artist SeaBuckthorn/Timothy C Holehouse
Label None
Year 2010
Genre(s) Folk, Post-Rock

Here we have a split tape twixt SeaBuckthorn and Timothy C Holehouse. Mr. Holehouse is known to me and I've reviewed some of his previous work. In doing prep for this review I tried to find out some information about SeaBuckthorn, the Myspace mentioned on the insert is blank, listing only a country and age without further details, this is a real pity as I'm most enamoured by the track presented. The total release look wonderful, coming in a stamped envelope (Which is unfortunately sealed and not exactly the easiest to open without damaging) and then further enveloped in black crepe paper, held in place with an orange sticker.

The SeaBuckthorn side is one track, A Mystique Strenched Thin, which opens with calm drones and gently played guitar. Slowly shimmering with a slight sound like Sun City Girls. Light and pleasant, sounding like summer music to forget your problems to. The guitar ebbs against the droning tide, reverb lashed on top to send it on a spiral around the room. The guitar dies out into an electronic buzz which slowly fades out to end the track. The only complaint I have with the SeaBuckthorn side is that the electronic buzz on the end sounds out of place and a little tacked on.

The Timothy C Holehouse side starts in a very similar style, slowly picked guitar, ringing out solemnly in Summer Through the Window, a mournful edge pushing into the music. Like a lament for the lost summer that was presented on Side A. Building in speed and intensity before dying down once more. The next track, Winter's Icey Glare, continues the theme of the release, except this time being more outwardly cold and longing, almost like the solo guitar opening to Bleeding Hope by Life Neglected. The noise elements notable from previous Holehouse releases are gone on this tape, instead choosing to convey emotion and atmosphere through the laid bare guitar. Building onward before suddenly stopping.

This split is a great piece of music, though if you're looking for pure noise/drone music I'd pick up an earlier release. There's a nostalgia conveyed by both artists on the tape, one dealing with a fond reminisce and the other conveying the negative emotions from the same time period. None of the tracks would work without the other to serve as a counterpoint, as a split should be.

Suburban Howl - Green Death

2010-08-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Artist Suburban Howl
Label Side-A-Records
Year 2010
Genre(s) Folk, Noise

Suburban Howl is the project of Davide Lega and Matteo Poggi. This single sided C40 on Side-A-Records serves up three creepy crawly cuts of chilling guitar-centric noise. Delivered on dazzling lime green/black flecked tapes (Sprayed) and ideal for those scary nights when The Misfits just wont do.

Tape opener Green Death is based around a slow moving guitar part, like the slow campfire song of a long forgotten ghost. Echoed voices and croaks mulling just beyond the light, slowly the guitar builds in intensity, succumbing to a pool of white noise, the voices becoming part of the sonic miasma. The noise is great and manages to maintain a more musical quality.

Random begins with another guitar line which sounds like the collective night terrors of a thousand burnt out hippies. Perfectly saccharine in format and delivery, it hints at something horrible concealed just beyond the surface. Sounding like a more focused Silvester Anfang. Always threatening to tip over the edge into yet more noise, instead slowly fading out. The lack of a harsher element making the track all the more powerful.

Finally comes Speak Poetry to People. A far harsher affair that sounds like the chase out of the woods, Leatherface hot on your heels, his chainsaw revving and spitting petrol. A pressing sense of urgency conveyed through the wailing feedback. Murmurs still pass in the background, note able but hidden enough to muddle comprehension. Despite the fuller sound there's still an edge that will have you checking over your shoulder.

I'm having a hard time adding the genre for this release, it's certainly noise in the sense of there being a harsh element composed on "non-music", however there's the calmer (but frankly scary) folkier guitar sections. The whole tape combines to make twenty minutes of the most satisfying noise this year.

Where is This - Elegant Domesticity

2010-07-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Artist Where is This
Label Side-A-Records
Year 2010
Genre(s) Harsh Noise, Power Electronics

Elegant Domesticity is just one of a slew of recordings recently unleashed on the public by Mark Ward, Dublin based head of Bored Bear Recordings. I've not had a chance to hear any of his other output, but on the strength of this CD-r I'm defiantly going to be tracking more down.

The first thing that struck me about Elegant Domesticity was how calm it was, this isn't the average all out assault delivery seen in the noise "scene". Rather Ward favours a slower form of guerrilla warfare. The first track slowly pulses and throbs, an innate creepiness laced throughout. An almost Power Electronics (Whitehouse : Total Sex(ish) era) without cheesy vocals. A sustained creep through bushes to the prey. On headphones in the dark this track will have you checking over your shoulder and I wouldn't plan on sleep afterwords.

The second track opens with slightly more movement, higher pitches echoing within a swirling vortex. Sounding like a dimensional tear between Songs of Praise and an angry machine. This track is much closer to the Wall Noise genre, a strong unflinching top layer of noise and more subtle changes and areas of interest lurking within the mire. About half way into the track it begins to decay and shudder under the sheer wait of feedback, the noise is reshaped without any drop out or pause before descending into a violent harsh outburst towards the end.

The key word to sum up the experience of Where is This would be subtlety, Ward has conjured up two powerhouse tracks borrowing heavily for the culture and style of noise music en yet gnawing out his own niche. The tracks are deeply affecting without being notably so. This is music that you'll find yourself thinking about a few hours down the line.

Hateful Abandon - Famine (Or Into the Bellies of Worms)

2010-07-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Artist Hateful Abandon
Label Todestrieb
Year 2008
Genre(s) Black Metal, Post-Punk

A lot of bands are fleeing Black Metal like rats from a sinking ship. Indeed the old ideas of "kvlt" and "grim" have been hoisted. Bands like Alcest began to incorporate Shoegaze elements into their compositions (Though I think Ulver had most folk beat with the vocals on Bergtatt). There was an influx of bands mixing styles and dabbling with different combinations of genres. Amesoeurs gave a sampling of Post-Rock meets Black Metal on their debut EP, whilst Swedish band Lifelover put out an average debut that tried to meld Black Metal with Post-Punk (In the worst, cut n' paste fashion). As a long time fan of Post-Punk it was quite depressing to be presented with a thoughtless waste of composition that sounded more like a Joy Division pastiche than any serious artistic statement.

Hateful Abandon is a U.K. based band featuring Vintyr (Of Basilisk) and Swine (Of Swine et al). Whilst both aforementioned bands are amazing in their own right they don't really reflect what is offered up on Famine. Hateful Abandon, to use a cliche, is more than the sum of it's parts.

The most important point to raise in any review is that the music of Hateful Abandon is pretty far removed from the black metal that both members are known (Or are they?) for. Famine carries a strong dub influence ala early Public Image Ltd. Spacious production with heavy focus on the rhythm section. In both composition and delivery Famine harkens back to the time period between '78 and '84 when Post-Punk was still a rich, rewarding musical movement. This is not to say that the record is stagnant, it injects a far darker atmosphere as cold and grim as any "pure" Black Metal album. The tracks are peppered with harsher vocals which gel perfectly with the claustrophobic atmosphere created and lend the Black Metal edge to the album.

Vintyr's vocals are at times harsh and commanding and at others damaged and pleading. Running an emotional gambit but never sounding forced. Always gelling with the music. It's really hard to pin-point a similar sound, Famine races between Disintegration era Cure atmosphere, Joy Division bass lines (No, literally a Joy Division bass line), Joyless esq "Depressive Rock". It's a refreshing listen coming out of two (practically) dead genres. The most frequent similarities appear to be to the United States band Grinning Plowmen (Specifically their track Inquisition). Famine is, as a whole, a fantastic album. With a concrete vision and style that never falters.

Zebra Mu - Feeble

2010-06-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Artist Zebra Mu

Label Side-A Records

Year 2010
Genre(s) Harsh Noise

Zebra Mu is a one man project, utilizing various instruments and non-instrumental methods in order to create his noise. On Feeble he serves up 6 tracks and just over 15 minutes of awesome noise. Also worthy of note is that this is the first release by Side-A Records.

The first track, Drill Part, mixes some flat out harsh noise with denser layers, sounding like ruptured beats. Not really falling into the rhythmic noise area but keeping it varied and interesting. Whilst being harsh it showcases a fantastic control over the elements used in construction.

Stamping Down is a harsher affair. Though it has an unfortunately muddy final mix, like a Masonna cassette that you accidentaly put through the wash. It may be the intentional but I don't really think it works that well.

Challenged is a little ditty of rumble and hiss, there's not much variation but the short run time means that it doesn't outstay it's welcome. This is followed instantly by Never Know, imagine a low rent Grindhouse movie about chain fighting (Stick with me here) that you find on VHS. The VHS is mangled but still has certain sections that you can watch. In a nutshell that's Never Know, sleazy, murky and rough around the edges. Just the way it should be. The fractured speech samples add a great oppressive atmosphere to the track.

Lax sets out like the current "in" wave of drone from the US. Murky rumbles and weirdo samples building in intensity. Like watching the chain fighting VHS on slow rewind. A much darker and more introspective track that any that have come before. Juddering along and decaying. A fantastic use of samples once again. Finally we have Into Then, opening with slow drumming echoing around the confines of your head. The darker atmosphere is maintained until sudden blasts of noise rupture the tension. The drumming begins to build, becoming more aggressive. A feeling not unlike some more Industrial based works. Ending upon fading vocals, whispering words twist around each other.

Feeble is a good release. It showcases multiple sides to Zebra Mu, there's the mild falter with Stamping Down, but besides that there's no real faults. The mixture of dark ambient, industrial and noise is well utilized and even in such an oversaturated genre still manages to sound fresh. I'd advise picking this up, as far as I know it's a pretty limited release.

Heatsick - Reverse Gardens

2010-05-14T04:57:00.001-07:00

Artist Heatsick

Label Turgid Animal

Year 2007

Genre(s) Drone

I came to know Birds of Delay before having even heard of Heatsick. The Berlin side of this UK/Germany duo, Steven Warwick, also produces acid mangled jams under the moniker of Heatsick. Taking a sledgehammer to conventions in favour of free-form psychedelic scuzz. I first heard Perpendicular Rain on Not Not Fun and had an insane desire to track down more from the demented warped electronics maestro.

Enter Reverse Gardens on the UK based Turgid Animal label. On this release Warwick offers two tripped out jams, each around the thirty minute mark and each offering up a veritable smorgasbord of spacey, warped and shuddering psychedelic noise. All the usual characteristics of noise are present, pulsating high end and rumbling low end. Hiss, fuzz and skree. At the same time these elements are twisted and redefined. Like pushing the circular block into the square hole but managing to make it fit. The tracks are repetitive but never to their detriment, lulling and tripped out. Imagine being plucked out of your bed by a UFO suffering engine troubles, pluming smoke into your bedroom and obscuring everything. The warbling noise shudders along, dragging the listener with it. Sections repeat, loop and merge seamlessly into one another all the while wrapped in a blanket of hiss. Lay back, relax and let the journey commence.

Side B sounds like an electrical fault in a dub studio, with King Tubby looking on in horror as screechy wah takes over his bubbling bass. Not too dissimilar from some earlier Sun Araw work. The mangled electronics start to take over the track, pulsing to the top. There's a lot of projects that claim in their little blurbs to be the result of "broken electronics" but I don't think any really hammer that fact home in their music, Heatsick on the other hand sounds like the expert handling of broken electronics to make a cohesive complete product. Reverse Gardens makes strong use of repetition, sounding like early Psychedelic Rock (Blue Cheer, maybe even Christine 23 Onna) in the process of being pushed through a blender. Repetition slowly warping as it becomes more and more damaged.

Vomir - Proanomie

2010-03-15T20:55:00.001-07:00

Artist Vomir
Label At War With False Noise
Year 2009
Genre(s) Harsh Noise Wall

There's been a lot said about the genre Harsh Noise Wall, some good, some bad. Even within a genre like noise it seems to be polarising. One of the frontmen (or rather entities) within this "scene" is Romain Perrot, the French embodiment of nihilism. With a most stoic performing presence and the use of plastic bags Vomir seeks to submit to the audience true nihilism conveyed within his music. Sitting in a dank basement in Glasgow, a bin bag stopping any light accessing my eyes and all human chatter and ambient sound replaced by punishing walls of feedback and static got me thinking. There seems to be a backlash towards HNW recently and I've seen it described as talentless in many places before (See : Any thread on the iheartnoise board) but I really can't say I know enough about the sub-genre to write everything off. One thing I am willing to say, though, is that Vomir is fantastic.

Proanomie on At War With False Noise has an impressive run time of just over 76minutes of tumultus, twisted, torture. One sole track dominating the entire release. Coming packaged in the barest of terms (This being done as an aesthetic). So fair enough, Vomir's aims are clear, his aesthetic in both performance and releases stick staunchly to that. What about the music?

A dark room, large headphones and a high volume mark my listening experience for Proanomie and where the technical merits of construction may not be as important as your usual knob twisting noisenician, Vomir is all about emotions and atmospheres to me.

There is no subtle fade in, no opening drone to lead into a different passage, this music starts aggressively and remains so til the end of its run time. I had no music on prior to this and the harsh rumble sounds like a building slowly collapsing, juxtaposed perfectly with earlier silence. This is bleakness, pure and simple.This serves as electrohypnol, I have absolutely no memory of where the 76 minutes of my life has gone, in fact I'm only snapped back to reality by the sudden glaring silence where audial nihilism once stood.

The overall release is simply fantastic, a big note to AWWFN on this fact too, seeing as he apparently did the layout (Which suits the release perfectly). Vomir is Harsh Noise pushed all the way to OTT conclusions but it is neither pastiche, nor parody. If I wasn't such a cynic I might call it evolution, either way just grab the CD and be prepared for one of the most chilling, depressing, euphoric listening experiences of your life.

Timothy C Holehouse - Littlecreatures

2010-03-15T20:23:00.001-07:00

Artist Timothy C Holehouse
Label Unknown (If any)
Year 2009
Genre(s) Space Noise (?), Drone

Littlecreatures came to me packaged in a large plastic baggie, included were all sorts of police procedural forms (!?), handwritten instructions for various elements of driving lessons and a small insert, listing what appears to be a poem. I was pretty excited by this, to see how the aesthetic presentation sat with the music on tape. That said the music is most important so we'll get to that first.

This release sounds a lot more spacey than other work by Holehouse, sounding like echos from a battle lost lightyears away, now reaching our simple fleshy brains. The last days of the first sentient computer, traversing the universe and caught on tape one starry evening. My attitude towards this is partly covered in the Felony report document where the first track Leucotony is listed as being made via broken wires, therimin frequencies and a charity shop drum machine. Sounds bounce around, aided by the panning decision. Out of nowhere the music suddenly gets darker, the earlier frequencies hinting at screams from a dying planet. Any form of music that seems spacey always makes me think of Kraut Rock, Littlecreaturs is no exception and as per it's a fine piece of music, evolving past the simple beginnings into a true miasma of sound, drones push and pull like currents. There is simply so much going on that it deserves, nay demands, multiple listens (and upon hearing it once you'll want to give it multiple spins). The sound dies away, leaving a slight moment of reflective silence before a harsh, crumbly drone begins to drive the track forward. The interplay between the harsher elements and more dreamy spaced out sounds really managed to separate me from the music, I wasn't just sitting jamming to a tape and writing preliminary notes, I was in the middle of something. All action on my part stopped so as to better experience the music on offer. Littlecreatures manages to transcend the "background listening" experience of some more drone based noise and become a true behemoth, this demands your attention and you'd be right to give it some. As ever Holehouse doesn't stay with one style too long, everything is wrapped into a package, some harsher almost PE elements invade the sonic tapestry but never at the expensive of other parts. This isn't cut-up, it flows freely and simply for an epic journey.

The second track (side) titled Elephantis burns forth on a more harsh note, sounding like early Masonna live recordings, harsh rumble, static and children's nursery rhymes cut-up into an unrelenting assault. Almost acting as a pastiche of the found sound aesthetic. This review is hard to write because I'm dealing with some amazing nostalgia right now. The harsh elements seem harsher due to the juxtaposition between them and TV sound samples and even kids singing. Never sitting in one place and refusing to be categorised. Elephantis really displays the use of good cut n paste styles of found sound within the genre. I'm gonna make a lot of enemies here and say that if James Ferraro is seen as being amazing because he can play old 80s themes through a pedal board then Holehouse shows how actual found sound can be incorporated into noise for the benefit as opposed to some gimmick. The track covers so many moods that it's hard to list, jumping seamlessly from a harsh cut-up nostalgia trip to an unnerving drone. Like the Talkboy I owned at age 8 being swapped into a Merzbow performance. Magical, creeping, screaming.

Timothy C Holehouse/LAN Formatique

2010-03-02T20:57:00.001-08:00

Artist Timothy C Holehouse / LAN Formatique
Label None
Year 2009 (?)
Genre(s) Dark Ambient

Yet another split tape featuring Mr. Holehouse and yet another blinder. packaged with a small insert (part of which is reproduced above) on purple coloured tapes there's really no preparing for this release.

Holehouse opens with electronic drone and distant drums, fracturing under subtle bomb samples. Wails echo around the piece as if you're being serenaded by lost souls. There's a very real image of a solider slowly dying in the middle of a battlefield, blood mixing with the moody ground. Being beckoned to and taunted by those that have already passed. The closest artist I could compare this to would be Edinburgh's Wraiths (Edit : I have just noticed they are thanked in the insert), this release is a lot calmer however and very much has an identity of it's own. The insert tells us that these tracks were recorded in a 16th Century cottage in Dorset, coupling this with the images evoked within the sounds and the artwork there's a very strong aesthetic drive to the release which works perfectly. This is proper bleak electronic ambient, feelings of loss and despair creep into your brain, carried effortlessly by the music, itself simply dripping with implied menace. This shits all over most of the so called "medieval dark ambient" (See : Dark Ages) by not only creating the aesthetic needed but also being able to carry the idea within the music itself. I tried to listen to this tape whilst lying in bed the other night but had to turn it off because it was genuinely freaking me out. A simply fantastic effort. One issue that I have noticed is that the second track appears to hard panned to the left channel, this can be overlooked when considering the sheer depth of the music included however. The final track is a more overt noise piece, but it carries forward the atmosphere from the preceding two arrangements. It's really hard to describe each track separately as they flow together so well.

LAN Formatique were new to me with this tape and here they present us with six tracks which were apparently "Recorded between the land of the living and the Emerald city", now I'm not too sure about anyone else but I, for one, am intrigued. The first thing I noticed about their recording was the use of guitar to form a basis of the music, alongside what sounds like real (Being a drummer I'm fucked if I'm wrong) drums. I'm reminded of Opaque mixed with a little bit of early Abruptum, very befitting the style established over on Side A. The constant panning of the drums gives me a bit of a headache but when they build up into an all out assault I quickly forget any issues I had, this is noise rock at it's noisiest and most brutal. The songs blend into one long track (Which is really helped by the format) which leaps around seamlessly from foggy ambient drone to spastic instrument abuse almost at random. Only with great care can something sound so spontaneous and unplanned.

Shuriken/Timothy C Holehouse Split Tape

2010-03-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Artist Timothy C Holehouse/Shuriken

Label None
Year 2009
Genre(s) Drone, PE, Noise Rock

Timothy C Holehouse opens his side of this split with a barely audible machine hum, a crescendo building into sultry drone. Dark and claustrophobic, sounding like a slowed heartbeat pushed through a pedal line. An incredible sense of foreboding, as if waiting for the end that is expected but no less scary. The first track, Swine Flu Boo... Who? is the audio equivalent of the pandemic, slow rumbles at first, growing closer and becoming louder until the whole world is screaming. The track, as with the threat of Swine Flu grows and grows until it suddenly begins to ebb out just as quickly as it arrived.

The next song is a mixture of static feedback, pulsating with a steady rhythm. As if every computer rebelled and marched upon the senate. The track rises up for one final attack and stops in its tracks. Holehouse's side is closer to Batchas style dark ambient to my ears, which is no negative point. Both these songs are fantastic, if a little short for my liking.

Next up we have Shurikens side which is split into four tracks. The first thing I need to say is how shocked I was, the music on this side is straight up rock. I actually checked to see I hadn't accidentally set my hi-fi to CD (Dinosaur Jr. was still sitting in the tray). I'm really pleasantly surprised by the first track offered up, amazing bass lines and angular guitar with fairly emotive vocals. The next cut Unison sounds like Sonic Youth meeting The Jesus Lizard in the Batcave, very noise rock/post punk. The music really is fantastic, it's especially nice to hear more "conventional" bands sharing a tape alongside noise musicians, variety is the spice of life n' aw that.

Amazing presentation on the release too, on tape printing for both sides (I can't tell you the amount of times I've been faced with an almost impossible attempt to work out Side A from Side B with some other tapes) and fold out J-Card with a skeletal theme.

Plurals/Timothy C Holehouse - Live split

2010-02-26T03:39:00.000-08:00

Artist Plurals/Timothy C Holehouse
Label None
Year 2009
Genre(s) Drone, Noise, Power Electronics

Both artists deliver a live cut recorded in Brighton, November 2008. The tape comes with a train ticket (I'm not sure if this is every copy or not) and a fold out insert listing the artists, their tracks and containing pictures relating to the performances captured within (Above).

Plurals open their track, Midnight Cock Pie, with a warm drone, slowly growing in scope and intensity. Overtaking the listener like a wave. More and more high end is interjected into the mix, possible percussion lurking in the background. What sound like vocals enter the fray, becoming part of the sonic textures. Almost shamanic and used as part of the music, reminiscent of shoegaze styles. Voices offering up lullabies to soothe weary travelers. Subtle chimes augment the calming drones as they begin to morph into a slightly harsher variant, the vocals becoming more profound. At this point the music begins to take a darker edge, spacey sounds merge seamlessly into the miasma whilst the overall piece still maintains a very organic feeling. A million different atmospheres are gelled together perfectly in this live set and it's a pleasure to listen to. This is wonderful stuff, psychedelic and soothing.

The Timothy C Holehouse side, titled A New Dichotomy of Hate... That Tastes Great opens with chanting, which the audience become part of. The chanting is looped and delayed before fading into a dark drone with whispered vocals, at times quite close to Power Electronics, make no mistake about it where the vocals on Plurals side offered a psychedelic element the vocals on TCM's side are unnerving. Buzzing, dirty electronics rise up from the depths. Crashes and damaged beats hover over the buzz, starting out spacious but slowly coming together allowing less and less breathing space, ever teasing at a full out sonic assault. A fantastic mixture of high and low end and a lot harsher than that which came before.To simply call this noise would be a massive disservice to the artist, we're treated to a fucked up (in the best possible sense) mixture of psychedelia, power electronics, drone and harsh noise. Angry shouts in the background in a call and response style. Some almost Masonna esq sound manipulation leaping into your face. There are so many styles at play on this release that it's impossible to cover them all but each supports the others. This is what noise should be, ever changing and refusing to be confined to one specific sound.

This release really shows the best of both artists, all the stronger for their conflict of styles whilst both working within the over-arching genre of "noise". Plurals and Timothy C Holehouse offer two completely different kinds of psychedelic noise, catering to fans of both drone and the more harsh outputs.

Kylie Minoise - Micro-budget Perversion

2010-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

Artist Kylie Minoise
Label Turgid Animal
Year 2007
Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise

One half hour track of psychedelic feedback abuse and vocal attack by Lea Cummings. Buzzing static layers built upon one another to a hellish cacophony of sound with treated vocals screams and yelps. The rumbling drive of the track sounding so decayed that it may crumble into nothing at any moment, crumbling under it's own sonic weight. It's the buzzing of a thousand hornets descending upon a play park.

Turgid Animal are (or were) known for a fair amount of Wall Noise release, a category which I guess this release could be filed into. This is only in regards to how dense the sound is, this is dynamic noise far removed for the unchanging walls of Vomir and his ilk. The release pounds onwards until suddenly there is nothing. No fade out just a sudden stop, making the release all the more powerful for it.

Nackt Insecten - Double Lunar Halo

2010-01-23T09:04:00.001-08:00

Artist Nackt Insecten

Label Beyond Repair

Year 2007

Genre(s) Harsh Noise, Drone

Double Lunar Halo really begins to showcase the more spacey side of the Nackt Insecten sound. Opening with Tunnel Vision, a short piece made up of crackling vocals and swirling synth. This track is still calm but it's not really drone in style. Much closer to harsh noise. After a short while the next track creeps up, powerful drone like thunder caught in a time warp. Dense and dank. Psychedelic high end threatening to come ever forward. As if Spacemen 3 put down the guitars but kept the pedal boards running while they went out to ingest various illicit substances.

A choir made up of children from the Village of the Damned are ready to sing for us, their voices distort as they swirl before our eyes. Stretching and distorting into hideous representations of their former self.

The real meat of this release is the 14 minute title track. A mixture of the more electronic, creepy style of drone that NI first displayed and then relaxed, spacey ritual sound that is currently being used. A real cross section of the development of the project. Somehow comforting and unsettling at the same time. Would have worked as a soundtrack for the fall of British industry.

Nackt Insecten - Sick Animal Eyes

2010-01-23T08:50:00.001-08:00

Artist Nackt Insecten

Label At War With False Noise

Year 2007

Genre(s) Noise, Drone

An early release from Nackt Insecten here, a lot harsher that some later material. More of a brooding, creepy edge to this release.

Broken electronics attempting to function, burning out and shutting down. The memory of function, crawling slowly onto your shoulder. Enveloping us in broken leads, tying us down to view their final stand. Everything blows out as the sound begins to die.

Pretty uneventful drone on the next track, nothing really happens and the sound is somewhat hollow.

The third track follows much in the same vein as the first two. I'm not gonna focus on it but I'd like to make a quick point. I do like Sick Animal Eyes, I like it a lot. I just feel that it pales in comparison to the later Nackt Insecten works. SAE is a solid, creepy drone release, but it's not the amazing kraut inspired drones that NI is now known for (Or at least he should be known for)

Nackt Insecten - Stairway to Levitation

2010-01-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

Artist Nackt Insecten

Label None (?)

Year 2007

Genre(s) Drone

Light, airy drones opens up this release. As if we're already ascending towards the clouds. Sections that almost sound like "world music" from some far off planets sneak through the cloudy electronics and regale us with stories of their home world. Like a space shuttle lift off being slowly undertaken between bouts of relaxation. The rocket finally takes off, ever so gently, we're on our way.

More electronic rumble now as the fuel burns, propelling onwards t'wards alien tribes and new customs. Relaxation replaced by wonder, machinery swirling in the background. Soon.

Landing, to be greeted by an alien welcoming party, singing their native song. A lush planet, but somehow not right. Purple trees rise up against a beetroot sky. Long, languid walks through the flora and fauna of this beautiful world. Until the final night, when you sit across rugs and play local folk music with your alien brethren.

Nackt Insecten - Quantum Odyssey

2010-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Artist Nackt Insecten

Label Blackest Rainbow

Year 2009

Genre(s) Drone, Krautrock

I've certainly made mention of the more krautrock leanings of Nackt Insecten before. That was nothing compared to the full blown freakout presented on this beautiful slab of vinyl. Equal parts Popul Vuh and Maeror Tri. This release really moves Nackt Insecten head and shoulders above most acts that seem to be coming out of the drone "scene" at the momnent.

There's real focus here and the entire release flows perfectly. Like looking over a landscape of THC plantations that stretch to the heavens, slowly dancing in the cool breeze. It's wonderful on this plateau. There's simply not a single low point on this release, beautifully crafted and performed. Warm and all encompassing. This record is simply wonderful, and is definitely my record of the year for 2009.

Nackt Insecten - White Rainbow

2010-01-14T00:33:00.000-08:00

Artist Nackt Insecten
Label Second Sleep
Year 2007
Genre(s) Drone

Two discs of beautifully composed and performed drone by Ruariadh Sanachan. Warm swells of sound painting a beautiful calming picture. Slowly soothing souls in the space age. There is a psychedelic gleam peaking around the slowly morphing drones, calling forth memories of Kraut Rock and early psychedelia. Built upon one main drone but padded out with beautiful synth and dreamy electronics. There are certainly elements of noise here, feedback is a prominent element of the compositions but always used to accentuate that which is on offer. Guitar makes a stunning appearance, being worked into the swirling vortex of sound. At the same time I am very much reminded of Popul Vuh. You see many bands these days described as Kraut Rock but none that I have heard captures the spirit and styling in quite the way Mr. Sanachan does.

The drones that are created here are never relegated to simple background music, there is too much going on. Sure you could play this in the background (It's common bed listening for me) but you really owe it your full attention too. Spacey electronics and dreamy synth dance together.

Disc two continues with more drones, this time darker and more ambient based. Conjuring images of desolation, the aforementioned vortex of sound suddenly sucking you in and throwing you into a desolate world long since destroyed. More dense drones with less breathing space. Harsher without crossing over into noise. All the elements from disc one are still here but they are utilised in different ways, showing a completely different side to Nackt Insecten. With disc 1 we were treated to a cosmic voyage on a cloud, disc 2 offers us the ruins of civilization telling us the story of the past. Mournful en yet still full of beauty. It closes without catharsis or resolve, we're trapped in this ruined landscape.

I don't usually do this but I also want to bring up the packaging on this release, 2 spray painted (Not to the point where it will flake and damage your CD player) cd-r's housed in a wonderful silk screened gate fold slipcase. Aesthetically linked with the music contained within. A wonderful package all round.

Kylie Minoise - Telepathic Surge

2010-01-13T00:28:00.000-08:00

Artist Kylie Minoise
Label Triangle
Year 2007
Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise

Two discs, one composing of one thirty minute slab of harsh, psychedelic noise and the other composed of, um, classical choir and chants? I'm really not sure about this one.

Let me start with disc 2, which is the disc composed of chants and what sounds like a full choir. I'm really not sure what to make of this, sure it's soothing and took me unawares but I can't work out the purpose. I have just thought (and checked by adding up track times this seems possible) that both discs may be designed to be played simultaneously (If anyone involved with this release is reading could you comment and let me know if I'm correct or not please?). Until I know for sure I can't really make a judgement about the second disc, hopefully someone can clear it up.

Now onto the meat of this release with disc 1. A dense fog appears from nowhere, hiding the source of an intense rumbling that can only mean bad things. Every single radio in earshot begins to malfunction at a terrifying level. Lights can be seen in the distance, breaking through the thick gloom, best to avoid them as they could be the source of this rumble that shakes the cobbles. The buildings begin to stretch to the heavens, leaning in and enclosing the alley, casting night over the clammy heat. Just as soon as this nightmare beings it's over, lying upon your back in an all too familiar ally, pedestrians doing their best to ignore the fallen inconvenience in their way

Opaque - Temporary Lifestyle

2010-01-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

Artist Opaque

Label Dental Records

Year 2000

Genre Drone

Starting off slowly, gentle strumming of a guitar, ringing out against the emptiness. Serene and calm, but it feels like it's hiding something. Slowly feedback creeps in and washes over the notes, enveloping them in a warm wash of sound. The track slowly weaves around itself until it slowly fades out.

Continuing onwards more despondent and dissonant guitar melds with warm fuzz. Relaxing waves of sound lap over everything. A sudden urgency is injected into the equation as things begin to speed up and become more noisy, still built from the same guitars but now taking on a more sinister edge. Heavily distorted drums appear from nowhere to accentuate the noise. Feedback interjects itself into the composition, wrapping around the distorted guitar lines. The fuzz unravels itself back into clean guitar ringing out in stark juxtaposition. Slowly the release begins to fade out.

Kylie Minoise - Live in Japan

2010-01-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Artist Kylie Minoise

Label Kovorox Sound

Year 2009

Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise

Let me preface this review by saying I'm not a massive fan of live albums. They can be amazing, convey the same amount of worth as any 'proper' release but they tend to leave me feeling down. It's aggravating to listen to this music and realise you're missing some of the more viseral components of the entire aesthetic experience.

Onto the actual album, starting out with an introduction to one of the performances that helps set the mood, though it also amps up the feeling of despondence of not actually having been there. The first song is abrasive feedback built up over crunchy waves of static. The tracks on this release range from violent all out assaults to slower pieces that crawl into your ear and nestle in your brain, prodding the unease sector with full force.

The release as a whole is a very satisfying experience, managing to show off many different styles that are incorporated into the sonic palette which Cummings uses. My main issue is that due to the tracks having been recorded at different times and places there's no strict coherence in the running order which can be slightly alienating.

Kylie Minoise - You Suffer

2010-01-12T04:55:00.000-08:00

Artist Kylie Minoise

Label Kovorox Sound

Year 2007

Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise/Wall Noise

There is absolutely no breathing room from the outset. A droning wall of noise attacks the ear drums from the get go. High end feedback noise swarms over a bedding of low end filth. This release is quite different in style to the other works by Cummings that I have heard, this is by no means a negative point. You Suffer! has a lot more in line with wall noise (Much like the amazing Micro-Budget Perversion). There is one unshifting assault, unchanging and hypnotic. Beneath this we have layers of psychedelic tone abuse.

The release is dense, there's no break in the attack for its entire duration. I find almost all Kylie Minoise records to be psychedelic but You Suffer comes at it from a different approach, less Masonna vocal attack and cut up static. More trance inducing drone. The single track has a duration of just over an hour, it feels like it's over in ten minutes. The best part being that you can replay the release again and find even more hidden beauty in the background. Essential.

Swallowtail - Demo 2010

2010-01-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

Artist Swallowtail

Label None (Self Release)?

Year 2010

Genre(s) Experimental Noise

This demo by Swallowtail opens with a slow creeping atmosphere, alot calmer than what I was expecting. Moments almost reminiscent of Akira Yamaoka's work on Silent Hill offer affecting beauty and clarity in a sea of creeping electronics. Fractured drumming breaks through the mossy electronic base, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Shrieks and screams nestle in the background, swirling in the dense layers. Slowly fading out.

The release continues to twist and turn, not falling to expectations. Black metal styled vocals and almost unprocessed guitar make an appearance and offer a complete change of pace whilst retaining just enough style to not feel out of place. I begin to have problems here as there is alot of high end (almost painfully so) without much low end, there are rumbles and bass but it's not prominent, it teases an appearance but doesn't deliver.

I'm beginning to think this release was mixed as loud as possible without much concern for how it would sound. The more noise based elements are almost ear raping. We're now treated to a heavily distorted drum machine and feedback squeals. Very foreword but lacking the atmosphere conveyed earlier.

A pulsing bassline drives onwards, broken samples crackling into nothing as we break into an almost Gabba styled track, little variation and drums being too high in the mix don't offer much here. When we break back into a calmer passage there's more going on but a static buzz (almost unchanging) kills the atmosphere. Another Gabba styled section finishes this off.

A more atmospheric track rears it's head. Images of misty streets and unthinkable horrors are conjured, to be suddenly shut down by yet more drum machine abuse. The Silent Hill vibe is still here, taken over as it is by almost noisecore levels of screaming and drumming. There is a very interesting bed of electronics in the background, but the drums are so forward in the mix it's almost impossible to focus on. Each section is done well, the dark ambient, creeping electronics, Gabba styled drum beats, aggressive screaming. My only problem is that the mash up of styles doesn't allow the true power of each section to be displayed.

An almost tortured guitar line creeps out of the electronic murk, strangely beautiful in juxtaposition to the dirty skree that it stands against. I'm reminded of black noise, and black noise done well at that. Atmospheres that suggest great unease, forcing the listener to confront that which they rather would not.

Like being stuck on an ever spinning carnival ride, the usually fun sounds and warm lights distorting and becoming something much more sinister. This track is what I imagined when I originally heard the "dark cabaret" genre tag used. I do get an uneasy feeling that the intro to an Arcturus track may have been used as a sample here though, especially towards the end (I think it's from Arcturus but I can't be sure)

Droning synth lines coupled with aggressive almost Junglism styled drum beats shouldn't work but for some reason it does. Breaking up the tracks en yet managing to keep the same atmospheric flow.

It's really hard to say how I feel about this release as a whole, there are some moments of genius but I am reminded of the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none". Swallowtail shows real promise, the electronics are evocative. My main concern is that I feel I've heard a lot of this before, I'm not sure if that's down to an expert structure of songs and atmospheres or due to a liberal use of samples. Either way it's worth grabbing the release to see how it goes for you. I'd defiantly keep an eye on Swallowtail either way.

Mid Leopard Violet Prism

2010-01-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

Artist Mid Leopard Violet Prism

Label Total Vermin

Year 2009

Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise

Distant rumbles and the sound of metal fighting with itself float on a bed of electronics. Like a cluttered street filled with faceless robots, enyet we refuse to notice. Warbled and tortured one of the few remaining humans screams for attention, ranting and heaving. It's hard to focus on the philosophical quandry that he attempts to vomit onto your lap due to the smog that is rising from the ground. It doesn't matter because it's too late anyway. This isn't post-apocalypse, it's mid-apocalypse. Tremors shake the ground as the skies turn inky black, almost rippling with the thunderous destruction.

After it all, one robot still shakes, slowly attempting to stand. Spasming amidst a pile of his brethren, sparks against cracked dirt. "Life" signs yet. Slowly the cold metal rises. To begin his journey for purpose. Crumbled buildings barely stand as a sign that there was once life here. A million screams were muted here before, how long ago was that? Pressing onwards, a harsh sun bakes the landscapes. Dirt and dust stretching to infinity. He will walk forever on these planes.

The constant heat on the metal. How long has he wandered? He has no need for time. The detritus is almost gone now, and with it his purpose. Something is wrong, he thinks.... He was not programed to think. He has no need for thought, he needs purpose. His joints, unoiled and screaming, grind to a halt as a dust storm covers him. Enshrouded in dust, bathed in darkness he is alone with his thoughts for eternity.

Slogun - Bloody Roots (Short)

2010-01-08T01:48:00.000-08:00

Artist Slogun

Label Circle of Shit

Year 2009

Genre(s) Power Electronics

The moments when you feel most angry slowly ebb away, leaving only self hatred and disgust.

The human race is a fucking cancer, polluting and destroying. The Human race is fucking scum, dripping with disease, they are the disease! The human race offers nothing to the world preferring to rape and destroy the resources. It is the human race that has borne serial killers, rapists and those that would steal innocence. Keep trying to hide in a fake world of Internet and TV. Keep trying to create something different. Understand that the human race is worthless, filthy and will constantly drip their disease upon one another to continue.

I am also human.

Kylie Minoise - Principles of Universal Habit

2009-11-25T14:42:00.000-08:00

Artist Kylie Minoise
Label Quagga Curious Sound
Year 2009
Genre(s) Psychedelic Noise

Yet another insanely limited release from one man noise juggernaut Lea Cummings. There have been several Minoise releases this year, both on Cummings own label (Kovorox Sounds) and other labels scattered throughout the globe. Kylie Minoise is an ever changing beast, enyet always retaining the psychedelic leanings that run through his releases.

On to the actual recording at hand, we're presented with an unrelenting 18 minute slab of harsh, dynamic noise. Right from the get go you're grabbed by the jugular and dragged into a miasma of screams and walls of feedback. As with earlier release The Paralysis Sect the noise is intercut with creeping drone, the juxtaposition of the drone and harsher noise elements create a truly claustrophobic atmosphere. I can draw parallels twixt Principles... and some early MZ.412 work, but just as I'm beginning to relax and drift off in the sonic textures I'm stabbed in the ears by an ice pick of refined feedback and screams. The release also meanders (In a good sense) down a route favoured by wall noise, a constant, unshifting wall of feedback hiding further layers beneath, revealing more with each subsequent listen. The transitions between the more overt noise and the tense drones are handled expertly, Cummings knowing perfectly when to fade the tracks across and when a more pressing stop/start mechanic is needed. Cummings is well recognised in the noise scene and it's easy to see why when looking at this release, he never sacrifices the harsher elements for calmer sections or vice versa, rather both styles co-exist to create possibly one of the best short releases of this year.

Benighted in Sodom - Plague Overlord

2009-11-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

Artist Benighted in Sodom
Label Obscure Abhorrence
Year 2007
Genre(s) Black Metal

There's no escaping a hailstorm that consumes this entire midnight city. It's hard to communicate when even your closest friends are obscured by the sheets of ice that tumble from an empty heaven. The only solace is a blood smeared and empty room, needles and razors providing the only warmth against the crushing blows of sharp ice. When it is dark the wraiths move again, slowly touching your cheek as they whisper the solution to all problems. "It is time", there is nought to fight for, stained glass obscures the outside and the rumors that sunlight would return were false.

A wraith that resembles her, it's eyes awash with a fire that you want to burn with, can only run a bony hand through your hair. Crushed bottles beside a tattered mattress leave the only impression that there was once life here. How fitting that life will end here.

Pocahaunted - Peyote Road

2009-11-06T20:30:00.001-08:00

Artist Pocahaunted
Label Woodsist
Year 2008
Genre(s) Drone

So there you are, sitting in your tent smoking your peace pipe. What's that beautiful siren song? Has Elizabeth Frazer decided to run wild under the cool night sky? There are drums somewhere as well. This is all very interesting, time to get moving, this is a chance too good to miss. Best take the peace pipe, it can only accentuate this feeling you have. Wandering across desert plains, surely there was forest here before? You can't recall. The beautiful wail permeates your ears, forces your brain to walk onwards, the sand stays cool beneath your feet as you dip and rise on these dunes. Turn around and drink in the dying embers of the fire, the need for warmth is long gone. It's so serene here, and she draws you ever forward. The sticky canvas is but a distant memory, how long have you been walking now? Hours, days even? It doesn't matter, you'll happily walk forever to find the night siren that chants this incantation. Aloft on the sand, shimmering under moonlight, this could be heaven. Heading forever towards an oasis so you may drink her in. The muse, the light, the everything. The voice has stopped, it feels cold now, lost in a desert and almost swimming to stay atop the sand. The drums remain, a cruel taunting mimic of your footsteps, covered by sand. Slowly the song returns, slowly you warm again. It's urgent now to reach her, night will be over soon. She's still calling you, and the oasis is in sight.

As you arrive at the moonlit oasis you can see figures moving around a burning fire. Shadows dance long on the sand, swirling into one another. The song stops and you're alone. The fire dying and leaving you with darkness and your thoughts. You sit, running your hands through the sand and feeling every grain drop through your fingers. The moon is hiding behind a dense cloud and darkness enshrouds everything. Something is touching your shoulder, damp and cold. Try not to make any sudden move, try to be calm. There's something else here, you shouldn't be here. The song resumes, darker now. A warning coming too late, it now only fills you with dread. Shrieking close to your ear, and the fire jumps as a Phoenix, filling the night with sharp shadows. Veiled in black two figures dance, sharing shrieks and moving with detached spasms. For all the fear, all the discomfort you're enthralled. A freezing wind blows, edge closer to the fire now. The sand shifting as you do so, becoming rock hard and uncomfortable. There is nothing you can do now but watch the grim ballet that is occurring before you and hope that morning will come. The chanting becomes more coherent again, the fire dying to final embers once more. It will be morning soon.

Joker & Ginz - Kapsize EP

2009-11-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

Artist Joker & Ginz
Label Kapsize
Year 2009
Genre(s) Grime/Dubstep

Another epic record by Joker, this time with a little help from Ginz. The usual styled dubstep (Instrumental grime?) recalling days playing SEGA. Purple City evokes images of Streets of Rage, as the clubs of Purple City empty and the skyline is already dark, neon lights serving to illuminate patrons only as grotesque charactures of themselves. Light cymbal hits wash around you like an acid rain from this foggy hell hole. For all this place may be hell on earth, it's our city and our pride can't be broken quite so easily.

The flip side Re-Up is much darker in tone, gone is the creeping hope from Purple City, replaced by the opression of a hazy room somewhere. Loosing all recognition of where you are, unable to speak with those around you. All you can really do is sway to the music and pray they don't try to speak to you. Funky basslines you used to know crumble into a harsh beat, pummeling. You keep dancing, what else can you do?