VA – Ten-Jin (LP, Vinyl, Urashima)



“Ten-Jin” is a sort of collaboration between the Japanese “Lust Vessel” and Italian “Urashima” label, two giants within the genre. It contains 6 tracks of various artists, of which some I know, but also some that are unknown to me.

The first artist on this record is “Tongue Knax”, a mysterious project from the underbelly of Japan, which already has some releases under it’s name. The track is called “Compos Mentis As Inkubus” and starts with transceiver like, synth noise and eerie, modeled feedback tunes. The sounds stay pretty much the same throughout the whole track, except for some subtle changes of more synth noises and very faint vocal samples. Nevertheless a very good sounding track. The second artist is called “Thug Ribs”, and the track “Life Sentence”. Thug Ribs brings horrorish noise with scorching and screaming feedback, joined by delayed synthesizer sounds drenched in sickness. Illness and death comes to mind, perhaps a plague of an incurable virus, ravishing human and land. Very visual evoking content. “Mordant Karma” is the third artist, with a track called “Pollution”. It’s much the same as the previous one, but it sounds more harsher on the edges. It’s also a bit more regular and basic than the previous track. Track four “Body Dysmorphic Disorder Blues” by “Les Champ Magnétiques” takes on a different path, with depraving power electronics and old school noise esthetics. A hellish ride of deafening, high ranged feedback and fragmenting harsh noise, maybe made by a microphone. “Ultimastanza” and the track “Temptation are next in line. Here, one can hear deep textures of analog synthesizer noises and other swamp like, muddy noise. The overall sound is like a storm, raging over rough and barren land. Visions of post-apocalyptic images and Radiated flesh after a nuclear disaster come to mind. Also a very visual track. The last one is by “Lebensfaden” and is called “Fall Into A Crevice, Nevertheless That Is My Closet”. Lebensfaden brings brooding, dark and slow electronics, warm and cold at the same time. Dreadful, yet with lots of vigor. This is the calmest track on this release but oh so nice..

Ten-Jin is true old school noise and existential bleakness. And it’s definitely worth the search, since it is no longer available on Urashima and Lust Vessel.

Constrain – Default Trade (2x cassette, C10, Compulsion Rites 2014)



Constrain is the power electronics project from Kevin McEleney, and doesn’t come kindly upon the ears. The tracks of this record are all called Default Trade (1, 2, ..).

The first track of this EP is pure hell. Metallic feedback blasts intertwine with heavy electronics that sound like decaying and malfunctioning machines, or machine guns. The speed is fast and there is hardly room to breath. Clattering and ravishing noise continues in the second track, with much similar aspects from the first one. No remorse is given to the listener. The third track starts with a loud feeback salvo, and is than followed by defected, scraping device sounds. Here the sound is more spacious, like it is recorded in a big room. The last track also continues where the last one ended.

This is modern, harsh noise on its best. The tracks are devided into 4, but could easily be seen as a whole. The physical release is long sold out, but it is still available as download. Not for heart patients!

Download/listen:
Bandcamp

Uniform Fasces ‎– Strength Through Feeling Nothing (Cassette, C20, COLONY 2012)



I never heard of this project before and that’s no surprise since Uniform Fasces seems to be a project on hold, with only one 2 releases out on the (defunct?) C O L O N Y label, which are “Strength Through Feeling Nothing” and “Mayan Transmission”. I will be reviewing the EP; “Strength Through Feeling Nothing”.

The release starts with “Loyalty”. Brooding electronics, detuned chords and distorted rhythms evoke thoughts of warzones and gritty combat, maybe a bit similar to the lofi releases of Vatican Shadow. The second track, named after the title of this release, has machine like drone loops and static noise. It’s monotonous sound works hypnotic and mesmerising. “Utopian Socialism “, the last track, attacks the listener with dark drones, harsh noise textures and storm like static. A bit short, but very nice.

Listening to this release, militant noise comes to mind and images of ravished battlefields. The overall sound is very minimal and monotone. A swell release indeed.

No longer available on label

Евтапийск 50 – Taganay EP (Download, Tatumentulab 2014)



Евтапийск 50 is a fairly new project and brings 4 tracks of darkened ambient with hopelessness as goal and desolate environments as visual, in this EP called Taganay. The songs have an outstanding soberness and minimalism which I appreciate very much in these times of over stimulation and production. Also the cover/artwork is fitting very well with the sound of this EP. Low and mid ranged frequencies are mainly to be heard, but also occasional hissing and other high ranged noises bring in some depth to these tracks that seem to be coming straight from the abyss. The overall sound and atmosphere is (very) threatening and similarities of Lull are not far away.

If you like some good, old black ambient, this is a project worth checking out.

Download/listen:
Bandcamp

Grim – 5 eyes (Cassette, C26, Rockatansky Records ‎2010)



Grim is a Japanese project that is around for quite a while now, and coming more to the foreground with the help of Lust Vessel’s recent releases. I will be reviewing “5 eyes”, an EP from 2010, with recordings from the 80’s.

The first track is called “Maya Song”, and begins with church like, synthesizer(?) music. Both beautiful and mysterious harmonies are produced, with much feeling for melody. They are followed by eerie wind chimes, orient percussion (bells, ..), weird vocal effects and fast tribal drumming. At the end the song returns back to the beautiful harmonies. In the second track, “Teleport”, more weirdness abides with strange effects, vocal chanting and other exotic bleakness. Also here tribal rhythms can be heard, but more remote and less compelling than in the previous one. In “Gewalt Fish” the industrialism, for which this project is known for, comes to the foreground, with mechanic rhythms and equal ranting vocals. “Animal F”, has dark, ominous drones, detuned mess and playful flute-like tunes, perhaps a tribute for a decaying world. The last track, “Odin”, joins the first track with harmonious melodies but now effected with distortion. Also the depraving and spastic vocal-percussion joins in again.

This project is probably nothing like you have heard before and quite unique. Very strange, abhorring and seductive at the same time. Be sure to check this out !!!

Buy:

Deterge – Peace Corps (Cassette, C10, Fusty Cunt 2012)



The short EP, "Peace Corps" from Deterge brings mental noise with an outstanding verve. Ringing, almost drone like, clusters of sound are to be heard in “Do As The People Do”. Very colorful, like the cover of this album. “Mission Statement” has ‘bad-receiver’ noise, (maybe looped but I’m not sure) while short vocal interceptions try to break thru, but fail in doing so.

On the other half we are having “Saving The Best Years”, with a deep sounding, metallic drone and reverbed environments. “Purposeful Actions”, the last track, attacks the ears with hypnotic,  swarm-like sounds, crunchy noise and revolting vocals. And as the track progresses it gets more aggressive in sound.

A very short but excellent release by the great Fusty Cunt label.

Buy:
Fusty Cunt

Rasthof Dachau – Prison Poems (CD, LP, Steinklang Industries 2006)



Rasthof Dachau is the power electronics project from M. Sägmüller & Max Presch. Their last release is from 2013, called “Zero Tollerance”, but I will be reviewing "Prison Poems", a much earlier one from 2006.

Dark and putrid drones call upon the mutilated in “The Sleeping Rose”, and so do the disfigured vocals with an violent tone. The ringing, low ranged, frequency drones and loud vocals of “A Prison Poem open up the gates of a Desolate and debouched world, while in “Catholic Youth” army troops are engaging in a forever lasting fog that clouds the earth. Total bleakness abides in the drones and harsh electronics of “Sixty Six Days”. And the flesh awakens in “Requiem For Barry”, with its bold, aggressive and distorded beats. The primitive rhytms of “The Cages Of Long Kesh” and its distant, preaching vocals bring obscure rituals and sodomy. “Weeping Winds” follows with slow, agonising beats, dark organ-like tunes and 'singing' vocals. The lingering and chaotic decline comes from “Lest We Remember The Truth”. And in “Modern Times” tribal rhytms team up with depressing vocal texts. “A Place To Rest” has a docile yet 'silence before the storm' kinda feel, or marching of boots cascading on the asfalt. “Torture Mill” spills bile upon the crowd of sorrow, with its frantic vocals and electronics bading in delay and fuzz. The last track, “The Rhytme Of Time”, plays one last drone seranade for a decaying world which rests itself in purgatory.

True contempt of the human soul has a face, and it is called Prison Poems from Rasthof Dachau. A great and powerfull masterpiece.


Buy:

Disfigured Robot Child - Kegadoru 02 (Digital Download; Selfreleased 2014)



Disfigured Robot Child is a noise project from Thailand, that you can only find on Bandcamp. With the weird but strong artwork and strange titles it’s hard to get a grip on the subjects from this project, but it definitely gives it a mysterious aura. Kegadoru 02, released in April 2014, is a compilation of tracks from other releases by D.R.C., that goes from 2012 – 2014.

The first track, “Pure”, is a twenty two minute-long space, noise nightmare. Rich and deep textures of reverbed, static-like noise team up with stark, oscillating synth sounds. Near the end of this track, faint tunes can be heard, but they are only brief and momentary. Very good track. The second one, “Imanoanuj2”, brings looped drones and harsh noise to the mix. It’s actually a messy outlet of different chaotic sounds, cut-up voices, sliced percussion and glitch noise. “吐く”, the third track, is suffocating harsh noise with bleeps and clicks on the background. Looped noise sounds join in near the end of this track. The fourth one, “Meido II”, is a messed up mixture of singing feedback, occasional mono-synth sounds and gritty noise. Also very chaotic and mesmerising. “If You Die, I’ll Kill You”, is the strange title of the fifth track. Delayed percussion-like sounds, ambient and voices (also delayed) play on the edge between silence and chaos and create a great tension. This track has a dream like state, but not a comfortable one. “Pantsu I”, brings high ranged, sharp, airplane-like noise, while “Nasophilla” has glitched computer-like noise. “Nose Sucking”, the eight track, has nice, hard edged ambient going on, feedbacking silently. The ambient sounds quickly get overthrown by crude noise. “Missing” joins “Pantsu I” with the airplane sounds, but is more abstract. The tenth track, “♥♥♥”, has looped, static noise and frantic noise shism’s, with build up tones as well. And “I love you”, toys around with freezed loopes, to eventually disappear into a smear of metallic harsh noise and faint shopping mall tunes(?). “0202”, track twelve, is a nice composition of deranged noises (looped) and low ranged, rumbling noise. And the thirteenth track, “199x5”, is also very deranging and on the verge of mental collapse. But this one goes even deeper and further into the maze of insanity. If you are into the early works of Maurizio Bianchi, this is definitely a recommendation. “Give Me A Reason To Stop Making Noise”, is one of the shortest tracks residing on this album. It is a mixture of sharp and high ranged static with some mono synth action. And in “RIP  MSBR” the ringing noise sound is hypnotic and repulsive at the same time. The last track, “Dweep Tob”, with it’s spacious noise and everlasting strings of crunched feedback, gives one last push to this very long release.

This is a difficult album because of the length, but definitely worth a go for all the adventurous noise fans out there. The overall sound is slightly bleak and distopian. But above all, these are very odd and interesting sounds that need to be heard. And it definitely deserves a physical release as well. I hope this person pushes the limits and sounds even a bit further in the future, with perhaps some more ambient in the mix.

Listen/buy:
Bandcamp