Lettera 22 - Lack Of Attention (CD, Ljud & Bild Produktion 2011)

Lettera 22 is a noise/electronics and field recording project from the Italian duo Riccardo Mazza and Matteo Castro. Both active in other projects like Drug Age, A Flower Collapsed, .. They are also owners of the Second Sleep label. “Lack Of Attention”, the album I will be reviewing,  seems to be their first release with Lettera 22.

The first and second track (all tracks are untitled) seem to be connected (in fact they all seem to be connected somehow) with each other and the first one opens with a dark drone, sounding like a humming generator or some kind, joined by all kinds of electronics and field recordings, bathing in a soft, spacious reverb, that also returns in most of the other tracks. It gets more chaotic after a while and the sounds that were mentioned are joined by harsh electronics and sharp feedback, descending into a violent display of nature. Track three is a twenty one second, short burst of brutal feedback salvo’s and harsh texture noise. The fourth track starts with field recordings of street sounds, ricocheting against the walls inside a building from were it seems to be recorded. Perhaps in the room that is shown on the cover of the artwork. It also sounds a bit like Arv & Miljö, but than more clearer in sound. Not for long, high ranged and corrosive noise joins in again. But the track ends were it began. Track five is a more psyche noise, orientated one, with delayed and reverbed sounds. But after a while it also succumbs under the heavy, decaying harsh noise.

Track six is the longest one, with a twenty two minutes in length. It’s an extension of the fifth track but actually also of all other ones. Underneath the defecating and claustrophobic noise you can hear people talking and other environment sounds are also to be heard, being swallowed in a sea of depraving nihilism. Around minute seven the sound gets more quiet again with a ringing scape/drone, more field recs (birds, church bells, ..) and rain like sounds. For some reason the drone has something ritual-like, but also meditative. Like a dark ode to our world and the nature outside of us. Here, the resemblances with Francisco Lopez's sound are not far away.

The sound of “Lack Of Attention is rough and fresh. Very Rough, like the artwork. But also sparse and hypnotic at some times, like the very last part of the last song. All six tracks should or could be seen as one track with different parts, instead of six individual ones. It also can be seen as a collision of the urban, human world with (other) nature. Anyway, it’s one heavy and dim ride I won’t forget.

Buy:
Ljud & Bild Produktion

Lock / White Resin / Interference / Marble Verse – Malediction (Cassette, C50, VAALD 2014)

Some new releases are out on the excellent VAALD label, so it’s time for a review from one of the more older releases; Malediction. Malediction is a compilation from four different projects. All of them residing in the mayhem department.

The first two tracks are from Lock. “Lavaliere” is the first one and starts with slow burning, dark feedback-like drones, musique concrete, oscillating synth misery and low ranged death vibes. Most of it is drenched in a cold and nice sounding reverb. The feeling you get listening to this track, is that from a chilly and icy winter evening. The next one in line is called “Scordatura”. More oscillating synths are to be heard here, but also chime-like sounds and more eerie drones, again drenched in that nice sounding and spacious reverb.

The third track, “Improved S Barb”, is by White Resin and kicks of with a determent sounding and hypnotic electronic loop, shifting gradually in shape and rhythm. This is repeated throughout the whole track, and worked well as sort of rough, meditative piece.

The fourth is by Interference and is called “Canine”. Dark, esoteric noise is a well suited description for the beginning of this track. Grainy, saturated death electronics come in, driven to cause infliction on the nerve system and shredding the man made illusions of life. Chaotic harsh noise follows up, fragmenting every last hope of structure. A very nice and basic sounding track.

“Divergent” is the last track, made by Marble Verse. With it’s brooding and melancholic drones/scapes, this track is somehow most suited for the exotic looking cover of the artwork. It has a dark eastern sound you can sometimes also hear in the Muslim Gauze records, but than without the beats. This is the most depressing and calm one of the five.

The physical copy’s seem to be sold out, but it’s still listenable and for sale on Bandcamp.
Highly recommended stuff!

Bandcamp

Arv & Miljö - Antropocen (Cassette, C52, Lust Vessel 2014)

“Antropocen” is the latest release from Matthias Andersson’s No-fi project Arv & Miljö, and it is one of his most remarkable releases so far. The title refers to the *Swedish term of Anthropoc emphasized for the current geological epoch by a Dutch-born German atmospheric chemist Paul Jozef Crutzen (* taken from Lust Vessel).

The first untitled track (all tracks are untitled) is a mixture of outside sounds (birds, ..), natural environment drones, construction works, scratchy noise and a high ranged loop, all well put together. At the end the track gets more noisier and it’s like everything is getting swallowed by the ravashing noise. The second one, “Untitled 02”, starts with scorching, high ranged electronics and crunchy, low, broken noise. This ‘broken’ concrete noise is also the typical sound of Arv & Miljö, that you won’t hear somewhere else. They are joined by what it seems to be moving metal objects of all kinds, going all over the place, but remaining on the background. “Untitled 03” opens with repetitive, high ranged electronics, drenched in hiss, sounding a bit like crickets. More sounds join in, but they are keeping a more low profile than in the previous tracks. The fourth track has a eight minute run of brutal harsh noise, metal and shrieking electronics. Field recordings of unplaceable sounds also come in. This track has a bit of a junk noise feeling, but than again it’s totally different than the mentioned latter.

Track five, on the other side, opens with a nice industrial drone, shifting in shape constantly (if you listen carefully). The drone is joined by violent noise jabs/slashes and other environment sounds that add up to a deep and utterly bleak atmosphere. Glass-like shattering noise is the frantic opener for the sixth track. You can clearly hear the sharp edges of the sound as they pierce the ear. The ending is cool to, as it seems to disappear into a more atmospheric field scape. Track seven has crunched and totally broken electronics, sounding like industrial entropy in full glory. The low rumbling on the background creates a nice and solid underlayer, which carries the other harsh sounds. The last track is maybe the least abstract one. It starts with heavy, brutal banging on metal objects and other aggressively, moving steel objects. A last venture into unremorseful chaos, you would think. But it ends with a field recording of the sea (with seagulls).

The most important thing about Arv & Miljö is that it all feels very natural, as if even the noise is taken right out of the environment and nature. Also, there are allot of sounds to be discovered in Antropocen, if you listen with full attention. This is truly recommendable stuff if you are into uncompromisingly noise.

Antropocen is sold out on Lust Vessel, but still scattered around on several distro’s.

Suizidality - Kristen (File/download, Selfreleased 2014)

This new project from Russia brings one track called “Kristen” and artwork of true ghastly and brutal nature: A dead and murdered child is portrayed on the cover art. Shocking and breathtaking.

A long sample of two children that have to sing songs from their mom or teacher opens the track. Shuffling noise than replaces the sample. The noise has a weird depth of faint, high ranged drones, as if they are singing morbidly on the background. They are followed by crunched but also muffled harsh noise and very faint vocal grunts that leap out from time to time. Than an abrupt stop and dark, etheric  soundscapes come in, joined again by a sample of singing children. The soundscapes turns into a more noise drone-like atmosphere, getting harsher after a while. Occasional sounds of feedback bursts, more samples and other unplaced noises are spread carefully along the rest of the track, which gives it a minimalistic but well dosed approach. At the last part we get to hear nice repetitive electronics, bathing in human filth and regret, ringing against the background of bleak atmospheric layers.

This is a release of utter hopelessness and doom. The dreadful sounds in combination with the child samples create a suffocating atmosphere and bring in the loss of innocence. Also worth mentioning: “Kristen” seems to be existing out of multiple tracks instead of one, as it are all different parts with sometimes sudden stops. It doesn't seem to be having a physical release, which is certainly a pity.

Listen/buy:
Bandcamp

Alleypisser – Tvang (Cassette, C30, Second Sleep 2011)

Today I will be reviewing ‘Tvang’ from the now defunct Alleypisser project, by Mikkel Rørbo. The release has two untitled tracks on each side and came out on the excellent Second Sleep label.

The first side begins with a continued metallic, almost drone like sound, occasional lurking feedback and washy noise. After a while the metal objects get treated more physical, with a repetitive industrial feel to it. At this part of the track the other sounds start to disappear and eventually you can only hear a car engine like drone, that is joined later by delayed, metal objects and feedback intervals. This continues for a while, till a new drone layer appears. Dark stuff.

On the other side the second track picks up where it ended on the first: dark, ringing drones that made me think of stretched out and desolate, industrial landscapes. Metal hits/banging and short feedback salvo’s come in to make the picture complete. It also made think allot of the recent movie ‘The Rover’, I have seen yesterday. It has much similarities to the threatening, hopelessness and bleak atmosphere of that movie. At the end of the track the sound gets harsher and noisier again, to than end abruptly.

The overall sound could be described as minimal, to say on the sources that is. The sound itself is very rich and full in sound. On both tracks you can also hear the presence of the room it is recorded in, so it has a bit of a live-performance feeling. The physical release is long sold out, but you can download it now on the artists Bandcamp, together with all other Alleypisser releases.

Download/buy:

Bandcamp

Empiric ‎– Familiar (Cassette, C20, Crown Tapes 2012)

Empiric is the drone/noise/ambient project from Jim Haras, also involved in other projects and groups as Deterge, Urine Cop, Winters In Osaka and many others. ‘Familiar’ is the only release under his Emperic project (released in 2012, but recorded in 2011). To bad, because it definitely makes me yearn for more.

The EP is counting two tracks, each on one side. The first one is “Languid”, which starts with dark, moodfull drones, delayed high ranged percussion (bells?) and dissonant ambient. The overall sound of the beginning is exotic and puts you right into bleak, Vietnam war movies like Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and Apocalypse Now. Than it gets noisier with crude, washy, concrete sounding noise and hissing sounds. But on the background the eerie jungle is still present. Out of the noise also arises new sounds, and other kind of drones, very hypnotic.

On the other side we have “Percolate”, which is also residing in the exotic area, at least to my experience. Heavily reverbed, metallic percussion and more waves of drones are tangling into each other, as if they are dancing with each other and create a beautiful and playful, yet sinister combination of sounds. Joined a bit later by strange synthesizer noises, the human world is not far away.

A very nice release for the dark drone/ambient lovers, who also like a more experimental style of music.

No longer Available on label

JOULUPUKKI – 1 (Digital/download, Selfreleased 2014)

JOULUPUKKI is a brand new project from Finland with only one release counting. On his Tumblr there is more to discover, like experimental video’s combined with noise. But I mostly liked his release that I will be reviewing today.

The album has four tracks and starts with “Krakh Bol'shoy” which could be described as sick noise. Harsh layers of shattering noise team up with ranting, primitive vocals. And as the track progresses, the structure changes into more rhythmic noise, but still very chaotic and aggressive. Especially the nihilistic vocals are worth mentioning here. The second track, “F60”, has high ranged, static noise and shrieking, distorted feedback and effected vocals, joined by moaning, low bee sounds, pressing hard against the speakers. ‘Vomiting noise’ comes to mind listing to this track. “Linnut, sylilaitteet“, the third track, exists out of a loop of sickening vocals drenched in lo-fi fuzz, crushing noise and other strange effects also join this mental party. At moments this track is very sick and disturbed, like the child-sounds that come in after a while. The last track, “Medved der'mo” (the longest of the album), has very nice layers of harsh noise, occasional sharp feedback and more frantic vocals (much less than in the previous tracks though). Sometimes it sounds a bit like a data processor that went wrong. Very solid and basic noise I must say.

This is a release that returns to the roots of noise. A No-fi nightmare of bleak nihilism. Deranged and sickening to the core. Definitely one of the best and underrated releases this year.

Buy/download:
Bandcamp

Andy Ortmann & The Cherry Point – Split (Cassette, C20, SRR 2004)

This is a split release from the old days. 2004 was a good year for excellent noise releases and this was one of them. It contains three tracks by Andy Ortmann & one by The Cherry Point. For those who don’t know, Andy Ortmann makes experimental music since 1990 & The Cherry Point is the moniker of Phil Blankenship, who is also becoming a pioneer in the scene.

The release starts with the tracks from Ortmann. “This Is What I Am” is the first one and consists out of drilling electronics, slowly shifting in sound and mostly unchanging which make it very meditative. The second track, “The Look Of Love”, is the longest of the three and is a collection of musique concrete, field recordings of outside sounds, messed up clutter, weird clock like sounds, dark scapes and industrial hits. A very interesting combination of sounds. The clock like sound is the most persistent here. “We've Only Just Begun” is the third and last one from Ortmann. It starts with the sound of a bird, and ends with a man talking. No further explanation needed here.

“Guts Bloody Guts” on the other side, is the track from The Cherry Point. This one starts with clattering racket noise and rusty electronics. I also seem to hearing a drone on the background that sounds a bit like stretched out sound from an airplane. Occasional blasts of vile noise and moaning feedback comes in, and towards the middle the sound changes it’s course into a more chaotic atmosphere. Busy factories come to mind in this industrial terror from The Cherry Point.

Although these two artists bring out a total different sound, they both fit very well together. This is experimental and harsh entropy on it’s best. And the artwork speaks for itself.

No longer available on label

Vongut – Demo 2014 (Cassette, Selfreleased 2014)

Vongut is a new HNW project that started somewhere in 2014. The release counts 3 tracks of brutal HNW, shifting between ear shredding mids and agitated, groaning lows. The pase is fast and manic, specially in the last track. Aggressive and sharp static can be heard on the background throughout all tracks, giving the whole a nice and crisp depth.

This release brings true HNW which makes your head spin, as you seem to be pulled in a whirlwind of nothing but relentless and unchanging noise textures. And the physical release comes with a nice cassette template & b&w photograph as artwork.

Buy/download:
Bandcamp

S.T.A.B. Electronics - Instrument For Operating On Mutant Women (LP, Urashima 2014)

For the ones that don't know, S.T.A.B. Electronics is a project from Keith G Finnan and dedicated to Marco Corbelli, who committed suicide on the age of 37, in 2007. He was also known from Atrax Morgue, a power electronics and dark ambient project.

Pitch black, very aggressive and right in your face is a good way to describe the tracks from this record. The vocals are violent, desperate and expressive. On most of them there is a nice reverb, which make them dark as the night itself. They also claim most of the attention, so you must really be into the genre to like this album. The intensity of them even comes close to death metal. Very impressive. They are accompanied by samples, low ranged darkened drone noise, bursting attacking harsh noise and sharp metallic feedback. The usage of synthesizer sounds are scarce, but well dosed. Or maybe they are just serving humble on the background. Variation is good description for the differences in each track. And hypnotic does sometimes come to mind also, like the militant drone electronics in “Ex Fat (For SGO)”. And the primitive sounds in “The First 45” on the other hand, are having a more exotic nature. The subjects of the tracks are nihilistic, bleak and come straight out of the underbelly of our society and the cruel nature of ourselves; humans. For example in “Defaced (Burnt With Acid)”, with the story of the woman that got her face burned by her boyfriend with acid.

The conclusion of this album is that there is enough variation in the tracks to keep it interesting, but there is also unity within all of these tracks, which is alltogheter an important combination. These are power electronics with true heart and for all the die hard fans within this genre.

The record is sold out on the label, but probably still out there after a good search.

Арсений Литвин и Лёгкий Крах – сплит (Cassette, Torga Amun Rec. 2014)

Арсений Литвин и Лёгкий Крах seems to be a new noise project, as I never heard from it or found another release by this artist. The label on which it has been released is not so new and in fact a recommendation for professional CDr releases.

The titles of the tracks on this album are long, very long, so I won’t be mentioning them. There are 3 tracks; two on the A side and one on the B side. The first track is pure junk esthetics, drenched in harsh noise. Nasty, sharp feedback salvo’s, occasional moaning, washy noise textures and strange keyboard sounds create a nice mess and chaotic bleakness. The second track contains more junk noise, with scraping, clanging metal and bristling, low ranged noise, it sounds like a rusted factory where you don’t want to work. Very nice.. The track on the other half is different from the other two. It’s more brooding with it’s dark power electronics and esoteric, repetitive synth noises. But than again, it also has that industrial feel with the metal and steel objects. Very impressive, as it comes very close to releases from the much respected Lust Vessel label, like Lebensfaden for example.

This is a highly rated discovery and find, that you can’t put aside in the list of greatest noise releases of the year. It has similarity to the early releases from Sewer Election and like I mentioned before, some releases from Lust Vessel. Also the artwork is outstanding in it’s design. True old school noise you must check out!

Buy/listen:
Bandcamp
Label

Bleak Existence ‎– One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (Cassette, C40, Waterpower 2013)

Bleak Existence’s records shift between harsh noise and HNW, but I guess mostly HNW. This one is released by Waterpower in 2013. But you had to be quick to grab this one, because it was limited to only 25 copy’s.

The album has two tracks. The first one is called “One Step Forward”, and exists out of one long wall, 20 minutes to be exact, which is the half of this record. The sound is most of all mid ranged, with nice sharp edges and low ranged curves. It sounds a bit interrupted throughout the whole track, something I never heard before in a HNW track, which gives it a kind hesitated feeling. You could say that it is a vulnerable wall of noise.

The other half completes the title of this album with “Two Steps Back”. Here the sound is totally different. It has low ranged static with background mid and highs. And like in the first half it’s one long continues wall of sound, with almost no change. It could resemble many things. But it reminds me mostly of a tropical rainforest or a waterfall. Anyway, it's for the listener to figure that one out.

“One Step Forward, Two Steps Back” is a nice and solid release with equally nice artwork. I recommend to Listen this on a rainy and grey evening.

No longer available on label

F.E. Denning – Rites Of Passage (2x Cassette, C22 & C16, Posh Isolation 2012)

This must be the first release of the mysterious project F.E. Denning, that found its haven on the label Posh Isolation. The release comes in an envelope/insert, with two white cassettes and four untitled tracks.

I listened this record outside, at train stations and other public places and it was like time itself had slowed down and put everything in slow motion. The tracks could be described as dark ambient, but they are actually drones. Bleak meditative sounding drones. Very bleak. The world seemed to be a nothing more than an empty shell, where everything was taken out of it’s usual context. And although all four tracks are really slow, they posses a underlying aggressiveness and violent character, like they could burst open any time. There also seems to be not much change going on, but that's not true. They are constantly shifting in sound, unnoticeable. Like the way cells are turning into an malevolent tumor, very sneaky and underneath the surface. The last track is bit different from the other three. It comes closer to noise than drone. But it fits perfectly with the other ones. What the tracks are made of is unclear to me. I heard industrial sounds in it, but also a manipulated gong. It could be anything. Although this album is not loud, it blew me away. Very recommendable stuff.

The album is no longer available on the Posh Isolation, but maybe there is still lingering a copy somewhere on a mailorder company. If not, there is a new release out from this artist, also on Posh Isolation. The new album is called “Cities Of Light”.

Foxconn - Managing One Million Animals Gives Me A Headache (Download, Coffin Birth 2012)

Only one release counting from this project, released on the HNW label Coffin Birth, although I wouldn't describe most tracks of this album as HNW. They all are monotonous and unchanging of nature, but they are not all harsh noise.

The first two tracks for example, are long meditative lines of static, transceiver noise and hiss. Like “Net Gains [Suicide Solution]”, which has a smooth, yet sharp and aggressive hissing sound. The third track, “Square Pegs, Square Holes”, comes close to HNW, but still has not that rumbling and merciless attacking of low, thundering, solid noise that defines the genre. That doesn’t mean I don’t like this release, offcourse. Otherwise I wouldn’t be reviewing it. But maybe their should be another classification for it (perhaps there already is, that I don’t know of). Anyway, back to this release. The fourth track, “Neoindustrial Dehumanizer”, is more aggressive than the previous one. And till now it looks like the album is building up in intensity throughout the order of the tracks. The fifth track (which has a long digit code as title) is a combination of sharp hissing and mid ranged noise. It has the same intensity as the fourth track but differs much in sound. The sixth track, “The Finger Farm Is Humming”, returns to the sound of the beginning, with a calm and soothing hiss. The last track, “Wyrm”, sounds more organic than all other tracks on this album. It sounds a bit like rain, that is heard from the inside of a building.

This is a nice release, but don’t expect harsh noise with ravishing intensity. With it’s unchanging sound we could call it ‘wall’ though. It lies somewhere inbetween, I guess. But it’s best to find out yourself, since all things all relative and subjective.

Place to be (free download):
Coffin Birth

Perispirit - Abysmal Penetrations (Cassette, C26, Hospital Productions 2010)

Perispirit is a noise duo that seems to be on a hold since 2012 now. They have quite some releases worth checking out (but hard finding them). “Abysmal Penetrations”, an EP released on Hospital Productions, will be on the board today.

“Abysmal Penetrations” has two tracks counting, “Obsolete Weather Procedures” and “Silver Bath”. They both have some scary electro acoustic sounds going on. Reverbed fieldrecordings, musique concrete, dark, distorted and harmonious drones, ill guitars and submarine sounds, you name it, it’s all there. The tracks have much layers and are very rich in depth and sound, which is a delight to be excavating in the content of these tracks. Like the first one, “Obsolete Weather Procedures”, is like you are sucked into a horror movie or B-film and into the shed of some serial killer with all kinds of tools hanging on the wall. But you could be in a dark space ship as well. Anyway, lots of imagination that can be evoked listening to this track. The second track, “Silver Bath”, is more dramatic and monotonous, with its thick drones and repetitive, ringing guitars, sometimes heading from harmonious to more dissonant tunes.

If one is into the exploring kind of noise, than this is definitely something to check out. The cover is also nice with it’s vintage look. Hospital Productions did a series of the same kind of artwork and layout, and this one is also a part of those releases. It’s no longer available on physical format but still as download.

Download/buy:

Boomkat

Clavicula Salomonis – Selftitled (Download, Infinite Undoing Tape Label 2014)

The selftitled album from this artist has two sides with untitled tracks, around fifteen minutes each half. The sounds of the first half are dark and murky electronics and crunched noise joined by chant like ambient and background drones. At the mid part of this track, the sound intensifies to a climax and than eases down, to than build up again with more low ranged noise (which seems to be another track).

The other half brings an post-apocalyptic atmosphere with nice, ill sounding drones and broken device electronics. They are joined by faint vocals (samples?) and other electronic loops. The other part has wind like sounds and fast, typewriter like noise. A storm is coming, surely.

Infinite Undoing Tape Label and the projects it releases seem to be all new. And the overall artwork that is used for these releases, makes me think a bit of the Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer. I’m not sure if the releases are also physical, but I assume they are, according the name of this label and there is a contact option for you to try out.

Download/listen:
Bandcamp

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:

RockatanskyRecords

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:

Steinklang Industries

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

Climax Denial – The Absolute Bottom (Cassette, C30, Husk Records 2008)

There are not much releases coming out anymore (since 2012 only one release a year, so it seems) from Climax Denial, and This one dates from 2008. The site from Alex Kmet is also not updated since 2012. Maybe this project is on its last breath and that would be a pity..

Anyhow, “The Absolute Bottom” is the album of choice today and starts with “What I’ve Seen”. The track exists out of distant screaming and hiss-looped electronics and is very short; only one minute. The second track, “Just A Body”, is much longer, around twelve minutes. It begins with Harsh, drone electronics with a flanger effect and high ranged drizzling. The flanger effect intensifies as the track progresses and is joined by sharp feedback, almost metallic sounding. Heavily effected screaming joins in as well. After a while the feedback gets more shape and turns into screaming and eerie tones. A twelve minute delight of dense power electronics and harsh noise, for sure.

The other half starts with “A Fear Of Life II”. A track with sinister soundscapes, delayed yelling and decaying sounds. Very dark. “Tapeworm Agility”, the second one, also lies in the delay spectrum, with looped chunks of low, rhythmic noises and high ranged oscillating synths and feedback. With its many different sounds going on, this track has a very nice depth and sucks you in it as well. It’s playful, but also very dark. The third track, “Hotmouth And Pussyfoot”, has echoing, low electronics and deranging race car-like sounds going on. And the last track, “Y Kan't U B Klean?” has bird-like electronics, snarling delayed vocals and glistering noise.

A very good release that should be listened into a darkened room.

No longer available on label

B.G. - Cascade (Cassette, C15, Under 2013)

New noise projects are arising every day, and this fairly new one is from Belgium. The project is called B.G. which should be the initials of the artists name: Bils Giel. The album is called Cascade and released on Under, established somewhere in 2013.

Cascade opens up with harsh processed sounds, perhaps made from field recordings or a microphone, its hard to tell. Throughout the whole track there are also vague vocal-like noises, which are followed by high pitched shrieks. The second track (a short one) begins with low rumbles, accompanied by brutal noise intervals and static. Track three (also a very short track) has also that low harsh rumbling and aggressive static sound. The last track is the most consistent of the four, sounding very harsh and monotonous; serving as an extend of the previous mentioned tracks.

This release, with four untitled tracks and a total time of 15 minutes,
is a very brutal and straightforward sounding release, which I like very much.
You really get sucked into its sound and it also kicks you in the head.
Some of these tracks get close to HNW, but the sound is changing to
much for just being a wall of noise. This is a promising project that
needs to be checked out for sure.

Buy:
Under

I Watched You Die – Backyard Decay (Cassette, Distorted Visions 2013)

“I Watched You Die” is the HNW project from Alex Nowacki, located in Iowa.

On this release he brings 2 tracks, around 22 minutes each. Both are static crushing HNW in its purest form. When I listened to this record I imagined shards of memories in b&w, flashing by and projecting like a film reel, with distorted and missing frames from the past. The second track is slightly sharper in sound but there is not much difference between both tracks. The overall sound is very indifferent, so it gives room to start fantasizing about subjects from your life, or the artwork chosen for this album.

Decaying memory or objects are the subjects of choice for me in this ever lasting wall of horrid bliss.
The artwork is also definitely an eye catcher.
Check this out if you like HNW in its most basic form.

Listen/buy:
Bandcamp

En Nihil / Filth – Black Earth Split (Cassette, C40, Out-Of-Body Records 2014)

En Nihil is the multi genre project of Adam Fritz, and goes along for a long time in the noise scene. Although his music covers different genres and sounds, its always dark, damp and heavy. On this split release he joins up with Filth, a noise project which goes under the name of Rob Buttrum.

The record starts with the tracks of En Nihil, and “Tribes Of The Black Ash” is the first one to kick off. The track begins with a calm, wobbly soundscape and heavily, reverbed percussion, joined by immersive, tribal drumming and some nice effects as well. Different noises and sounds come along and lift this song to an industrial, Amazon nightmare. The second track “An Infinite Void”, has slow hitting percussion, gristle noise and scraping, high ranged feedback. While “One Hundred Thousand Years” immediately sets the tone with some heavy, industrial patterns, harsh noise and ear scorching feedback tunes. The fourth and last track from En Nihil, “Why Did You Not Save us’, ends where it began. This time with field recordings of birds and river streams or waterfalls. No percussion though. Just a silent meditation to close off the first half.

The other four tracks are from Filth. “R Horizon”, the first track, starts with spring reverbed drums, delayed vocals and various looped effects/sounds. As the song progresses it gets more chaotic and messy. The second track, “Beneath The Vertisol”, has sharp and edgy percussion loops with an industrial feel to it, very menacing. Dark soundscapes (made from vocals?) join in, and oscillating synths as well. All kinds of sounds are going on in this track, which gives it a nice depth and atmosphere. “The Hollow Earth”, the third song, spills out some raw and aggressive rhythm's/beats with psychedelic noises and electronics. And the last track “A Silent Scream”, is a mixture of cut up noise and destructed beats. Siren-like sounds drenched in reverb and tape manipulation come in to participate the seductive madness.

This split release is modern, industrial noise on its best, and heavy as hell. Chaotic and destructive insanity, which shows great spirit and grinta!

Buy:
Bandcamp

Arv & Miljö – Resurser (Cassette, C22, Total Black 2013)

Raw and undeniable heavy; that are the electronics and field recordings of Matthias Andersson and his project Arv & Miljö. Also known from Heinz Hopf, a harsh noise, electronics project, together with Dan Johansson. On the speakers today is Resurser, released in 2013 on Total Black, but recorded in 2011.

The opening track, named after the album, starts with muffled banging and eerie surroundings, followed by crude textures in sound. Shrieking and harsh electronics take over and give it a violent ending. I can relate this track to the desolate artwork from this record, desolate but very powerful. The second track, called “Under Vatten”, starts were the previous one ended; crunched and churn noise textures with high ranged sounds, difficult to place but most likely metal and junk. The high ranged noises, sounds a bit like feedback, but than controlled and scarcer looped. "Perspektiv På Exploatering", the third track, has very dark and roaring soundscapes, maybe made from wind or other nature sounds. Very epic. As the track progresses, scraping noise comes in. Here, also you can easily place the photographs together with the sound. The last track, "Brigad", has also the erupting noise like all the previous ones, made from clattering junk(?) and other unknown objects to the listener ears.

This record has much unity within the four tracks, and gives it a solid whole with much rigor. The atmosphere is dark and bleak (very bleak), violent and indifferent. One of my favorite projects so far.

No longer available on label

Leo Brochu - Heuristic Analog Rental Meat (Download, Self-released 2014)

Leo Brochu is a new noise project/artist from Cleveland. He seems to be releasing all of his records by himself through Bandcamp. I will be doing a short review on his second release called “Heuristic Analog Rental Meat”.

“Heuristic Analog Rental Meat” is a mixture of sharp, cut up noise, field recordings, and all sorts of samples. The pace is fast and relentless. As mentioned on the artists Bandcamp, the sounds are recorded on tape, which gives it an old school feeling, even a bit similar to the early works of pioneers like Maurizio Bianchi and Mauthausen orchestra. Asian voice samples, radio shows/tunes are thrown in the mix as well. All tracks range in the same matter and mood; ravishing and fast harsh noise, existing out of recorded and found sounds, which are than destroyed with the necessary effects.

I really liked the noise parts, but I didn’t like the found sounds/samples (radio shows/tunes). They seem to be unnecessary and obviate. Still this is a promising project worth mentioning and that needs to be checked out.

Download/listen:

Bandcamp

LR – The Fragility Of Happiness (Cassette, C40, Posh Isolation 2013)

LR is another project from Loke Rahbek, also one of the main members from the well-known label Posh Isolation. I will be reviewing his record called “The Fragility Of Happiness”.

The first track starts with very spacious, wood sounding percussion (with much reverb from the space it was recorded in) and upcoming and fading static noise. Later on, a high ranged tone comes in, to be also joined by junk noise. It’s not really messy, but all well controlled actually. The second track, “America Disfigured”, has some soothing soundscapes, but quickly gets darker with very eerie power electronics, mesmerizing drones and cool sounding vocals, followed by screeching, rasp feedback intervals and harsh noise. “The Wife Is The Head Of The Husband As Christ Is The Head Of The Church”, the third track, (has a very long title but is a very short track) has some messing around with objects and a tone dial-like loop. The fourth one, “Olympia Dies Soon”, begins with a monotonous tone, maybe from a guitar. Whispering vocals, object noises and waved, high ranged tones join in later. On the background are some nice low ranged, dark loops going on. It is followed by “The Happening Casued Public Hysteria 1970”, which has a dark and deep wind, distant bass sequencers and frantic percussion. Later on they are followed by factory noises and all kinds of synth noises. A very nice track, with a old school feeling to it. The last track “Sabella”, has a very filthy and lofi sound, maybe a field recording. Mournful guitar tunes set in a very melancholic mood, joined by vocals. The field recording noise and vocals suddenly disappear, and the moodfull tunes are the only ones left to close of this mind shaking record.

I really enjoyed this album. It has everything you want it to have: dark, unsettling moods, rawness and freshness in sound. Listened outdoors, it gives a truly morbid and fascinating look on our society of today.

Sold out on label

Developer – Developer (Cassette, C23, Brise-Cul Records 2014)

Raw, cut-up, junk and harsh noise. That is what comes to mind when I think of Developer, one of the many projects from Matthew Reis, who also runs the interesting Factotum label. Today I will be reviewing his selftitled EP that came out on Brise-Cul Records.

The record starts with some extreme, junk metal abuse, scorching modular synths and silent intermezzo’s of field recordings (birds, ..) and ends in a dark atmosphere of drones and slow hitting on metal objects. Further on, the sound gets more loop orientated with percussive, harsh angled and other weird noises. Some tracks seemed to be originally existing out of recorded drum samples, but are now totally annihilated and almost unrecognizable. Again field recordings come in, this time crickets and a pet shop? These field recordings also seem to be the red wire, running through this record. More aggressive sound manipulation follows, with back and forward tape rewinding, stretched and ripped with effects. It’s a fine but chaotic mixture of raw, oscillating synth sounds and physical objects, colliding with each other and injected with speed.

The overall sound and mood leaves me somewhat indifferent, but it has this fast running and uncompromising sound as well. It somehow took me back to my childhood, watching cartoons on TV, which had the same effect on me like this record; very amusing but passing by like train without even knowing it. So this can perhaps be listened in a undesired state of mind with no particular destination or goal, like a short memory of the past.

Buy:

Bandcamp

Trepaneringsritualen ‎– Martyrium (Cassette, C39, Small Doses 2011)

I’m not that familiar with the works of Thomas Martin Ekelund death industrial project “Trepaneringsritualen”, but I have been listening to some of his releases the last couple of weeks now. And I was amazed of the strong visual content that this projects creates, in sound and artwork as well. It really sucks you into another world. The release I will be reviewing is called “Martyrium”, one of his earlier records.

The first track on Martyrium called “Death Reveler”, starts with a heavy industrial rhythm, frantic vocals of insanity and bell-like percussion. It’s a five minute long death march of insanity and suffering. The second track, “The Blood Of The New Covenant”, and a much longer one in length than the previous, has dark and deranging ambient that is joined by muffled, fast, background beats. Also on the background you can hear a dark and low drone, which seems to be setting the foundations for this track. Bird-like sounds and talking vocals come in, rough noises as well. After a while the deranging ambient seems to be transforming in wind, joined by sharp, high ranged tones. One can imagine that these are the sounds he or she will be hearing in purgatory. An awaiting evil, soaking itself in doubt and regret.

On the other side of the cassette we have “Plague Of Persecution”, which begins with trembling and shifting noises and vocals, effected by fast following delay times. In the distance one can hear whaling sounds of wind, giving this track a very desolate feeling. Reverbed percussion (gongs or cymbals) comes in, intensifying the track and giving it a atmosphere of unease. Less abstract vocals with longer delay times join also. It feels a bit like a preach, before a punishment commences. The last track, “Eucharist Of Piss & Shit”, is similar to the first one, similar in intensity and aggressiveness. A hardcore beat line is joined by the ravishing and right out scary vocals of Ekelund, with on the background strange and exotic noises. The release closes off right as where it all began.

Martyrium is a true descent into the underbelly of a netherworld, where the listener gets sucked in deeper and deeper. A journey for the brave and insane.

Sold out on label

Prurient ‎– Despiritualized (2x cassette C10, HP 2011)

Prurient probably doesn’t need an introduction, but this is the project of Domenic Fernow, which is also the mastermind behind Hospital Productions, a noise label that launched many of the great names/artists in the noise scene of today. Despiritualized, a rather short release from Prurient, will make its appearance on Conflict today.

The release kicks off with ‘The Other World’. In this track, rhythmic, noisy drones and feedback seem to be interacting with each other, while short, repeated intervals of primitive, vocal noise are bursting in. The second track, ‘A.K.A.’, has some nice layers of darkened drones and smoldering power electronics, accompanied by delayed vocals and nasty feedback.

On the other cassette we have ‘When Different Worlds Collide’, a five minute monster of deranging and disorientating power noise with chaotic feedback and clattering noise. Here, the sounds are very intense, while in the previous ones they were more remote. The last track, called ‘Closing Arguments’, closes off the record with a hypnotic noise, metronome-like rhythm and short outlets of distorted vocals, drenched in shrieking feedback. This is Perhaps the calmest track of all four.

With a dirty and raw sound, this is truly a vintage Prurient record.

The release on cassette is sold out, but is still available as download.

Buy:

Boomkat

Sogra – Landscape With Dirty Ice (File Download, Selfreleased 2014)

Sogra, a HNW Russian project, brings us one track of 30 minutes, on his release called “Landscape With Dirty Ice”. The HNW on “Landscape With Dirty Ice” is smoldering, crunched and brooding. The sound source seems to be a field recording, since there is an atmospheric feel to it. On the background you can hear a faint wind, like coming (hearing it) from inside a house. It’s like you’re taking shelter from a snow storm inside a cabin, in a desolate landscape. Decaying ice, breaking under your feet comes also to mind.

This is very organic and meditative HNW. Not brutal, but lingering and waiting to erupt. It represents the forces of nature in a less violent but very convincing way. The artwork is also very nice, so this deserves a physical release, on cassette perhaps?

Buy/listen:

Bandcamp

James Plotkin and Brent Gutzeit - Mosquito Dream (CD, Kranky 1999)

It’s quite a while ago I did another review from a dark ambient release. But strolling through my collection I found “Mosquito Dream”, a dated but very remarkable album from James Plotkin (also known from Khanate, a black doom metal band from the US) and the experimental artist Brent Gutzeit. It’s a collaboration starting from 1994, where Gutzeit reworks (or deconstructs) Plotkins guitar recordings, and Plotkin remixes the recordings from Gutzeit. This process  went on for a while, till it got finished and released in 1999.

The first track “Mosquito Dream”, (entitled as the album name) starts out quiet and very slow with humming, cold drones (which sound a bit like airplanes) and eerie, glacial soundscapes that sometimes sound like moving ice caps. It’s like you are watching at this world, which is passing you by and without interacting in it. The second one, called “Sand Scroll”, is immediately setting the mood: very spacious, blackened ambient with total bleakness. The universal feeling of emptiness is at hand. This song seems to be existing out of two parts. The first part is what I already described. The second part is longer and sounds more organic and tactile. Here, flanger like effects mix up with echo and deep, darkened voice-like drones. In “Wires”, the third track, the guitars from Plotkin seem to be still occurring in their original state, yet drenched in a nice sounding reverb. They sound much like the soundtrack from Cronenberg’s movie “Crash”, done by Howard Shore. On the background are unsettling sounds to be heard, messing around with contact mics and other guitar noises. These sounds are also accompanied by moody soundscapes and drones. The fourth one, “Cloud Cover”, returns to the spacious and organic sound from the second track. Drones and scapes that weigh heavy on the mind, but there is also a kind of vitality in the mood of this track. Like some kind of light that is fighting with the darkness. “Halo” leaves no room to breathe, choking in a putrid, yet solid state it suffocates and attracts at the same time. A descent into the bowels of Hell, perhaps. This is genial sounding ‘dark ambient’. Somewhere halfway this track, a repetitive, mechanic guitar strumming falls in, sounding a bit like bells from a church. The last track, “Mosquito Veil”, returns to serene atmosphere of the first track. But it’s much more quiet, very quiet.

This release goes along for a while now, leaving me with a nostalgic feeling. True dark ambient fans should definitely check this out, if they didn’t have yet. This is a true classic within the genre, still growing in strength as the years go by.

Buy:

Kranky

Interview with Swallowing Bile

Swallowing Bile is the harsh noise, power electronics project from Ethan Ebling. One of his most recent releases called “Obsession” (which I reviewed a while ago) became a very wanted item in the collection of the noise listener, and his live performances are drawing quite some attention as well. In this interview he talks about his influences, the equipment he uses, his personal view on sound and the future plans of Swallowing Bile.           

JM: To start this interview with, What does your project Swallowing Bile stand for and what do u want to tell with this project?

SB: Swallowing Bile is entirely personal and it represents my own personal depravities..in terms of what I want to present to the audience, it's difficult to say. I cover a wide variety of subjects but I usually stick to a theme that still resounds with me on a introspective level.

JM: Aside from Swallowing Bile, are there any other projects or bands you are/were involved with?

SB: There are a couple of other outlets in which I am involved in! I am in a collaborative HNW project with Quentin Rhys (Wet Dream Asphyxiation) called MOS, a Black Metal project which I will not disclose at this time, as well as a Harsh Noise project that I will also not name at this time (I apologize!). Currently I am a vocalist for a band called Black Houses although I can't think of an accurate description to describe our sound. The recordings can be found here, and our "Demo" CS will be available shortly via Exquisite Corpse. I have done guest spots on a few other projects but nothing that I am a full-time member of.

JM: Is sound your only outlet, or do you have other disciplines in the arts?

SB: Sound is my only creative outlet, yes. I delve into visual art a bit when creating covers but that's about the extent of it. I would love to continue working in that field, however.

JM: Are there other artists that you feel related to, or which inspire you as an artist?

SB: There are too many to name! I have come into contact with so many fantastic individuals (all of you whom have been supportive, you know who you are!), and I believe that their material is relatable on that connected level. However, in terms of relation solely based on thematics/sound, that narrows it down quite a bit. My first love was HNW sonically, therefore the classic artists have left a monstrous impression on how I view sound (Dead Body Collection, Wet Dream Asphyxiation, Cannibal Ritual, An Innocent Young Throat Cutter, The Rita, Burial Ground, and more...). Over time I became interested in exploring the Power Electronics and Harsh Noise realms further, and from there I would say that the most inspiring projects are ones that cover unique grounds with lots of emphasis on atmosphere and strong themes (Teeny Bopper, Deathpile, Climax Denial, Bizarre Uproar, Brethren, Slogun, Deathkey, Nicole 12, Taint, Rape-X, and Pleasure Fluids to name a few...). I allow myself to be inspired by fellow Power Electronics projects but I prefer to find the inspiration for new themes and sound to be drawn strictly from my own experiences.

JM: And are there any other influences beside music (books, art, ..) ?

SB: As taboo as it may sound, personal experiences and aural exposure always leaves the biggest impact on my approach to Swallowing Bile. I do enjoy a wealth of media (books and film), but it hasn't been a major part of my own material and is more of a private interest!

JM: Can you tell me a bit about the equipment you like to use for your project?

SB: Of course. The gear I use is very simple...I always rely on field-recordings I take myself to be the basis of the sound. I like to use minimal distortion (although with my earlier material I was very interested in trying to muddle the sound with 5-6 DOD's in a chain, haha...) and let the source itself remain moderately organic. I employ a microphone with either a reverb or a chorus pedal and have an alternative chain that is attached to a contact-microphone that is useful for getting unique textures in collaboration with the field-recorded "base". It isn't always this way, but I like to keep this formula pretty constant in one way or another.

JM: What can you tell me about the intriguing artwork you used for one of your most recent releases "Obsession"? The use of color and subject seem rather rare in the noise scene.

SB: The artwork for "Obsession" was put together by Jim Haras (Fusty Cunt Tapes, Deterge, PTM, etc...). He does all of the artwork for the material that is released on his label and creates the pieces while listening to the recordings themselves. That artwork was his translation from a sonic realm to a visual platform while listening to the tape and I think it fits very well and I am glad that you enjoy it!

JM: What are the the future plans of Swallowing Bile?

SB: I have an LP being released on Die Song entitled "Secluded" and that will be available very soon alongside a plethora of other material (both released on the label and distributed). A few splits are in the works as well...

Swallowing Bile (Bandcamp)

Swimming Behavior Of The Human Infant – ½ (Cassette, C20, Ache)

S.B.O.T.H.I. is the alter ego of multi-media artist Achim Wollscheid, a monument in making experimental music for more than 20 years now. The most known project of him is S.B.O.T.H.I  (in which he seems to be no longer active) but he also has other projects going on. The release date of the Ep “½“, that I will be reviewing today, seems to be unknown.

½  exists out of multiple parts, which could serve as separate tracks. These segments range from harsh, industrial noise, to bleak sounding ambient and machine noises. Like the other works of S.B.O.T.H.I. the sound is very sharp and angled (almost glitch-like). Sometimes it also got a spacious feel to it. Like some of the parts are recorded in a big factory. The two sides seem to be sharing the same noises and sounds/parts, sounding almost, if not identical.

The works of S.B.O.T.H.I. are very uncomfortable and unsettling in sound, and this one is not different from the others. This is noise and ambient in its most purest and basic form. Ugly, bleak, indifferent and uncompromising.

No longer available on label