Noise Cluster - Medusa, Who Else?

Another cool and interesting act from Italy. The first time I met Noise Cluster, was when I was reviewing the collaboration cassette album they did with Lyke Wake. Noise Cluster is Flavio Derbekannte (Also known as DBPIT) and Arianna Degni Lombardo (XxeNa). And this album is their fourth album. This album has been released as a digital release with a physical sleeve attached to it... quite a new thing right?. The sleeve is a great-looking poster/sleeve printed on recycled high-quality (thick) paper... it really looks awesome! An album containing 6 tracks, almost 30 minutes in total.

As you might have noticed, then yes... this is a concept album about the mythical being known as Medusa. The whole idea/concept is beautifully written on the Bandcamp site, here goes : 

Medusa, who else? - Noise Cluster (and friends)'s latest music project - looks afresh at the ancient myth from the modern perspective which depicts the only attractive Gorgon not as the evil creature she is traditionally portrayed to be, but as a victim whose narrative was twisted to better serve a patriarchal culture.

Those who dared to look into her eyes were turned to stone because

of the coldness in their own hearts, but Medusa was blamed for the stony fortress constructed around their own souls.

Her hair was turned into magical snakes by the goddess Athena as a punishment for having been raped by the god Poseidon in her temple.

Her gaze was known to turn men into stone and only by a cunning trick did Perseus manage to behead her, during a supposed suicide mission the king Polydectes had sent him on, in order to get rid of him and have a free hand with his mother.

In other words, the story of Medusa is a story of a witch-hunt, where the hero is reality the perpetrator, and the victim is a symbol of sexual abuse. Interesting perspective if you consider the time we live in. Looking forward to hearing this album!

The first track is called Meet Medusa. Soundwise undercurrents of ritualistic ambiance start the track, with a cool and atmospheric-sounding hornet as well. We really need more industrial acts using a hornet/trumpet, like Throbbing Gristle and Klinik did! A spoken word revelation by Medusa herself starts, later on. An awesome rhythmic industrial ritual beat rises the moody tension of the spoken words. Great sounding voice (regarding the spoken word), slightly altered voice with a thick southern European accent (speaking English btw). 

The second track Walled-in continues the great-sounding trumpets with some eerie cosmic sounds. A barbaric Conan the barbarian rhythm starts up with some spoken words, again... love how they have altered the voices! Really sounds great how the spoken voices (and effects) jump between your speakers! 

The third track The Gorgons is an instrumental track without the vocals/spoken words. More cool trumpets ( I love them) and some ghosty sound effects, voices, and creepy piano parts. The ambient part stops and gets into a cold technoid rhythmic thump? Something new on the album for sure, but it sounds great nonetheless.

The fourth track Death By Stone has some interesting xylophone-sounding sounds, and some really great female vocals parts as well. For some reason, I am reminded of that Norwegian cult act Aghast, if they ever do something with In Controlled Bleeding! Very ritualistic and has lots of moods here, might be the best track on the album so far. 

The fifth track Perseus Not A Hero truly marks my ability to understand the beauty of the German language, I cannot understand the bloody language. But it sounds great. Lots of cool industrial sounds with some nice esoteric moods (plenty of it).

The last track Pegasus is a full-blown techno beast of a horse. Thumping fusion between psychedelic dark ambient and cold industrial techno! Great way to end the album.

A great mini-album with lots of new thinking ideas inside. A fusion of various ideas has created something very unique. Old mythical tales were brought into a modern perspective, and into modern experimental electronic music. And I simply love the idea of only having the beautiful booklet/poster, while the album/music itself can be located (and heard) on my Bandcamp account. Highly recommend this album! Do seek the poster out, limited to 100 copies! 

Bandcamp (band)):

https://noisecluster.bandcamp.com/album/medusa-who-else

             

  

 Emerge and Re-Drum - Svart1 and Lefterna

Another collab album was released between two interesting labels called Grubenwehr Freiburg and Attenuation Circuit. This time we´re dealing with a kind of double split release by four acts called Emerge, Re-Drum, Svart1, and Lefterna (which sort of makes it a compilation). 

The Emerge project is an experimental/ambient solo project by Sascha Stadlmeier (Owner of the Attenuation Circuit label), a label that had a release that I reviewed some years ago. Re-Drum on the other hand is a project which goes as far back as 2002! With numerous experimental releases, also with some connections to Sasha Stadlmeier´s label. Svart1 is Raimondo Gaviano who deals in such styles as ambient, industrial, and techno (Also with an extensive discography!). And last Lefterna deals in minimalism and abstraction in sound, again with a huge discography. So yes, we´re dealing with a release containing some very hard veterans in the field of experimental electronic ambient and noise.  

The first track on the album is by Emerge and the track is called Empty Seat.  A roaring and heavy sound of the wind begins the track, with some metallic and ear-triggering sounds going in the background. There is a certain kind of fluid-like quality to the sounds so far. I am also sensing a kind of strange human presence in the recordings as well, very quiet and VERY eerie. So far, it works as a track to raise the curiosity of the listener. So far I am pretty curious! By the way, the track is a live recording from Moskva 2018.

The second track is by Emerge and Re-Drum, and it's called Einfarbiger Dom (also A live recording from the same location). Recordings/samples of birds and the flapping of their tiny wings. Really cool sounds of metal scraping against metal here, not made in an aggressive matter but more with a minimal sort of approach. Human voices warp in and out here as well, like from some surreal dream. So far you can put it alongside the likes of Nurse With Wound and the Hafler Trio. Very experimental avant-garde stuff with an industrial touch to it. Lovely post-apocalyptic moods here, almost 30 minutes long! 

The third (and last track) on the A-side is called Zum Verlust der Muttersprache and it´s by Re-Drum. A clinical sort of gas-furnace sound starts the track. Additional layers of ritualistic ambient-textured drones are added in a beautiful (and patient) fashion.

  

I flip the cassette and continue with the B-side, in good company with Svart1 and Lefterna. All 4 tracks on the B-side have been made between the two acts. Three tracks here, all called I, II, and III. 

The first track 1 continues with the sound of gas, and the sound of something... dripping inside some underground bunker. Surreal and subtle layers of warped recordings are added in the background, further enhancing the psychedelic state of mind. Cool effects (Flangers, etc) with some cool layers. Interesting thumping rhythms at the end as well. 

The second track II has more of a noise and industrial-based sort of sound in the beginning. Minimal noise and ambient merge together like two circuits of pure energy. Still being kind of thunderous epic without the drama sort of sound. The calmness before the storm of you, please! Not sure if there are radio recordings here, but if they are... I really don´t wanna know where they come from. Pretty scary stuff here kids!

The third (and last track) III starts like a bloody bubbling nightmare! Like being caught inside the digestion systems of Yog-Sothoth himself! You also get the sensation of something... breathing!... so you definitely are inside some sort of body! You also get the idea that the storm has finally appeared now, showing its might over a frozen landscape.

I guess that this release is a VERY good release, although being a very abstract one as well at the same time. But, I love it cause u can sense the sound concept (whatever it is) throughout the entire album. The whole bloody compilation almost works out as a soundtrack for something great, I mean... I have never heard anything quite like this. How am I feeling now? I... Numb, but in a good way! The depths of this thing are hard to describe, which in my words gives it a certain kind of Lovecraftian cosmic-horror sort of feel (Couldn´t help it!). Depressing yes, but filled with enlightenment! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com/album/split

     

K2 - Lost Land Of Chiba 

K2 is one of those legendary Japanese noise acts that I’d expect every noise head to have some kind of relationship with. Active since the early ‘80s, K2 has been a stable on the global noise scene. I personally never consciously collected K2 releases, but have a bunch of them anyway. It’s just one of those bands whose records you end up buying every now and then because they never really let you down. 

I guess most people know them mainly for their unrelenting junk metal assaults of the 90s, and that is certainly my favourite part of their vast discography, but the current phase is pretty interesting too on its own terms if you like the wondrous world of modular synthesis. 

Lost Land Of Chiba is a concept album dealing with the typhoon that hit east Japan in 2019. I was not overly familiar with the current phase of K2’s sound, but going into it I expected a kind of digital noise sound based on the cover art which (to me) is kind of reminiscent of techno releases of the early 2000s. This expectation was partly honed, as the album consists mainly of modular synthesis and mixer feedback manipulations.

Though split into three separate tracks, two very long pieces surrounding a shorter one in the middle, the sounds and atmospheres blend into each other and create a whole experience, making it pointless to describe the tracks individually. The overall atmosphere is controlled and subdued compared to earlier stuff. You get some howling and screeching feedbacks for sure and some pounding rhythmic parts as well, but the overall atmosphere is more bleak, cold and clinical. It reminds me of the cold and monotonous blips and echoes you hear at a hospital. 

Mixing the noisy cut-up feedback with rhythmic parts and even some more “empty” echoing parts, Lost Land Of Chiba balances the thin line between chaos and structure perfectly. At one time feedbacks are cut up and randomly put together with cacophonic results, at another sharp rhythmic structures interlace to create pounding almost industrial sounds – at times the beats are even almost danceable (but just almost). 

This way of letting the music zone in and out of chaos creates a dynamic album which may not be super noisy compared to older stuff by K2, but which is an enjoyable and complex listen. There is never a dull moment and the soundscape is ever-evolving and dynamic without ever really cascading into pure chaos. In sum, Lost Land Of Chiba is a mature noise record from one of the Japanese masters. It is the sound of someone who has mastered his craft over almost four decades and is now in complete control. If you like modern noise and enjoy cold and bleak atmospheres, be sure to check this one out.

Bandcamp (label):

https://abhorrentcreationtapes.bandcamp.com/album/k2-lost-land-of-chiba