Grim - Magnolia´s Dream

A new album from one of the veterans of industrial and power electronics. Grim has only one member, Jun Konagaya who also started the cult act called White Hospital. If you don´t know White Hospital, then I would highly recommend their album Holocaust from 1984. Sort of like SPKs Information Overload Unit! But anyways, after White Hospital then Jun Konagaya started Grim in 1986 with the debut Folk Music. And the act is still going strong, this one is the latest and is the 13th album by this act.

The album has been released by Steinklang, and has come out on limited vinyl, tape, and CD. My copy is on CD, and the CD is limited to 200 copies. A really nice and solid digipack with tons of intriguing artwork inside. Now the album has been named Magnolia´s Dream, not sure who Magnolia is (any help?). What you get (and see) on the artwork, is some ghostly (and creepy) looking humanoid-figure on various locations/photos. Looks like a child in some vintage Halloween costume of some sort. On the CD tray itself, there is a photo showing dolls (or cakes?) showing the same figure. Strangely disturbing, I have a feeling that the concept of the album smells of Japanese ghost-folk-lore of some sort. I think that each track has been represented in the booklet, with a photo/picture for each track. There are 10 tracks on the album, the first five tracks are called the Opium tracks, and the last 5 tracks are called the Syan tracks. It all looks pretty interesting so far! 

The first track Opium I has a kind of weird and surreal nursery rhyme that meets dungeon synth sort of vibe. Some highly altered spoken words are being added, not sure of the language... maybe Japanese. Some cool and haunting noisy soundscapes in the background as well. Love the intro, really weird and a good ear-opener if you ask me.

The second track Opium II jumps straight into a kind of rhythmic industrial noise-scape. Really love how the vocals have been done here, love the way the voice has been altered beyond recognition. I think there are vocals of some sort, sounds like a demon screaming from some other dimension. There is also a simple melody in all this. Very epic sounding, and very ritualistic piece.

The third track gets even weirder! Some Asian shaman guy chants the demons away, while a technoid techno-house rhythm is being added to raise the tension. I know it sounds kind of off, but for some reason, it actually sounds cool. Excellent rhythm with some added noise here and there, chopped up and all that... strangely catchy. 

From here we jump straight into the first Cyan track VI. Further into the surreal landscape of Japanese ghost tales. Monotone organ synths and chanting vocals with lots of cool echoes. Some extra soundscapes layers are in there as well. Another track with a slightly dungeon-synth vibe, or am I thinking funeral-synth vibe here? It sounds very good and has a cool atmosphere and everything.

The next track Cyan VII starts as a complete mess of surreal noisescapes and rhythmic noise being mixed together. After some seconds you are starting to realize that the chaos is actually pretty well organized, and then comes the cool disturbed (screaming) vocals. Some of this stuff could actually remind me of stuff like early Dive and Synapscape. 

Cyan VIII the next track, is a more... minimalistic sort of a track. Thumping and primitive electronic-based barbaric rhythms with some really cool noisy sounds follow the rhythm quite nicely. Some intense (extra) layers are added later on, with a more screaming sort of effect. Hard to describe this simple track and the effect it is having on me, give it a listen and expect your jaw to drop! 

I am just gonna reveal to you that all the other tracks which I have not reviewed are also very good tracks! An untraditional thing in the world of industrial and power electronics. Lots of elements/styles on this album, and I love the variation incredibly much. Not really power electronics, but closer to primal and raw industrial. You could compare it to the early recordings by MZ.412 (Malfeitor) and Dissecting Table as well. But then again, you also have those interesting synth melodies in there as well... which makes the release quite unique and interesting. It´s Japanese, but not Japanoise. It´s Grim, one of a kind! 

Bandcamp(label):

https://steinklangindustries.bandcamp.com/album/grim-magnolias-dream-2022 

Discogs (band):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/208262-Grim

      

  

 Madrelarva - Sol Interior

Sol Interior by Madrelarva from Marbre Negre. A Spanish experimental industrial/techno project which was started back in 2015. Highly productive act with lots of releases on different underground labels, the artist himself Julio Tornero has also recorded and released albums under his own name as well. Believe it or not, but this limited cassette is actually his 21st album released! It was released on the 10th of April 2022, with 3 tracks and almost 40 minutes long in total.

Interesting and eye-catching sort of artwork, with a strange and archaic-looking print/image. Black print on a purple background, very nice. The album title is translated as Inner Sun and the act's name is translated as Motherlarva. Not actually sure what the image is showing, I can see two females and some characters in the background with a kind of skull-like visage. The first female is laying down on something, while a blad-clad female is dragging her on some sort of cart (I think). If it has anything to do with an Inner Sun, then I guess that there is only one way to find out!

The first track Mecánica Celeste (Celestial Mechanics) starts on the spot. Surreal and rhythmic technoid industrial drums kick in, with some eerie warbling drones and sound effects adding extra to the otherworldly retro sci-fi experience. Very similar to early Deutch Nepal if you ask me, which is a VERY good thing! Absolutely love the strange rhythmic thumping going on, very addictive material here so far! The more focused you are, the more likely you´ll get completely hypnotized! The bass thumps stop and some distorted low-bit sounds are added while some ritualistic beatings continue the track. Almost a kind of storytelling approach here. There is a hi-hat kind of rhythm that has been with us from the start, a kind of bossa-nova feel over it. A very cool, mechanic, and technoid mood start after the ritualistic beatings. Coil with a techno feel? A perfect hypnotic track that u can listen to over and over again, excellent aesthetic rhythms and moods here... very excellent! 

We continue with the second track on the B-side. Called Bajo Superfecie (Under Surface). At the very start, I am already aware that we are dealing with the best track on this album! Mechanical tribal rhythms and mysterious esoteric vibes move the body and mind. Should attract listeners of Esplendor Geometrico, Muslimgauze, and even The Orbital here! It´s just done absolutely right, love the organic feel of both the rhythms and sounds here, everything just melts right into your mind. Not even halfway through yet! All the cool monotonously just continues (and thank god for that!) with excellent subtle changes. The whole mechanical process/rhythm then glitches and turns into a machine going haywire, but your head keeps on thumping after the addictive rhythms! Another rhythm section gets into the hardwired mess and succeeds in hacking a rhythm into it, at that point, there is no return for the listener! I mean wow!

Sadly, we get to the last track of the album called Extension Inabarcable De Materia Muerta (Endless Expanse of Dead Matter). Obviously, we are in some kind of subway, with the sound of something rhythmic happening further down the sub. Kind of a track that works as a sort of, chilling down after the other two tracks. Looped and monotonous track, that ends the album in total perfection!

A strange, unique technoid industrial being with a lot of eerie moods. An act (Which I think in my humble opinion) could need some attention. Underrated? Yes, it is... Why?... Because I have not heard about this act before! Be quick and buy the physical copy from Marbre Negre, you will not regret it!

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/sol-interior

Bandcamp (band):

https://madrelarva.bandcamp.com/

 

        

 Icanus - Long Gone Leisures

A new solo project by David López Saludes (Barrera, Soma) on the Polish label Antenna Non Grata. A limited cassette release, how many?... I cannot tell though. A nice looking transparent tape, with a very greenish looking cover-artwork. Showcasing some wild vegetation of some sort. 

There are also some detailed written words about this project as well, here goes : 

Incanus is David López Salude’s (Soma, Barrera, Asylum Symphonies, etc.) Experimental/Noise/Drone project born in 2021 in the Mutan Monkey Lab in Barcelona. The project found its origins in an improvised recording session with gear that the artist never used before.

Incanus serves as the counterpart of Soma focusing on 100% improvised sets without further edition or mastering, but treating personal themes and thoughts in a more contemplative way and avoiding aggressiveness, unlike Soma.

And so it seems. Already the first track El Cant De La Tempesta (The Song of the Storm) starts with some vintage analog drone sounds. Much closer to the electronic sounds of early Tangerine Dream than the Rita! Cosmic surreal sounds set the mood, while additional high-pitched squeaks puncture the density of the soundscape. Sounds like the making of a lifeform, or could be used as a soundtrack for something similar. If you already have heard Asylym Symphonies, then there are similar vintage sounds that can be recognized here. Just has more of a Berlin-School vibe, than an industrial one. Very adventurous and inspiring sort of journey through the body kind of soundscape, almost 30 minutes long! Very intense and long experience, but well worth it if you give the track some patience. 

We flip the cassette and continue on the B-side with the second track called Eolo (Aeolus). See Greek mythology, the island kingdom of Aeolus, ruler of the winds. Very kind of windy-themed conception here! More of an ANW-inspired moment in the beginning, with similar analog vintage sounds in the background. There is also a very high-pitched sound in there as well, which works as a kind of ear opener if you ask me. Fans of early power electronics (and proto) might approve of this, kind of takes me back to early minimal Whitehouse and NON. Not hard and noisy, but very chilled-out psychedelic noise.

The third and last track on the album Timor Surgers, is a lot more of a mystery track than the former two tracks. Heavily distorted bass drones with the sound of multi-layered strings (of some sort) being heavily manipulated, through various reverbed sound effects. Interesting looped orchestral sounds here as well give the track a nifty ritualistic and esoteric feeling. Sudden eruptions of high-pitched harsh noise wake the listener up from a pleasant slumber, and then it ends while the monotonous soundscape rolls on. Really love the combination of noise acoustic strings and looped orchestral sounds. Working like pure sound alchemy.

A windy-themed esoteric concept called Long Gone Leisures does create a couple of questions. And the answers can be found within the recordings. Regarding the greenish wild growth of vegetation on the cover artwork, I am not sure. But, you are still having one heck of an album. All are made on the spot, 100% improvised through not-used equipment. Good evidence that David knows what he is doing, both subconsciously and consciously as well! Heavy chill-out noise for fans of early kraut-rock and industrial!

Bandcamp (label):

https://antennanongrata.bandcamp.com/album/incanus-long-gone-leisures