Kult Masek - 2018

After a long day, you need something very minimal for your brain (and ears!). You also need something that is very interesting and unique, otherwise, you will just fall asleep. I kept looking for this and that and then I came up with this.  A project hailing from Prague who has already (since 2017) made several releases (2 albums, 1 EP and 1 split release). Three of these releases have been made available on cassette, and this one simply called 2018 can be purchased as a cassette via the Bandcamp site. 

So whoever said that there wasn´t such a thing like dungeon-drone. Whoever said that Mortiis and his fans weren´t able to enjoy themselves on soft mattresses and in a sleeping bag being inside a moist and cold limestone cavern with this stuff coming out from hidden speakers?... A 2 track mini-album, almost 20 minutes in total. First track called A-side and the second track called B-side, simple! 

First track A-side starts with an organ that gets mixed up with a hypnotic and shimmering angelic string-like drone. Just imagine that you are floating through a beautiful limestone cavern, flesh and crispy cold air with sounds of tiny drops of water falling from stalagmites hitting a pool of water. The kind of peace one can find in caves like that is completely absolute. Later on, a liquid-like synth-drone just makes it clear that yes... you are in fact floating on air in complete darkness. Not the kind of darkness that seems frightening!. Occasional crystal-like and frosty drops of sound stimulate your brain as well. A track with a lot of warmth and coldness at the same time, perfectly balanced between these two elements. Are we in an underwater cavern?!  

  

Next track B-side enters a more... murky kind of cave. The kind of cave which should be respected (because no one else has discovered it yet!). Deep and slightly distorted bass-drone bids you welcome into unknown territories. A mesmerizing church-like mood enters the heaviness of the bass while a static alarm-like looped-sound keeps you awake. These sorts of caves might be those you could find in arctic landscapes. Being breathtaking beautiful inside, but also very dangerous as well. The track offers a more melancholic side to the album, which (again) makes the album perfectly balanced between a pleasant side and a not-so-pleasant side. 

Fans of Brian Eno will love it, fans of Ulver´s drone EPs will also love it. I am not sure how hardcore dungeon synth would feel about this cave, because the goblins and the kobolds are completely absent! But again, it´s drone music when its good and what it is well made. Worth your time after a long and stressful day! 

Bandcamp (Band):

https://kultmasek.bandcamp.com/album/2018

Vlakolak  Mekrevtrozmbreh

Not something new but something old that has (nonetheless) turned into quite a cult classic among our fellow dungeoneers. A cult classic which has been released physical a couple of times and is (sadly) out of stock, hard to locate on Discogs as well (Released on Eldest Gate Records from Hungary). So what about it?... is it good enough to own the digital copy? Let´s give this sucker a listen or two.

The first thing you´ll notice would be the cover-artwork itself, which should reveal to you that we are within the harsh and minimalistic primitive nature of dungeon synth. A slightly archaic and esoteric vampiric/necromantic design if I might add. 

First track Around the Castle lets the listener around a dreaded castle in the middle of a rainy and windy cold night. A thief in the night speculating how to enter the cursed castle without being noticed?. The atmospheric and harsh synths reveal danger and evil intent being inside. A lovely intro track, a lovely fusion between harsh dark ambiance and vampiric dungeon synth. Second track Awakened Craving works it further on the vampiric theme. A claustrophobic deep and warm foreboding one-finger synth-tune slowly builds up the tension, additional horn-like trumpets drops in to give the piece a slightly erotic ritualistic edge to it. Love the way the track ends in a really weird way. Third track with its creepy and heavy violins gives you that feeling of being bound to something, and just knowing that something in that pitch blackness of the night (hungry as it is) is heading straight towards you. A very seductive and hypnotic melody, with some interest noises and hisses here and there. The track ends here rather suddenly, sounds as this was not the intention. The bad track ending of the third track gets rescued by the fourth track by something which could have been in Herzog´s Nosferatu. Dreamy cosmic Berlin-School´ish synth with tons of atmosphere just puts it right on top of creaking doors and movie samples from... probably some German horror flick (I suck at German ok?!). 

Following track further builds up that synth-driven with kraut-rock proto-ambient textures, this track could work as a background soundtrack for Carl Theodor Dryer´s Vampyr flick from 1932. A very beautiful, eerie and drone´ish synth-ambient track. The sixth track has that choking darkness edge to it, darkness and fright closing in and almost drowning your very senses. The seventh track Into the Crypt isolates perfectly that certain feeling of fright when you dare not to breathe, a very moody icy piece. Further vampiric tendencies of pure fright and terror await any listener who dares venture further through the bloody excellent album!

A very cool album and a very unique release within the world of dungeon synth. Pure vampire-themed horror-synth music with a clear focus on minimalistic eerieness as it´s the prime motivator. And yes, I have added the physical release to my wish-list on Discogs. I want this lovely thing! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://eldestgaterecords.bandcamp.com/album/mekrevtrozmbreh?fbclid=IwAR24omYX_d0iYjZGfXUIuwM4-aDuRc1HxszrSUdRvrIwTuuw38Jog-PzE2U 

 

Tauregorath - Nocturnal Council

Been ages since last time Kalteldur have done a review in the name of Dungeon Synth! So let us all have a go at it, something BRAND new and FRESH from Freiburg, Germany (Just released today the 22´th of January). A 10 track only-digital-Bandcamp debut-album release. 

I do not know ANYTHING about this act, but I have tried examining the info which comes along with the album. The band name doesn't reveal much, other than a name for a spinoff Harry Potter author and the second one about a Japanese sci-fi movie. Other than that the band name sounds great when you say it, sounds like that kind of demon which you probably should not summon... maybe the cover-art is clearly showing that demon? The body of a bat with the head from some member of the Residents? With the album title called Nocturnal Council, we are clearly dealing with a secret council engaging themselves in forbidden nocturnal pleasures of some kind?. The bürhermeister and all his servants perhaps?!

The first track In der Wolkenhalle of Azurebel, tells the listener of something sinister but hidden. A sacrificial ritual being committed, to please the bloody-thirsty demon! Maybe the demon gives that person a certain degree of power? He/she gives the demon sacrificial virgin, and that person will remain in the seat of power. A very powerful and atmospheric sinister treat with evil ritualistic intent. Second track drops down the epic feeling of the first track and lets the listener walk down the corridors/cellars of torture and despair. All the ghosts from days of old still remain there. Spine-tingling dungeon-horror synth (soundtrack to 7th Guest anyone?) with something which sounds like distorted guitars?. Interesting. The third piece gets back to that good old and rusty 8-bit dungeon sound meets Conan the Barbarian. Sounds like a sinister (but relaxing) celebration going on, something IS about to happen at any time (No doubt about it). As the track-title suggest Goblins Wizards Dungeon, a slightly martial merry but sinister tone being present. Fourth track Forbidden Hateful Spell starts as action-packed Dungeon Synth, but slowly slows down to calculated sound-intrigues. 

I will not explain the rest of the tracks for you readers since the album in itself being well worth the exploring!. Obviously, it has been made by someone being... quite mad. The melodies and the moods are very naive BUT also eccentric in nature, which overall makes everything on the album very interesting. Very unique kind of dungeon synth, the sort of dungeon synth you could imagine to a horror-themed Dungeon and Dragons game (Ravenloft?). I loved it, will you?!.

Bandcamp (band):

https://tauregorath.bandcamp.com/album/nocturnal-council     

      

Catsick Blues

Not really sure what to think about this movie...


So... We have this guy named Ted who lost his cat and for some reason, believes that he needs to murder 9 people to get his cat back from the dead. So he goes around with a cat mask killing people. And also with a big cat dildo strap on...

On the other hand, we have Claire, who lost her celebrity cat in a terrifying way.

Both meet on a pet grief meeting and Claire ends up having a one-night thing with Ted.
It is the only time their storylines intertwine, as far as I could tell, until the very last bit when Ted thinks it´s a good idea to... kill Claire? Torture her till his cat Patrick comes to life?
It´s a bit confusing...

I do like the movie, the photography and editing are good and the soundtrack is really cool. I actually downloaded the band´s album where the theme song comes from.

The movie has plenty of gore and it´s quite disturbing, especially when Claire loses her cat. It also does a bit of social commentary, basically saying that social media is turning us into real jerks. There´s a scene where the video of Claire rape´s leaked (yeah, she got raped by the guy who killed her cat. There you go...) and she finds out people made react videos to it. That scene is pretty revolting because through the whole time you feel Claire´s anguish and you sympathize with her.

As for Ted... We never know how his cat died. We just know his death triggered something that made him go into a murderous rampage in the beliefs that would bring him back. Also, the final scene is the police playing a tape of when Ted was a boy and adopted baby Patrick. The video also shows him playing with the kitten and getting his black cat mask and everything is so happy and innocent.

And since I have a black kitty I sympathize with Ted. I´ll probably snap and kill people just to bring Minipu back when he dies...

Cat Sick Blues got bad reviews though I don´t think it´s a bad movie, nor an extremely disturbing one. It is not for everyone but it´s a pretty cool movie and it´s worth a watch.

IMDB:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4185862/ 

 

Dendera Bloodbath - Ascariasis

Last year the Italian label Ho.Gravi.Malattie came out with this release from a project which hasn´t reached my ears. Being described as experimental darkwave (but darker) to West Coast dark noise. Inspirations hail from the likes of Marilyn Manson, Pink Floyd, Autechre to Kate Bush and also a certain political upheavel in Egypt. According to Discogs, we´re dealing with the fifth physical release from this act (On cassette). But it shall also be noted that several only-digital releases can also be located on Dendera Bloodbath´s official Bandcamp site. This one is the latest release from this act, 9 tracks and about 28 minutes long. 

Electronica ritualistic glitch wrapped in a distorted sound-mesh, being the first thought that entered my mind with the very first track Abdominal Swelling and Shortness of Breath. Strange and eerie electronic-infused flute-like melodies and ritualistic beatings submerged in primitive glitchness (sounds like a live-recording). This tradition follows up nicely on the second track Contaminated Soil, thumbing death-industrial´ish rumblings combined with relentless electronic harshness. Third track fusions the idea between a noise-wall and static distorted glitchness. Fourth offering Pancreatic Injury puts the listener into a screaming metallic piece of rust-infected machinery, like an old washing-machine having its last wash maybe?. Rest of the album should be explored further by the reader/listener, the same kind of sounds and moods follows the mini-album/EP up.

My ears hurt actually and I do think it´s mostly positive cause the release sparks with new and experimental sound ideas. A couple of things that I do miss is that the sounds don't actually get out and crap your attention (sounds like a bad live recording), and heavy bass-like sound-foundations being completely absent, in the end, the recording will hurt your ears due to the high frequencies involved within. Being a very unique recording with some interesting ideas involved, a better recording of what is going on could be the way forward for a release like this. But if you are a cassette fetish for weird cover-art, then I suggest that you should read this:

HgM wants to inform about the artwork made by Omega Kunst: they are guts and worms sealed in resin. So, since it's an organic material, is possible, in future, that can release an unpleasant stench.

Ascariasis contains:

- front cover and insert on x-ray film

- purple transparent tape (30 minutes)

- special artwork (guts and worms sealed in resin) made by Omega Kunst

All included in a specimen plastic bag

Release (label):

https://hgmmusic.bandcamp.com/album/ascariasis

Bandcamp (band):

https://denderabloodbath.bandcamp.com/music

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/denderabloodbath/

The House That Jack Built  

Written by Elisabet Teixeira

I thought this was going to be more interesting...I thought this was going to be more interesting...

I was really looking forward to this one, even knowing that I´m not a Von Trier fan. I fell asleep in all of his movies. I did like this one though but I failed to understand what the fuss was about. Except for the duck scene. Poor duckie...
I´m pretty sure this is a black comedy. Otherwise, I´m a very bad person. I laughed in all the wrong scenes. Especially at the one where he drags the corpse of Incident 2, wrapped in plastic, with a rope attached at the end of his truck for lord knows how many miles.

The movie is beautifully shot and Matt Dillon´s performance is awesome. It´s a basic premise, we follow the work of a serial killer for 12 years and experience, with more or less detail, the gruesome killings that, for him, are a work of art.
Through all of the movie, we listen to the dialogue between Jack and Vergel, where Jack talks about what motivated him in each murder and the comparisons he does with art, architecture, and gets refuted by Vergel who insists that love must be the main element in art, not murder. I´m not going deep in that but yes, very interesting metaphors and ideas here. Though there´s nothing new.

And then the police finds "the house that Jack built", in a hurry I must say (and his finest architecture endeavor) and after that, I lost interest. Lars Von Trier turned into David Lynch and the movie made a very meh turn.

For me, the movie should have ended there. But instead, it has a very expendable 40-minute scene of Jack´s descent into hell, lead by Vergel, that ends in one of the most anticlimax movie endings ever. Such a shame...

Overall, a nice movie but not really worth all the hype. I kept thinking about "Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer". I know, different but I couldn´t stop thinking about it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this is a 3.5. Good movie but I kinda expected more.

Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_That_Jack_Built_(2018_film)

IMDB:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4003440/ 

Kadaver - Tavola Anatomica IX

The latest release from (might be) one of the loudest noise acts from Israel. Having it´s aesthetic-foundation firmly rooted in classic death-industrial, power electronics, and harsh ambiance. This new one is the 24th album from this Kadaver, which Michael Zolotov started back in 2005.

This time we are dealing with (a sort of) tribute to the morbid but beautiful engravings of Giulio Caseri and Andrea Versalio. Several tributes to these guys have been made by the label Tavloe Anatomiche, and this one is number IX in the series (Check the link below!). A 4 track album and almost 40 minutes in total. 

First and longest track on the album All Our Ghosts gives the listener a proper introduction, into the noisy murkiness of Kavaver. Not a bass-driven death-industrial sort of sound, but more of screaming and vortex-like noise-wall piece with blackened ambient and noise/post-rock elements. Almost has that, early TG distorted-guitar-sound edge to it. Strange distorted noises pop in and out, almost like if someone is jerking with a wire somewhere. In the beginning, it doesn't sound intentional, but in the progress, you´ll learn to love it actually.

Second track called The Y Cut gets closer to the seductive death-industrial roots/sound, grinding and flesh-scraping distorted throbbing-moods on the verge of being almost hypnotic. Reverbed and distortion go hand in hand here in beautiful matrimony! Fans of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), take notice!

Third offering It´s Painful, I Know explores the reverbed morbid-moods closer to a cathedral than inside a morgue. I can almost sense a kind of melancholic/suicidal melody in here, being played at a very slow speed. A very spiritual, saddened but beautiful piece! Love the way the track ebbs out.

The last cut on the disc Unbody being a very mysterious and minimal piece compared to the other tracks. Hypnotic metallic-reverbed drones throbs up and down in a subtle way, further on a high pitched tone fades in and suddenly drops out. Reminds me of early Megaptera / Deafmachine sound (which I worship!). A great way to end this excellent album.

And there you have, moody death-industrial (with a lot of character) dish served as it should. But be quick about it, the physical CD format being limited to only 36 copies! Still not convinced? Check out the cover artwork description from the label here :

The covers are printed on paper of 200 grams, closed with dimensions of 13,50x21,70 cm. about 40.50x21.70 cm. about. In the center of each table there is a small appendix with the incision of a different anatomical detail that is different for each volume of the series.
The front of the cover in cutted on the center, and has a different cut for each volume, which allows you to see a part of the inner anatomy.
The cover is sealed with a fabric tape that holds a plexiglas blade and plastic needle with black thread.
Inside the cover are some small inserts related to historical images of the anatomies, and two cards with the copy number (each copy has a double insert with number of copy), all is collected with a piece of gauze closed with a patch. One of the coy number is a toe tag with a black ribbon.
Each Tavola Anatomica is strictly limited to 36 nunbered copies, and has different color of plexiglas blade, ribbon and plastic needle, and a different form of cut on front cover.

 

 

 So what are you waiting for!!. Go and get it! Worth it.

Bandcamp (band):

https://kadaver.bandcamp.com/

 

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/Kadaver-112935684213/ 

Discogs (label):

https://www.discogs.com/label/1358556-Tavole-Anatomiche