Megaptera - Interview with Peter Nyström

Megaptera is a survivor. A project which has been with us through good times and bad. One of the most important post-industrial acts of the 90s, alongside the likes of Brighter Death Now, Inade, Schloss Tegal and Anenzephalia. They started on the proto CMI-cassette label Sound Source (like Consono) and then released material on several cult labels like Slaughter Productions, Art Konkret, SSSM, Release Entertainment, Malignant Records and of course Cold Meat Industry. From their very first release, Near Death, they were noted as one of the early pioneers of death industrial. The band's sound combined a dense, hypnotic and heavy soundtrack-based industrial atmosphere, with occasional bass-driven metallic machine rhythms. At most times it felt like being trapped inside some HUGE cathedral-like warehouse filled with grinding machines, and in company with a crowd of people humming and worshipping something unpleasant. Megaptera wasn't as minimal in the sound atmosphere like most, they could fill up your surround-system in no time and drown you with their heavy darkness. Various members have come and gone but Peter Nyström is the sole inheritor of Megaptera and has been for some time. I've been a fan for ages and asked Peter for an interview about the legacy of Megaptera. He graciously agreed and you can find our discussion below.

First of all, I understand the founding and first member of Megaptera was Mikael Svensson (Deaf Machine). You then joined the project later on. How did you become involved in Megaptera?

Peter Nyström: It was Mikael and Magnus Åslund (Pettersson) who started Megaptera together. I was making music with Magnus Sundström as Fiskebåtarna and First Aid at that time Mikael and Magnus recorded the first Megaptera tracks. These later became the first homemade release. You Will Recover. I think I started to listen to CMI related music at that time, like BDN, MZ412 and Raison d'etre. I heard that they had started to experiment with some old gear that Magnus's mother's new boyfriend had, like a 4 channel portastudio and an analog delay. I borrowed a drum machine from my friends in the synthpop band Cell Division, and then I joined them. We were friends already.

What was the idea of Megaptera in the early days? You managed to create something which was quite unique back then.

PN: I'd say no idea at all. We got very influenced by the CMI sound and we were already big fans of The Klinik, Test Department, and Cabaret Voltaire. We didn't know much about instruments so we just took what we had: scenes from various films, TV, radio, whatever we could hear fit in. The reason why we ended up making this kind of music was that it was quite easy. We didn't need expensive gear or a computer to record the atmospheres that we liked. And it was also very funny to just search for crazy sounds and movies and just push record. Very unpretentious.

It seems to me that the cult of Megaptera expanded with your friendship/involvement with Slaughter Productions. You had lots of side projects released there, and you appeared on many of the cult compilations (Death Odors, Beating the Meat, From Sickness to Death and Slaughter Age 95). Do you miss the days of Slaughter Productions?

PN: Of course I miss some of it, and Marco of course. He was such a nice guy. Very polite, gentle and everything went very smoothly with him. The best part was that we wrote REAL letters back then, and it was amazingly fun to both receive and send letters, records, and tapes. The most important releases were those on Slaughter, otherwise, I don't think Megaptera would have reached the status we did. I remember being very proud of having two tracks on Death Odors and also as numbers 1 and 2 on the disc. Shadowland is still one of Megaptera's strongest pieces of music.

You finally had a bigger "commercial" release on Release Entertainment (also like Brighter Death Now). How did Curse Of The Scarecrow come to be? I'll also point that that a lot of people got to know Megaptera through this album.

PN: It really became a hit for us. Magnus Åslund left the band already in 1991 and Mikael and I recorded this album together with Magnus Sundström on his Amiga 500 and EPS sampler if I remember correctly. We felt that we were doing some really good tracks. We did not think, just recorded track after track. It went very easily. I had some contact with VUZ Records and somehow the record came out on Release Entertainment THROUGH VUZ Records and then the guy ripped us on the money. I was very blue-eyed and thought everybody was as polite as Marco Corbelli, but that wasn't the case. I'm still very proud of that album, and it was very important that we got Don't Desecrate the Dead released on Absolute Supper. It really promoted Megaptera well.

 Which Megaptera album are you most proud of doing?

PN: I must say Songs from the Massive Darkness back in 1992. I and Mikael were heavily influenced by Great Death by BDN, so we connected the gear we had in my boy's room and recorded those 6 tracks in 4 hours. I still enjoy listening to that album from start to end. I love the metallic sound of that BOSS RRV-10 reverb, the sounds we pulled out from the SH-101, and the voices in the background from The Thing. A perfect and funny recording session. I remember that I was down eating a quick dinner while we recorded one of the tracks, and Mikael was sitting on my bed playing a Casio VZ-1 with his feet in the meantime, haha! Great memories!

What does the future hold for Megaptera? Is there still unreleased material hidden in the vaults?

PN: All tracks have been released, so no more old surprises. I get some ideas sometimes, but we'll see. Maybe a CD version of Nailed on Vinyl later on. Only Satan knows (*Winking face).

PNO: Well, thanks for the interview, Peter. I wish you all the best!

PN: Thanks! Same to you, it was a pleasure!

Bandcamp (band):

https://megaptera.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/Megaptera-147495718667342/

Kalteldur top 10 of 2019

2019 has been a very hectic year for Kalteldur. We´ve had our Kalteldur basement-headquarter being flooded by HUGE quantities of pouring rain. On top of that several reviews have therefore been delayed, and as we speak... we are still having insurance people working and repairing the damages caused by the cursed flood. We´ve also seen fewer movie and computer game reviews, and a lot more focus on selected record reviews. I am now proudly presenting, the Kalteldur top 10 of 2019!

Number 10:

Barbaric Frost - Heroic Quest

Raven Fortress

Barbarians, Cthulhu mythos and tons of treacherous sorceries drenched in doom and blood. More to be found here, and more of this kind should be given more attention. Barbaric Frost from Polen weaves a magical barbaric-journey that would make Robert E. Howard turn in his very own grave! Medieval ambiance meets up with doses of dungeon synth, martial industrialism, and doom! Not one to ignore!

Number 9:

Lá Ùltima Mirada

Marbre Negre

One of the most brutal attacks on your senses, and also one of great mystery as well. Heavy atmospheric ritual-ambient collides with dynamic noise-wall, all wrapped nicely up in pain and suffering! Why would anyone subject themselves to that (u might ask)... Power electronics has been old news for far too long, and too many would-be-hipsters are doing HNW (as we speak!). This one does something which could annihilate them all! And yes it is, a brutal attack your senses!  

Number 8:

Shelter Ov Shadows - The Serpent And the Circle...

Wulfrune Worxxx

The kind of feeling you´ll notice when you have... interrupted a secret and mostly dark ritual in the deepest cavern you could ever imagine (probably involving a human sacrifice!). Canadian act Shelter Ov Shadows provides that missing link between esoteric dark ambient and primitive winter/dungeon-synth. All would agree, heavy dungeon synth might just be the new dungeon sound! If ever Mick Harris (Scorn, Lull, Napalm Death) would do dungeon synth... you get the picture!

Number 7:

Suero + Yama-Biko - Hansenbyó

Marbre Negre

Most of the time I would go... ´Yeah... Industrial music is dead and no one dares touch it anymore!´ BUT, once in a while something POPS up. Something which is a work made between Spain and Japan, the album even works around an interesting (and terrifying) concept (read the review!). Mesmerizing minimal-industrial electronics+vocals and harsh claustrophobic glitch-atmospheres are all you´ll ever get. Fans of SPK and early Maschinenzimmer 412, take notice!

Number 6:

Machina Coeli - Lure of the Forgotten Lake

Nigra Opera Productions

Classic dungeon synth which takes the listener back to older (Coil, SPK) and meets them up with later dungeon synth acts. Not that it has any connection or similarities to others. One of the most original dungeon synth-related releases I have heard in some time. One act which just gives the fxxx-finger to the present band-in-wagon sound, and chooses an original sound like a true isolationist. An interesting tale to be found on this cassette, and a very interesting sound and mood to be digested as well. 

Number 5:

Human Vault - Primordial

No Labels Interested

Rare that I get around the world of electro-industrial/EBM, but just this time I just had to get around it. Made by an artist which delves himself (mostly) into the morbid murkiness of death-industrial/ambient. Human Vault being one of his various side-acts to his main death-industrial act Stone Wired. Primordial is one of the many industrial-music-related trips into the dark side of the human psyche, it touches nostalgia and it touches a sound aesthetic simplicity which sadly has been forgotten by time. Its strength lies in the mood before action, and no! ... It´s not danceable material! A downbeat dark-ambient version of early FLA/Delirium, with HUGE amounts of space in between. And PERFECT for the tape format (if you ask me)... 

Number 4:

Horologium - Atavistic Americana

Six Burial Productions

    

Laibach has sucked for many years, and Borghesia hasn't actually been up to something new. On the other hand, Horologium has! Keeping and cherishing the rhythmic and sample-drenched experimental vibe. A bloody electronic-mesh melts together with electronic post-punk rhythms and perfect executed political-themed cut-up samples! Woaww!. Early Ministry, Laibach and Killing Jokes goes hand in hand on this highly underrated electronic gem! 

Number 3:

Miguel Souto - Lillith

Anoxia Records

Someone came up with something... really dark and unique, and that someone was Miguel Souto. I was expecting a kind of ambient thing, I wasn´t expecting haunting and ancient classical piano tunes with eerie glitchiness behind it! Take Erik Satie and something like... Hafler Trio?. You get the picture. Perfectly executed, perfectly created. Coolest tape release of 2019!

Number 2:

Testing Vault - Amnesia Milk

Looney Tick Productions

Amnesia Milk was also... something else. An album that gave you the goosebumps and the emotional pleasure that usually follows it. It left a distinctive human trace on my mind while I was wandering (In the late hours) through the eerie sand-dunes of western Jutland, Denmark. The thing just stuck, just in the same way when something IMPORTANT sticks to your mind. Surreal electronic avantgarde' ness, the kind of haunting glitchiness that makes your heart stop in the middle of the lonely night. Or the soundtrack to one of those dreams, which seems too real and frightening at the same time. It´s an audible over-the-top experience, which you will never forget! 

Number 1:

Miracle of Love - You Will Be Free

Overture Militia

And no!. We are not talking about a tribute to Swans! We are talking about one of the greatest releases of 2019. In my opinion, the greatest ambient-related release in years. A pleasant and punishing sensation being heavy on your ears and sensible in your body as well. Razor-blade distortions, distant angelic ambient-tunes, religiously and sacrificial vibes... all wrapped up in a lovely and subtle apocalyptic set of ideas. Incredible beautiful and incredible believable in a terrifying fashion. Listen and learn!      

Neon Lies - S/T

Think I am getting into these outsider electronic-acts hailing from Croatian. The latest discovery is the debut cassette release from Neon Lies (self-titled). A rough and raw 25 minutes journey into harsh metropolitan synth punk, not that far from the likes of Suicide and Neon Judgement. 

This debut cassette is limited to 150 copies, comes in silver mirror sleeves! And yes, it does look extremely sexy, shiny and sleek! (photo below). 

I am not much into newer acts reviving the angst of classic post-punk acts, but I do think that this act delivers something to it that maintains its honest intentions. Why? It´s pretty rough and raw, the sound is not perfect (who cares right?!), It´s not meant to be an ear-catcher and it´s definitely not a shoe-gazing hipster act trying to be darkly synth-pop 80s cool. It´s challenging and intense if you ask me, as desperation takes hold (to quote Ian Curtis). The strength in this kind of release would (again) be it´s honest intentions. And it´s none-perfection aesthetic in sound and mood, love the way the sound is. Clearly, an act who creates what the person-behind-it wants to create, not creating what the listeners want to hear. And there you have it, that is the pure intentions of punk. Fuck the listeners and hail the artist.

First tracks start with a chaotic keyboards mess, un-tight computer drums, Alan Vega´ish vocals (and those reverb effects!) and a cool and cold primitive synth melody. Next track Safe In Room starts off with a similar sound to the beat of OMD´s Enola Gay, head-crashes into early Human League´ish synths and flesh-crawling vocals. The third offering offers no salvation, a hint or two to Neon Judgement´ish Factory Walk (Could work as a continuation of that track if you ask me). Love the detail that you can only hear the drums on the left side of your speakers, and then you have the harsh synth on your right (and the vocals are on both sides!). To Nothing is the albums fourth track, tunes deeper into the throbbing electro-punk sound. A very action-driven piece... likes driving at high-speed through a derelict industrial area of the city. 

The Fifth track mother tunes it down into a melancholic early industrial mood, love the metallic clashing sounds in the background. Sixth track We Lost Confidence In This Town (Kickass title), works up a menacing soundtrack mood that you might have noticed in such films like Carpenter´s Assualt At Precinct 13, might just be the best track on the album. When a soundtrack mood becomes a throbbing and aggressive electro-punk thing, really lovely!. The next track Woods almost moves into early Cure´ ish territory, something from their Pornography-era (Figurehead?), the style of the track although has that Absolute Body Control-feel (Per-Klinik group from the 80s). The eighth track Sex Without Faces follows the sound and feel like the previous track, although with way more melody (Beautiful). Last track Odds, rounds it all up with lovely rhythmic elements and vocals on raw bleeding rock n´synth knees!  

And that is how you deliver your eighties (late 70s) inspired electronic-based angst music! The whole I-don´t-care-what-you-think attitude is refreshing, specifically in a world which delivers hipster DJ goths and electro-jerks with minimal-wave´ish inspired t-shirts bought at your local H&M. Do go out and get this tape! You can get the tape from the label called Cosmic Brood Records (link below!).  

Bandcamp (band):

https://neonlies.bandcamp.com/

Bandcamp (facebook):

https://www.facebook.com/Neon-Lies-1639630016284491

Bandcamp (label):

https://cosmicbroodrecords.bandcamp.com/

   

   

Miguel Souto - Lillith

An interesting theme to bring up in our era of Mee-Too campaigns and power females. The "demonic" female Lillith is without a doubt relevant to this. As you all know, Eva was made out of a rip from Adam... Lillith wasn't. She actually left Adam, reason?... She wasn´t interested in having a relationship in the garden of Eden with a dominative husband. She went out and had a relationship with the archangel Samael. A rather... "satanic" themed arch-angel who has been called Poison of God, Blindness of God, seducer, and destroyer, etc. A sort of not-necessarily evil, because he spends his free-time destroying the sinners... Another satanic-themed arch-angel if you please. A powerful archangel doing the dirty work for god, who could say no to that?... ANYWAYS!. 

Miguel Souto has made this mini-album, which have been digitally and physical (cassette) released via Anoxia Records. I have also had the utmost pleasure of reviewing the dark-ambient masterpiece Lacrimi Si Sfinti, which Miguel Souto did together with Alejandro Durán (see the former review!). He is ALSO the same guy behind the ritual-occult act Sudari (also see former review). This one is also a solo-work from him, and a VERY interesting one (if you ask me!). 

First track Ravishing Whispers reveals to the listener that we are dealing with a piano-driven thing, a kind of... gothic piano thing. Not the kind of gothic-like the Sisters of Mercy, but more in the vein of early gothic literature like Mary Shelley, MR James, EF Benson, B. Stoker, etc. Haunting and esoteric and decadence all in one bucket. A kind of horror-themed Erik Satie, with a touch of early avant-garde music. Simple and moody piano moods, with a tiny spark of eerie glitchiness in the background. Absolutely brilliant, and rather... timeless! Could have worked as background music for Polanski´s The Ninth Gate. 

The second track called Turmoil gets more... kind of disturbing and disruptive piano notes. Weird mood swings, from being calm to being rather in a sense of despair. You have that feeling that something dreadful is going to happen! A rather beautiful track I must say. 

Last and third track called Approximation - Seduction - Copulation: First Encounter with Satan and the Birth of a New Race. This must be here where Lillith meets Samael!. An icy and cold beginning, tip-toe fingers on the piano like toes lightly dancing on dangerously thin ice. Again, the sound and aesthetic of the likes of Satie are clear here! Exquisite avant-garde sound-glitchiness creeps in with a lovely X-Files´ish/90s-Thriller´ ish atmospheric retro-synth. VERY gothic and very horrific! A church-like organ meets the mood just right further on, giving the ritualistic and esoteric elements a lovely atmospheric boost. The ending track ends with those beautiful light piano moods, drifting spiritually into melancholic disintegration. 

I mean WOAWW... Fucking Woaww!. This is the REAL deal. Not some mumbo jumbo esoteric-meets Crowley bullshit in a burger joint. This is it, the real fucking deal. It´s like if Erik Satie should create music for the stories of MR fucking James, while he is reading it. An incredible sincere and chilling experience that will haunt my dreams! I will listen to this again... and again... AND AGAIN!

Bandcamp (band):

https://miguelsouto.bandcamp.com/album/lilith

Bandcamp (label):

https://anoxiarecords.bandcamp.com/album/lilith

   

Barbaric Frost - Heroic Quest

Third times the charm. Third Kalteldur review from the polish dungeon-synth label Raven Fortress! From haunted castles to harsh frozen landscapes, now we are embarking on a journey to Hyperborea. To a time where might was right, and heroic warriors would defeat evil sorcery and rescue ravenous and seductive daughters of kings. Or as the cover-artwork could predict, standing face-to-face with a naked queen (on an alter) who might have a heroic quest for the would-be-hero. As the artwork predicts, she is guarded by two stout lookings guards. I do think that (who-ever she is/might be)... that she looks kind of being in a hypnotic state? Might explain the Cthulhu´ish icon over her head! Nevertheless, the beautiful looking physical release (beautiful CD digipack, sadly sold out!)  doesn't reveal a thing regarding a story/concept... BUT! the digital release on Bandcamp does! Here goes : 

One day when he came home, from the path of conquest

He found his village burned, and his beloved wife. she wasn't there.

For many years he was wandering the lands, searching for her.....

When he found her being the priestess of Yog Saggoth...

His quest is to take his beloved one from the paws of dark forces that no man can understand.

So there you go! Not that far from my own story! Although I am not 100% sure that a Cthulhu´ish-icon could represent the globular-formed outer-god Yog-Sothoth? Enough of that! (and yes!... I am a die-hard Lovecraft fan!). The album consists of 4 tracks, in total being 30 minutes. 

First track Frozen Evil, starts off with the sound of several frozen winds heading towards your direction. Distant and mysterious ice-dropping sounds meet up with this, with a menacing and evil sounding synth-melody lurking in the mist. The last two elements joining up is a cold and icy tune and distant martial drummings... sounds as if it is being played inside an ice-cavern! An interesting and simple beginning... reminds me of Cold Meat Industry in the old days.

Second track Barbarian Warrior starts with the icy-winds (which you heard in the first track) which gets accompanied by a ritualistic and heroic heavy atmospheric synth/string/violin-tune. Reminds me (in a way) of some of the early and ambient-orientated martial-wave recordings by French Derniere Volenté. Later on, the tracks speed up with martial moods and pompous melodies. A thing between dungeon synth and martial-wave?... Why not?! sounds really good (We need more of this please!!). 

Third track Eyes of the Serpent is a organ-driven synth piece with occasional spoken words. This is where the quest gets challenging. Something about looking into the eyes of your deepest fears (you get the point!). A cool and sutle track.

Fourth and last track called King of Frost. It offers more icy-winds, distant martial elements and drone´ish tunes. It does sound like the last track on the album. Optimistic and slightly angelic tunes get into the mix (bells and synth), a bit of classic Tangerine Dream here as a matter of fact!. 

Done... over and out! .Heroic Quest completed and experienced points are shared and levels getting up! Or you a getting a chest of gold, becoming a king and everything. A decent and simplistic story-telling barbaric dungeon synth album without too much fuss. I would love 2 hear more. Rumors has it that Ancient Meadow will release the debut called Against the Darkness on cassette! I hope it will be released, and so should you!. 

  

Bandcamp (band):

https://barbaricfrost.bandcamp.com/

Suero + Yama-Biko - Hansenbyó

Spanish cult label Marbre Negre is still very much alive and kicking! This time it will be with local Spanish experimentalist Carlos Suero and a mysterious anonymous vocalist from Japan called Yama-Biko. They have done this album together and had it limited released as a pro-CD-R, encased in a large DVD-sized cardboard cover. 

The cover informs the curious that we are in some abandoned hospital-like building. Probably something which has stood empty since 1997?. The dreaded disease leprosy in Japan has been a case of complete isolation, rather than medical treatment! All leprosy patients have been isolated on a small island, and have been left there (more-or-less) to die in isolation. We´re talking about something which has been going on since 1953 to 1997. 

"The Zenkankyo (Patients' Union) staged a number of struggles against the Ministry of Welfare and they finally won the abolishment of the 1953 Leprosy Prevention Law in 1996. It was ruled that the law was unconstitutional between 1960 and 1996. During this period, the law should have not been present. In 1998, many patients sued the Government for compensation and they won it in 2001."

A frightening concept for an album? Right?. Is it a frightening and dark album?... MY GOD YES!. Atmospheric and cold (and true) industrialism without the hints of dark-ambient! You cannot help to think back to the frightening (but real) concepts by SPK, but your also getting back to other Swedish evil moody roots like Machinenzimmer 412 (before MZ.412) and Archon Satani. 

The first frightening track Sweez Arjosh starts with a hypnotic machine-like humming sound. This sound meets up with a cold and dry repetitive industrial ritual beating. Excellent effects occasionally treat the beat and turn it into a grimy and low-tech vibe. Ear-catching and haunting horror-soundtrack sounds vail and moans in the background sound like a mixture of a huge engine room and a human scream slowed down. Painfull and blood-vomiting ritualistic-background vocals are delivered beautifully by Yama-Biko. Wha6t a beginning!. Next track Filato Amato also has a heavy humming intro which again meets up with an excellent industrial beat, the cool and exquisite sound-aesthetic continues! It really DOES sound like being completely alone, to just die in isolation. The vocals get a more whispering-talking and throaty sound here, cannot help but think about the scene with Killer Bob from Twin Peaks hiding out in the hospital basement here. Really cool vocals, VERY convincing!

Third track Fi Inesr Par also being similar, but being more subversive (and noisy) than the previous tracks. Ritualistic death-beats pounds into oblivion while distorted and reverbed razor-sharp sounds cut you open! Might as well be about Unit 731 (look up on Wikipedia!), and yes!... VERY dark material, again... fans of Archon Satani and Machinenzimmer 412 will dig this. Fourth track Detistil Fardest just sucks you further in, the angst delivered here is powerful. At this point, you start to realize that there isn´t any hope... At all!. A strang looped beat, scythe-like sound effects, sound of a ventilation-system and lovely desperate vocals wishing deliverance. 

I will not reveal how the other tracks are since I can keep on writing, about this amazing underground release. Seek it out if you need a new industrial fix, or plainly seek it out if you need something dark as hell! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/hansenby

Bandcamp (Band):

https://suero.bandcamp.com/album/w-m-d-i

     

Sirena Velena - The Blood Girls (Le Mestruo)

Yup... I am a guy, not a girl. How painful (and irritating) it must be to have your period (as a girl), I DO NOT KNOW. Being short-tempered, tiredness and pain are what I have been informed about it. Sirena Velena has made a small mini-album about it simply called The Blood Girls. This album deals with how other religions look upon menstruation as something aberrant and impure. This is highly expressed on this highly experimental piece of a release. 

Sirena has chosen her own sounds (and approach) to deliver what this album wants to deliver. Highly unique and sincere, and in my opinion, it could well have worked as background stuff to extreme art-performances like the Viena Actionists. Feels like a blend of the very early and trippy (the 70s) Cabaret Voltaire, in the dear company of the mighty Diamanda Galas. Creepy ass stuff, but enjoyable since the stuff has been incredibly well recorded. 

Intimate and sutle industrial electronics with organic sounds and rhythms. Kind of like... being inside a body (when you listen to it). Heart-beat thumpings, breathing (and screaming) vocals combined with stretched out-ambient sounds and wet looped electronic glitchness. I like it very much, and can highly recommend it to old-school industrial fans (TG, Coil, Cabs etc etc). 

It´s only a track album, 20 minutes long... BUT, so far I have heard it like 5 times. And for anyone who wants a special packaging, I can reveal to you that it comes assembled inside an absorbent for women in a red transparent plastic bag! (Pretty badass!). Do check out the official site for Sirena Velena (Link below!). 

Bandcamp (label):

https://hgmmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-blood-girls-le-mestruo

Bandcamp (band):

https://sirenavelena.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR2lhjPGHNNtMuEZB4rrA-NY0lTI_K_8x3ad6ZyUd8jXjbJ8NF6AQkXtMnY    

Scythe - The Sphere of Quantum

Aspects of doom-metal come in all matters of shape and form. Scythe might just be one of the outsiders of doom/funeral-metal. Hailing from A Coruña, Spain... and having several obscure releases in their ammunition belt aswell. This release was physically released on CD-R by the band itself, and the cassette released on a defunct Russian label called Otvar (2014-2016). As I can see... the cassette can still be purchased through the label´s Bandcamp site, it can also be purchased easily through Discogs (see links below). A 3-track album, with 40 minutes of pure and raw crunchy experimental doom´ness. There is really nothing else I can tell you about this act. Their Facebook and Bandcamp site has been closed, so who knows who hides behind this obscure act from Spain!. 

First track Quantum Waste of Existence gives the listener a good sense of what kind of doom band this actually is. Think early no-wave era with Sonic Youth and Swans, and then think funeral doom like Scepticism and then further on to the early recordings with drone-metal pioneers Earth. It´s not long-haired enough to be doom-metal, too psychedelic to be funeral-metal, too dark to be filed alongside indie-noise rockers and too much action to be labelled as drone-metal (you get the point!... right?!). A punishing delivery of crunchy and heavily distorted bass and guitar with ritualistic no-wave drums, with eerie scream-like effects in the background. The whole thing sounds like it has been recorded in the sewers, tons of mood and it sounds fxxxx great!.

Second track Dreamlike Humankind´s Intermission turns down on the rock sound, and delivers are more experimental ambient-noise sound-treatment. A very sort of old-school industrial feeling starts the track... metallic clatterings, looped hummings, bell-like sounds, distorted and torturous moods, slow and thundering drummings, monotone toy-piano-likes keyboard... and a very creepy desert/Texas-breed psychedelic guitar going on! I mean... Woawww!. Being high on mescaline close to Spahn Ranch in Death Valley!. What can go wrong?!. 

Last track (and the longest) called Scythetic Fate For... Adds more death-doom growl-vocals to the infernal doom-mix. Might just be the most ritualistic and trippy free-improvisational track on the album. Kind of a slow version of Autopsy with the acid-drenched free-form style of early Controlled Bleeding. I´ll say no more here, incredible track and an incredible way of ending the album.

A 5 star-motel treatment for everyone, go and give it a listen and headhunt their tape for god sake!.

     

Bandcamp (label):

https://otvarlabel216.bandcamp.com/album/the-sphere-of-quantum

Discogs (band):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/4211404-Scythe-11

    

Winterlandschaft - L'obscurité

Debut release from a project that is active on the new and Polish (and excellent also!) Raven Fortress label. So far the label had released two beautifully looking digipacks from two different projects. This one called Winterlandschaft (Winter Landscapes) and another called Barbaric Frost. I will get to the review of the later release further on. This limited digipack version is a 6 track album, just over 30 minutes of chilly and grim landscapes of coldness and dread. All the tracks on the album don't have any names... just I, II, III, IV, V and VI.          

As you can imagine, the cover-artwork tells it all. A hard-working hunchbacked peasant-lady trying desperately to gain use (grow something) with the hard and frozen soil, maybe trying to dig-up lost potatoes in a spot which she hasn´t been digging? The effort might be as fruitless likes the naked trees in the background, finding food or growing it in the harsh wintertime... something u might do when you are feeling the torture of starvation.

A lovely epic (but quiet) minimal piece of cold and morbid dreadness. Winter synth with a tiny touch of murky bit-synth. The first track starts off with a heavy and vibrating moody synth-key, kind of depressing but with a certain relaxing warmth to it. Think it might be the sound of autumn, that certain feeling when you start to notice the brown leaves and the cold rain on your face. Beautiful but also slightly sad. This heavy synth key meets up with a lighter and atmospheric synth, which almost describes the landscape before you. Yes, the flowers are gone and the leaves are falling down to the ground. The Second track welcomes the cold, darkness and frosty autumn nights. The kind of coldness which leaves frost on your window (or car!). The sound of an upcoming winter depression might be on the way. A darker piece than the first one, nonetheless very beautiful and timeless. The Third track welcomes the snow on the early morning, the kind of snow which kills every sound and movement for miles. EVERYTHING just stands completely still! You are also receiving a sense of getting lost in the mesmerizing snowy-landscape, mainly because everything looks the same... snowy white!. A walk to the nearby village (for food) will not be easier, nor will those potatoes you forgot in the soil (oh dear).

The fourth track welcomes the coldness on winter nights, warmth is all that matters!. It sounds like the kind of coldness which sneaks unnoticed into houses, and leaves you dead-cold after several hours. Almost a haunted horror-themed dread here going on! The fifth track welcomes a kind of hopelessness, the kind of hopelessness that pops up when all else had failed. And you accept it, as you are accepting the beautiful (and cruel) side of the winter season. Last sixth track welcomes death, the kind of death which leaves the same kind of quietness which you´ve heard on track three. A quiet and lonely death which (maybe) will be discovered in spring, after all the snow has melted away. A very meditative melancholic and heavy piece of ambient-synth´ness. 

A great album with tons of minimalistic cold synth-moods. Highly recommended winter-synth for the lonely cold winter nights. Be quick, few physical copies are remaining on the label´s Bandcamp site!            

Bandcamp (label):

https://ravenfortress.bandcamp.com/album/lobscurit

Dispersive Light - Spider

Do u like spiders?... For most of my small boy-years, I was totally afraid of them! Completely unaware that those who lived in my room, actually killed and consumed horrible blood-sucking bugs like the mosquitos and small irritating house-flies. Today, I am ok with them and I even have a tarantella. I am ALSO ok with one of the latest album called Spider by Ukraine-based Dispersive Light. Released via the label (also from Ukraine) called VOLOK Records. A lovely printed CD-R in a great looking solid cardboard limited to only 20 copies (so be quick for the physical version kids!). 8 tracks, 42 minutes.

Dispersive Light´s Spider can be described as guitar-based drone-ambient with industrial moods. Or you could say...not really drone-metal or post-rock, but pure haunted scrapyard ambient noise-rock! The sound is a very living and dynamic being, pulsating waves after waves of crunchy moods in your face. You can almost smell the blood on the distorted guitar strings here, and you can feel the heavyweight-sound holding you down while hypnotizing you. Would that be the spider hypnotizing you, before devouring you (sucking you dry??). I am not 100% sure about that (spider devouring you) since after listening to this great album, it left me in a state of blissful and focused relaxation. A very meditative sensation with tons of analog drones and ritualistic undercurrents. A world of sound that you can emerge yourself totally into! 

I cannot really go down and describe each and every track on the album since the whole thing/tracks work together as one thing/entity. I can recommend this for those who enjoy some of the more experimental tracks with Swans (Soundtrack For the Blind), Stahlwerk Symphonie by early Die Krupps, Controlled Bleeding, but also for fans of that pioneer of industrial esoterica Z´ev (R.I.P). Do yourself a favor and go get it! A rarity u will hear (every time) from the start and to the very end. And the good thing about it is that Disperlive Light has already released many more albums, which can be heard on the Bandcamp site!

Bandcamp (band):

https://dispersivelight1.bandcamp.com/album/spider

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/DispersiveLight

Bandcamp (label):

https://volokrecords.bandcamp.com/album/spider

Facebook (label):

https://www.facebook.com/volokrecords/

        

Testing Vault - Amnesia Milk

Testing Vault from Italy has been around for some time since 2003 to be exact. Over 15 albums released and a handfull of mini-albums. Most of the material has been released via the act´s own label called Looney-Tick Productions, a label which also has released the likes of Premature Ejaculation and Le Cose Bianche (see link below). This album called Amnesia Milk was released on Looney Tick Productions on the 5th of March this year (2019), if you would purchase the physical (and limited digipack) copy u even get an extra CD with it!. Amnesia Milk? ... What the hell is it?!. Here is a clue from the cover/inner-sleeve. 

"Amnesia Milk" is a sound installation for a recurring dream that Daniele Santagiuliana (the person behind the moniker Testing Vault) has been experimenting with since the end of 2018. An intangible but so lucid place that he can go back every time he wants to see it, where instead of the street lamps, the only source of illumination are milk bottles with a lighted bulb inside each of them.

That´s pretty.... abstract but, interesting. It makes it more interesting when you look at the cover as well, even more, interesting when u are listening to the album while looking at the cover (at the same time)... it makes sense. So what kind of stuff is it?. Think melancholic icy drone-ambient like Biosphere and the surreal pitch-black eerieness from Coil. The kind of experimental ambient-music one might isolate with while it´s raining outside on a dark night. I will only review the main-album, and let the recordings in the extra CD be a surprise for the listener!. 

The first track is a prelude, being a tribute/homage to Alan Lamb (Check him out if you don´t know him!). He did this one album where he recorded 20 hours of sound material using microphones on telephone wires! Interesting metallic scraping ambient intro to the album. The second track Amnesia Milk jumps straight into an eerie and surreal modern horror-story, and yes it does that have... dreamy feel attached to it. That kind of dream where you are quite convinced about it, yet not fully understanding it. Eerie windy sounds composing haunting tones while a moody illbient-like rhythm pounds endlessly, the ending sounds like something from Twin Peaks. Third track Digest adds more eerieness to the album, interesting organic sounds... real ear-candy believe me. Fourth track A Friendly Light being one of my favorites. Beautiful haunting Eno´ish ambient-melodies with lots of interesting sounds and creakiness, a perfect soundtrack for a modern victorian ghost story/movie if you ask me.

Fifth track Pale Pink is a ritualistic piece with a jazzy feel to it. Humming and looped human-like voice-sounds, reversed sound of plastic bags being handled, free-jazz saxophones. Second, last track Blackout further expands on that David Lynch´ish meets Nurse With Wound/C93 atmosphere. I would highly recommend listening to this with some decent speakers standing, the stereo-recording here is VERY good!. Voices slowly crawl in and out from one speaker and then further on to the other, and I fxxxxxx love shit like that! Last track called Contempt, also serves as a homage to Alan Lamb, being the longest track on the album (11 minutes). Serves as a perfect weird ending for a great album. Church-like bells, warped human voices, thick electronic glitchiness. All wonderful!. 

Excellent surreal treat from Italy, more if that if you please! At the time I was listening to this album (Often), I was walking the (rather late) mysterious dunes of west Jutland alongside the beach. All while the sun was sinking slowly over the mysterious and empty landscape. While having this on my Discman, I took these photos. The sight, the mood, the music... a perfect match!

Bandcamp (band):

https://testingvault.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/TestingVault/

Looney Tick Productions (label):

http://eafmcart.blogspot.com/