Yasuyuki Uesugi - Choices Are Equal 

But Results Are Unequal

Yasuyuki Uesugi is one of the latest new-faces on the Spanish Marbre Negre label. A Japanese noise-artist which has been VERY-MUCH active since 2019, go up and check his discography on Discogs (Then you´ll know what I mean!). Anyways, this one has come out as a black cassette, with a black´ ish piece cover-artwork showing ... white nerves maybe?... Maybee a branch... Nope, I think it´s nerves. The title of the track being... quite interesting. When we are talking about nerves (as of such) and of choices which you being equal (from one person to another) the different results always ends... as something being rather unique or personal. I don´t know if that made sense or not, but the truth is that our brain and the nervous being... very extremely complex Which will give you the perfect answer to AI, that real article intelligence seems almost like an impossible task. But what do I know? ... I am no robot expect, I am just a bloody reviewer!

Another thing worth taking notice of is that this noise artist from Japan is more than just your average noise-musician, he suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and the best way for him to express himself (by spiritual means) is to do what he does... making experimental music.     

The first track called Lack of Long-term Perspective gently surprises the listener that we are dealing more with the aesthetic of sound, then in general harshness.  Vortex-moving ambient-noise with looped effects, static drones (but light and heavy ones), with some atmospheric metallic-reverbed effects added to it as well. Soothing and hypnotic metallic harshness, very nice. 

The second track Researchers Wants To Discover New Mental Illness follows the same concept in sound. Some changes are made and it´s being perfectly mixed with the former track. A ritualistic-element can be sensed here. Sofar it still sounds good.

The third track The Spiritual World Feels Chaotic Because I Don't Understand It gets way more psychedelic and frightening. Layered, looped, and scary swirling sounds just sucks you right into a portal. The sense of concept still being there!

The fourth track I Have A Number of Mental Illness Without Names tunes the psychedelics down a bit with numerous bubbling sounds and harsh drones.

And then I will reveal no more, this is just the A-side of the cassette being reviewed here. If you are curious, then go around and check it out (and hear the complete album ) on Marbre Negre´s Bandcamp site. 

What I have heard is not bad, it´s when monotonous stuff is done... in the way that it should. It feels real and authentic, the sound has a sense of ritualistic purpose. Some of it may sound frightening, but in a lot of ways, it´s rather soothing. It´s not chaotic as such, nor being clinical in any way. A worthy release from Japan and Marbre Negre, Cheers!

Bandcamp (label ) :

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/choices-are-equal-but-results-are-unequal

Discogs (artist) : 

https://www.discogs.com/artist/7521416-Yasuyuki-Uesugi

Bandcamp (artist) :

https://yasuyuki-uesugi.bandcamp.com/

 

 

Oliphant Morn - Morë olori i Palantìr

New dungeon synth act from Quebec called Oliphant Morn, out now with its new debut called Morë Olori i Palantìr (released the 12th of October this year). A 5 track mini-album made between the year 2018 - 2020... made by a Lord Verbouc, except the last track Han Som Reiste which is a Burzum cover/tribute. 

As for the title itself, it has something to do with those Seeing-stones from the Lord of the Rings, which goes by the ancient tongue as Palantìr. As you will notice on the Bandcamp page, there is a small text introduction to this mini-album : 

Come, travelers. And gaze through the sinister and hypnotizing Palantír of Saruman. To see battles of uncertain fate and

desolate landscapes forgotten by time.

And as you all probably know, Saruman is a tricky bastard suffering from a rare kind of egomania and.. low-self esteem at the same time (now that we are at it!). I will not stare into his sinister and hypnotizing ball of uncertain doom, id rather puff some jolly-good weed with Gandalf (if you would ask me!). Nevertheless, this Palantir offers dungeon synth in the more... doomy corner. If you happen to be into cherry hobbits and Robin Hood´s merry bunch (or comfy synth), then this might just be... your cure for that! *gulp*. Let us look more deeply into the tracks within shall we?...

The first track called Rammas o Lothric (The High Wall of Lothric) is something (I think) from the moody fantasy RPG named Dark Souls III not something by Tolkien... haven't actually played it yet!. A simple intro of a track containing the sounds of the haunting and cold winds of the night, and an epic neo-classical piece with horns and piano, describing ruins and utter despair. Sounds a bit like Ildfrost (old Cold Meat Industry act). Beautiful sound and a lovely mood surround you, lovely intro!.

The next track called I Lóre o Thuringwethil ( Thuringwethil´s Dream ). So who is this... Thuringwethil anyway?. This is something from Tolkien´s Quest For the Silmaril. A female Maia who took the shape of a female vampire, she also served Morgoth before that (pretty old one right?). She did some dirty work for the baddies and ended up being defeated at a fight between Sauron and Huan in some fortress. This track moves into a gothic Mortiis sort of horror-setting. Slowly evolving moody track with saddened synth-strings, still containing that neo-classical feel. A more simple and minimal track than the first, and very nicely done. Background music for Hammer Horror flicks! 

The third track is the track from which the album has its title, that sinister ball that Sauron wants me so bad to look into ( Which I still won't! ). A slightly "merrier" and light-feel tune with barbaric/orcish (but sutle) ritual drum-beatings, mesmerizing synth keys... and spoken-word ritual vocals. Vocals which takes me back to Endvra. All this fades away when that cold night-wind re-appears with some sinister string keys going on at the same time, strangely relaxing and slightly sinister at the same time. The strange wind keeps up blowing when all of a sudden... strange things come out from some otherwordly place. Is it the voices of the dead or... the sound of daemons trying to tear into your room? Lovely doom-laden feeling, lovely ritualistic mood with an eldritch quality attached to it!

The fourth offering called I Thùle O Irithyll (The Breath of  Irithyll) returns to that game which I still haven´t played. Dark Soul 3. A more downbeat sort of track with less sinister undertones, there is although a sense of something tragic. The most melancholic piece on the track, almost kind of ... suicidal dungeon-synth?!. The piano sounds make me think of a certain Jazz musician who did some remarkable melancholic pieces (not that it is Jazz!)... Bill Evans, maybe it´s the sound of the synth... I don't know!.

The last track on the album is the Burzum cover Han Som Reiste, which actually is the second dungeon-synth cover of this track which I have heard so far. A sort of a track which has that... wandering around the wilderness, looking for danger and adventure sort of feel. Very simplistic piece with synth guitars and nothing much else, a lovely down-to-earth kind of an outro if you ask me.

And then this mini-album stopped. A kind of a mixed bag of trophies, made in a big-time span. At first thought, I was thinking of a straight Tolkien-based album (title), but you also had some nods to Dark Souls III. The album is decent and good, offering not something groundbreaking or new as such but delivers a classic and old-school dungeon synth thing with that certain... Northern European vibe. The best track on the album would be... Saurons ball track goddammit!. Yup, I understood why the artist behind this act chooses this track to be the champion of the album. Give it a try mate, a relaxing and doom-laden trip into fantasy-related murkiness. By the way, look below... that is him, the man behind it all. Cheers!

Bandcamp (band):

https://oliphantmorn.bandcamp.com/releases

        

Stefano Bertoli - Eleven Faces

and Forty Two Arms 

I don´t know Stefana Bertoli but I do know the label Italian label Industrial Ölocaust Recordings. This one, with the highly esoteric themed title, is the first release in his own name. A 2 track-track full-length which is sofar available on tape, pro-CD-R, and by digital means. 

 If anyone should be in doubt what the theme is about, then I can reveal to you that it seems to be a concept-based treat around a certain Avalokitesvara who in turn is a Bodhisattva (any person who is on the path towards Buddhahood), this Buddhahood embodies the compassion of all Buddhas ( is a title for someone who is awake, and has attained nirvana and Buddhahood)... So basically, we're talking about a godlike and important figure in Buddhism. He/She also contains both sexes, and must therefore be seen as someone like... Abraxas maybe? Well ok, on to the recordings itself.

A vintage old-school proto-electronic treatment waits to be explored. As a fan of old Doctor Who (and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop), some of you might have a feeling where the album goes. The first track simply named Kan starts with echoing and reverbed icy bleeps of various pitch and volume, imagine space... cold, empty, and very large. Not that far away from the likes of Coil´s Worship the Glitch album. These evocative bleeps swirl around your speakers for around 10 minutes, and then the track moves further into a minimal ritualistic sound-setting. Mechanical hummings from a source with a high voltage get mixed into a dynamic set made of various electronic and primitive glitch sounds, it´s all very stimulative and addictive so far!. Some of it also reminds me of the ghostly radio-sounds which I have heard on Ulver´s Perdition City!

Track two named Non, adds esoteric Tibetan-like chanting to the electronic glitch mesh. Still within the same sound-nature as the earlier track. Fans of Zoviet France and Hybryds, take notice here. Interesting and demonic noises ripes a hole in the sound-fabric later on! Chilling dynamics happening around 16 minutes later, the feeling that something otherworldly tries to enter your world (by quiet means). Don´t fall asleep to this album people, the demonic noises around 24 minutes are brutal... and frightening. And then it ends.

Feels like reaching up from some deep gulf to get some air! It´s not a noisy treat, but when the album stops... silence greats you... feels kind of eerie after that. A very subtle psychedelic experience, parallel universes in sound? This might be it. Kind it a spin, a prober mind fxxx.

Label (Official Website):

https://cardinium.com/sound-grimoire/

Label (Facebook):

https://www.facebook.com/iorecs/

Artist (Discogs):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1717048-Stefano-Bertoli

 

 

  

 Kadaver - The Man Who Didn´t Want To Feel

A new release from Spanish label Marbre Negre by Israel-based one-man death-industrial/power-electronics act Kadaver. Called The Man Who Didn´t Want To Feel, and showing a curious photo of a man in a skeleton costume.. with a flag. Not sure bout the first word on the flag, but the second Breu (Portuguese) means pitch-black in English. It includes 5 tracks, with the first 4 of them called I Feel Like Destroying You (part 1,2,3 of 4) with Escaping Into the Night is the fifth and last track on the album. The physical cassette release has been made in a limited run of 22 (so act fast). 

The first track begins with that... insane and sun-bleached Texas Chainsaw-mood. Just focus on the scene where Mrs. Chambers is being harassed by the cannibalistic family while being tied to a chair, the scene is insane and grim... and lucky you! That is how this album starts. Walls of nerve-grinding metallic noise with screams of torment coming from a deep subterranean cave. Monotonic harsh-noise with bleak horror-ambient in the background. 

The next track quickly starts where the first track ended, being more direct and heavy in sound. Sounds like a train running through hell, or a falling elevator going fast down into hell. A continuous heavy treatment in torturous sound... lovely! Soundwise sensations of minor explosions can also be felt on this recording! Interesting ending with this track!

The third track feels like a grind saw running out of focus, hitting the listener with full force. Heavily distorted bass-elements, screaming machines, and random chaotic glitches here and there. A perfect executed fusion between death-industrial and HNW.

The fourth track starts on the B-side of the cassette and ends the torturous I Feel Like Destroying You-saga in absolute pleasure. Really love the distorted and hidden recorded human-voice here, just sound sick and desperate (as it should). The noise-treatment on this track is just pure punishment, worthy of any noise-sicko!

The last track Escaping Into The Night moves into murky creepy-crawler minimalism. Might just be my favorite track on the album, I have this thing with stuff being really dark and incredible subtle at the same time. Think Brighter Death Now´s 1890, that kind of stuff. A minimal and atmospheric track which really puts some imagination into the listener's mind. 

A terrific and horrific avant-garde noise-treatment for the upcoming Halloween! There´s aggression, ambiance, mood, etc. All packed nicely into this lovely black cassette. It won´t let you down, not for a second!

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/the-man-who-didnt-want-to-feel

Facebook (band):

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