Government Alpha - Affective Imagery

Summer vacation can sometimes be a long and very boring thing. We´re all prober programmed into working and delivering something to the greater good, and then all of a sudden you are going on a 4-week long vacation. I keep thinking about that track with Pink Floyd, Comfortably Numb I think the title was. Finding motivation for anything (with all that extra time) on your hands... can be hard. That´s why I told myself today, that maybe it is the perfect time to review an album by one of the big ones in Japanoise. Government Alpha has been active in releasing high pressured and multi-layered noise since 1994, and so far his album count is around... 100! Not one of the truly old guys in Japanoise, but har so far proven to be the next Merzbow. This album was made back in 2019 and has then been released by the French label Abhorrent Creation Tapes, limited to 500 copies. Still possible to get the physical release from the label itself, check the link below!. 47 minutes, 9 tracks in total.

The first thing I still take notice too is the cover artwork itself. Surreal collage stuff, a lot of stuff to look at while the noise explodes in your speakers. The first collage picture shows 3 people reading magazines, two of these 3 people's heads look... weird (not sure what it is). Behind them are 4 analog clocks, and some rubbery stuff being entangled altogether. To the right we have a bandaged leg and some other interesting stuff going on. 2 other surreal collage photos are also inside the booklet as well. I love it when the artist gives the listener something to actually look at (while you are listening). The same thing with the cover artwork by Nurse With Wound, you just look deeply and listen at the same time... and wonder. Keeps the imagination alive! 

The first track on the album is called Stridor. Stridor means the sound that your throat creates when your throat is partially blocked. The sound of a lot of old-school alarm clocks ringing, with a mesmerizing and atmospheric synth drone in the background. Thumping and rhythmic distorted bass later on. A very calm and different intro to a Japanoise album, a cool ear-opener if you ask me.        

All that changes with the second track called Invisible Area. High-pitched and tweaked harsh noise breaks in from some open dimensional gate, explosive and splintered aural attack on the senses. A Super energetic force of electrical currents of sound without any mercy. Lots of action and stuff going on, not just noise for the sake of noise. I know I have said it before, not a big fan of harsh noise.. but this I like. It´s pure Japanoise, the way it should sound. 

In the third track Eternal Signals, it gets a bit spacier. I'm thinking about all those signals we keep transmitting into space now, noise and space right?. A very psychedelic noise track, not that far away from Merzbow´s Space Metalizer from 1997. Love the altered 8-bit´ish sounds here. 

The fourth track Apnea continues the psychedelic sound brutality. A cool track that tricks the listener into thinking that we´re dealing with a non-action noise track. It starts like a typical harsh noise thing, but then it evolves into a tentacled monster of noise. Lots of action so far! 

The high pumping action gets turned down a bit in the fifth track called Sacred Tree. A strange psychedelic ambient-noise creature with a kind of... Japanese soundtrack-horror approach. Love the way how the sounds move up and down into distortion.

The fifth track was too short, we´re hauled back into the action-driven noise of the sixth track called Obstructions. Maybe the most aggressive track on the album so far compact atomic bombs inside! Everything sounds super fast here, and there is background as well... which I can hardly hear. But it makes the aggressive track more interesting, with a (hard to hear) background. 

The seventh track In Equilibrium. Does not sound like something which is In Equilibrium, but more like something which is constant and chaotic at the same time. Moody noise with religious undertones in a way. Another cool track! My ears and my mind are getting a bit... over-stimulated now. Not enough that I wanna stop!

The eight-track Pale Idolum is a long and minimal one, not having that many layers like the other tracks. It is also the longest one on the album as well. A track that explores the very boundaries of sound that the artist can produce, through a minimal approach. 

The last track Transience is the ninth track on the album (and the last).  Ends with a monotonic wall of sound which evolve into chaos. 

And there you have it. Abstract noise with an aggressive attitude. It´s a pure energy drink with (something else inside) all the way from the start and to the very end. I love it in the beginning, but later on, the noise gets a bit dull. More of the "adventurous variations" approach could help a lot. Action-packed material for sure, but sadly without the mood. The best track on the album was Stridor, Eternal Signals, and Sacred Tree.

Bandcamp (label):

https://abhorrentcreationtapes.bandcamp.com/album/government-alpha-affective-imagery?fbclid=IwAR2M5BUSNj8X1vTL4YEF9ArNSolCW73t-6banFT2L6M1rI8_z7m4RkKHa_I

Bandcamp (band):

https://governmentalpha.bandcamp.com/

           

 Brighter Death Now live at Tusindfryd, Aalborg 16-04-2022

As I promised to the event manager at Tusindfryd, and to Roger Karmanic himself I will now try to review the live performance with Brighter Death Now at Tusindfryd. This is ALSO my first EVER review of a live concert, so here goes! Here, is just a quick introduction to those who don´t know Brighter Death Now.

Brighter Death Now is the solo project by a guy named Roger Karmanic. The crown jewel and pioneer of true death-industrial, and also one of the most iconic acts in the style as well. His first album came out on Börft Records, simply called Temp Tations. Another album followed in the same year called Slaughterhouse Invitation. Already here you could hear that something new was brewing in the realm of industrial music. Thumping machines in a factory, ultra-heavy and monotonous bass, distant voices and screams, high-pitched distortions. Doesn't sound like something new when you read it, but back then Brighter Death Now showcased a kind of style that showcased power electronics (Whitehouse, Sutcliffe Jugend), esoteric-ambient (Lustmord, Ain Soph), and old-school industrial (Throbbing Gristle, SPK). As brutal and direct as power electronics, but also with a thoughtful mind/eye on an atmosphere before action approach.

The sound of Brighter Death Now was a sound that only Brighter Death Now. Frightening simple and incredibly efficient. In typical 80s power-electronics/industrial style, you were confronted with an up-in-your-face message both in the concept, sound, and lyrics. Again, Brighter Death Now was altogether a different beast than that. To me, it was always about a kind of atmospheric story-telling approach to sound. Let the atmosphere/mood speak for itself! The soundtrack to hell... or the realm of the dead?    

Roger Karmanic then, of course, started his own label Cold Meat Industry. Most of you guys know this label, if you don't... LOOK IT UP!. The quick intro then! Cold Meat Industry was the best and coolest underground industrial indie label of the 90s! The label quickly gained recognition and success, and Brighter Death Now (of course) received more listeners. The best example from the best period would be his massive May All Be Dead album from 1998.

If I should give you any recommendations for starters, then I would suggest any albums made in the period of 1990-1998. Later on, it becomes noisier in the power-electronics style but still holds on to the atmospheric sound aesthetics of the early recordings.

 

Brighter Death Now is one of my all-time favorite acts, which I have followed since the Innerwar album from 1996. Back then I was just a confused kid who thought that Skinny Puppy was the hardest shit around, I WAS PROVED WRONG of course! So when I received the news that Brighter Death Now would be playing in Jutland, Denmark I of course jumped right into it!

The night started with two bands, Danish Ubehag and Of The Wand And The Moon. Ubehag was a kind of experimental doom/drone-metal act, not that far away from the early Cathedral and Earth...just a bit more user-friendly in their sound. At this time yours truly (also in good company with good friends) has drunk the first cold alcoholic beverages. The decent-sized crowd in the small room seems pleasant so far. 

After Of The Wand And The Moon enter the scene. They're a kind of band which delivers something pleasant and good every single time. Incredible atmospheric and incredibly melodic. They are the bloody reason why metal fans love neo-folk in Denmark by the way! Not that far away from the sound of Death In June (1992-1995), but with a kind of vintage psychedelic and nostalgic vibes like The Walker Brothers or anything Phil Spector produced back then. Tons of charms and tons of reasons to love the act, they deliver and you smile... while drinking your cold Hancock beer. At this, I start noticing a strange fellow in the room, on a pair of rolling skates!

    

After playing my playlist (via Mixcloud), Brighter Death Now enters the scene and all the comfort lights are turned totally down...(At this point, I think that the guy on the rolling skates has escaped!) Roger Karmanic is in good company, being Peter Andersson and his girlfriend Asa Tedebro. Everything is smoky and hazy all around, and everything is dark blue. Everything seems like... yes... we have just entered the twilight zone. It´s pure sound torture beyond description! We´re not just talking about an act (which just lazily) pushes the distortion button, but an act that has knowledge of how to deliver a truly infernal sound through high-pitched sounds and subsonic bass sounds. A pure cacophonic sound with epic religious undertones. 

After being submerged into this infernal netherworld, I quickly went out for a smoke. I had a hard time believing that I was finally witnessing Brighter Death Now live for the first bloody time! After hearing through the walls outside that they were playing Pay Day, I quickly went in again. And experienced that many of the happy crowd was gone, and only the older hardcore people were around (mostly males). 

At this time I could feel the effects of cold Hancock Beers from Skive. My head was spinning, and I was trying hard to focus on what the 3 people were doing. There was a violin, two bass players, knop-twidling on the effects boxes, and Roger skulking around in the dark-blue darkness with the beautiful and iconic Brighter Death Now icon on the wall. In a lot of ways, the situation perfectly describes Brighter Death Now. For those who couldn´t stand the sound of torture escaped at that time I needed a smoke. And when I re-entered (half-drunk), the right mood of the concert was there. And it was good. Nothing new as of such, but a good reminder of the effect the act has on me the first time around. I would love to hear what other people in the crowd thought, especially those who have heard this act for the first time.  

It was a concert which I will remember as well as I will remember a tattoo. The memory of it sticks, and it will remain. Will I go and see another Brighter Death Now live performance on Jutlandish soil? absolutely yes! Be sure to check out the works of Roger Karmanic in the links below! 

Brighter Death Now (Bandcamp):

https://brighterdeathnow.bandcamp.com/

Of The Wand And The Moon (Bandcamp):

https://ofthewandandthemoon.bandcamp.com/