Depression Embrace / Vladkon - The Distance

Not a release from E.C.T Recordings but a release from a sub-label of E.C.T. Simply called S.E.C.T. An act called Depression Embrace and an act called Vladkon, with their album called The Distance. Each act delivers its ideas and visions of how depression and bleakness can be expressed through 21 minutes, which means that the entire split is about 42 minutes long. The beautiful physical release comes as a double 3"mini CDR, with cute and small jewel cases all bound into a cool-looking sleeve (and plastic bag as well). Second time I have come across a double 3"mini CDR release with small jewel cases, they are just soo damn adorable!  

But let us not get too sentimental about the cute jewel cases. Nothing cute and adorable here! The first thing I am getting into here will be the track by Depression Embrace called Сенке Праскозорја, which means Shadows of a Breaking Dawn. It starts with a cold and deep humming drone, the sort of sound one might expect to hear (or feel) in that dark forest that the cover artwork shows. There is the sound of something dripping here, and there is also the sound of a storm... brewing outside. There is something distant in the background, voices, and noises. I am not sure. Cannot help thinking about that flick called The Road with Viggo Mortensen or John Carpenter's The Thing, there is something about this recording that get´s you under the skin. Like walking through a forest in springtime, and there isn't the sound of birds or wildlife, or you just know all about the upcoming day of judgment. That kind of feeling, and for some strange reason... it´s actually incredibly enjoyable to listen to. I don´t know if that was the artist's intent, but hell... I like depressive and cold stuff, makes me happy! Excellent recording and excellent dark ambient here, totally raw, minimal, and heavy.

The next mini CD-R with Vladkon has an interesting (and rather esoteric-looking) kind of... Blair Witch project symbol. Kind of fits nicely if you again will consider the artwork. The track by Vladkon is called Bleakness Of Hope, which means that there is no hope. But is there hope in the recording itself? The whole starts as a synth-driven atmospheric soundtrack. Again with a nod or two to classic background music to the X-Files (or even Boards of Canada!). Cool and repetitive retro-synths with some distant screaming in the background don't sound like much... do give it a shot! Kind of slow-moving classical music being performed on a synth. With the cool retro synths and the tortured screams in the background, it basically sounds like someone in need of some kind of deliverance. A cool and horrific piece of retro-atmospheric and soundtrack-based ambient!

I absolutely love this double CD-R mini-release. Love the artwork and love the sounds within. It delivers what you see and feel, and doesn´t disappoint you at all. Raw dark ambient stuff without sounding like the boring (and polished) stuff! It´s absolutely magnificent! And again, either S.E.C.T or E.C.T doesn´t have a Bandcamp page, just read my review and then buy it (links below). 

Discogs (S.E.C.T):

https://www.discogs.com/label/1536361-SECT

Discogs (E.C.T):

https://www.discogs.com/label/1264202-ECT

Facebook (E.C.T):

https://www.facebook.com/ectrecs/

 Asylym Symphonies - Mental Disturbances

As some of you might have noticed (Via Facebook), we have a new label to do reviews from. A true underground label from Athens, Greece. E.C.T. stands for Electro Convulsive Therapy and has been in action as a label since 2017, and as a distributor since 2019. The first one we are going to review from E.C.T. is actually a copy I received from the Spanish label Mabre Negre. And why is that you might ask? It´s simply because this act Asylym Symphonies contains members who more or less have strong ties to Marbre Negre. First of we have the founder and owner of Margre Negre, who also is responsible for such acts as Gyakusatsu and Urge To Kill. And then we have the guy behind the fierce HNW-act Barrera and Soma, who also have had several releases out on Marbre Negre. I don´t know who the last member though, a good friend maybe. Nevertheless, we´re talking a 3-men group! 

This release is their debut. A live recording during a rehearsal session. No master, no mixing, and no post-production. The release has come out as a cassette and as a CD-R edition. Each physical format has come out in 50 copies. The album contains 3 long tracks, 57 minutes in total! Each track is simply named Mental Disturbance I, II, and III. 

The first track Mental Disturbance I welcomes the listener into some kind of huge machine room. Echoed, screaming industrial noise and drones submerge the listener straight into it. Excellent multi-layered industrial with tons of psychedelic reverbed mood. Sort of like a mix between harsh noise and early Italian industrial (MB, Mauthausen Orchestra) if you ask me. I dig it, totally! Atmospheric intense recording, lots of stuff and action going on so far. Hard for me to describe all the sounds and stuff going on, but I'm trying my best! Already with this first track, you get that live-recording feeling. These guys improvise something together (not planned), and it actually ends up with something that sounds great!   

Track two and track three continue the same route. But again, with ALOT of sound dynamics and variation. Moving from moods being calm to truly aggressive noisy ideas! It´s not a head-on noise thing like Japanoise but works more as a kind of subtle industrial background noise for your local mental asylum. Look at the cover artwork for SPKs Information Overload Unit while listening to this, it actually does makes sense!

Another thing that I really like about this release is that you can feel (and sense) how these 3 people manage to connect and create a new language of sound on the spot. It´s a purely magickal moment of creativity, which (luckily) was recorded! 

Last thing kids. E.C.T. is a strictly obscure underground label. Wanna buy the album? Get in touch with them via the links below, no Bandcamp here folks!

Facebook (label):

https://www.facebook.com/ectrecs

Discogs (band):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/11252651-Asylum-Symphonies

    

Deprivation - Keep My Grave Open 

Deprivation hails from Italy, and behind this project hides a Mauro Sciaccaluga. An industrial/noise veteran who has been responsible for several projects (Saturnik Sektor, Shiver, Spasmo), as well as running his own label Diazepam. This project seems to be his main project since it has the most releases compared to his other projects. Started in 2012 with several releases from his own label and other labels as well (check the Discogs link below). A cool-looking jewel-case CD containing 6 tracks, about 40 minutes in total.

So what is Deprivation and how can u describe the sound within (just to give a quick introduction). I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, classic Italian death-industrial! Namedrop the likes of Atrax Morgue, Morder Machine, Today I´m Dead, and proto stuff like Mauthausen Orchestra and MB of course. Looking forward to hearing this album!

The first track They Don´t Have To Know starts with the iconic Whitehouse sound, monotonous high-pitched feedback with a hypnotic texture attached to it. Joined up with a kind of morbid mood with clinical echoed sound effects, almost giving the listener an impression of being buried alive. Additional atmospheric sounds give the track some extra layers, and some really great (and horrific) distorted vocal screams from the world of the dead! I really love this, fans of Lille Roger and early BDN will understand!

The second track Everything On This Earth contains some kind of heavily distorted guitar sounds (I think) with some intriguing samples in the background. Very old-school 90s sound here, not that far away from Deathpile (If you remember). A very simple and highly atmospheric piece, offering brutal, brooding, complex, and intense psychedelic noise-scapes. 

The third track Hatefuck starts with a high-pitched electronic looped sound, another thumping rhythmic sound gives the track a kind of ... hospital feel ( Hamburger Lady?). Eerie distorted sounds with some fantastic Genocide Organ kind of vocals as well. 

The fourth track In The Folds Of The Flesh is a moody and nasty piece of flesh scraping harsh noise. Really love the primitive sort of bass sounds here, and I love how the layers of noise bury the listener like bricks. It does sound kind of chaotic, but there is a kind of structure here. 

The fifth track Cold At The Touch enters the-soundtrack kind of territory. Expressive guitar-based distortions with that classic and ominous humming bass sound, an excellent sample from some kind of catholic rite/hymn in the background give the track an extra paranormal edge. A real field recording between some guy and a paramedic, discussing the find of some dead girl (Overdose?)... Who is (As you can guess)... Cold At The Touch. A track with a paranormal almost spiritual ritualistic touch, an absolutely beautiful track.

The sixth track (and last) track The Shape Of Fear is something else. A thumping electronic rhythm and thick layers of primal harsh noise. Probably the most maniacal piece on the album, unpredictable and less structured. A nice way of ending the album. 

A truly bad-ass slice of retro 90s industrial-noise sound here. Great (and lovely) to hear that there are some still pursuing a sound that time almost has forgotten. Every track here is a good track, and every track on this album has a story to tell. Kind of like, bruising through some hard-boiled detective scrapbook (if you please). Need your power-electronics, death-industrial fix then check this one out!     

Bandcamp (label):

https://nekrogoatheresyproductions.bandcamp.com/album/keep-my-grave-open

Discogs (artist):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1166807-Mauro-Sciaccaluga

 

    

   

 

 Sokushinbutsu Project - Kristu

Third physical release from this enigma act from Italian. A small EP/mini-album with only 3 tracks. The theme for this EP? Something about Christ I think, gonna do a google translate on some of the Italian spoken words here. The whole thing comes beautifully packaged in a sort of thick parchment paper with some great-looking print, sealed shut by the iconic Industrial Ölocaust Recordings seal! I also managed to locate some info regarding the background graphics of the cover artwork itself: 

 

A detail of cross engravings left over the centuries by pilgrims at the sanctuary of La Verna, in Tuscany (Italy).

The physical release is of course a limited release, how many? I don't know... not much info on either Discogs or the website of the record label. But who cares, get it while it´s hot people!

The first track is simply called Kristu. Starts with a thumping and reverbed metallic sound while fades away into silence, followed up with a religious-sounding spoken word about well... Kristu (I think)... Some heavily distorted bass loops in the background, while some highly distorted clicks override the sound. Kind of hard to accept these distorted clicking sounds, but I do think that they are meant to be there.

The second track Seconddo Kristu continues the spoken words, while some highly distorted guitar sounds add further texture to the clicking sounds. Kind of like a trashy noise version of Ain Soph. The layers of screaming guitar distortion actually sound cool. 

The third and last track Mantralantico (Ancient Mantra) adds more of the over-distorted sounds with some ritualistic dark-ambient sounds in the background. Also, some distant spoken words are in there somewhere, hidden behind the walls of distortion. The track ends with a more dramatic and aggressive harsh-noise sound, imagine dark-ambient with someone pushing the distortion button. Again, the distortion bugs me, but it intrigues me because... I can actually hear that there is some other stuff, going on in the background? The best track is the last track here if you ask me. 

And that is that. Makes me think that this short (and mysterious) release serves a specific esoteric function in some way. To chant to maybe? A short chant to Kristu, morning and evening maybe? I don´t know. It´s an interesting release without a question, and it does leave a lot of questions for the listener as well. Although (I must admit) a bit disappointed with the release, their masterpiece of an album about the Sokushinbutsu rite totally blew me away (and took my breath away!)... and I am still waiting for the follow-up to that album. Maybe this EP was just a small appetizer, something for us to kill time until the second full-length album hits the streets? Nevertheless, since being a sucker for this act I will still cherish this release nonetheless. U can hear some excerpts from the album on Youtube, see the links below!

Official website (label):

https://cardinium.com/

Discogs (label):

https://www.discogs.com/label/64495-Industrial-%C3%96locaust-Recordings

Facebook (label):

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