Kalteldur top 10 of 2023

2023 was huge! Not only was there an abundance of releases but also an abundance of artists and well-established labels who reached out with stuff that needed to be reviewed. It was tough to boil it all down to 10 albums since there have been so many incredible releases in 2023. The Kalteldur office also (sadly) had a minor setback with the old computer that burned down, but luckily we could get back online to deliver the last reviews and of offcourse to deliver this best of 2023. So let us get down to business, and namedrop the coolest releases of 2023 (The was reviewed on Kalteldur!)

Number 10

Deprivation - Keep My Grave Open

New Approach Records

Deprivation - Keep My Grave Open was a lovely trip down memory lane, and what a great one that was. Think classic Italian death-industrial like Atrax Morgue and the U.S.A. power-electronics acts like Intrinsic Action... that kind of sound. Powerful and subtle with lots of edge and personality attached to it. An act which we all should keep a good look out for in the comin' future!

Number 9

Mai 12 & Dosis Letalis - Untergrundarbeiten

Grubenwehr Freiburg

HNW/ANW is still alive and kicking; the latest with these two acts proves it. Released on the avant-garde-driven label Grubenwehr Freiburg, this release made a stone-hard connection between atmospheric walls of noise and the idea of working hard in a coal mine. Incredible claustrophobic sound, yet strangely soothing! Pure moody noise for concentrated emotionalism!

Number 8

M. Bryo & D.M.T. - Things I Was Due To Forget

Nuit er Brouillard

And I thought that I had a complete collection of The Klinik / Absolute Body Controntrol etc. I didn´t! French label Nuit et Brouillard did a nice compilation of the stuff that Mark Burghgraeve did, he was one of the early figureheads in early Klinik! Minimal and clinical synth-pop with a touch of madness here and there! To make it short, absolutely essential album for any collector of early and obscure synth-pop.

Number 7

ZeroNull - Red Mars

Marbre Negre

Always dreamt of moving to Mars (for some insane reason). Being (almost) untouched by human hands, and being completely engulfed and controlled by the environment. Silent and mysterious, with maybe secrets hidden beneath. One will get that feeling when listening to ZeroNull´s Red Mars album. One of the best ambient albums of 2023! Compelling album concerning an incredibly big concept, Mars. This album should not be missed! 

Number 6

K2 - Lost Land of Chipa

Abhorrent Creation Tapes

K2 - Lost Land Of Chiba (Abhorrent Creation Tapes, 2022)

For me, the highlight among the releases I reviewed in 2023 was K2s 2022 effort Lost Land Of Chiba on Abhorrent Creation Tapes. Here at the end of the year, I can conclude that Lost Land Of Chiba still delivers. As I stated back when I reviewed it, we are dealing with a well-crafted, mature, almost surgical piece of noise art, and I can add to that assessment that it keeps on giving regarding new sounds and details to be discovered. However, while the skill on display is sure to be lauded, it is the clinical and bleak atmosphere that is present throughout that gives Lost Land Of Chiba its special appeal. 

Number 5

Blodskam - Staalbrunst

Death In Venice Productions

A journey through seductive sexual depravity, vintage death industrial/ambient, Swedish humor, Twin Peaks, and sticky pornographic magazines from the 70s! Staalbruns could be the only dose any sleazebag could need (daily). It´s a great album! Discovering the worlds between morbid noise-industrial and ritual-driven ambient music. Excellent alternative background soundtrack for any exploitation flick! 

Number 4:

Madrelarva - Sol Interior

Marbre Negre

I really didn´t know what I should write... concerning this release. The Spanish label Marbre Negre has a funny tendency to surprise the listener. I don't know this act that well, but listening to this album gives the listener the feeling... that we might be talking about a so-called underrated act? It´s absolutely mind-boggling-brilliant! Technoid surrealist stuff with some automatic tribal elements as well. Fans of Deutsche Nepal, Coil... Take Notice!  

Number 3

Asylum Symphonies - Mental Disturbances

E.C.T Recordings

There are 3 tracks on this album, and checking up on the notes inside the cover... we get the info-text saying ´Only Raw Hate.´ The stuff inside is raw, and it´s also VERY spacy and abstract I might as well say that the analog sound has a kind of... 

Is there an auto sound to it? Early Cluster meets a noisy Tangerine Dream through Throbbing Gristle? Looks and sounds like power electronic, but it isn´t. Abstract analog ambient stuff with lots of disturbing space inside! A great work-out between Marbre Negre artists, released on the Greek E.C.T label!

Number 2:

Praying For Oblivion + Nerthus - A Desolate Place

E.C.T Recordings

Absolutely filled with ghosts of the past. A Desolate Place by Praying For Oblivion & Nerthus is a soul-changing journey through places of great industry, and now... just another desolate place. Listening to this album, makes me think of the emotions and memories which are left behind. Industry, wealth, factories, etc symbols of work and security for the future (and your family). And all of sudden, it's bloody gone! Whatever is left, can be heard on this one CD. I will recommend it this year, and I will also recommend it in 2024. 

Number 1:

Minamata - Niigata

Zone De Confusion

It is without a doubt, the worst piece of artwork I have seen in a long time! I thought to myself, why don´t I give it a bloody chance? As we all say, we shouldn´t judge the book by just looking at it. And my oh my, I was in for a bloody surprise! Old stuff recorded back in 1985, is a conceptual idea based on a tragic environmental disaster. Old-school industrial meets the early ideas of power electronics, being re-issued on CD. In lots of ways, they are more brutal than the Grey Wolves and more even aggressive than Con-Dom. I am not sure, but this release gets pretty close to SPK's Leichenshrei album... for real! Don't mind the bollocks (artwork) mind the bloody recordings inside!

Happy New Year!

  

 

   

 Djinn & Ideal Father - 

White eye Nightmare Seeing

Ideal Father and the label Death In Venice are at it again, this time in good company with a true Italian death industrial-veteran, the solo project called Djinn. The album is called White Eye Nightmare Seeing, and the thing is out as a limited 30 copies cassette. 

Just a quick word/intro to the projects. Djinn started around 1999 and has had several releases on Atrax Morque´s legendary cult label Slaughter Productions as well as Old Europa Cafe. Huge selection of releases to check up on (see Discogs and the Bandcamp link below!).

Ideal Father is the work of a crazy Swedish guy, the same who delivered the shocking acts of Blodskam and Kontakt Service. He is also a member of the so-called industrial (and pornographic) super-group called Mourn! He has been active since 2020. 

Upon closer examination, it will be revealed for the curious few that the release/recorded material within has been inspired by a prose poem called "Les Chants de Maldoror". And then you can ask yourself where you (might) have heard the name of Maldorer before? Namely through acts like Current- 93 and Nurse With Wound, but it has also been a huge inspiration for French Symbolism, Dada, and Surrealism. Huge inspiration due to its early transgressive, violent, and absurd themes. 

We start with the first track on the A-side, which is Ingresso Nell´abisso (Entrance Into the Abyss) by Djinn. There is a hum and some haunting (and distant) female vocals. A slowly-built and quite doom´ish atmospheric intro here. Kind of a Throbbing Gristle vibe here, especially with their more ambient-based material. Very desolate and very cold stuff, not your typical death-industrial or dark-ambient. I am not quite sure, but is there a highly distorted string instrument in there? Bass, guitar... something? Love the altering and surreal effects going on here, very cosmic-horror sort of feel. The great old-school industrial feel here!

The second Djinn track is called Permanenza Nell´abisso (Permanence In the Abyss). Being more of a... lighter track? Not in a sense that it´s happier than the former track! Lighter sounds, with more space within (and upwards). Still being true to the sound/aesthetic. As it turns out (so far), it´s excellent blackened ambient music with a nod or two to early industrial music. I want to have more with this act!.

We turn to the B-side with Swedish-based Ideal Father. The first track is called Över Kärr Och Avgrunder Av Oändligt Missmod (Over Swamps And Abyss of Endless Despondency). There is a highly reverbed hiss and a dense sort of layered soundscape, which makes you think back to that scene with the girl finding the room with the various sculptures made out of bones (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974). The whole affair sounds like a nightmare, one of those where your body is sleeping... but your brain isn't! 

The next track is called Sanningen Om De Fjorton Dolkarnas Trohet (Truth about the Fourteen Daggers Loyalty). Has some very decent retro synth going on, with a really menacing and harsh industrial soundscape on top of it. Bone-crushing death industrial with some decent 80s synth in the background, why not?! Bloody works like a charm!     

The third (and last track) Medan En Iskall Vind Visslade Genom Granarna Öppnade Skaparen Sin Port (As an icy wind whistled through the fir trees, the Creator opened His gate). Religious and spiritual layered noise blasts through the speakers, lots of sounds and recorded stuff located in the slightly rhythmic noisy soundscape. A really great and powerful piece of horrific ambient noise!

All in all, a fantastic split between two completely unique artists/acts within the death-industrial/ambient scene. Love the concept, love the sound and I love how these two acts sort of... make it work! And how does it work? For some strange reason, it makes sense that Ideal Father and Djinn have decided to make a split. And it will make sense if you give it a listen through the entire album. I only have one question... Why only 30 physical copies? I think it needs a re-issue on a CD, digipack with a booklet if you ask me!

Bandcamp (label):

https://deathinveniceproductions.bandcamp.com/album/djinn-ideal-father-white-eye-nightmare-seeing

Bandcamp (Djinn):

https://djinnsuicide1999.bandcamp.com/

Discogs (Djinn):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/438831-Djinn

Discogs (Ideal Father):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/7582027-Ideal-Father

      

Cronaca Nera: Collection In Perversion, written by Mads Heilskov

Collection In Perversion is a compilation of tracks by Italian death industrial mainstays Cronaca Nera (active since 2001 and with members who have been releasing this kind of stuff for even longer) on Greek underground label E.C.T. 

It consists of a total of 19 tracks from various EPs and splits put out on different labels throughout the years spread across 2 CDRs of close to an hour’s duration each. Since it is a compilation some variation in sound is to be expected, yet Cronaca Nera follows a pretty strict line aesthetically speaking both in sonic and visual terms, so it does not feel like a bunch of random tracks thrown together but more like an actual album. There are, however, tracks that stand out positively due to their structure and sounds but also their production, showing that the compilation could perhaps have turned out better if everything had been remastered as one release.

Presentation-wise Collection In Perversion features a nice fetish-themed packaging with foil paper and cards with different graphics.

Sonically, Collection In Perversion pretty much follows the well-known death industrial/noise recipe that was made (in)famous by fellow Italian Atrax Morgue, that is: heavy synth pulsations and washes of feedback with maniacal, mainly high-pitched, vocals on top as well as some “irritating” synth noises along with some simplistic yet effective rhythmic elements. As far as I can hear, many of the tracks have been made using loops, sequencing, and cut-up techniques recorded straight to tape, which gives the release a nice analog and “hand-made” feel to it. The downside of this approach is that some more elegant moves to create variation, texture, and exciting structures have not been chosen, making each track fairly static and uniform within its own frame. That said, some of the strongest tracks such as I Shit You and its follow-up, Needles, have a very present and powerful sound as well as some nice atmospheres and build-ups. A few tracks, such as Untitled 2 (CD 1, track 6) and Untitled 1 (CD1, track 8) feature a grinding rhythmic quality somewhere between Brighter Death Now and Deutsch Nepal territory that I would personally love to get more of, while other tracks such as Untitled 1 (CD 1, track 5) and Anal Inspection (CD 2, track 4) are more in line with Atrax Morgue’s brooding and simplistic approach.

All in all Collection In Perversion contains some good stuff that definitely scratches one’s itch for morbid Italian noise-adjacent death industrial. There are some nice grinding industrial rhythms and sick atmospheres to be found here for sure. However, while the material, as stated, has a very analog feel (which is a good thing), some of the hiss and buzz seem to add unwanted sounds and lack definition rather than grittiness. 

This build-up of (tape, I assume) distortion has the unfortunate effect that some of the heaviness is lost due to the lack of clarity at the bottom end of the sound spectrum. I am not wishing for a cleaner sound per se but would have liked a sound that was heavier and more defined at the bottom end with less white noise crackle and tape hiss at the top end. Thus, while liking what I hear a lot, I cannot help but imagine how much more devastating Collection In Perversion could have been if a little more attention had been given to creating variation in the structure of the tracks and more clarity at the bottom end had been prioritized over lo-fi aesthetics.

Discogs (release):

https://www.discogs.com/master/3121749-Cronaca-Nera-Collection-In-Perversion

Facebook (label):

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

Blog (Band):

https://cronacaneratrueperverse.blogspot.com/