Kalteldur top 10 of 2025

Let me be honest, the review office of Kalteldur gets busier by the year. Stuff that I needed to review this year will first get a review in 2026. Not only do I receive extremely limited physical-releases from DIY-labels, but now I also receive releases from more established labels aswell. The reason? Kalteldur has reached... a certain maturity over the years, and has a good and loyal bunch of readers. And, websites/blogs that provide the review-service to recording artists are a dying breed. So Kalteldur and a few others are the only ones available. Which offcourse is a great motivation-factor, and it gives me a sense of good sense of duty of providing updated information about the current state of the experimental industrial/noise scene. So yes, Kalteldur will continue for many years... the way I see it right now. Which offcourse leads us to another issue: what were the 10 most memorable moments of 2025?! 

Number 10:

Yellow Springs - S/T

Bent Window Records

Black industrial, true satanic industrial music, etc., etc. A term associated with the catalog of Cold Meat Industrial and related labels, when black-metal related acts start to flirt with industrial music. Beherit, Dödheimsgaard, and to a certain degree (although they came from the Swedish EBM scene) MZ.412. Yellow Spring comes from the United States (I think), and their debut was released on Canadian Bent Window Records. Black metal growls, mechanical tribal rhythms with otherworldly sounds swirl, and will intrigue the listener to step closer inside. A fascinating and inspiring album, and a fresh take on a style/aesthetic forgotten by time.    

Number 9:

Petrichor - Ascend To the White Lodge

Self-released

This year, we lost one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Yup, David Lynch. UK-based experimental power-electronics act Petrichor sat down and did a tribute album to him... and to his world of Twin Peaks. Ascend to the White Lodge sinks its teeth deeply into the painful intensity of the series, especially those scenes that conjure up a surreal world surrounded by the forces of the paranormal. Not a pleasant journey... it might just be one of the darkest (I can assure you of that!), but it's a very memorable one. In other words, it stands out 100%. Don´t miss it!

Number 8:

Kleistwahr - Where the Word Is Never

Fourth Dimension Records

One of the latest by this veteran act, released on Fifth Dimension. Gary Mundy of Ramleh, and Kleistwahr being his solo project.  Filmic post/kraut rock with spacy noise/industrial-ambient textures. Lots of emotional feedback, frightening quiet moments, and melancholic splendor. A positive reminder of how joyful loneliness can be, if it is possible offcourse. Highly recommended album to listen to in these crazy times, and yes... this album makes perfect sense! 

Number 7:

Bocci & Lyke Wake & J.C. Oberto - Cosmonauti

Small Circle Records

We head out into space with a colab between Lyke Wake and friends. A deep exploration into the great cosmos. Deep and epic space ambient with a touch of the abstract, and like I mentioned earlier... perfectly balanced between order and chaos! The album perfectly captures that nostalgic feeling and aesthetic when discussing the early days of space exploration and the ideas that accompanied them (if that makes sense). There have been a lot of great space-themed releases this year, and this one should be the one to start with. 

Number 6:

Thru The Leaves  - Nocturne

Industrial Ölocaust Recordings

Moving away from the cosmos and back to Earth, to observe the stars and the moon at night. Sure, it can be dark and scary at night, but it can also seem to be the most relaxing time of the day. Things are at rest, and suddenly the mind can concentrate on what matters. Nocturne by Thru The Leaves proves that. Played by two people, one on an electric harp and one on live electronics. Improvisational glitch ambient with an electric harp, sounds weird, but it works extremely well together. Recommended listening at night!

Number 5:

Law - The Black Lodge

Nuit et Brouillard

It's amusing how the same themes keep resurfacing. The Lodge Law also has a thing or two with the David Lynch series of Twin Peaks. Although this release dates back to 2001! A strange and experimental blend of moody ritualistic ambient music with subdued power electronics elements. Frightening, ethereal, with an effective subtle intensity. Not for the faint of heart, but easy listening for any ritual-industrial worshipper. 

Number 4:

Nerthus - Sudor Anglicus

E.C.T. 

An archaic trip back to England (1485-1551), about a mysterious, deadly sweating disease that people died from. Early death-industrial/ambient sound combined with icy atmospheric drones. The feeling of frosty ice on the surface, dense fog in the air, combined with the feeling of utter loneliness in an empty village. Sound of moaning spirits, distant church bells, underground rumbling sounds, and more. Perfect soundtrack, when it´s cold outside!

Number 3

ΣΑΛΠΙΓΞ - ΛΙΘΩΔΙΑ

Black Death Industry

This one with the mysterious letters might just be one of the most mystical and esoteric releases I´ve heard since... Ain Soph or early Current 93! If we could record sound from ancient times with some kind of sophisticated technology, it could actually sound like this. The whole sound has that dry and old aesthetic to it. The style? Somewhere between ritual music and dungeon-synth, I also get back to Slaughter Productions cult-compilation Death Odors 1 (for some reason). It has that quality of a classic, a classic which you´ll keep returning to. By the way, Black Death Industry (the label) is another cool label from Greece (like E.C.T). Something about Greece for sure!

Number 2:

Analfabetism - Svälten I Kagelösa år 1431

Fluttering Dragon  

 

It´s about food and hunger in one of the latest works with this classic Swedish industrial act. Is it pleasant? No. Is it terrifying? Yes. Does it make you happy? No. Is it inspiring and intriguing? Absolutely! 100% ear opener. Minimal-noise driven ambient music with real sounds attached to it. All drenched in murkiness, the sort of quiet murkiness that just waits... for an innocent someone to walk by. Kind of like, one of those... trapdoor spiders. Rather unpleasant, but strangely beautiful... in its own way offcourse! The whole album is a conceptual work that works around how famine had it´s told on Scandinavia, and in those specific cases... Sweden. Who accoding to my research, was the baddest case. Here you can hear it, instead of reading it. Something u really want to sink your teeth into!

Number 1:

Fog Baptism - Sea Sleeper

Inner Demons Records

I press the play button, hearing the sound of waves on the beach... and then it comes... an archaic, melancholic melody sweeps in and gets your mind completely into a focused state. And then you are there, u don´t know how you got there..., but you have been (somehow) transported into another familiar place within yourself. The kind of state where you feel, the mind and the soul at the same time... time stops! And you enter into a sort of awake dream world. Mental images of corn fields swaying in the wind like water, morning fog moving through the trees and nearby hills in the distance, the last sight of the sun before it disappears into darkness...and I could go on! Sea Sleeper completely works as a gate! Incredible moving stuff, mindblowing in slow-motion if you please. 

Happy New Year!

    

 Omniwhore - Sanity Frontier (Le Grande Phantasia Asociale

Omniwhore is a new project made by the same guy who gave us the cyberpunk-inspired project called Anaru, and the power-electronics act Mannjäger (who we also have reviewed on Kalteldur). This album is the first with this project. This release has been released on a new German label called Mind_On_Fire Produktionen. And this 50-copy limited one is the second release from this label.

The album has been given a mysterious title, Sanity Frontier (Le Grande Phantasia Asociale). Maybe something about losing one's sanity at some kind of threshold/front? And something about the big antisocial fantasy? Put that together, and you have...  the fulfillment of an antisocial fantasy at the cost of one's sanity. The band name Omniwhore describes a person (male or female) who engages in any kind of sexual activity at any time, regardless of their sex, etc, etc. Although the artwork showcases a female to be the Omniwhore?

 The front cover shows a psychedelic and dreamy kind of flower-look image with a nurse in the middle. Anaru also uses nurses in its imagery. You open the slim DVD case and out pops a DVD insert, a postcard, and a bloody condom! Don´t know, it´s still wrapped in plastic... haven´t been used! The CD shows a photo with... could be German soldiers in the Second World War, being at a show with dancing girls of some kind. And the album has 6 tracks, with again... some mysterious track titles aswell! 

The first track on the album is called Providence Bjarkov Announced. A high-pitched and distorted psychedelic glassy tone starts the track, screaming reverbed vocals, and some eerie background sound textures running in the background. Functioning as an intro to the album, kind of. 

The second track Introduce Me To Zyklon & Argentina. There is a heavenly and hypnotic synth-drone, vibrating distorted tones that fade in and out of focus. Actually, a very pleasant track if you look away from the title track.

The third track, Longing Cairo. Gets deeper into surreal technoid ambient soundscapes. Reversed watery waves on the beach, a lightly dreamy synth melody in there aswell. Very soothing track! 

The fourth track, The Fourth Reich Ov The Ninth Ward. Whispering distorted vocals here, the lyrics can be read on the DVD insert. Something about a year and something about that I was dreaming. Perfect after-nightfall soundtrack stuff here! 

The fifth track, Elite Class Whores Ov Bratislava. Which is a thing if you look it up on the Internet.  Luxurious and expensive prostitution in Slovakia. A melancholic, looped, and distorted synth melody starts the track. Harsh vocals with reverb are added, giving the track a martial-industrial vibe. Extra effects are added further on, especially to the melody. 

The sixth track, Simulation Omniwhore, starts with a chopped-up rumbling of heavy ambiance. The creaking of winds through tiny cracks, and atmospheric distortion, cracking like fried bacon on a hot pan. More of the whispering, distorted vocal elements here, and again... a melody in there aswell. Love it when a melody is hidden, and you have to find or sense it through a brutal soundscape. 

The seventh and last track is called Visos Durys Atlapos, which means All Doors Flap. Also, the longest, and also the most noisy one aswell.  Distorted winds, looped noises, a relentless noise-wall... It´s got the lot on this track. A very hypnotic, beautiful, and harsh power-electronics track with a soundtrack approach.

The Omniwhore album is good. It´s an industrial kind of chill-out album, which is kind of surprising regard the chosen concept for the album. I was (offcourse) expecting some kind of macho power electronics with a grudge, but I listened to something that was galaxies away from that idea. The concept seems inspired by hatred, but the recordings tell another story (I think). Are we back to the classic idea of camouflage within certain kinds of industrial acts? We might be. What do you think? Give it a listen and share your thoughts! 

Bandcamp (band):

https://panzerkabarett.bandcamp.com/album/sanity-frontier-la-grande-phantasia-asociale

Bandcamp (label):

https://mindonfireproduktionen.bandcamp.com/album/omniwhore-sanity-frontier

Analfabetism - Svälten I Kagelösa År 1431 

The project Analfabetism hails from Sweden, and it is a dark-ambient/industrial project by Fredrik Djurfeldt. He is also a member of an EBM band called Severe Illusion. Since 2014, Fredrik has been highly productive with this project. This one is the ninth album! It has been released on CD by Fluttering Dragon. As a regular digipack and as a beautiful limited box set. 

It´s a concept-driven album, a very hungry kind of concept. We´re dealing with famine in Sweden. Sweden has had troubles with several famine troubles before ( in the old days ), and this CD revolves around a village called Kagelösa that simply disappeared! The kind of stuff that happens with the crop simply fails, or even just bad weather. The artwork of this release also works around this concept. The main artwork shows a dying mother, surrounded by her starving children who cling to her. We also see somewhere who eats something, probably bread made out of bark from trees... which they actually tried eating! Even cakes made out of moss. There is also a drawing of an old lady, carrying several babies on her bag... with a kind of sinister smile on her face. I also found out that when the last famine ended in Sweden, that´s the year/time when the stories of Astrid Lindgren´s Emil Fra Lønneberg actually start. Anyways, let us get on with the album then!.

The first track is called På Galgbacken Intet Nytt (On Galgbacken Nothing New). Galgbacken was a mound that was a hot spot for executions; the last execution was in 1859. So people who did something against the law in these famine periods might have ended their lives on the mound. A cold and heavy chunky bass-drone sets the tone, with the sound of... something metallic being sharpened. It might be an axe, I think it sounds more like a scythe being sharpened, though. Additional distorted scrap metal noises get into the cocktail, with a strange and repeated howling sound... sounds like a howl, or someone yelling... sounds inhumane nonetheless. And that´s the track, which works solely on minimalism and mood... lovely, desolate kind of soundscape. The dread can easily be detected here!

The second track, Farsot, is the same name for an epidemic in older days. The slowed-down and repeated hypnotic sound of a scythe harvesting a dry corn field, 1:20, a huge metallic gong hum, and at 1:53, we get some excellent distorted martial drums and harsh vocals. I kind of get back to early Mental Destruction/MZ.412 here, pure industrial doom muzick! Still having that minimal sound approach. Later on, we get a kind of... sick chopped up sound which slowly goes up and down. With the sound of a heated furnace aswell. I really dig this sort of storytelling through sounds and mood! I kind of get into the sort of... madness that gets into u through hunger and desperation here. 

The third track is called Likets Väg Över Hälleberget (The Corpse´s Path Over Hälleberget). The first time I heard it, I was thinking about the sound of someone cutting dry bark from a tree. But it might also be the sound of a carriage, carrying the dead perhaps. That dry sound when wooden wheels run over a path with small stony pebbles. Lovely dark-ambient/death-industrial-like drones in the background. And then it comes again, another creepy sound that comes from a human throat... combined with the sound of eerie machinery driven by human hands. Shamanistic rhythms are added, which give the track a lovely kind of mysticism. Fans of early Morthhond, take notice! 

The fourth track, Drömmen Om Minnesota. It could be about the immigrants who traveled from Sweden to the United States because of the famine.  Heavy, warped, and looped dark ambient textures. And some strange and minimal rhythm sets in, with some reversed piano and synth notes. Lovely distorted sounds emit in and out, a lovely sound representation of how mental sickness can sound like... without it being evil-sounding... much more serious than that! Love the way he utilizes the distortion effect, suddenly it´s there, and suddenly it´s gone, and it sinks into the dark ambient moods. 

The fifth track, Våldsdåd I Gryningen (Violence At Dawn). A looped metallic gong, a constant heavy tone, and then... a looped distorted melody sneaks in. I mean, it´s fxxxxxx brilliant. And the distortion which enters this is equally brilliant! The kind of distorted sounds he makes has been made in a very unique way! Excellent doomy martial drums, with a very decent dungeon-synth tune to accompany it. 

The sixth and last track is called I Väntan På Olycka (Waiting for the Accident). It might just be about people, just waiting for an "accident" so they can satisfy their need for food. The heaviest ambient track on the album, and a good way to end the album aswell. The album ends with a slow grind, not a bang! As we all know, the Swedes got through the famine. 

Svälten I Kagalösa is a bloody masterpiece the whole way through. Everything has been focused, both the concept and the sound that goes with it. U can just look at the various drawings of the artwork, and the chosen sound just goes with it hand in hand... aswell as the concept, offcourse. It´s a pure delight for any old-school CMI fans, without it getting retro or anything. Taps into the old stuff and gets out sounding new and still getting to sound vital. This is one release that u don´t want to miss!   

Bandcamp (label):

https://flutteringdragon.bandcamp.com/album/analfabetism-sv-lten-i-kagel-sa-r-1431

Bandcamp (band):

https://analfabetism.bandcamp.com/

 

 Signatus, Catatonic State, Soma, Gyakusatsu - Marbre Negre Fest I

This release is not a compilation. This release is a documented live recording from the first Marbre Negre Festival. Featuring Signatus, Catatonic State, Soma, and Gyakusatsu. This release has been made available on limited cassette via Spanish Marbre Negre and on limited CD-R via E.C.T. Recordings. About 75 minutes of relentless sound brutality. 

Interesting and trashy-looking graphics adorn the release. Surreal and nightmarish collage made by an artist who goes by the name of Human Nausea. The live recordings have been made at L'Antic Forn de Vallcarca by Oscar in Barcelona. Oscar is the guy behind Gyakusatsu and Marbre Negre, in case u didn´t know. All the live recordings by the various acts are untitled.  

We start off with Signatus. We have reviewed before, kind of satanic-themed industrial-noise... or as the artist himself calls it, Iberian Barbaric Harsh Noise! Subtle ambient sound of humming steel and quiet distortion. Sound of metallic wrap paper, or is it the sound of a power surge through a wire? Then the sound gets crushed on a wave of feedback, with occasional high analog-squeaks worming it´s way through the cracked feedback. Everything sounds as if it has been recorded through a steel tunnel, while a kind of bladed sort of machinery runs through it to clean it. Agonized human voice screaming in there aswell. Atmospheric harsh noise which slowly builds up, giving it a ritualistic element. Love it. Ends with the audience applauding, which is kind of nice. 

Next act on the menu is Catatonic State, whom I don´t know (yet). A project by David Area, whom I know through an excellent ambient release he did with Javier Piñango (R.I.P). Worth a note or two, with this project, he has made a split with HNW-pioneer Vomir. And he has had a release out on Smell The Stench back in 2013. Anyway, the track starts with the sound of the audience having a conversation in Spanish, I can't understand what they are saying, but... There's definitely a good vibe in there. Then there is a sound, a subtle sound slowly rising higher and higher...the audience is still talking... maybe not knowing what is going to happen. The rising tone ends and gets replaced by a wall of distorted sound of falling bricks. There is also a humming tone in there. So far, it´s a classic ambient-noise wall with the live element attached to it. I'm not sure, have a feeling that there is the chanting Gregorian chant in there, maybe it´s just me who has been listening to noise-wall for too long... who knows? It´s the kind of wall that I enjoy, one that has a kind of spiritual or religious mood. It stops, all people are cheering and clapping their hands... even having a laugh. 

We head straight into the sound of Soma, whom I have reviewed several times on Kalteldur. The sound of Soma is a bit closer to power electronics than harsh noise. Although mostly focused on abstract noise, there is a brutal and relentless sound-monster on the loose, which (more or less) is controlled in iron chains. The torturous sound explodes in hundreds of small sharpnells, while a heavy bass tone keeps the listener firmly glued to the concrete floor. When we get to the end of their recording, you feel (as a listener) kind of exhausted... but in a good way. Completely and utterly brutal.

We end the evening with Gyakusatsu. A relentless project which have haunted the Spanish scene since 2010. Which is more or less the backbone for the Marbre Negre label... in the same way that Brighter Death Now was the backbone for Cold Meat Industry. The sound of gas, nasty, distorted screaming, metal feedback, and whispering ritual spoken words. Skin-stretching multi-layered torment in the operational theatre, something getting drilled... something getting sliced. At one point, I had to take a pause... watching a video with Bottoms! (Anyways!). Vocals are added, and the electronics are further intensified... really like that weird sound of machinery moving up and down, sinister slaughterhouse going bunkers! When it ends, u get to feel in your head (and ears) just how violent Gyakusatsu and Soma really were! 

Marbre Negre Noise Fest I is a live recording which captures a moment, and explains what u can expect from a label like Marbre Negre. Although they also manage to release ambient, dungeon synth, and experimental stuff aswell. This one is firmly focused on the various noise styles on the label itself. The live recording is pretty good, and you also get the feeling of actually being there. Most brutal stuff I have heard this year, my ears still hurt! 

Bandcamp (Marbre Negre):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/marbre-negre-fest-i

Discogs (E.C.T):

https://www.discogs.com/release/26316626-Various-Live-At-L-Antic-Forn-de-Vallcarca-08102022

        

 

 Shadow Echo Canyon - A Daymare Reality

Let us get back to Inner Demon Records for another review. This time, we have an act called Shadow Echo Canyon with an album called A Daymare Reality. This act has existed since 2020, with several self-released digital albums on Bandcamp. The guy behind it is named Luca Tommasini, who is also responsible for projects like A Distant Shore and Asylum Connection. Mainly dealing with meditative ambient-drones and spacy minimalism. 

This album is the latest by this act, which was released in September 2024. Limited to 42 copies, on handstamped 3" CD-Rs with a heavy cardstock inside a plastic pouch. The exquisite and iconic Inner Demon Records design. The album contains 3 tracks on 2 CD-Rs, about 36 minutes in total. 

The first track is called All This Darkness Rest In Me. A sense of ominous high heights, a sensible and thundering spacy-drone, echoed minimalistic noise and whispering spoken words. There is also a strange string sound in there aswell. Not dark ambient or classic ambient stuff. Frozen in time stuff, very microscopic and epic without the drama. Incredibly intriguing, relaxing, and intense in an otherworldly way. 

The second track, Only Disgusting Feelings. Icy crystalline ambient synth, sound of ghosts taking their empty breaths, intimate spoken words, and the sound of... secret things going on in some cavernous cellar of some kind. Still carrying the sound aesthetic started by the first track. A certain sound of that synth takes me back to John Carpenter´s The Thing.

We continue on disc 2 with the third and last (and longest) track, which is called Unquiet Night. Unsettling sound of electronic-hardwire and machinery hoovering above the listener, while the recorded sound of a contact-microphone is being tugged away in wool. An abysmal dark-ambient sound-texture is running in the background, almost with a kind of dungeon/winter-synth feel to it. Kind of, when snow is covering some sort of industrial location or factory grounds. 

A Daymare Reality is uneasy-listening for ambient-lovers, filled with pure ear-candy. Intriguing field-recordings, hypnotic soundscapes, curious spoken-words, bottomless/levitating moods with a playful experimental approach/ideas. It´s an album that I (and hopefully u) will return to, just to give it another listen. Lots of ways of listening to it, and lots of ways to understand it aswell. Highly recommended! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-daymare-reality-ind209d

Bandcamp (band):

https://shadowechocanyon.bandcamp.com/

            

 Ivanova Kula - Lullaby For Undead Knights

The Greek label Black Death Industry also deals in dungeon synth, and Lullaby For Undead Knights by Serbian-based Ivano Kula falls into that category. The person behind this project is also responsible for several experimental/electronic projects, which you can all check out in his Discogs profile (link below). This album is by Ivano Kula. And it has been released as a CD-R that comes in a plastic sleeve, with a booklet, offcourse. 9 tracks, 20 minutes in total.

The name of the project comes from the name of the fortress of  Ivan Kosančić, which is situated in Serbia, located close to the village of Ivan Kula itself. It is also the same tower on the cover. Offcourse, lots of history is attached to it. The foundation of the tower was built by the Romans. And the album title might refer to two knights who were attached to the fortress... named Milan Toplika and Miloš Obilić, who were members of the Dragon Order. Who went to the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. 

The first intro track is simply called Overture, opens the album with a melancholic touch on a cold and foggy day. Instantley getting the impression of seeing the fortress from a distance. 

The second track, The Deserts And Ruins Were Once rolls straight into simple medieval-inspired dungeon synth... with that historic kind of sense to it. Early European proto dungeon synth like Mortiis and Depressive Silence. 

The third track, Through The Corridors Of Zaborav & Bestrag, has an elegant and haunting feel to it. The way the spirits of the dead can be sensed on historic sites, which is easier on a cold and foggy day, offcourse! 

We jump to my favorite piece on the album, which is the seventh track, with the same title as the name of the album. A slightly uplifting sense of pride rooted in ancient times. Still rooted in primitive ambient-synth sound, vibrating string synth, and reverb.

Lullyby For Undead Knights will please any fans of traditional proto dungeon synth, especially with that kind of European sound, which is rooted in history. With a sound that is melancholic, primitive, cold, grim, and worn out by harsh cold weather. And it´s simplistic, just two synths being played at the same time... but it does its job, there´s no need for extra layered sound or anything. Not groundbreaking stuff, but a piece that is simple and honest. You know what you should expect, and you get what u want... simple as that!

Bandcamp (label):

https://blackdeathindustry.bandcamp.com/album/ivanova-kula-lullaby-for-undead-knights

 Nerthus - Sudor Anglicus

One of the latest releases from this great German dark-ambient act. Released as a limited CD on the Greek label E.C.T. Recordings. With the iconic, sexy, and recognizable CD-cover design, offcourse! 

This new release is about a certain deadly and mysterious disease. 5 epidemics in England between 1485 to 1551. The symptoms were extreme sweating, shivering, and high fever. Death occurred only after a few hours! The cause of the disease remains unknown to this day; some have speculated that it may be related to the Hanta-virus. A virus that is being spread by rodents, through their urine, feces, and saliva. Yugh!

Anyway, this album comes with 5 tracks. About 50 minutes in total. All the tracks are nameless and are just called I, II, III, IV, V. Might just be the 5 stages of the disease maybee?.

The first track puts the listener straight into some murky place/crypt under the earth. Kind of close to the ambient undertones/sound to Brighter Death Now´s Necrose Evangelicum/Great Death-era, just without the harshness, but more focused on atmospheric soundscapes. Cold repetitive drones, haunting and sorrowful angelic sounds, and the rustling sound of metal in the distance. You almost get the sense that there is a melody there, but there isn´t. It´s the storytelling ability to tell a tale through sound, which is present. Beautiful track!

The second track starts where the former track ends (offcourse). Following up on the murkiness with new touches to the soundscape. A heavy synth is present, and the sense of a ritualistic practice is being focused on here. There is a thick, icy, and dense fog here, and the sense of being in a town which is completely...silent and dead. Also, another creepy sound in there, a cold wind blowing through a crack in the wall, and more mournful voices of the dead.. The virus is being transmitted right now. While the slow banging of rusty church bells is in the air. A very epic long track (23 minutes), don´t worry... it doesn´t even get tedious! 

The third and fourth tracks kind of get back to the repetitive death-industrial drones from the first track. More focused on the murky sounds, with fewer lighter elements. Coldest moment on the album so far.   

 

The fourth track has a soothing effect after the third and fourth tracks. Death has finally entered the sick and released them from the agony of a diseased existence. The dead can finally be buried. There is the feeling of release here, but also... in reality... There isn´t any light at the end of the tunnel. There is no sense of hope. The coldness of the track confirms that. 

Sudor Anglicus has a highly enjoyable and pleasing dark ambient release with a high-quality sticker attached to it. Kind of funny how something as dark and cold as this can somehow be an incredibly pleasant thing to lay your ears on. It can be somehow related to, that the recorded material has been made in a state of focused storytelling through sound. Gives the album a sense of warmth that u can sense the creator through the darkness and coldness. Highly recommended album to listen to in the coming winter! 

Discogs (label):

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

Bandcamp (band):

https://nerthus.bandcamp.com/album/sudor-anglicus

     

  

      

 Devil´s Breath - Abandoned By Humans,

Adopted By Wolves

The second time we get to review dark-ambient/tribal act Devil´s Breath, and this album is their fifth one. Also released on Zazen Sounds like the former album. Also released as an elegant and beautiful slimline digipack. Album artwork featuring human skulls and a wolf's head, and inside, we find a dark forest and information about the album's concept. Here goes: 

Abandoned By Humans, Adopted By Wolves is the fifth album from Devil's Breath, and the second released on Zazen Sounds.

Abandoned by Humans, Adopted by Wolves is inspired by the sense of feeling disillusioned by the human species—a disillusionment reactive to humanity's behavior towards its own race, towards the animal and plant kingdoms, and towards the Earth, which is its habitat.

Wolves are symbolic of what humans do not represent. This permanent state of disillusionment of the human species leads to the desire, the need, and the enthusiasm of withdrawing into isolation, deep into forests among the wolves.

And on this album, we have only one track, which is almost 1 hour long. So without further ado, let us jump straight into it!

Deep chopped-up drones and gentle, distorted machine rumblings. A heavenly synth sound from above penetrates the darkness and also gives the beginning an epic, ritualistic touch. Further on, we get bangings on huge and small chimes, radiators, and gongs, while the mood intensifies with a strange humming of a pulsating laser drill. I do like the sound of it, the way that sound travels through a dense and dark forest. Something strange and magical, hearing the echoed sound of metal inside a forest. You do get that feeling that you are alone, but not really. 

After 12 minutes, there is a metallic ringing of small metal rings, and icy crystalline sounds piercing the overall hypnotic soundscape. At this point, it does feel like I'm getting sucked into this. More ritualistic percussion lightens the intensity. 

A sensation of small underground explosions or the shifting of the earth, a cold wind? Sound of angels? And that thick drilling sound, grinding through solid stone. Almost losing my sense of time here!. At around 40 minutes, harsh noise and angelic touches clash together in a sense of ecstasy. 

There is (kind of) a sort of slow melody in there, and you get the feeling of being a participant in some sort of cleansing ritual. Everything is gently done, but the sound throbs and drills through your senses. It´s an adventurous, dark journey on a single track, a long story on a single page. Fans of Vidna Obmanna and Controlled Bleeding would dig this album! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/album/zzs-160-devils-breath-abandoned-by-humans-adopted-by-wolves-available-now-in-digi-format-sold-out-high-quality-digital-download

 Thru The Leaves - Nocturne

We reviewed the album Eleven Faces and Forty Two Arms by Stefano Bertoli in 2020, and now we get to review a new project with him called Thru The Leaves with the album called Nocturne. This project/release has been made with Erica Volta, who plays the electric harp, while Stefano does all the electronics. 

Also released by Italian Industrial Ölocaust Recordings, on cassette and on CD. Two tracks on it, with 47 minutes in total. The CD comes in a standard jewel case, accompanied by a thick and textured booklet inside. The artwork depicts a planet undergoing the cycle of night and day. 

The first track is called Thebit. Not sure what the title is, maybe the recorded audio on the track itself explains it. Pleasant electronic glitch-sounds, tweeps, and bleeps like an alien radio-recording. The playing of a harp adds to the sound and gives the listener the impression of watching the moon on a cold, starless night. I'm not really a huge fan of harp, but this kind of playing really suits me. I think it´s kind of improvised, and it tries to work together with the sound of otherworldly electronics. And yeah, it´s a pretty good match! A mesmerizing sense of ritual-purpose where time just goes... slow. Which is a good thing really, beause it´s a long track! It´s utterly beautifully done, like floating on something in a state of absolute bliss. Love the ethereal synth work aswell. 

The second track, Purbach. It might be the name of a large crater on the moon, or the surname of an Austrian astronomer. The harp continues its cosmic journey with some really excellent psychedelic space-ambient soundscapes. Very similar to the former track, but it really doesn´t mind... I wouldn´t mind if these two could just continue playing without end. 

Nocturne works best when it´s night, when u are alone. The moon is out, some clouds, and some stars. And the way it´s quiet in the nighttime, the sound of a hedgehog or a fox... the wind through the pines, the crashing of waves on the beach. You all know it, it´s quite more easy to relax in the nighttime... mainly because most people are sleeping. I really like the nighttime in that way, in the same way I like this album. Everything works between these two people, I don´t know if it's improvised or planned or anything.. but it works.. and yeah... magical stuff is happening aswell.

Bandcamp (Discogs - band):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/14506414-Thru-The-Leaves

Official website (label):

https://cardinium.com/product/ior-tk-xxxiiicdr/

   

 Petrichor - Ascend to the White Lodge

A UK act with several Bandcamp releases, and most of the physical releases are already sold out. Can´t find the act on Discogs either, since the act doesn´t have an entry on Discogs. So, if you want your physical release with this interesting act, then you might consider asking for it on several noise/industrial groups on various social media platforms. 

This one was released back in June (2025) and was released as a jewel case CD-R, and as a special edition with everything in a handmade red bag. Other than that, I can inform the reader that the release functions as a tribute to David Lynch. Specifically, Twin Peaks offcourse. With all the emotions to be witnessed in this excellent supernatural thriller series, the artist tries to channel these kinds of emotions into this full-length album. Over 1 hour long. 

The first track is called The Red Room. And the Red Room is, well, the Red Room with the cool-looking white and black floor. And offcourse, with people talking backwards, with a cool-looking midget who has some pretty nifty dance moves. A strange and heavily distorted voice mumbling, with a quiet sound of feedback. Some extra glitchy noise from a radio, chopped up high-frequency noise, and a bar of metal being hit by a piece of metal. A long, ritualistic industrial-noise piece with eerie moods. Not chaotic, but made with a focused eye and ear! Lots of stuff and weird sounds are going on; open your ears and you might notice them.

The second track, Pain & Suffering. The sound of an old warped vinyl playing backwards, and then some kind of living metal-machine creates a looped rhythm. Harsh and spacy noise touches are added, while screeching souls are trying to break into our world. The noise becomes very surreal, and there are a lot of recorded sound elements that are trying to hypnotise the listener (Or disorientate!). More recorded sounds of scrapped metal within! 

The third track is called Meanwhile. A wavy sound of waves, watery waves or... the sound of 100 sheets getting dried in stormy weather? .. I am not sure. The sound of sheets getting "alive" in Mr James´s Oh Whistle...? Sound of creaking wet wood and wind, like being inside a boat with a wild weather going on outside. I'm really getting into those menacing evil forces of Twin Peaks here, something being outside... that WANTS to get inside...somehow. 

The fourth track, Where I´m From the Birds Sing a Pretty Song. Fasr and chopped up high frequencies, and organic-sounding walls of noise move around my room (or speakers). There are some kind of spiritual traces to be heard and sensed through the thick layers of primitive ambient noise here. 

Once We Cross, it Could All Be Different is the fifth track. A spacy journey into.. cosmic noise and archaic horror? Huge things moving under the earth, a scratching saw-buzz... and the imagination of how the essence of evil can hide in the smallest things imaginable. Microscobic demons? 

Ascend to the White Lodge is a breathing, organic, and living thing made purely out of harsh sounds. It feels very personal and intimate, it will get under your skin... one way or another. And it´s different, not fitting into a specific category as such. Hard to compare to anything, it´s that unique. Working as an excellent tribute to both David Lynch and Twin Peaks. 

Bandcamp (band):

https://petrichor-noise.bandcamp.com/album/ascend-to-the-white-lodge