Catacombs of Doom - Resurrection of the Flesh

A new release from an act which I haven´t heard before, although they have existed since 2009. They have even been on Craneal Fracture Records, which yours truly (back in the day) have had the pleasure of having some releases out on. Nonetheless, Resurrection of the Flesh is their fifth album. Released via Black Death Industry, and distributed via Depressive Illusions Records. So far it has come out on limited tape and CD. A full-length album containing 9 tracks. 

The first track on the album is simply called Resurrection of the Flesh (like the album). Evocative and satanic vocals, ritualistic beatings with a great and varied dark-ambient soundscape running in the background. That doesn't sound like much, but it´s actually quite a big and epic thing. A well thought conceptual sound, with a well thought lyrical theme on top of it. I wish there were more black metal bands who would do this kind of stuff. Sort of like... Sleep Chamber for black metal fans without guitars.  Really love the sound quality here, top edge soundtrack quality that is.

The next track Forlon of the Hammer takes the listener back to that old In Slaughter Natives sound (which I miss). A Barbaric and horrific slaughter of the innocent. Makes me think of how horrific it would be to spot that Viking ship in the distance (out in the sea), and know that your village is utterly doomed. That´s the kind of feeling this track will give you. And those who will survive the slaughter will be a slave of course. A very horrific soundscape with evil intent for sure, lovely drums here.  

The third offering Invictus turns the intensity into a more... "relaxed" state. More of a melancholic and tragic atmosphere here, with a violin there and some poetic esoteric-themed lyrics here. 

In the fourth track Dreams of Ninevah, we are introduced to haunting female vocals (Strawberry Switchblade fans anyone?). These vocals are mixed with the sinister male vocals here. Not really sure what I think when these two are combined, but it actually does sound better than I thought it would. I love the various effects on the vocals here. Reverb reversed, stretched, and so on. 

The fifth track Odor Mortis has some cool tribal stuff going on. If you would remove the vocals, it would sound a bit like something from SPK´s Zamia Lemahl. Dark and satanic world music if you please.

We jump to the seventh track Witch Trial. Sounds a lot like Aghast (R.I.P). So far my favorite track on the album. The drums sound good, the violin is creepy and the vocals are very exquisite. I must admit, the female vocals on this album are more... authentic-sounding than the male vocals, matter of taste I know. 

Lovely ritualistic undercurrents with the eight-track called Nebuchadnezzar´s Dream. A great follow-up to the former track Witch Trial. Again, lovely old CMI sound going on here. Love that witchy kind of atmosphere going on, out in the forest at night at a cemetery etc etc. 

We end the album with a cover of a track originally made by Necromantia. Almost kind of Arabic moments with a hint of Dead Can Dance here. And that ends the album. 

Lots of nifty satanic esoteric moments to be found and heard on this album, and the sound quality (good mastering) is a treat for the ear as well. At times I do think that the growling male black/death-metal vocals require too much of the listener's attention, whereas the female vocals work better in that way. But again, it´s a matter of taste. You can purchase your copy on the link below!

Depressive Illusions (label):

https://depressiveillusions.com/items/tape/dark-ambient-drone-experimental/catacombs-doom-ressurection-flesh?fbclid=IwAR3thxeCKJin2yX9Td1fL_h5HMEGwDhAWcCQ9mvJmFze59pwYHzicVjbktU

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/CATACOMBS-OF-DOOM-149040875123507

Bandcamp (band):

https://catacombsofdoom.bandcamp.com/

  

 Focus On The Breath - Time

New releases from one of my favorite pure ambient labels around, British Elm Records of course. One of them is a project called Focus On The Breath with the album Time, released in November last year. A limited cassette release, with the awesome Elm Records design with it. Lovely transparent blue cassette. 6 tracks divided on an A-side and a B-side, almost 40 minutes in total. 

And behind this project hides an artist, which has (according to Discogs) been involved in bands doing art/post-rock, folk, and even avant-garde Jazz as well. Besides that, he has been working on this project since 2014, with 4 albums out so far. Wanna check these albums out, then I suggest you check out the Bandcamp site for Cold Tear records (link below). 

The first track on the A-side is called Perpetual, starts really simple in an incredible angelic way. Simple and dreamy piano notes, with a touch of melancholia on a foggy day. Or when the sun rises over a windy cornfield in the morning, when corn fields almost resample waves in the ocean. The time around you absolutely freezes, and your pulse slows down completely. Imagine a black and white movie in the slowest slow-motion. There is also the sound of... dust on a record player evident. Hidden trumpet drones with that angelic touch also being a present in the mix as well. And that beautiful track runs in 16+ minutes. I´m gobsmacked by the beauty of this track. It does remind me a bit of some of the stuff found on Aphex Twin´s Selected Ambient Works Vol.2, or Autechre´s Amber without beats.

The second track on the A-side is called String Theory. Acoustic guitar-driven ambient material, not my cup of tea though. Reminds me of those kinds of new-age shops seeling healing crystals and herbs, acoustic guitar combined with ambient music... I know, it´s a taste thing. The track gets better further on when the guitar gets a kind of looped sound treatment. 

We jump further into the third track which is also the first track on the B-side. The track is called Continuum. Floating in space, or just frozen in time and space. A pretty deep, mysterious, and cosmic track. Waves of recorded sounds swirl and intertwine like liquid mercury. Hints of sampled violin here and there, excellent track here. 

In the fourth track Origin, we get the sensation of moving back in time. The reversed ambient sensation if you please. Some of the reversed sounds sound like they are moving forward, while other reversed sounds sound like they are moving backward... at the same time (does that make sense?). Is forward actually backwards, or is backwards actually forward? I don´t know.

The fifth track The Waiting Room works like a sort of... well waiting room. A short track, offering sounds of dripping water, windy and scrappy drones, and strings. Not a bad track.

The sixth and last track on the B-side (and the album) called Together includes vocals. Not actually words following a certain melody, but more of a humming voice doing the same sort of thing as that piano part did in the first track. Repetitive and simple tunes. Very kind of Sigur Rós here, more ambient than post-rock though.

Not a bad album as it is, it has its ups and downs but the overall quality of the whole album lifts the whole thing up. The one track that nearly overshadows the other tracks is of course... the first track. That one track is an absolute ambient masterpiece! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://elmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/time

Bandcamp (Cold Tear Records):

https://coldtearrecords.bandcamp.com/

Bandcamp (band):

https://focusonthebreath.bandcamp.com/releases

     

   

 

 Room of Wires - Fever Switch EP

An act that goes back to 2013, which I haven´t heard of yet. Until now that is. A nice description of the act can be located via Rednetics´s Bandcamp page : 

Room of Wires is an electronic music duo from the UK, who takes their isolationist approach to the limit. Since forming in 2013, they’ve never met, preferring to work in isolation, sharing ideas and sounds over the internet, one of them using hardware and a tangle of physical wires, the other lost in software and virtual cables.

 With two digital albums out on Ant-Zen, and with several EPs released on Section 27. Fever Switch is one of their newest EPS, which has been released on Rednetic (Bandcamp link below). A limited CD that comes in a nifty looking card-wallet. The EP contains 5 tracks with 20 minutes in total. Style?... Fusion electronica I would call... one minute they sound like Boards of Canada/Autechre even the later Richard H. Kirk, and the next they sound like one of the murky and moody drums and bass releases/acts from Goldie´s Metalheadz label. So, with a proper introduction, let us head-dive into the Fever Switch EP.   

The first track Never Seen Before is a gloomy jaw-dropping high-tech pearl, drifting over a futuristic Los Angelas in Bladerunner... in one of those levitating cars. The lights, the noise, and the mood of it being there on the track as well. I feel the track is too short (cause I like it very much). Melodic, ambient-driven techno piece... very beautiful one, and what an intro!

The next track The Lair goes further into the realm of technoid-electronica. Classy, futuristic, and epic. I really miss this kind of techno. Having hopes that our world (as it is) will be a cooler place in the near future, can technology in the end save us. That´s the kind of mindset I get (so far) by listening to this.

The third track Let Him Go goes straight into metallic and aggressive Aphex Twin´ish break-beats, with some nice retro-sounding synth work to soften the mood. Kind of a surprise track if you consider the former tracks. 

The fourth track Etnetico has a more of an industrial soundtrack feel to it, like something from Ulver´s Perdition City album. Big city electronica for the late hours, noir electronica. Programmed robotic machines work while humans eat and sleep. Everything is fully automatic here. This track is really amazing! Cool rhythms, clicks, scratches, glitchy sounds, evocative mood. Really nice.

The last track called TouchToneOne works like an outro the way an outro is supposed to work. The Dreamy piano works with the vintage synth take me back to Clusters Sowiesoso from 1976! Nothing wrong here, everything is good so far.

Brilliant electronica stuff to listen to while walking on a frosty morning with the sun rising up, radiating the light on windows and high structures made out of cold steel. Although I feel that the tracks are too short, the whole thing works brilliantly as an EP. Dreamy, daring, and futuristic stuff here. Are we looking at the next evolutionary step in techno?... I think so!

Bandcamp (label):

https://rednetic.bandcamp.com/album/fever-switch

Bandcamp (band):

https://roomofwires.bandcamp.com/

    

 

 

    

 Barrera - No Inputs Awake My Interest

The big question remains. What do the elephant-man and the extreme industrial-noise label Marbre Negre have in common? A not too old HNW act called Barrera, an act which has its focuses on no-input mixer techniques. This one called No Inputs Awake My Interest was released last year on Marbre Negre, is the second newest release from this act. It´s a monstrous noise treat with two untitled 30 minutes tracks, one on each side of the cassette. 

The A-side sounds like the burning of gas with hypnotic, static, and humming ambient tones in the background. The funny thing about it, is that earlier today I heard it on my phone... and now I am listening to the cassette. The sound is somehow... different. No question about it is that the cassette sounds well... more raw and analog. While the digital streaming sounded more digital... I guess it makes sense. I like this track a lot. Not a brutal HNW punch to your face, but an almost pleasant and hypnotic force of sound. Cracking sounds on fire, the sound of gas escaping, ventilation systems, and all that. Top HNW so far!.  

The B-side is a bit more aggressive. The sounds are nastier. The sounds of hot boiling water and burning exhaustion in a huge basement room. More static than the former A-side track, and a bit more mind-bending as well (I think I can hear some kind of music in the background). I was reading this older creepy paste called Russian Sleep Experiment. Try reading that one while listening to this B-side. 

No Inputs Awake My Interest will awaken your interests as well. Been too long since the last time I have reviewed an HNW release, and what a joy it was to review this one. A constant and brutal static monster with epic undertones. Experience a religious experience with HNW, here is your poison! 

  

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/no-inputs-awake-my-interest

L'Egarement d'Esprit - Written in Stone

A new customer in the realm of Kalteldur. The label called Steinklang has dared to send us stuff to review. Steinklang is an old European label, with both feet firmly planted into the realm of noisy martial industrial and heathen neo-folk. I was into Steinklang some years ago, and I was surprised to hear that the label was still around. Sort of like... the Austrian´s answer to Tesco if you please.

But nonetheless... they have released a new album/compilation with an act called L´egarement D´Esprit, and the album is called Written In Stone. Here is some basic info about the album from the act itself:

Written in Stone" is a compilation of two digital demos, online compilations' tracks, and previously unreleased material. Part of this album is a collection of oneiric impressions of a warm summer evening when an unknown young man is looking for comfort in lousy cafés and obscure brothels on the eve of his enlistment. The other part is a silent scream of the same young man terrified, hungry, covered in trench mud, longing for home and warmth of woman's body.

Yes, it all sounds like something out of Ernst Junger´s famous first world war book In Stahlgewittern (recommended reading). We´re dealing with a physical digipack release with 14 tracks, 55 minutes in total.

The first track with no name (Untitled) instantly reminds you of such classic ritualistic acts as Archon Satani or Inanna. Ceremoniously, looped, and distorted samples going on with a ritualistic mood on top of it. Love the piano parts in there, which gives the ambient piece a nice edge to the harsher elements within the track.

The second track Cafe Parisien starts with a church organ, setting the mood. Eerie sounds from a past creep in, the sound of dust on a record player in there as well. Slowed down human voices talking, with epic drones giving the track some extra room and space.

The third track Laudanum Euphoria has that classic kind of CMI sort of beginning. Heavy machine-like drones, ritualistic chantings with repetitive rhythmic sounds.

The fourth track La Force De Lámour gets into something else. A lighter dark-ambient piece, with something going on in the background with a synth. I feel that this track almost has a story to tell, it evolves into something else from the beginning and to the end.

The fifth track (Bloody long French title) almost sounds like a romantic one. Beautiful organ synth stuff going on in here. Dungeon synth fans would dig it. Love the religious feeling to this, so far my favorite track on the album. The track should have been longer!.

The sixth track Vergib Mir, Camarade is a spacy industrial-martial piece with a movie sample that I don´t recognize. Touches of early Kraut-rock here and there.

I am gonna jump a bit to the tenth track called Amen. A very evocative drone piece here kids. Imagine the war between angels and devils in slow motion, or just the mood of a city turned to dust. I saw a video the other day of the Ukraine city of Mariupol, a drone showing the city. That sort of mood. From life to death in a few days. Mariupol kind of makes a track called Amen, sort of scary.

The eleventh track That Last Summer, doesn't sound like Blue Ouster Cult´s Summer of Love. But more like a track caught between the idea of hope in a hopeless situation and the idea of being comfortably numb in hell. It is a very easy-listening piece of evocative ambient music, but there is a touch of evil in there. Like something taken out of a Pasolini flick.

There is lots more stuff to be explored on this moody album. It works like a compilation and it sounds like a compilation, without being too messy in the aesthetic of sound. I did have one thought (idea) if the band could manage to create a conceptual album with 4 tracks on it. and each track would be around 10 minutes long. Whatever this band does, they could do it even better by making longer tracks. Good ideas require more time, and these guys have some good ideas. Will be looking forward to a full-length conceptual album in the near future!.

Bandcamp (label):

https://steinklangindustries.bandcamp.com/album/l-garement-desprit-written-in-stone-2021

 Don Mandarin - Peking A Poem / 

Guided Meditation

A new release from our favorite and mysterious Don Mandarin. For those who don´t know who he is, then I suggest you read a former review I did with one of his releases called Black Crown. An underground artist with an immense body of work. Started in an indie-rock band back in called Head (1987-1989), and then, later on, got into experimental trip-hop stuff with Pregnant and Applecraft (1997-2010). And then started his solo recordings as Don Mandarin in 2016, often releasing huge cassette box-sets with a beautiful and detailed nod on the aesthetic of the design. It should also be mentioned that it was also him, that designed the sleeve for the Pop Groups Y album in 1979.

The stuff he does is a strange mixture between field-recordings, early industrial, and dub and often invoking such feelings as nostalgia being a timeless thing of wonder. Quite often we´re dealing with the mood of something like exotica. If you can imagine, the hidden link between the world of Bryn Jones, Throbbing Gristle, and Martin Denny.  

This one release comes with a BEAUTIFUL book! The kind of which you read in while Don Mandarin takes you on a fantastic journey. It REALLY is quite the trip I tell you, let us check the tracks within!

In the first track, you have someone singing a peculiar song (While walking). Something about how his minus fortune keeps on following him, and then the track stops. 

Track two imediatiatly enters Asian territories. Reversed violins, traditional Asian music-instrument with strings with then some stringed-synth going on as well. Sort of reminds me of Coil in a way. A really beautiful mysterious and highly aesthetic piece, that puts the listener in the right mood.

The Third track moves into harsh soundscapes with industrial elements, almost a bit like Prurient. A fat and distorted bass, and interesting looped sounds jump in and out of focus. It may sound like a bloody mess (From Asian stuff to harsh stuff), but so far the conceptual mood sticks very nicely!.

On the fourth track, we are entering straight into field recordings. Might be on some bus, with some nice young ladies chatting about everyday stuff. Something about someone being a bitch because of that and that, you know... that sort of talk you hear in a bus you are trying hard to ignore. Of course, I end up thinking of Throbbing Gristle here, tracks like Wall of Sound and Hometime.

The fifth track is a haunting piece of old-school industrial soundscapes. Thinking about old English coastal cities falling into a state of decay and disrepair. Rust, grey-colored and rotten boards all around. Sounds really ugly, but really beautiful. 

The sixth track is where it gets even weirder. Sounds like Don Mandarin has resurrected Bill Evans, playing one of those jazzy synths (which he managed before he died). Gobsmacking shit I tell you. 

I will now jump straight into my favorite track on the album which is track 9.  A long journey into an improvised dub-inspired jam. A real masterpiece if you ask me. Slowly starting and slowly building up to show all the expressive ideas and spacy sound effects 35 minutes can hold! Just bass, drums, vocals, and effects. Imagine a 35-minute version of Alien Sex Fiend´s Magic with Nurse With Wound! That sort of trippy thing. Could have this one track on repeat the entire day (if you ask me!).     

The rest of the album is something for you to discover! Its a highly strange and unique album from another planet, but using a language which you all can understand (in some way). That is where the book can help you to understand the recordings within, either the recordings get you into the mood of reading the book or vice versa! The two items are closely knitted together (as you can read). I HIGHLY recommend this jewel on all accounts! Still available (Link below). 

Musicglue.com:

https://www.musicglue.com/environmental-studies/products/peking-a-poem-slash-guided-meditation-by-don-mandarin-aka-rich-beale?fbclid=IwAR1p-Hts-lMneziInN-ciFwTSWzySVjO1zuq2gMA7EKF3nxSM09e9kn7K6U

       

 

 A Ghostly Vacuum Trapped in a Confinated Space - 80 Endless Days and the Hardest moments of Greif For Our Fragile Existence...

An unknown act called A Ghostly Vacuum Trapped in a Confinated Space

(from Mexico) asked for a review. And since it has been a long time I have heard something new from Mexico, I asked myself why not?. And with a band name as interesting as the album title, I was curious and sucked right into it. I also enjoy the artwork as well, sort of... surreal kind of minimalism vibe to it. There is only one track on the album, a lengthy one that is... almost 40 minutes long. Let us hear a quick word from the artist himself (Manny Garcia), telling us what conceptual idea lies behind this album.

This long track was Made for those hard days what Me and everyone are living with the sorrowful bereavement of someone dear being, Me, Loss of My beloved Mother, What I still can't overcome... And of someone nearby persons as Friends What they passed away, a is enough understand the Death and heal the huge Emotional pain, these inside wounds of the soul...

Moments for that you love every second, minute, to Your beloved dear beings, perhaps tomorrow is too Late.....

A classic conceptual theme about death, time, and loss. The older we get, the closer we get to "understand" the idea of how time actually moves. How time constantly, changes the landscape we live in. As a child, I was quite sure that time as I knew it, would to some degree move really slowly. But all of a sudden you folks die, and the old folks of your friends die too. Sort of like... the idea/thought that popped into my mind when hearing this release. 

Pure melancholic drone music with touches of cosmic space ambient here and there. Multi-layered drone music that is, there are heavy drones and light drones... and LOTS of spacy effects. Perfect headphone ambient music while watching the stars on a cloudless night in the springtime.  

Bandcamp (label):

https://avenegramu-sick.bandcamp.com/album/80-endless-days-and-the-hardest-moments-of-grief-for-our-fragile-existence

V/A - Schloss Tegal Presents Kollektiv - 

Music from the Sanatorium

We have been around the world of Schloss Tegal once with the great dark-ambient/death-industrial offering Psychometry. This time we´re not solely dealing with Schloss Tegal, but we are dealing with a various-artists compilation released by the act itself. Inspired by such cult compilations as Für Ilsa Koch (Come Organization) and Vhutemas Archetypi (Side-Effect), this comp was first released on tape back in 1982! And this time around it has been re-released in a CD-digipack edition of 300 copies on Tegal Records. 

The theme (or the idea) of the comp itself was to represent the underground post-industrial/experimental/noise scene and how it was distributed on tape via mail, another word: Home-taping mail-art! A lot of obscure names, and some heavyweights. In other words, fantastic obscurity is being re-issued! We need more of those!!!... So let´s dig down and dig the obscurities from the past!

The first track with Seiei Jack called I Can´t Remember This Title already greats the listener what we are actually dealing with. We´re not dealing with the sort who tell themselves that they are gonna do a specific kind of experimental genre/style, either a new Merzbow or a Front 242. It´s freestyled/open-minded stuff with a visionary thought!  The track has a ritual-chanting kind of thing to it, while reminds me of some obscure recording with Buddhist monks. The main difference is that it sounds like it has been recorded in some damp cellar, and not in a temple. A short track that raises curiosity without a doubt! Love the low-fi approach here!

The second track with Lard - Untitled. Has a weird industrial free-jazz thing going on, with a thumping proto-death-industrial rhythm (Megaptera?). Lovely kind of 70s TG feeling going on here, REALLY murky stuff.

The third track Banned Productions with Ornament #2 greats the listener with chopped-up distorted sounds, screaming microphones, and someone banging on something metallic. A bit like early Esplendor Geomtrico and SPK. 

The fourth track is by Jim Jones, informing the listener about someone having.... a Sexual Interest In Me (track title). A lovely piece of obscure recording with the notorious cult leader puts the listener into the right mood! 

The fifth track is also a bit interesting in a truly fxxxxx up way. Euparunia Campaign track called What You Once Were. Includes the warped and distorted sounds of a porn flick with crying babies in the background. Those warped sounds take me back to that strang video, where someone hacked a TV transmission while being dressed up as Max Headroom (Back in the eighties). 

The sixth track by Problemist called Krank (Crazy in German). Being a haunting piece of post-industrial obscurity. Evocative distorted bass being played, strange typing kind of rhythms, chant-like vocals. A bit like early C93 or the Hunting Lodge. 

Maybe Mental offers the seventh track simply called Sorrow. Creaking of old doors, metallic ritualistic clattering from an old abandoned farm, rat-like sounds with a metallic sound to it, sounds of birds being in a cage... and some haunting piano work here as well. Very interesting and mind-bending stuff. Scary track. 

Brutal Temptation by Pink 36 is the eight-track. Bone-narrowing and ear-piercing sounds with voodoo drums. With some interesting stuff going on in the background as well.

The ninth track Cig Sucking Slut by Red Skull. Red Skull like the guy from Marvel? And is Cig a short word for cigarette?. It´s a sick vocal-based track with some distortion on top of it. Think early Whitehouse, Mauthausen Orchestra or Sutcliffe Jugend kind of stuff.

It gets more mellow with the tenth track by John Wiggins track called Anagenic. A fluid-like substance bubbles out of your speakers, while some mesmerizing ambient moods in the background. A very hypnotizing piece! What happens after that, is worth anyone's ears!

The eleventh track Whisper in the Dark by Room 291 has a proto technoid rhythm to it. Still being in the mellow vibe. Early Skinny Puppy kind of stuff here. Technoid rhythms with cinematic soundscapes.

Track number twelve by The Joke Project offers us the Apocalypse. A strange LSD trip with some circus-like keyboard-work. Might just be the weirdest and most crazy piece on here!

The next track is by Schloss Tegal! Called Autopsy the Animal. A lovely kind of harsh Commodore 64´ish keyboard work puts the listener into a trance, while mind-bubbling sound effects lift the listener into higher territory. Evil-sounding stuff from the sanitorium for sure!

Track by Communications Music Company being the fourteenth track, called What Did You Do Today. Mind-numbing electro noise and vocals clattering and thumping until your brain hurts. 

The last track by Minoy is called Three Favorite Friends. Sounds like the basement of the sanitorium itself. Being able to hear the agonized voices and sounds from the patients and the building itself. A very painful and memorable ending if you ask me. 

So where does that leave us? We have been exploring a piece of documental history for the ears and mind only. A tiny glimpse into the obscure history into recorded mail-art. Every track speaks out for itself, and each track on this comp is great. Why? because as a whole the entire comp works 100%. The artists/acts on the comp don't differ much from each other, but each act has its own and very unique way of expressing itself through sound. For me, it was an incredible journey, not one boring moment here... not one!.

Bandcamp (label):

https://schlosstegal.bandcamp.com/

   

 

 

  

    

 

 Kontakt Service - Letters To the Media

When Scandinavian delights meet the finger-licking goodies from the USA, what do you get? If you are lucky, then you´ll probably get something really nice... like a juicy romantic dinner or something. If you are not soo lucky, then you´ll probably end up having to deal with something like Kontakt Service. Two perverts, one from Ideal Father and one who calls himself Mortum ( Stone Wired, Human Vault ). These guys are up to absolutely no good, probably kidnap your pretty daughter and force her to watch European porn flicks from the 70s over a sweet glass of cherry wine. But apart from that, they nonetheless decided to bang their heads together to create a nightmarish death-industrial treat/album. Letters To the Media is their debut, which has been released on Death In Venice as a limited 30 copies cassette. A lovely kind of old-school collage cover design, with a sleazy sort of feel to it. 6 tracks over, 30 minutes plus. 

The first track I´ll Bring You Down introduces low-fi recorded samples from some old documentary about prostitution, this gets mixed up in a howling, surreal, and (again) nightmarish sort of Texas Chainsaw Massacre-soundscape. A churning death-industrial bass sound with some cool heavily distorted vocals is present as well. Kind of slow-moving old-school power electronics with death-industrial elements. 

The second track One Final Night is more simple and minimal in sound. Not that far away from the sound of Brighter Death Now´s Necrose Evangelium. Sort of an icy and foggy sort of feeling going on in here, the sound from the world which exists between the dead and the living. A cold and icy place where dead souls seek the means to end their eternal suffering. A lovely picturesque track indeed! 

I Am What Is Real is the third track on the album, continues that haunting sound which the second track introduced us to. The perfect soundtrack to describe all the murky and foul things that are happening behind closed doors. Lovely nasty sounds mixed all together without any aggression, I love the thing that the listener can easily hear all the sounds going on. Truly horrific death-electronics for the minimalist! 

The fourth track Hate Is the Future. A hazy and harsh space-ambient kind of sound fills the room. My first thought was that it sounded a bit like an evil version of Rymdborg. Not the kind of track/sound you would expect from a track called Hate Is The Future, but it does raise the curiosity of the mind and ears. A very glitchy, dense, and raw ambient piece with a lot to lay your ears to. A get a kind of big city noir feeling here as well.

The fifth track Sell Your Bones, has a sample from a drug addict telling a heart-broken tale about selling her son for her to get drugs. Draggin, crawling, screaming, and distorted sounds with some excellent vocal parts here. Again, Kontakt Service nails that horrific feeling once again. 

The last track Kill-Rape (love the merry titles right?!). I am 100% sure, but I do think that I am hearing a sample from Jeffrey Dahmer. Explaining how he came from a good family (and all that). Some cool and mind-bending sound-effects thumps on like a classic TG song, I really dig those low-fi distorted sounds here! Another excellent track!.

A bloody masterpiece. The only track that I felt was boring was the first track, but the rest of the album nails it right into the eye. Fans of Brighter Death Now, Atrax Morgue, and Intrinsic Action take notice. A harsh ambient-driven death-industrial treat from the good old days. Do not miss this one, there are still some copies left!

Bandcamp (label):

https://deathinveniceproductions.bandcamp.com/album/kontakt-service-letters-to-the-media

        

 BU.D.D.A. - Erste Opfergaben 

A not too old project has just released a new album. BU.D.D.A. is an interesting act, having some veteran members within. One is Chris Sigdell (B°tong and NID) and the other is Sascha Stadlmeir (Owner of the Attenuation Circuit label). An experimental act that travels in the realm of mediative ambient drones. Not that far away from other like-minded spacy stuff like Maeror Tri, Zoviet France, Beequeen, or Troum. This one is their third album, and it has been released as a limited CD-R in a pro digifile on Marbre Negre. 3 tracks, about 37 minutes in total. 

The first track named The Mourning Of The Midnight Diner´s Broken Heart is the longest track, and sort of works as an "intro" for the entire album. It immediately sounds like the work of sound-veterans, like experienced space-cowboys. The track is a breathtaking plunge into another dimension where time simply stands still... completely. Top-quality stuff with tons of depth to it! The track starts with some mysterious guitar strings. The kind of tapping the strings, and then the sound just travels through the room until it vaporizes into the thin air. Cool evocative deep archaic drony sounds can be heard and felt, while some interesting radio voices chatter as well (Astronauts?). Quite evident that we are dealing with a melancholic piece that will suck you into a hole. Later on, lots of other cool sounds are added to the mix but more importantly... the thin red line runs through the entire sound production. Incredible deep stuff, true space ambient!

The second track L´Enfér Des Réves Pérdues  mooves closer to a more sinister sound. I'm thinking... weeping angels or dying whales for some reason. Don´t stare too long into the abyss or the abyss will start staring back at you. This track almost gives me that sensation about... being scared of heights. The track sounds like being... somewhere high... and you dare not to look down! Maybe we are talking about balancing on some high cliff, and if you fall... you fall straight into the bottom of hell itself. An ambient track both containing beautiful angelic and hellish infernal moments! There are some incredible cool spacy sounds to be discovered/heard here!

The third and last track is called Human Dignity Is A Cave sounds like... the laboratory of an alchemist. Something is happening, hidden from sight inside a room. The shuffling of glass-like tools, water dripping from old cellar pipes, and rats behind the walls?. All of these sounds dissolve strangely into the next stage of life itself. Life after death, or the life after death?... I don´t know!. Love the melancholic feeling here as well. Some highly manipulated human voices here, creating chant-like drones through the machinery. Magnificent work here!

An incredible album. Top edge ambient music here for the fans of the more.. drony/spacy-stuff! I cannot stress out enough about the bloody sound quality, which is beyond good. The whole bloody thing engulfs you completely and begs you to listen to the damn bloody thing over and over again. A masterpiece within the realm of modern ambient music!

Bandcamp (band):

https://budda-official.bandcamp.com/

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/erste-opfergaben

 

    

 Herbarium - Of Aconitum

A release from 2021 via Realm of Sleep, physical cassette-copy sadly sold out... but I will review it anyway! 

It´s another one of those interesting side-projects by Jason Browne ( Windersinnen, Boreal Dawn, Shelter Ov Shadows, etc). As you can see on the cover artwork (and the album title), then yes... we are dealing with something of a druidic sort of nature. Herbarium is all about the preservation of herbs and plants (drying them and pressing them). While Of Aconitum is about a certain plant that either can be used as medicine or to create a poison to kill! Also known as Wolfsbane or Queen of Poisons. And yes, the cover artwork has a Wolfsbane on the artwork. And the skull?. Yes, a wolf's skull (made a Google search on that!). For the movie-nerds, the Wolfsbane is also featured in the classic horror-flick Wolfman with Lon Chaney.

There is only 1 track on the album/cassette, the track is on the A-side... the one with the cool sticker on. An almost 20 minutes long piece. And yes, it´s simply called Of Aconitum. 

An old-school proto dungeon-synth lo-fi sound kicks, think a slower early Mortiis or Old Tower. Lovely low-key martial drummings and sorrow-filled and epic organ synth-work, grim and cold stuff... just the way I like it!. The esoteric and archaic feeling is there, and the sense of timelessness is absolutely breathtaking. 

A kind of dungeon synth album that can give the listener a sense of what real dungeon synth is all about, Jason Browne absolutely nails it down on this! Ancient castle ruins in a heathland forgotten in time. This stuff also takes me back to that classic series called Robin of Sherwood, a darker and more occult-driven version of the Robin Hood story. Brilliant! 

There isn't much to tell really, a one-track album that gives the listener a truly epic and mysterious journey into a forgotten realm. This is real dungeon synth at its most serious moment, without drunken dwarfs and silly elves. Go and use 19 minutes of your time on this, you won't regret it! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://realmofsleeprecords.bandcamp.com/album/of-aconitum