Interview with Blackhouse

No stranger to industrial music, Blackhouse (not Whitehouse) has been around since the early '80s. The act pioneered (or preached) about being the very first Christian-themed industrial band on the planet. I actually think they are absolutely right. Nothing sounded like Blackhouse, either from the U.S. or Europe. While staying true to the unique sound (Rhythmic scrap-metal industrial and power electronics), the act has also constantly explored other electronic-and experimental based sub-genres. And the thing about Blackhouse is that they are STILL around, which actually makes them one of the oldest (and still active) industrial bands. So yes, God does move in mysterious ways. And as you all can guess, I was curious as to why the project is still active after all these years. Lucky for me, Brian Ladd, the sole protagonist of Blackhouse, agreed to have a video chat with me where we were able to discuss these issues and more. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you our video chat transcribed for all to read.

You started Blackhouse way back in 1984. What brought it about?

I did it to create something 'new'. I saw all these Industrial bands with their images of Auschwitz, dead bodies, gross sexual titillation... and I found it to be pretentious. People thought that trendy vile stuff was edgy. I found it trite. Whitehouse was supposedly banned by Rough Trade and I thought "what could be more offensive" than Whitehouse?" I mean... what would REALLY tick off the trendy industrial heads? Obviously, I was a fan of Whitehouse, and I was in contact with the band (and many other bands at the time), so, I decided to create Blackhouse. Like in a laboratory. It was an invention. I didn't want anybody to know it was ME, so I created characters for the band, made up their names, created a fake band history and sent out demos of the first recordings I made.

The first Blackhouse profile had a very Whitehouse/Sutcliffe-Jugend/Broken Flag kind of sound-aesthetic to it. Were there any American bands you also got ideas from?

Minimal Man was probably the only US band that inspired me in any way. I got the Minimal Man "Shroud of" record from Subterranean records and got in contact with Patrick Miller from Minimal Man. We both liked what the other was doing. I was also very interested in the Residents - not just for their music, but also for their "theory of obscurity' manifesto. The idea that nobody knew who they were. It just seemed to click in my head.

Minimal Man was great. A punk rockish Throbbing Gristle kind of... Your debut leaned much towards classic power electronics and your second album, Hope Like A Candle, moved towards a more rhythmic scrab-metal industrial feel. What mad you move in that direction?

On Pro-Life, the first album I did, the first side had NO RHYTHM and it was more like a Whitehouse-ish sound, and the second side had my trusty rhythm box and skipping records and stuff. I decided that I liked the PRO-RHYTHM material better and it suited my taste, so I kept it going. I didn't start Blackhouse to just "imitate" Whitehouse, it was more like a tribute, a spark. I wanted to move away from that & create a more rhythmic, powerful pushy sound.

The interest in Blackhouse, did it come from Europe or the U.S?

There were many compilations that I contributed to. They were based in Europe. Here in the US, I was approached to do my first vinyl record by the Massachusetts label RRRecords. That record was called "Hope..." and it had a ... it was sort of a compilation of cuts chosen from both Pro-Life and Hope Like A Candle. The record ended in a locked groove which became a staple of my audio arsenal.

I doubt that bands who have been inspired by Blackhouse are primarily from Europe. Ever heard a Swedish industrial band called Mental Destruction by chance?

I know Mental Destruction. They tributed their first cassette to BH.

Ok, I fell in love with their scrap metal and Christian themed brutality the first time around the same thing with Blackhouse. Although, you have also meddled with ambient and ritual music as well. Do you need to explore a certain style for every album?

I enjoy many types of music and sound effects, and I experiment with different attitudes. I just do the music and see what's up. I am an experimentalist, really. The labels who release my music aren't necessarily experimental though. They stick with one kind of music in a lot of ways.

That's why you started your own label then?

After the Hope album came out, I got a lot of publicity and appeared on many different compilation records and cassettes. Then I was asked to do records for labels in Germany and Japan and Belgium, and so on. It snowballed. But WHILE this was all starting to simmer in the pot, I was also working with my other band Psyclones and was getting interested in that as well. Really the Ladd-Frith cassette label was started before Blackhouse was ever conceived. We started our label to promote Psyclones and other bands. We liked ALL genres - punk, noise, p.e, Experimental, etc.

Again, not many of those cult labels in the U.S at that time. Had any controversial stuff happened with Blackhouse? How did people react to the Christian theme idea?

As planned, some were totally offended by it!!! They were offended by Christ, but not by photos of dead bodies piled in mounds!!!!!!!!!!!! The offended ones despised Blackhouse BECAUSE of the Christian stance. They hated Christ. Their hatred controlled them. Some distributors actually banned me. I was blacklisted from many opportunities because of their bigotry. And those were haters. It still continues to this day. Some thought it was a clever joke - a put-on. They thought they were "in" on some cushy prank! And I allowed them to think that. I became more preachy... more overt... more blatantly Christian! And they thought it was crazy... and funny. And they loved the sounds for sure. That still continues to this day as well, no matter how much I reassure them that my mission is totally blatant & definitely NOT a joke. Other people were totally happy about it, because THEY were Christians as well, and they were glad that finally there was some over-the-top Christian band that not only represented them in their quest for Jesus music but sounded different than all other Jesus bands. That continues to this day as well. The rest, just like Blackhouse for the music and the Christian aspect doesn't matter to them one bit, one way or the other. They just like the sound without the politics.

Do you see a future for Blackhouse reissues? Boxsets?

It just depends on who asks me. I would prefer to issue more new releases, but it's always a game to find a proper label. There are more than a few albums that nobody has ever heard or albums that never got proper exposure. The UK based label Contort Yourself will be releasing a very fine compilation called "One Man's Collection". It will be an LP of choice cuts and the brilliant cover art is by my Daughter. So I'm really looking forward to that. Also upcoming is the ROBOTS 7" record on the ATSLA label out of Canada. That one is all-new material recorded this year, just for that one project. It's got a real "old Blackhouse" feel to it, but it's certainly not an artificial construct. It's a very good record! I wanted the album art to be a tribute to David Bowie's album "Images" and this is it! The Robots 7" is brilliant cover art as well. It will be a picture disc.

Any more future plans regarding Blackhouse. Heard you did your fist live concert in Germany. Plans on doing more?

If you don't have the Live In Leipzig CD, you should get it. It's a very accurate representation of the original Blackhouse "hits" - all recorded live. I've played live many times in Psyclones and all that, but I never did a solo live gig as Blackhouse, so it was very exciting to play at the Wave Gotik Festival in Germany. Will they ask me back? I don't know. We'll see. For 30+ years I refused to do any Blackhouse live event, so I'm not all hung up on doing live gigs, but I would take a proper opportunity to play live.

Any last words?

Yes. I'd just like to say that Blackhouse is an art project. My art project and it's been a very delightful and exciting run. It's not a joke. It's a concept. It's a story. It's the story of my life. Our lives. It's an evolving thing & not a stagnant, fixed idea. Even though it is an art project, I still stand by the things I say. I have pushed Christianity because I believe in it - because I believe in God. That is no joke or anything. And I'm glad it still manages to tick people off. And still manages to make people happy. Confuses them... makes 'em laugh. I'll do it 'til I die. And for 5 minutes after.

Bandcamp (band):

https://blackhouse.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/Blackhouse-62087096216/

P.O.V./V.O.E.R - Earth Thoughts Be Silent Now

Two projects, one from Japan (P.O.V.) and one from Sweden (V.O.E.R.) have decided to go together and create a split-release together. This split-release has been released as a sleek-looking and limited digipack thing from Spanish Marbre Negre. Kind of makes it all interesting when all you get is a mysterious title for the album, and the photo of a desert with a clear and beautiful blue sky. I sense a kind of... post-apocalyptic scenario here. How beautiful and peaceful the world would/could be without us humans, that idea also explains the title aswell. 

P.O.V. starts with textured and digital, chunky mind-bending noise. The first track called Death On Credit being a lovely roller-coaster ride through the high energetic noise-thing, which can only come from Japan. Something is constant while something being the opposite. Chaotic and static noise-treaty starts the split. The second track by P.O.V. called Roar and Gospel has an ambient sort of Tg´ ish intro/feel to it. Industrial elements and highly distorted vocals meet up with extra layers of mind-bending electronic-noise. Some of it sounds a bit like warped shortwave radio-frequencies. The kind of radio-noise which one might pick up in some desert after several nuclear bombs have felled. The third track called Nashikuzushi sort of meets up where the first track started, just way more aggressive in a free-jazzy sort of way.

Fourth track Curse 7 with V.O.E.R. moves into grinding heavy ambient-noise. Almost a monotonous melody here, with mysterious and ritualistic Anenzephalia´ish background-vocals here and there. Love the effects on the vocals, very evocative.  Curse 9 being the fifth track follows it up, with even more melodic gloominess attached to it. It does sound somehow familiar in a way, and then again it doesn't. It´s the less is more mood working here, a simple and evocative and slightly melodic bass-line and echoed vocals lurking in the background. Last track And It Will Cleanse The World, has a more death-industrial sound to it. If anyone among you highly enjoyed Dogs of Yama (see former review) then check V.O.E.R. out. 

2 very different projects on one full-length split-CD, Japanoise and death-industrial collide in a post-apocalyptic playground. Go and check it out!

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/earthly-thoughts-be-silent-now

            

Stone Wired - Shadow Conscious

One of the latest Stone Wired releases has hit the street, released via No Labels Interested in a limited edition of 50 copies. A lovely blackened cardboard slipcase being wrapped around the very graphical design inside. Looking closely it reveals to bodies with the top of their heads is open, brains are visible... (I think). A cool looking tape for sure, with it´s A-side and B-side being filled up with 14 tracks! I will describe the 3 first tracks on each side, and will, in the end, give an overall review of this album. 

Side A starts with Black Light, dark-ambient mood piece with paranormal post-Cold Meat Industry touches. The aesthetic is right in the eye, and the sound quality is superb (while maintaining the edge!). Sounds of underwater movement, whispering ritualistic vocals, menacing synth-work and painfull and a distorted and painful sound wrapping it all up. Very nicely done for those who enjoy that classic early 90s Cold-Meat-Industry sound. 

The next track called Frozen Meat...is a very cold monotonic industrial-drone piece. Ice cold to be exact, sub-zero temperatures while time stands completely still. Cool death-industrial rhythms here, and cool icy-moods. The third piece of meat on the plate Worms Under Skin moves into mysterious Megaptera´ ish territories, a very sacrilegious church-like feel to this. Almost a religious experience if you ask me, ritualistic ambient inside a huge church. Interesting bone-shattering electronic percussion later on here.

 The first track on the B-side Mortified moves into heavy-ambient moods. The kind post-apocalyptic feels you´ll notice in a bleak movie like the Road. The sort of feeling when trees are dead, and the sound of birds is just... gone. The only company being yourself, and you're conscious of course. Ruined factory feel with a touch of melancholy, industrial Raison D´être sort of. Second track Stench offers creepy heavy fog among the tombstones of the dead, while John Carpenter´ ish horror synth lurks atmospherically in the background. Third track Morque gives the listener just feeling... being trapped (or locked) inside one of those drawers in a morgue. Feeling slightly claustrophobic and horrific while trying to keep your calm... WHICH YOU CANT!. Suffocating black-moods and tar-like darkness-of-sound suck you in like quick-sand, just the way how dark-ambient should work.

A perfect death-industrial masterpiece with a superb sound-quality without losing the minimal-edge (Atmospheric rawness would be one way to describe it). A perfect fusion between pure dark ambient and menacing death-industrial. Dark ambient with a more... horror orientated direction?. You shouldn't miss it, seek it out! Contact the artist or the label regarding this release, it doesn't show on Bandcamp or Discogs.   

Discogs (label):

https://www.discogs.com/label/1297813-No-Labels-Interested?sort=year&sort_order=

Bandcamp (band):

https://exabyssrecords.bandcamp.com/

Gargara - Desjabetze Itogarriak

Means drowning/suffocating expropriations. Expropriations being the ownership that happens when the government overtakes a private property. When that private property is drowning/suffocating, it might mean that the property is a ruin. Something old with a lot of history gets torn down and is then being replaced by something shiny and tall for people 2 either live in or work in (without the history and character of course!). Something which actually happens all-over my Danish town (as we speak!). The project is called Gargara, if it is from the Turkish language then it means... Mouthwash. This new project is another interesting side-project of Miguel A. Garcia, whom I have had the utmost pleasure in reviewing several times! This one is a 1 track (59 minutes and 7 seconds long!), and it comes in a BEAUTIFULLY kind of rough and thin cardboard paper with cool artwork inside. 4 cards with incredible illustrations on! Another footnote would be that the vocals here are done by an Ibon RG (Link below) and the amazing artwork is done by Jon Martin. 

I was gobsmacked, the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time! Almost limestone caverns look with the illustrations, how the shadows can trick your mind into seeing other things (and people!). And of course, I said to myself, the recording HAS to be VERY interesting! Lucky for me... It bloody is!. The music/recording is a vibrant and living piece of haunting Avant-garde´ness. A pure sound-adventure from the beginning to the end. Torturous (but ambient´ ish) netherworld-vocal-sounds rush up to meet the listener, swirling and otherworldly sounds submerge the listener further down, insect-like chirpings keep your senses alert, eerie violin scratching in the misty background. Not that far away from some of the best moments with legendary Nurse With Wound, or the Journey Through A Body by Throbbing Gristle.  

The greatest thing with this recording is that it sounds like a one-take studio experiment. One of those rare recordings where EVERYTHING clicks magickally into place and it just sounds bloody brilliant! Highly recommendable for those who have a dire need for more mysticism in their grey and boring lives!. Limited to 50 copies, and out on Spanish Marbre. Get it while it is hot!

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/desjabetze-itogarriak

Miguel A. Garcia (official):

https://xedh.org/

Ibon RG (official):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/desjabetze-itogarriak

Mademoiselle Bistouri - Daily Routine/Solipsism

Released by German-based label Obsessive Fundamental Realism last summer (2019). Limited to 50 copies, and here is the exact description of the actual physical release (From the label):

Cassette and one single-sided insert come in a white plastic bag closed by 2 metal fasteners with a photographic print attached to the front with four metal fasteners and a label sticker attached to the back.

A lovely and cool design concept which the label has chosen to follow on their cassette releases, I like that a lot. So what do we have from Italy this time? Depraved and brutal industrial-harsh noise with tons of feedback, layers, and reverb!

I must be honest, never been a fan when someone is using pornographic-themes in context with extreme music. BUT! When it´s well done, I do tend to forget the pornographic ideas and start focusing on whatever is recorded. 

The first thing that you´ll understand more clearly than the provocative cover-artwork, would be on what is on the tape (like I said earlier). The cover-artwork shows someone's bottom with something stuffed inside, some kind of robe maybe? It could look like the work of some sort of sexual-disturbed serial killer, as the Italian serial Killer Monster of Florence? Genital mutilation, being a ritualistic fetish act for the perpetrator (or something else, nothing is certain). 

When you do press play and hearing the noise inside, somehow... it makes "sense". Whatever is on the tape is brutal and human... in a very... inhuman way. It´s recorded attitude is recognizable (in a way), and somehow it opens something inside the listener? Whatever is going on inside the "disturbed" mind of a serial killer, is clearly being described here purely in sound.

So there you go. Brutal atmospheric industrial harsh noise, not for the faint of heart!. For fans of Taint, Macronympha and Brighter Death Now (Innerwar). You can get it via the labels blogsite (No Bandcamp, see link below). Otherwise, check out Mademoiselle Bistouri´s Bandcamp site!

Blogspot (label):

http://obsessivefundamentalrealism.blogspot.com/  

Bandcamp (band):

https://mademoisellebistouri.bandcamp.com/releases

Facebook (band):
https://www.facebook.com/faustfick/posts/2454118508232654?notif_id=1580244453906884&notif_t=story_reshare    

Damien De Coene - Sans Titre

Damien was reviewed back in 2018 and even got on the best-years of 2018. Now he is back again on Anoxia Records with Sans Titre. A limited 1-cassette release which comes in a box intended for... 3 cassettes I think? This boxset (and tape) has been bound by a golden string, in a very intriguing and mysterious way. Inside you´ll find a nice looking golden-looking tape.  Sans titre means untitled in French, and the album is one hour long containing 4 tracks (3 in 10 minutes and the last in 30 minutes). 

First track defines the style chill-noise-wall. Sounds (sort of) like hearing microscopic rain inside a tent, while a small portable TV producing relaxing pink noise. Get´s your ear's attention, very pleasant to hear if you ask me... pure ear candy!  

Second track pumps more noise into the grinder. When your record player has caught too much hairy dust while playing. Or the recorded sound of a storm outside... close to the sea. Or the gentle sound of an MP3-player recording while being inside a rotating drying-machine. A very multiple picturesque sound-vision here.

The third track might just be the most... microscopic glitch track here. An incredible mind-stimulating experience going on here. Traces of something hidden between the distorted clicks. For some reason, my mind (and time) stops!... and enters a static sense of pure delight. The smallest moments matter in the big scheme, as this track proves it. 

Last and fourth track on the album ends it in a way more brutal fashion, also, of course, being the longest track. The motors of drag-racers, jet-engines, blow-torches? Or the "everlasting" sound of a burning sun? It challenges the listener with its 30 minutes!.

An HNW/ANW album which offers all that which noise-wall can (or will) delivers. Brutal effects with tons of sound and gentle rain-drop clicks offer the delight of silence. A "gentle" introductory release for anyone who wanna get into HNW. Recommendable! Do go and explore on Damien´s Bandcamp site (link below), tons of releases there!

Bandcamp (label):

https://anoxiarecords.bandcamp.com/album/sans-titre

Bandcamp (band):

https://damiendecoene.bandcamp.com/

 

Interview with Die Sonne Satans

Not much has been said, written, heard, seen or felt about this old and obscure Italian industrial-ambient project. Still, it´s one of those band names you remember from when you went through the endless pages of a mail-order catalog from Cold Meat Industry. Or maybe you ended up buying one of your favorite post-industrial/ambient compilations and Die Sonne Satans was on it. Or you are just a die-hard fan of that classic era in Italian industrial music history who knows that this act can be linked to the great projects of Atrax Morgue and Runes Order (both on Slaughter Productions of course). Ultimately we can only talk about 3 cassette releases and 2 CD compilations as their discography so why the hell is people still talking about this act?!.

Yes, I'm going to dissect this mystery once and for all. To reveal information about this one-man band, and interrogate the poor fellow out of his Italian socks!.

For the first question in this investigation, tell me how, why and when did Die Sonne Satans start?

Die Sonne Satans, who borrows the name of a 1926 Georges Bernanos novel from which Maurice Pialat took the eponymous film in 1987, was born in 1991. At that time I was often in Milan, for study reasons, where a few years earlier I met Stefano Musso (Alio Die) and with whom I began to explore the possibility of producing music. Following a first tape called Opus Vix Inchoatum titled "Nullae Procreationis Germines" I refined my technique and my musical aesthetics by giving life to the project as you know it. For me, DSS has always been synonymous with self-determination, an antidote to the tangle of conventions that I am bound to, and this is the reason why an iconoclastic and nihilistic approach pervades my entire production.

When you started this act, what bands inspired you back then?

When I was young I enjoyed, like most of us in our field, darkwave music, especially 4AD aesthetics. Then I passed to more experimental listening through Death In June, Coil, Current 93 and Nurse With Wound. I loved so much dark ambient so I can not deny that among my most admired listening were then Lustmord, Cranioclast, Nocturnal Emissions and for other reasons Hafler Trio. I still have great admiration for Asmus Tietchens, but the record that most changed my listening perspective was Teimo by Thomas Koner. In this sense, "Orbis", taken from Metaphora, is a clear tribute to his work. All the music I loved listening to from my childhood inevitably permeated my sensitivity and poured into DSS.

How was the scene in Italy at that time you started?

At the end of the '80s in Italy, it was an interesting and mature underground scene that was linked to industrial styles, just to mention Tac, Tasaday, Sigillum S. Personally, for geographical reasons, I wound up meeting Mauro Guazzotti from F:a.r., a volcanic person for ideas and energies. However, I have always been quite defined, my own has always been a very DIY and solipsistic approach and this has not led me to share ideas with other projects of the Italian scene, except with Claudio of Runes Order.

You did some collaborations with Claudio Dondo of Runes Order including Atom Infant Incubator, how did you guys meet and how did it work with you two working together?

I met Claudio through Deca (Federico Decaroli) who was a common friend. We immediately got in touch and decided to produce something together. The first Atom Infant Incubator originated from old tape recordings of Claudio's first project, "Order 68", which I added heavy treatments and new tracks, Copula is still a good job, too underestimated, I would like to remaster it and reproduce it in a more consonant design. The second work we made as AII was born from common sessions where everyone has contributed to their own parts and tools. It is perhaps more improvised and paradoxically more composed and contains many of the ideas that I wanted to pour into the DSS's fourth release.

How fondly do you remember Marco and Slaughter Productions?

Marco, for me, was a very important figure. He supported me and always believed in my productions. I'm in debt to Slaughter Productions. I have a good memory of him and as far as I knew he was a kindly person, always very helpful, almost as opposed to what the Atrax Morgue productions might make you think. His sudden death struck me a lot even though we were not in touch for a while.

Have you ever played live, and if so what is the greatest experience of this?

I have never played live, I don't think my music could be suitable for a live performance. And then I'm a very retired person to expose myself in a context like that. Uwe of Dark Vinyl as me to tour in Germany but I refused.

Are you surprised, that people are still talking about Die Sonne Satans?

In fact, I am very surprised. My production was very small compared to other similar projects. In retrospect, the mystery around my person and of course the music I've produced have helped make DSS a little worship.

How do you feel about the new post-industrial/experimental scene nowadays?

I'm no longer particularly involved in the industrial scene. Over the years my eyes have been laid on other horizons.

What are the plans for the future? I've heard rumors of re-issues?

DSS: I just signed an agreement with a new Italian label that has already released some MZ 412 old and live material. The idea is to release the three tapes and some compilations tracks in new formats (vinyl, cd...) The first work, Metaphora, is finished and the master and new cover art are ready as well. I hope it will be published in the Fall, followed by Factotum and Omega. Maurizio Pustianaz (Gerstein) helmed the remastered versions and maybe in the future, we could work together again. I want to also retrieve some materials published with another moniker a lot of time ago and maybe reworking it for a new album.

Stay tuned...

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/1d9s9s1/

Madame Swann - S/T 

written by Balderus

A Dutch friend wondered yesterday whether I know that guy from the French neofolk act Pale Roses who has just released with his side-project Madame Swann that surreal eerie music piece eponymously called. I told her how ignorant about this I was and checked the Bandcamp link attached. First bars, first hit in the brain. The deeper the listening was, the greater the enthusiasm was growing. Eerie sound textures, inspired tunes from bygone times, Chopin-Satie-and-Debussy-oriented structures and this very special feeling of non-such when an undefined vaporous memory is invading your inner cloud, were randomly at work altogether.

Betimes, after the first musical sensations, you look through the information on the BC page and realize that all your impressions in the rough are not mere coincidence. Yes! You travel back to the 19th century and the birth years of the 20th. More specifically, you enter the era of Marcel Proust’s genius footprint. Madame Swann! This piece, every track of it, sounds like one of these delicious madeleines. Once you dig further to overtake this gallery of emotions, you read that the fellow distilled all this based on what his grand-mother composed back then in the 1910-20s… 

And the idea of Zeitgeist pops immediately up.

Do you feel you are flying back to those times when the modern world was emerging? When Art Nouveau was everywhere when you were on the brink of marching between established tradition and nascent utopias of modernity? This is normal!

Old times because all that I mentioned sooner and utopias of modernity (or dystopias?) because of the tones played. Clockwork The orange-textured soundtrack which brings this eeriness, this feeling of uncertainty you got when you are entering an era of faltering steps, in search of lost time and in hesitation before a change that cannot be overlooked, all at once. By listening to this piece, both timeless and suffusing it's tick-tock, you may stand right on the frontier of your defining self.

I was told by the musician that there could be more tunes, of course only if more madeleines are discovered. The idea of a physical format has emerged, maybe to set a landmark on Swann’s way and allow the satisfaction of time regained.

Bandcamp: (band)

https://madameswann.bandcamp.com/releases

Megaptera - Interview with Peter Nyström

Megaptera is a survivor. A project which has been with us through good times and bad. One of the most important post-industrial acts of the 90s, alongside the likes of Brighter Death Now, Inade, Schloss Tegal and Anenzephalia. They started on the proto CMI-cassette label Sound Source (like Consono) and then released material on several cult labels like Slaughter Productions, Art Konkret, SSSM, Release Entertainment, Malignant Records and of course Cold Meat Industry. From their very first release, Near Death, they were noted as one of the early pioneers of death industrial. The band's sound combined a dense, hypnotic and heavy soundtrack-based industrial atmosphere, with occasional bass-driven metallic machine rhythms. At most times it felt like being trapped inside some HUGE cathedral-like warehouse filled with grinding machines, and in company with a crowd of people humming and worshipping something unpleasant. Megaptera wasn't as minimal in the sound atmosphere like most, they could fill up your surround-system in no time and drown you with their heavy darkness. Various members have come and gone but Peter Nyström is the sole inheritor of Megaptera and has been for some time. I've been a fan for ages and asked Peter for an interview about the legacy of Megaptera. He graciously agreed and you can find our discussion below.

First of all, I understand the founding and first member of Megaptera was Mikael Svensson (Deaf Machine). You then joined the project later on. How did you become involved in Megaptera?

Peter Nyström: It was Mikael and Magnus Åslund (Pettersson) who started Megaptera together. I was making music with Magnus Sundström as Fiskebåtarna and First Aid at that time Mikael and Magnus recorded the first Megaptera tracks. These later became the first homemade release. You Will Recover. I think I started to listen to CMI related music at that time, like BDN, MZ412 and Raison d'etre. I heard that they had started to experiment with some old gear that Magnus's mother's new boyfriend had, like a 4 channel portastudio and an analog delay. I borrowed a drum machine from my friends in the synthpop band Cell Division, and then I joined them. We were friends already.

What was the idea of Megaptera in the early days? You managed to create something which was quite unique back then.

PN: I'd say no idea at all. We got very influenced by the CMI sound and we were already big fans of The Klinik, Test Department, and Cabaret Voltaire. We didn't know much about instruments so we just took what we had: scenes from various films, TV, radio, whatever we could hear fit in. The reason why we ended up making this kind of music was that it was quite easy. We didn't need expensive gear or a computer to record the atmospheres that we liked. And it was also very funny to just search for crazy sounds and movies and just push record. Very unpretentious.

It seems to me that the cult of Megaptera expanded with your friendship/involvement with Slaughter Productions. You had lots of side projects released there, and you appeared on many of the cult compilations (Death Odors, Beating the Meat, From Sickness to Death and Slaughter Age 95). Do you miss the days of Slaughter Productions?

PN: Of course I miss some of it, and Marco of course. He was such a nice guy. Very polite, gentle and everything went very smoothly with him. The best part was that we wrote REAL letters back then, and it was amazingly fun to both receive and send letters, records, and tapes. The most important releases were those on Slaughter, otherwise, I don't think Megaptera would have reached the status we did. I remember being very proud of having two tracks on Death Odors and also as numbers 1 and 2 on the disc. Shadowland is still one of Megaptera's strongest pieces of music.

You finally had a bigger "commercial" release on Release Entertainment (also like Brighter Death Now). How did Curse Of The Scarecrow come to be? I'll also point that that a lot of people got to know Megaptera through this album.

PN: It really became a hit for us. Magnus Åslund left the band already in 1991 and Mikael and I recorded this album together with Magnus Sundström on his Amiga 500 and EPS sampler if I remember correctly. We felt that we were doing some really good tracks. We did not think, just recorded track after track. It went very easily. I had some contact with VUZ Records and somehow the record came out on Release Entertainment THROUGH VUZ Records and then the guy ripped us on the money. I was very blue-eyed and thought everybody was as polite as Marco Corbelli, but that wasn't the case. I'm still very proud of that album, and it was very important that we got Don't Desecrate the Dead released on Absolute Supper. It really promoted Megaptera well.

 Which Megaptera album are you most proud of doing?

PN: I must say Songs from the Massive Darkness back in 1992. I and Mikael were heavily influenced by Great Death by BDN, so we connected the gear we had in my boy's room and recorded those 6 tracks in 4 hours. I still enjoy listening to that album from start to end. I love the metallic sound of that BOSS RRV-10 reverb, the sounds we pulled out from the SH-101, and the voices in the background from The Thing. A perfect and funny recording session. I remember that I was down eating a quick dinner while we recorded one of the tracks, and Mikael was sitting on my bed playing a Casio VZ-1 with his feet in the meantime, haha! Great memories!

What does the future hold for Megaptera? Is there still unreleased material hidden in the vaults?

PN: All tracks have been released, so no more old surprises. I get some ideas sometimes, but we'll see. Maybe a CD version of Nailed on Vinyl later on. Only Satan knows (*Winking face).

PNO: Well, thanks for the interview, Peter. I wish you all the best!

PN: Thanks! Same to you, it was a pleasure!

Bandcamp (band):

https://megaptera.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/Megaptera-147495718667342/

Kalteldur top 10 of 2019

2019 has been a very hectic year for Kalteldur. We´ve had our Kalteldur basement-headquarter being flooded by HUGE quantities of pouring rain. On top of that several reviews have therefore been delayed, and as we speak... we are still having insurance people working and repairing the damages caused by the cursed flood. We´ve also seen fewer movie and computer game reviews, and a lot more focus on selected record reviews. I am now proudly presenting, the Kalteldur top 10 of 2019!

Number 10:

Barbaric Frost - Heroic Quest

Raven Fortress

Barbarians, Cthulhu mythos and tons of treacherous sorceries drenched in doom and blood. More to be found here, and more of this kind should be given more attention. Barbaric Frost from Polen weaves a magical barbaric-journey that would make Robert E. Howard turn in his very own grave! Medieval ambiance meets up with doses of dungeon synth, martial industrialism, and doom! Not one to ignore!

Number 9:

Lá Ùltima Mirada

Marbre Negre

One of the most brutal attacks on your senses, and also one of great mystery as well. Heavy atmospheric ritual-ambient collides with dynamic noise-wall, all wrapped nicely up in pain and suffering! Why would anyone subject themselves to that (u might ask)... Power electronics has been old news for far too long, and too many would-be-hipsters are doing HNW (as we speak!). This one does something which could annihilate them all! And yes it is, a brutal attack your senses!  

Number 8:

Shelter Ov Shadows - The Serpent And the Circle...

Wulfrune Worxxx

The kind of feeling you´ll notice when you have... interrupted a secret and mostly dark ritual in the deepest cavern you could ever imagine (probably involving a human sacrifice!). Canadian act Shelter Ov Shadows provides that missing link between esoteric dark ambient and primitive winter/dungeon-synth. All would agree, heavy dungeon synth might just be the new dungeon sound! If ever Mick Harris (Scorn, Lull, Napalm Death) would do dungeon synth... you get the picture!

Number 7:

Suero + Yama-Biko - Hansenbyó

Marbre Negre

Most of the time I would go... ´Yeah... Industrial music is dead and no one dares touch it anymore!´ BUT, once in a while something POPS up. Something which is a work made between Spain and Japan, the album even works around an interesting (and terrifying) concept (read the review!). Mesmerizing minimal-industrial electronics+vocals and harsh claustrophobic glitch-atmospheres are all you´ll ever get. Fans of SPK and early Maschinenzimmer 412, take notice!

Number 6:

Machina Coeli - Lure of the Forgotten Lake

Nigra Opera Productions

Classic dungeon synth which takes the listener back to older (Coil, SPK) and meets them up with later dungeon synth acts. Not that it has any connection or similarities to others. One of the most original dungeon synth-related releases I have heard in some time. One act which just gives the fxxx-finger to the present band-in-wagon sound, and chooses an original sound like a true isolationist. An interesting tale to be found on this cassette, and a very interesting sound and mood to be digested as well. 

Number 5:

Human Vault - Primordial

No Labels Interested

Rare that I get around the world of electro-industrial/EBM, but just this time I just had to get around it. Made by an artist which delves himself (mostly) into the morbid murkiness of death-industrial/ambient. Human Vault being one of his various side-acts to his main death-industrial act Stone Wired. Primordial is one of the many industrial-music-related trips into the dark side of the human psyche, it touches nostalgia and it touches a sound aesthetic simplicity which sadly has been forgotten by time. Its strength lies in the mood before action, and no! ... It´s not danceable material! A downbeat dark-ambient version of early FLA/Delirium, with HUGE amounts of space in between. And PERFECT for the tape format (if you ask me)... 

Number 4:

Horologium - Atavistic Americana

Six Burial Productions

    

Laibach has sucked for many years, and Borghesia hasn't actually been up to something new. On the other hand, Horologium has! Keeping and cherishing the rhythmic and sample-drenched experimental vibe. A bloody electronic-mesh melts together with electronic post-punk rhythms and perfect executed political-themed cut-up samples! Woaww!. Early Ministry, Laibach and Killing Jokes goes hand in hand on this highly underrated electronic gem! 

Number 3:

Miguel Souto - Lillith

Anoxia Records

Someone came up with something... really dark and unique, and that someone was Miguel Souto. I was expecting a kind of ambient thing, I wasn´t expecting haunting and ancient classical piano tunes with eerie glitchiness behind it! Take Erik Satie and something like... Hafler Trio?. You get the picture. Perfectly executed, perfectly created. Coolest tape release of 2019!

Number 2:

Testing Vault - Amnesia Milk

Looney Tick Productions

Amnesia Milk was also... something else. An album that gave you the goosebumps and the emotional pleasure that usually follows it. It left a distinctive human trace on my mind while I was wandering (In the late hours) through the eerie sand-dunes of western Jutland, Denmark. The thing just stuck, just in the same way when something IMPORTANT sticks to your mind. Surreal electronic avantgarde' ness, the kind of haunting glitchiness that makes your heart stop in the middle of the lonely night. Or the soundtrack to one of those dreams, which seems too real and frightening at the same time. It´s an audible over-the-top experience, which you will never forget! 

Number 1:

Miracle of Love - You Will Be Free

Overture Militia

And no!. We are not talking about a tribute to Swans! We are talking about one of the greatest releases of 2019. In my opinion, the greatest ambient-related release in years. A pleasant and punishing sensation being heavy on your ears and sensible in your body as well. Razor-blade distortions, distant angelic ambient-tunes, religiously and sacrificial vibes... all wrapped up in a lovely and subtle apocalyptic set of ideas. Incredible beautiful and incredible believable in a terrifying fashion. Listen and learn!