M.B. - Bacillusmetrai Entopathogen

M.B. (Maurizio Bianchi) shouldn´t be a stranger to anyone (if you ask me). Has been active since 1979, and hails from Italy. He is an absolute pioneer in industrial, noise, and electronic music, like the Italian´s answer to Merzbow, although having a broader sense of various styles of expressions incorporated in his numerous releases. You can also call him the godfather of the Italian industrial and noise scene, I can´t (really) think of anyone getting close to that! ( do read the Wikipedia link below about M.B.)

Bacillusmetrial Entopathogen is one of his latest releases, and it has been released on limited CD and cassette via Grubenwehr Freiburg, both encased in a 7-inch vinyl bag, with the CD in an informative cardboard sleeve. There are also some nice and nifty-looking collage graphics attached to this, which has become a sort of trademark for some of the newer M.B. releases. 3 long tracks, about 75 minutes in total.

First track Bacillus, a specific genus of bacteria that we encounter daily. Is an incredible sort of uplifting melancholic dreamy piece. Really gentle it starts with some spacious and distant drones, drones made by human breath, or the sound of watery waves in reverbed slow-motion? A mesmerizing ambient synth levitates the listener into another plane of existence, actually a slight trace of melody in there! Might just be the most mellow and pleasant M.B. I´ve ever heard, not that its approach makes it less efficient. A filtered human voice speaks slowly through the hypnotizing aural soundscape as well. It has a kind of ambient/techno-dub feel/sound, just without the rhythms offcourse. Amazing track, the depths of it are absolutely jaw-dropping! The thing is, you (and me) don´t really want this track to end!   

The second track Metrial (Uterus) gets slightly more depressing. It kind of gets back to that classic M.B. sound, the sound of utter doom and microscopic despair. A spacy Tangerine Dream in a Bad Trip, or an ambient version of the soundtrack for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Lots of reverbed sounds, echo sounds, delayed sounds. Some organ there, human voices here, etc. Hard to put your finger on it (with words) easier to understand when you actually hear it. Even Genesis P. Orridge got depressed listening to M.B. which in my words is a good thing! If the first track represented a fresh apple, then this track shows how the first steps of decay are setting in!

The third track is Entopathogen (Fungoid parasitic microorganism), which turns slowly into a slow-driven sci-fi horror thing. Why I'm thinking of the first Alien film, I don´t know! I do know that certain ants can get infected with this fungoid organism, the result? The mushroom grows out of the body of the ant, just like the alien eats its way through the host. The track works in a very unpleasant way, totally opposite regarding the first track. It really is the sound of something, taking host inside a living being... and slowly killing it. First, u get sick ( like flu), then u get irritated by small things, next u succumb to a longer sleep and occasionally vomit at times. Everything from here leads only to your death. And that is how this track is, really murky stuff here! 

I can't help but think about when I get sick (regarding the last track). About the whole process of how I feel... certain things in motion (in my body) when I'm actually getting sick (in one way or another). The first stage of catching a cold, being strangely... pleasant? Maybe your body feels slightly heavier, but you feel more relaxed nonetheless! And then it just... creeps up on you. Getting worse and worse, like the whole body is going through a change. And that is how this latest M.B. album feels and sounds like! Although it makes you feel utterly unpleasant, you will (still) want to return for more. The experience hidden within this recording is quite amazing! Constant and repeating listening is recommendable! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com/album/bacillusmetrial-entopathogen

Wikipedia (band):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Bianchi

  

 Tone Generator & Body Without Organs - Control

Been looking so much forward to doing a review of this one! Who is Tone Generator? He is ( or was ) a key member of the legendary pioneer industrial band called SPK, a band which (alongside) Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire started the whole industrial genre ( more or less ). In my world of industrial music, those 3 bands are the first and most important bands of the genre. From 1978 to 1983, SPK paved the way for power electronics, dark ambient, noise, and even ritual music. And still, to this day, no one has reached ( or even touched ) that insane sound that SPK has to been known for. Around 1984 SPK became a (rather boring) full-fledged pop act, delivering danceable electro-pop for the "masses". 

So here we are in... 2024? Tone Generator (Dom Guerrin) is out with his new act, and he has teamed up with Scott Barnes. This one came out last year, and it´s a live recording from Smith´s Alternative in Australia, Melbourne 2022. This is actually the second release by Tone Generator & Body Without Organs, I am also going to review the first one as well.      

The release comes out as a beautifully matt-laminate mini-LP sleeve, including manifestos by SPK and Tone Generator, limited to 100 copies. 8 tracks, bout 38 minutes in total.

First track is called Intro by Jack Sargeant ( don't know who he is, do yourself a favor and look him up! ). Someone presenting the act, and someone saying... ´We´ve heard that you were disturbed´. And then the track descends into a nightmarish and sludgly blended soundscape. Sounds of people screaming, warped spacy synth sounds, distorted sounds with an almost liquid vibe and the crowds in the background... cheering. It sounds absolutely incredible, considered it to be a live-recording of a experimental industrial band. 

The second track Drowning, slurred human voices and some intense high-pitched sounds. Lots of massive machines and lots of metallic things bangs together and breaks apart in the process. Sounds like a earth-quake in some old and rusty steel factory! Really like that the disturbing aesthetic from the old SPK albums and strongly present here! 

The third track Control, starts giving me that vibe of early Dr Who, city of the Daleks more like. Intense multilayered soundscapes, pulsating bass-sounds, torturous analog-synths whins and squeaks in some strange dimension. Cant remember last time I have heard something with that sort of powerful sound, the reverbed cave-like feel is enormous. Religious experience if you ask me. 

The fourth track Dugongs, glitch stuff on tons of adrenaline. Has a kind of Autechre sort of liquid-metal feel to it. Lots of bleeps, blops and underground explosions. Really out there, beyond description! Ends in a chanting sensation, being droned in pure ecstacy of acid-drenched sounds here!. Great with the industrial-sounding percussion elements here, something I have missed a lot in these days.

    

The fifth track Construction 23 1-1b, with it´s robotic voices talking and screaming, while a great and thumbing rhythm relentlessly thumbs on. Some eerie and weird acid-jazz elements creeps in, giving it all a really... well... William Burroughs sort of a feel. Kind of getting back to Ground Zero: Infinity Dose for some reason, although they don´t really sound alike. 

The sixth track Wastelands and the seventh track The Chosen One really gets back to that classic SPK Leichenshrei sound. There can be no mistake, the mixture of those sounds and samples... It´s still mad (and "evil") as fxxx and makes perfect sense that it can be enjoyed aswell! The vocal elements are so good here, again with that SPK aesthetic. Dosn´t sound old at all, or retro for that matter... sounds like SPK ( from the old days ) in 2023. Can´t help but thinking how much vocal parts Tone Generator have delivered in the early SPK days?

The last track Coronaring, delivers a punishing noisy soundscape. All the stuff which u have heard in the former tracks, can be found somewhere in these last two tracks! Not that far away from the style found on SPKs debut Information Overload Unit.

As a hardcore fan of SPK, I was absolutely amazed and surprised with this. Like I said earlier, the aesthetics of SPK are there but in a modern up-todate sort of way... makes sense. Maybee it´s just because that the sound SPK, still makes sense today? Im also surprised in how... relevant is actually sounds? Soundwise it´s pretty extreme and disturbing, but without the straightforward (and snappy) attitude. A mature vine if you please. And regarding the recording! The live recording is absolutely gobsmacking! Might just be the best live recording I have heard from this sort of music, in a long time!

Bandcamp (label):

https://ultramailprod.bandcamp.com/album/control-2

Discogs (band):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/9439921-Tone-Generator-The-Body-Without-Organs

  

           

 

An Interview With Sutcliffe Jügend 

by Per Najbjerg Odderskov

You probably know them as an old-school British industrial act who, together with Whitehouse, pioneered what is known today as power electronics. Some others may just know them as the act with that iconic name, which sounds evil when you say it and makes you remember. Finally, for the rest of you who think that Ministry and NIN are the only real industrial bands around, I say, "Sharpen your ears, and get ready to bleed".

Sutcliffe Jügend (Kevin Tompkins and Paul Taylor) began in 1982 with the now notorious and highly sought-after cassette, Campaign. They followed that with a 10x cassette boxset called, We Spit on Their Graves. The same year also came Seven Tortures. All three were released on the legendary pre-power electronics cult label, Come Organization.

After that, 14 years passed, and we would not hear from the project. Finally, they were born again in 1996. releasing material on established imprints like Death Factory (CMI side-label), Old Europe Cafe, Cold Spring, and Hospital Productions (to name a few). In total, 24 albums, which includes the 10x cassette box and a 6xCD album called S L A V E S.

To describe the sound of Sutcliffe Jügend in two words, I would say brutal avant-garde. A pure and skinless sound entity of sheer abstract human aggression. The most vile and filthy themes of human nature are being thoroughly dissected and examined, and exposed to the curiosities of extreme music. If you think you know EVERYTHING about power electronics and have not yet gotten into this act, then you are in for a treat. They mix various styles into the mix and are highly experimental in their sound. From musique concrete, glitch, noise, and even minimal ambient.
 
Ahead of their first-ever show in Los Angeles on February 9th, I asked them a few questions about their history, sound, and what to expect next. (see below)

Sutcliffe Jügend ("SJ") began in 1982. Talk about the formation of the project and what kind of stuff (music, literature, movies) inspired you back then?

Kevin Tompkins: Initially it was pure music. At the time I was into post-punk, Joy Division, Birthday Party, Suicide, ATV, The Pop Group, Slits, PIL, Dub Reggae also featured, of course, stuff like that. It was a great era, informed by the likes of The Stooges, Can, and the Velvet Underground, all bands I liked. Then I discovered Throbbing Gristle, Crass, Nurse With Wound, and of course Whitehouse, which changed everything. I had already started doing something between TG and Whitehouse but then started experimenting with music that was more informed by what Whitehouse did. The sound soon evolved to be more visceral and more explosive than anything else at the time. To shock one's own senses for the most profound effect, that kind of thing. We fitted right in with what the Come Org. label was releasing. The Jügend in the name was always Sutcliffe’s Children rather than Youth. It was very much of the time. I wasn’t a misogynist or anything like that, I don’t remember anyone being that way, our discussions were always quite the opposite, pro-equal rights. Nor were there any political connotations. I know Joy Division, New Order and Sonic Youth have all had issues because of their names, it’s unfortunate, but ultimately it’s just a label or brand at the end of the day. I’ve never been into any extreme politics, to be honest, certainly nothing right wing but on the contrary. I kind of like things as they are, somewhere down the middle. Boring but convenient. Although lately, things have become a little too authoritarian in a 1984 kind of way for my taste. It’s fucking up free speech and discussion, not to say art. So-called progress, eh.

Believe it or not, there’s always been an element of humor and irony in what we do, I think that was missed in the early days because it was so fucking dark. What you have to remember and it still surprises me to think back, initially, SJ only existed for about six to eight months, so there’s not a lot to say about it, I stopped SJ to join Whitehouse of course. I remember that time we did an SJ interview we constructed it to be as extreme as possible. What answers would a complete psychopath give(?), that kind of thing. It was dark humor in a Derek and Clive kind of way. Nothing could be further from my own personality. Again it was pure art, as was the music.

There was a long break up until about 1994. Why the hiatus and why the decision to start back up again?

KT: I’d left the scene for a normal life. I hated the whole thing. It just wasn’t me and still isn’t in some ways. That’s why we don’t tour and only do three or four shows a year. I love the creative process, and recording. I love doing live shows, but not touring.

After a fairly long period, Paul Taylor and I formed Bodychoke with Gary Kean. Paul and I knew each other from college and the punk scene and he plays on some early SJ material also of course. Bodychoke was a noise rock band I guess. Listening back, Swans, Joy Division, and power noise guitar would best describe what we did. When Bodychoke split up in the nineties, Paul and I started doing more improvisation and some SJ material, more influenced by the Japanese noise scene, but still routed in the eighties. For the last fifteen years, musically we swing from extremely harsh expressive cathartic noise on one album to electro-acoustic experimentation on the next. Screaming vocals to spoken word. Lyrically we’ve covered a huge amount of ground as well - tracks about the shaming and the loss of shame in the modern world, the cheapening of art by politics, the horrors of abuse, the futility of revenge, personal loss, etc. It kind of amounts to the slow process of understanding our place in the world and the universe, I guess. On our next album, we even deal with aging, although we’re not planning on going anywhere just yet, just a couple of close shaves and timely reminders.

Why the decision to finally add the live element in 2005?

PT: That is thanks to Gaya Donaldo of Hagshadow and Anti-Child League’s persistence in wanting us to play live. We always were concerned that the intensity of Sutcliffe Jügend could not be achieved live. Bodychoke always had an intensity at live shows. so we thought we’d try it. Over the years SJ has taken that intensity up many levels and then some. Dominic Fernow (Prurient) who was also performing at the gig, offered to put an SJ album out. That album was, This Is The Truth. We found a new voice with that, and we’ve been evolving ever since. I don’t consider us a power electronics band at all. It’s much more complex.

TB: Talk about playing L.A. for the first time and what can people expect at the Resident show?

PT: A relentless, full-on performance. It will include some new tracks and some old ones. The show does not end until we have given absolutely everything. Expect an intensity the audience would not have witnessed before. Our intensity and passion have not mellowed with age, on the contrary.

KT: The shows become quite ecstatic and almost trance-like, so I guess there will be some of that in there as well.

Power electronics continues to see a lot of growth. Are there any new acts of today that you enjoy and can recommend?

PT: Personally, I am not a PE fan as such. That said, Puce Mary and Anti-Child League are producing some excellent material although I would not necessarily classify them as PE, or ourselves for that matter. It is great to see two strong women make such an impact in what is generally perceived to be a 'Misogynistic' scene. Most PE leaves me cold, to be honest.

KT: I’d agree with that. I’m more into Classical, Jazz, Rock and Experimental music for sure. I like Ben Frost, Tim Hecker and William Basinski, which is kind of ambient noise at times. I think the likes of Scott Walker, Penderecki or John Coltrane can be more intense and difficult than any PE. I probably listen to our own recordings more than anything else though. Pretty uncool, eh?

PT: Me too, We do it for ourselves ultimately. It’s a bonus that anyone else takes any notice.

TB: What's next for Sutcliffe Jügend?

KT: We have a double album called, The Hunger, coming out soon on Death Continues Records out of Europe. It was a hard album to write and has lots of musical elements to it. It’s the most varied SJ album and certainly the most wordy. We’ve also just finished recording the most relentless sessions we’ve ever had. We’ve been going into the studio and recording pretty much an album a day. Going in with maybe one or two ideas, maybe one or two lyrics, and just improvising. The results have been amazing. It is what it is, warts and all. Really brutal electronics and vocals at times.

PT: We’ll be playing three tracks from the ‘Relentless Sessions' at the show. Keeping that feel while they’re fresh. Up and coming, we have several gigs in the planning stage across Europe and hopefully something on the East Coast of America sometime in the future.

Discogs:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/285947-Sutcliffe-Jugend

 Absolute Key - Imploding Harmony

An unknown label (new to Kalteldur), with a release with an act I don´t know. The label Bent Window hails from Vancouver, British Colombia and the act Absolute Key hails from the land of a thousand lakes... yes Finland! The label has existed since 2021, with over 70 releases so far! With some known acts on, like Praying For Oblivion and Kadaver. The act Absolute Key has existed since 2019 and has had over 20 releases so far. The label and the act both deal with extreme music, mostly industrial, noise, ritual, etc.

The physical release has come out as a limited CD, nicely done as a soft digipack. This means, a CD tray glued onto thick cardboard paper. I like the painted blue colored graphics, with some nifty collage work. Lovely esoteric vibe within the graphical content. 5 tracks, about 32 minutes in total. Let´s dig right into it.

The first track is called Destructive Axiom, it starts with a hiss, the sort of hiss that comes from hidden microphones... recording microscopic disturbances in a buried coffin. Primitive shamanistic sounds of bells, scrap metal, and glass further intensify a paranormal and spiritual force within. It evolves further into a blend of ritual-ambient and warped harsh noise. I like the sound of it, harsh, fresh, expressive, and moody. Choactic stuff yes, but with a strong sense of aesthetic purpose. 

The second track Cracks In the Sky starts being a rhythmic thumbing beast on some sort of percussive set of drums. The rhythm is, not a tight one... but kind of mechanical and clumsy at the same time and has a kind of frightening and effective effect. Layers and waves of razor-sharp noise add extra points to the psychedelic experience.

The third track Chant To the Other God, is a real acid-drenched mind-bender. Starts really subtly and quietly, then some weird... kind of chanting electronic/analog sound kicks in, not actually sure if it is a human voice! Thick and dense layers of ritualistic noise work nicely here, feels like getting the soul completely cleansed! I wonder who that... Other God is?... I really do. Yog-sothoth?

The fourth track Wayfarer a subtle horrific wall of reverbed noise, punctuating sounds of noise moving in and out... and up and down as well. The thrashing of metallic scrap gets back into the mix, while some really warped distorted industrial sounds work their way through to the listener. The end is really interesting here as well, a nice touch that tells us that our creator of this release, is there with the listener the whole way through.  

The fifth (and last) track Reclusion throbs and spits the minute u start the track. Kind of a death-industrial feel here, BDN-era with Innerwar? A thick and dense layered distorted industrial sound (with a rhythmic vibe) is looped while additional (and sick) layers of mind-bending brutal effects are added. And then it all ends!

It´s the kind of... album that u listen to a couple of times and then ( all of a sudden) it explodes and it will impress you. There is a kind of... honest sincerity with it. As I mentioned earlier, u feel that you are with the creator through the entire listening process! Which gives the album an effective adventurous feel. The decent diversity is also worth noticing, a lot of different moods and thoughts are rampaging through the whole thing. And again, chaotic yes... but highly effective, highly focused on the other hand. 

           

Bandcamp (label):

https://bentwindowrecords.bandcamp.com/album/imploding-harmony

Bandcamp (band):

https://absolutekey.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/absolutekey111/

 Megaptera - Beyond The Massive Darkness

We have all seen it, one of the big classic releases on Cold Meat Industry (R.I.P) has just been re-issued on Old Captain. Beyond The Massive Darkness is... (hold onto your glasses!)... two albums that have been put together as a double CD/vinyl, the bonus being 2 new versions of 2 tracks from the Curse of the Scarecrow album plus the Deep Inside EP on CD2. Released as a limited 8-panel matte-laminated digipack, with a cool poster as well. You can also get the monster CD-tree box set, with lots of goodies inside (T-shirt, pins, poster, etc, etc). 

For those who don´t know Megaptera, let me give you youngsters a quick intro for why anyone wanna revive this old death-industrial dinosaur in the first place!

Megaptera is one of the real classics when it comes to death- industrial, also being a classic act regarding the label Cold Meat Industry and even Slaughter Productions. Started in 1991 with the Near Death album on the proto-CMI tape label Sound Source, and then from 1992 to 1994 they recorded the two albums which would be re-issued on CMI and now Old Captain. One of the great things about Megaptera is their... recognizable sound. At times they use entire dialogues from classic occult-themed horror films, and then they mix that together with their otherworldly-heavy industrial sounds. At times we sink into swampy ambient-industrial territory, horror soundtracks, and other times they remind us a bit of the early Test Dept... just a lot slower! 

Whatever they did... they managed to release about 14 albums, some eps and several compilations. We also know Megaptera from one other thing, from being on some of the best compilations in the realm of death industrial! Megaptera was ALWAYS on the best compilations, and their tracks were ALSO some of the best on those compilations as well. Up there with the likes of Brighter Death Now, MZ-412, In Slaughter Natives, and Archon Satani. Essential Nordic death-industrial. If you need more info about Megaptera, then you can always check up on the interview I did with them (link below). Well, Let us start checking up on some of the tracks within now!

First track Human Sacrifice on CD 1 ( Beyond the Shadow ). Starts instantly with a huge hum of... voices or gas slipping out of 100 small holes in a huge cathedral. Think I can hear... airplanes in there, diving through the clouds... or is it a bomber airplane?! Some rhythmic vibrations resonate in the hypnotic gas hum while mysterious human voices are talking beyond. And then some really excellent ritualistic beats set the mood, really dark stuff now! Imagine prisoners walking up some steps to meet some hooded guy with a huge axe, there really isn´t much hope here people!

The second track Distinct Killing is a pure rhythmic industrial treat, not that far away from Memorandum ( if you remember that act ). Heavy tribal industrial, really barbaric moods going on. Occasional noisy elements here and there, and some cool-sounding (and horrific) sounds following the beat tightly.

The third track The Offering works as a lovely tribute to one of the Exorcist films, something about the coming of the antichrist and exorcism. An epic and thunderous industrial soundtrack works perfectly in the "background". If I were the movie director, I would feel proud listening to this. 

  

We jump unto CD-2 (Songs From the Massive Darkness) with the charming title of a track Sludgy Heads Found In A Handbag. Weird police-like sirens scream through the night, reverbed wet moods from a deep sewer, a deep humming machine, screaming distorted electronics ... and some kind of vibrating brush cleaning a rusty metal pipe. Everything is... weird and exciting to listen to.

Track 5 Dysentery is another great tribute to a classic horror flick, John Carpenter´s sci-fi horror The Thing. Menacing dark industrial-ambient collides with the stressed-out discussions between the characters in the movie. If you haven´t seen it yet... I suggest you do! 

Track 7 from the Deep Inside EP, might just be one of the most memorable and iconic Megaptera tracks ever. A very long adventurous soundtrack-driven track containing all the elements that Megaptera can bestow upon the listener! Hypnotizing ambiance, ritualistic atmospheres, mind-boggling vibes, waves of eldritch moments, a breathtaking synth melody, and the memorable sample of a mad preacher! A truly epic journey into the sound of gothic horror!

Everything is good here, every good reason to invest in this re-issue. Why? Might just be for the sole reason, that u get the Deep Inside EP with this one. The Deep Inside EP might just be one of their best works, and this EP is not included in the CMI release. But, I do tend to cherish my CMI edition. The Old Captain version looks great (without a doubt), but feels slightly cheaper compared to the CMI one. A digipack with a thicker, textured feel could give that reissue that certain vintage feel that (again) gives that feeling that you are holding a classic in your hands. And some kind of informative booklet would also be nice, a written document about the making, the importance of this release, etc.        

Bandcamp (label)):

https://oldcaptain.bandcamp.com/album/megaptera-beyond-the-massive-darkness

Bandcamp (band):

https://megaptera.bandcamp.com/

Interview with Megaptera:

https://kalteldur.blogspot.com/2019/12/megaptera-interview-with-peter-nystrom.html

         

 Dug Up By Dogs - The Supreme Hunt

Dug Up By Dogs, is a highly obscure and enigmatic ritual-industrial/ambient act from the UK. So far this one is their third album, and this one (The Supreme Hunt) is their first label release, and the first physical one as well. Digitally self-released on the act´s official Bandcamp site in 2023, and re-issued as a limited and numbered 25 copies CD-R version on the Greek label E.C.T Recordings. 

It comes in the recognizable E.C.T CD-R design: A blackened inner sleeve, CD-R wrapped in rice paper all inside a plastic sleeve. The cover-artwork? Looks like something from one of those exploitation 70s flicks, I'm thinking Spitting On Your Grave kind of thing. It´s a short one here, 5 tracks about 27 minutes in total.   

The first track simply called Intro, has the sound of angry dogs in various layers and effects. Takes me back to some recordings with Vagina Dentata Organ I once heard. A deafening and heavy death-industrial sound explodes, heightening the listening experience. And then we move further into the next track.

The next track is called Ritual Device, which starts with a choir of beautiful religious chanting. The huge cathedral-like sound here. Deafening and highly effect-drenched spoken words are added, excellent sounding metallic bass-sound thumbs like a machine in the background. A lot like the early recordings by Maschinenzimmer 412. Very well done.

The third track The Supreme Hunt has a more rhythmic tribal post-industrial sound to it. Lovely distorted rhythms here, with someone occasionally hitting an empty and spacious-sounding metal container with a steel bar. Creepy-ass and horrific soundscapes roam in the distance, with some excellent vocal parts and cool effects. Love the glitches and choppered raw sound here, absolutely perfection here! 

The fourth track Crucify Them Upon the Pylons... starts with a creepy slowed-down circus-like organ theme, not an organ but ... this box usually has one wheel where you pull this lever and music comes out of it! Pleasant and disturbing at the same time. There is also a metal-banging sound here, which transports me to some old harbor. The nice synth work here, and the spoken-word part here really heighten the mysterious and eerie atmosphere. 

The fifth (and last) track is called Assume A Human Form But With the Teeth of a Dog being the most noisy track on the album. Bone-crushing noise if you ask me, with some surreal movie samples in the background. And then we are back in the huge cathedral with some decadent and sickening ritual going on, with someone shouting ´Stop it!´... ´Stop it!´...´Everyone must die!´...  Intense ending for an intense album!     

Marvelous short and effective beast this one is. Concentrated and to the point! Horrific raw industrial-ritual music at its best. Surely a nod or two to the classic Cold Meat Industry sound. I will for sure check this other album, and I hope there will be more from this act!

Bandcamp (band):

https://dugupbydogs.bandcamp.com/album/the-supreme-hunt

Discogs (label):

https://www.discogs.com/release/26660366-Dug-Up-By-Dogs-The-Supreme-Hunt

 Resgestae - État D´urgence

Another release from the French label Force Majeure (sub-label of Nuit Et Brouillard). Resgestae is (was) a project based in Greece, nowadays it´s based in Spain. The project was started in early 2011 by Nicholas P, who also was responsible for another project called [distopia]. Both projects dealt in the space between dark-ambient/death-industrial and power-electronics. His idea for this project is a reaction to the aggressive and upfront sound of traditional power electronics. His idea would be to work with extreme frequency samples and drones to form a sub-sonic landscape. Something that could give the listener a cinematic experience with the album while incorporating true political, social, and economic elements.

This once came out in 2015, as a cool-looking digipack. So far, this is (still) the only release/album with this obscure and enigmatic project. 9 tracks, over 60 minutes in total! 

The first track on the album is called Alerte! L´état Profond (Alert! The Deep States). It starts with a heartbeat, reverbed and echoed spine-tingling sound effects, and a deep and heavy distorted drone. High-frequency human sounds almost resample the sound of bats, and then the sound of something getting electrocuted. I'm not sure, some of the sounds in the mix sound a bit like... distant gun firing? Could also be sounds that have been recorded underwater. Quite special this stuff is, moody power-electronics with a surreal element to it. An effective ear-opener this first track is. 

The second track The Network starts with a mind-numbing heavy drone-wall, with some wet and slippery sounds in the background. Some high-frequency sounds move back in forth, like some robotic drones surveing an underground sewer. Or is it those robotic killing machines they make to hunt the rats? Kind of terrifying that (if u listen closely through the dense sound) there is a distant trace of human voices, deep within the labyrinth sewer. Later on, mind-bubbling sound effects add something extra to the bad trip. I think a sample of George Bush is here as well. Quite something, lots of conceptual meat on this bone!

The third track Terrain D´Essai has this reverbed and reversed sound of... a drop of water which is then followed by a slow and heavy drum machine-pattern. Additional creepy industrial sounds are added, and some highly agitated French guy is talking over it. I like the highly atmospheric horror feel of it so far.

The fourth track R&D: Research & Development has a sample of some gangsta-hood trying to sell his secret stash of various weapons. A looped and atmospheric power-electronics distorted pulse pushes its way through the recording, certain Grey Wolves feel here! There are also a lot of aggressive glitchy sounds here as well! 

The fifth track From Repression To Management delivers a heavy underwater sound experience, primitive rhythmic electronics, and high-frequency endorsed sound effects. Definitely more of a death-industrial vibe here. 

The rest of the album (last 4 tracks) keeps the aesthetic conceptual theme alive, and I can highly recommend listening to this album in its absolute wholesomeness. https://www.facebook.com/resgestae0

Bandcamp (label):

https://forcemajeure.bandcamp.com/album/tat-durgence

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/resgestae0

 

 Mila Cloud - Long Way Back From The Familiar Places We´re Never Been

It´s actually very rare that I get to review anything from Poland. When I think of Poland, metal music usually pops up in my mind... not noise, experimental, or industrial music as such. Mila Cloud is a kind of thing, in between (in its own way). The easiest way to describe it would be dreamy/ethereal drone-metal, not that far away from the early recordings by Earth and some of the instrumental guitar work by the Red House Painters. Here is another charming note from the Bandcamp site, regarding the only member of Mila Cloud:

Mila is the ghost of a housewife from Warsaw, Poland, who plays and records instrumental songs in the dronegaze / doomgaze / cloudgaze style. Mila likes smoking on the balcony, playing ghostly songs, and watching short YouTube videos like "5 Terrifying Waves Caught on Tape" or "10 Biggest Waves Ever Recorded". She likes fuzzes, delays, phasers, and other quirks. Sleepwalking.

This album actually has a sort of theme/concept attached to it. The album is about Warzaw in the 90s. Mostly about blocks of flats, night busses, junkies, parks and backyards. I don´t actually know how Warzaw looks now, but it might have changed? Old buildings are torn down, and sterile square-figured buildings shoot up from the ground like mushrooms. Much the same thing that just happened in my own town of Viborg, somehow the ghost of old houses... lingers in the air. But anyway! The album comes out as an AWESOME-looking textured digipack all wrapped inside a transparent and white folder. Nice bleak but futuristic artwork as well. The album (or should I say) mini-album is a 6 tracked one, about 27 minutes in total. 

The first track is called Cloudgazer, and that is exactly how the track feels and sounds. Cloudy early morning, waiting for the rays of the sun to appear... but sadly, they don´t appear. Instead, you get these various smudgy colors of grey. The track starts with a heavy distorted, and reverbed guitar. Lots of cool pedal effects and stuff, very mesmerizing and atmospheric. Takes me instantly back to early Earth, just with a tiny dose of... I don't know, the melody has a kind of depressive black-metal feel to it (just a lot slower), if this was done on a synth... then it would/could be a winter synth. You give it a listen, it´s a very good one I reckon (already listened to the album 7 times now!). 

The second track Sweet Mommy is a short one. It continues where track one ended. More of a melancholic ambient and guitar track, lovely how so much expression can be squeezed into 1 minute and 46 seconds!

The third track Some Warzaw Junkie is not that far away from the first track, just a bit more heavy and slow. You can almost sense the tired and slow movement of a used-up junkie, there are some light tones in there as well... a sense of hope perhaps?. Or perhaps not, much in the same way we hope to see the sun every day. 

The fourth track The Coldest Boy, is beautifully icy. Love the layered and spacy effects here, and I love the way the track slowly builds up... very focused.

The fifth track is a bonus track (only on the CD) called Message From Bird Birds Sniffer. Being (maybe) the darkest and most harsh track here. Starts really dark, and ends with the feeling of... could it be the bloody sun?! Some warmth here, and the revered guitar work here almost has a synthy sound!

The rest of the album follows the sound of the chosen theme/mood, making this album a highly enjoyable and aesthetic album. It feels like a long and adventurous journey, which gives the album a focused soundtrack sort of feel. You don´t even notice the tracks, but you will accept the whole album as one long track... much in the same way it works when watching a movie. Highly recommendable stuff from Poland here, an act to follow and check up on here! 

Bandcamp (band):

https://miladrone.bandcamp.com/album/long-way-back-from-the-familiar-place-weve-never-been-to

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/MilaDroneMilaDrone

 

       

Spiteful Womb & DJINN - Euthanasia Is Not 

The Answer 

The second time we get to review the enigmatic mind behind a veteran in death-industrial/ambient soundscapes, this time he (DJINN) times up with a U.S-based act called Spitful Womb. Not knowing much about Spiteful Womb, Discogs and Bandcamp reveals the band as the sole workmanship of Nora Eglof. She has had releases out on labels like Signora Ward Records, Old Europa Cafe, and Death In Venice (just to name a few!). 

This limited split CD-R release from 2022 is actually a re-issue from a release that first came out in 2019. A nice, beautiful-textured, and thick cardboard-paper cover housing the CD inside. Front showcasing the album title and the track titles with a nice blood-splattered color on a white background. Almost resampling vomited red wine on a white sheet. If we open, we will see a big and nice picture of the two artists. Both with masks on. 5 tracks, about 30 minutes in total. So let us go! 

First, we have a go with Spitful Womb with her first track called Palliative. If you don't know what palliative is, then I can reveal to you that it´s about using drugs to relieve the suffering from... well dying I guess. Which is (in a way) prolonging the death = slow death. The gush of looped cold winds, and some metallic machinery banging in the background. Lots of spirits in here I can tell! In a way, it kind of takes me back to some of the (almost) erotic ambient tracks from the first Ordo Equilibrio album... just a hell of a lot more menacing. There is also that screeching flesh-scraping sensation usually there in classic death industrial, some interesting synthy drones fade in and out. Multilayered voices, talking like in some huge cathedral. A VERY good first track, seems very promising so far!

The second track with Spiteful Womb is called Groningen Protocol. And I'm here again, lecturing again! What is the Groningen Protocol?!. here goes : 

The Groningen Protocol is a medical protocol created in September 2004 by Eduard Verhagen, the medical director of the Department of Pediatrics at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in Groningen, the Netherlands. It contains directives with criteria under which physicians can perform "active ending of life on infants" (child euthanasia) without fear of legal prosecution.

Sounds like some sort of gas escaping from a tiny tube, ghostly (slightly) melodic looped drones of spirits engulfing the listener further into the abyss. Strangely disturbing, but also strangely pleasant to hear. There is also a subtle thumping of ritualistic drums way in the background. I really like the way how this track builds up, it starts with you being in some of a pleasant dream trance but then you start realizing... you are In bloody hell... but for some strange reason... it´s still... well pleasant! Get the picture! Industrial drone-ambient stuff done very well, I don't have anything to put my fingers down on.

We continue with DJINN and with his first track called No Life...No Death. We are in an operation theater. The sound of machines peeping, whispering talk, and painfilled human voices being involved in the whole bloody mess. Lots of nifty distorted synthy bass stuff going on, the whole track has that... Hamburger Lady feel if you know what I mean? There are also some nasty sounds of tubes, sucking stuff in (probably blood) and some old people coughing because they have smoked too much. Excellent creepy-crawling hospital-themed track! 

The next track with DJINN is called The End of Hope! A weird sort of falling sound going on, and a high-pitched sharp sound as well. Is that the sound of a pile driver I hear? Sampled voices here and there, and a nice and looped sound of a... something.. sounds cool. The whole bloody track is a paradise for people who enjoy rhythmic sampling of industrial sounds, I loved it... I am guilty!

The last track with DJINN is called The Last Day. Hypnotizing synth and a sample of some talking about getting out of those straps. Looped death-industrial electronics and eerie ambient soundscapes. Actually, the soundscapes move between the speakers, which I like! Which ends the track!

And that ends the split album. An American & Italian death-industrial release. Equally terrifying for most and deeply satisfying for any death-industrial addicts. An excellent introduction for both of these veteran acts, if you don't know them or know where to start! 

Bandcamp (label):

https://deathinveniceproductions.bandcamp.com/album/spiteful-womb-djinn-euthanasia-is-not-the-answer

Bandcamp (DJINN):

https://djinnsuicide1999.bandcamp.com/

Bandcamp (Spiteful Womb):

https://spitefulwomb.bandcamp.com/

        

Chaigidel - Entrails of the Earth

A new and fresh label called Dark Odyssey Records has just released its first release (read former label text on Kalteldur, link below). Entrails of the Earth by an Italian project called Chaigidel. This one is a re-release that was originally released in 2020. It was self-released digitally on Chaigidel´s official Bandcamp site... and it was also released by Nailed Nazarene Industries, both as a digital one and as a CD? I'm not sure if the CD was ever released, there has been some strange talk about the dodgy label Nailed Nazarene Industries... but enough of that! 2 other releases can also be located with Chaigidel, and they have been released by Cryo Champer, and Cyclic Law (check Discogs link below!) 

A decent cassette re-issue with excellent printing on thick white paper. Even a cool-looking colored photo of the artist Mattia Giovanni Accinni (behind the project) inside the inner sleeve.

The album contains only 4 tracks, but 40 minutes in total!    

The first track is called A Little Seed. There is a deep and huge cellar room, with a huge sort of circular steel barrow rolling on a stony surface. The sound is very good I must say. Next, there is a sort of... shimmering bell sound with some harsh glittering on top of it, and a creepy slow-flanging drone hums like a ghost in the background. There is a seed growing all right, not a pleasant one if you ask me. Maybe, it´s a virus (if you look at the cover artwork). Additional scratching sounds and creaking doors are added to the creepiness. A subtle rhythmic sound there and more subtle dark-ambient unpleasantness are added. So far, it´s very adventurous! Lots of dynamics and color (although dark and bleak)! Very good first track, the perfect fusion between ambient and industrial!

The second track is called Under the Soil. It's a very slimy sort of intro. Imagine worms and snails crawling over you, while the ever-growing roots of plants and trees are squealing your body together. And that is the sound there is here, there is also a heavy and monotonous loop giving it all a decent claustrophobic feeling. Some nice and harsh metallic bashing here, giving it a nice industrial edge. 

We flip the cassette and continue with the fourth track which is called Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt.  A thumping bone-crunching machine... thumps and thumps in the cathedral, not that far away from the sound of Brighter Death Now´s Pain In Progress. Lovely heavy and minimalistic soundscape, with hints of a sound there and here... which somehow manage to disappear into the ever-engulfing darkness within. Some extra and mysterious looped sounds are added, which are nicely faded in and out. Again, the aesthetic and adventurous feel are still here, feeding our constant curiosity. 

The last track is the fourth album which has the strangest title... 16/4. Is it a date? Or is it how much alcohol there is inside a vodka shot with a licorice taste? I tried doing a Google on 16/4, and the first answer was the vodka shot with the licorice taste. But the whole track could sound like the actual hangovers. Can you puke or not, or should you just go back to your bed? Whatever! The track starts like a headache, with very high-pitched sounds and some subliminal heavy moods in the background. If you added some trip-hop sounds it could sound a bit like Scorn! There is also the presence of human voices in there, and some low-tech radio equipment perhaps? Low-tech and heavy harsh death-industrial sounds are added, maintaining that atmospheric clinical sort of vibe. The whole last track is a humongous-moody monster, which could have been released as a single mini-album/EP. Perfect soundtrack material here for any horror movie. 

And that was... the sound of the Entrails of the Earth. Horrific and classic Italian death-industrial with a clear focus on mood and ritualistic aesthetics. I was actually surprised by this since most artists I have come across (who have had a connection with Cryo Chamber and Cyclic Law ) always sounded so... sterile and clean. Maybe that is why Cryo Chamber and Cyclic Law haven't made a re-issue of this one? Perfectly executed industrial-ambient with a nod or two to the harshness of noise. I´m curious what the other releases sound like! 

Kalteldur (Dark Odyssey text):

https://kalteldur.blogspot.com/2023/09/dark-odyssey-records-first-time-ever-i.html

Discogs (Chaigidel):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/7751364-Chaigidel

Bandcamp (label):

https://darkodysseyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/entrails-of-the-earth

Bandcamp (band):

https://chaigidel.bandcamp.com/