Reviews From Issue #6

dios project. disco! 3 inch. dumpsterscore.

this is a single 15 minute track that starts up as a nice crispy digital drone that is partially interrupted by stabs of harsh crumblers. the mood is hijacked by a thick ever advancing rumble that sounds starved and ready to snuff out all. the ensuing shroud of pure vomit becomes gear getting kicked down the stairs while a swamp of piss waits at the bottom. there appears to be some angry strangulated vocal damage getting hurled out of the morass but they are suffocated quickly and with malicious intent. the track really builds its fortification of ear scraping rattles and thick gravey rage. closing down with a brisk fade out of bad mood dude. i consider this nice trip through several shades of brown and black. good stuff.

izanami's labour pains. daigyakusatsu. 3 inch. dumpsterscore.

holy shit. this kicked off with some violent and screams and movie samples which was disturbing enough on its own. however this quickly went on the offensive with a meanspirited blast of hatred. not just a simple harsh wall but a very multifaceted and layered expanse of sound that changes as fast as your ears can process it. then you get buried under tons of thick deadly boulders of sound. kind of reminds me of killer bug due to the serious delivery of the material. you want to get kicked in the face then start here. fucking sick.

the shock technician 'struck by lightning'. 3 inch. dumpsterscore.

some real high end static and clatter intermingling with swampy hiss bubbling underneath. this is an erratic mess of old school bleeps blips all coated with a glaze of mildewed hash. totally brittle and crispy 2003 styled pedal abuse here but with much more scum layered on the top. recorded live. no overdubs. and no software generated sounds is what the artist proclaims. this is damn good for live and would make for a great live performance perhaps. not alot of that obvious low end rumble on this one but you wont miss it at all. lets see what else the shock technician has up his sleeves on future releases. this is an artist to keep an eye on for certain. 

compoundead. oms havoc. 3 inch. dumpsterscore.

the minute this started playing i was hooked. sounds like field recordings to me but i could be wrong. whatever the case the sounds are very interesting. i hear boots in crunchy snow walking to a factory in the middle of the night. i hear a log burning in a fireplace. i hear life being incinerated. compoundead is a 2 person project that work extraordinarily well together. the placement and pacing of this disc is incredible. i get a very strong blue sabbath black cheer vibe from this disc. there is a really strong sense of dread and forboding that just hangs over this entire piece. this really starts settling into a very heavy drone at around the 14 minute mark and just sweeps you out to sea and you wont be returning. this is nothing short of a haunting epic that comes with my highest recommendations. i need more from this duo.

i died 'instinctively descending'. cdr. dumpsterscore.

eugene oregon's chris gierig a.k.a. i died is easily one of the busiest people in noise today. i believe that he eats. sleeps. eats. and shits noise all hours of the day and night. with 'instinctively descending' i died is dosing you on two extended pieces of his patented echoey yet pulverizing blend of noise and sleazy ambience. as is the case with all of his work it always sounds as if it is straight from the basement and the lights are always off in said basement. the first track is a thoroughly crispy wandering through a cemetary obscured by thick harsh fog and anguished ghosts. then you realize you're just frying balls and you fall down the stairs and smack your head on the concrete floor. track two is a very crumbled and garbled piss of static and scum. some nearly subliminal radio sounds pop in and out of your ears while all around you you're getting buried alive with shovelfuls of kult gloom. some of the lows that get hit on this track are thoroughly ripping and suffocating at the same time. yet another stellar chapter in the i died saga that will have you choking on dirt and high off of brutality. serious fucking damage for your eardrums done with true kvlt intensity and dedication. the stitches get ripped on this one motherfuckers.

aaron dilloway. 'chain shot'. cd. hanson.

one thing that you can always count on with aaron dilloway is that you will get drawn in and before you realize it you will be completely immersed. i believe that dillo is one of the best when it comes to tape loops and manipulations. no origins are betrayed and no answers are given as you are knocked about by some serious lo-fi tape fuckery. you hear the tape stops and starts you can feel the hiss. the loops that get conjured up are hypnotic and addictive and never remain the same for very long. alot of creeping up on you takes place. you know this needs to be part of your collection.  

fuck the retarded girl. 'the dead horse tapes'. cdr. cantankerous records.

perhaps my tastes have changed over the years but when it comes to spastic pedal based chaos i can't sit through a 37 minute track like i used to. i think part of it comes from my notion that i think the whole schizo pedal abuse thing with tons of feedback. bleeps. blips. static. and crackle is sort of passe especially in such a long single track. the second track comes on as a quiet whispery breeze then shifts to a long sample piece of dialogue from a couple that has sex with horses. then track three goes back to pedal violence but in a mercifully shorter eleven minute block. it's not that i hate this disc or this sort of noise but i prefer it in smaller doses. 

dotabata. 'black orchid'. cdr. smell the stench.

some seriously masterful doomy artistry. not far removed from such experimental big timers such as sunn0))) or earth but far more deadly than either. when the guitars aren't being wrung out of every last iota of life there are other ways to drone and doom along. there is so much droney fog and noisy pilled out sorrow that just manages to elevate this to epic genius levels. this pretty much sinks down as low and as raunchy as i have ever heard and dredges up some very hideous feelings. blackened lo-fi kvlt scum meeting some truly anguished beauty. this is one of the best releases i have ever heard in the doom drone game and i believe that dotabata is going to have his cold dead hands full trying to top 'black orchid' because i dont think anyone else can. 

new miracle force. 'space debris'. cdr. cantankerous records.

sci-fi gloom and doom from this three piece unit. long extended suites of some seriously deep spacey drones and stoned guitar incantations accompanied by sparse percussion. the recording sounds very raw with just enough of a dirty film to keep things mysterious and primitive. here again is another new combo that i am hearing for the first time and being very pleased that people are keeping it truly underground while trying to capture the mysteries of space and the unknown. very good disc. my only criticism would be in the drums department. although the percussion rarely kicks in but when it does i almost wish it wouldn't. despite this i would still love to hear more from this group.     

interlard. 'scrape'. cdr. cantankerous records.

desolate pounding and hateful. completely blown out filthy death marches. the soundtrack to a brutal rape. imagine godflesh with no vocals and all the gear is completely fucked up and hurling out crackling hatred. the tracks are long and hypnotic and have a very cold vibe. i really like this disc alot. a bad trip to be certain.

reaching. 'art thieves'. cdr. cantankerous records.

first off: make sure the paint is dry on the disc before you put it in a sleeve. i managed to get it out without tearing the cover up but i know some of you feel my pain right? what we get here is some standard issue harsh noise with an undercurrent of tone buried beneath. actually the first track is a nice steady pleasant tone that isn't completely overtaken by harshness at all. but of the three tracks on this disc two of them are largely crumbly pieces with some lower broke down drones and fragmented lows. sporadic moments of color in the form of rudimentary musical tones but mainly obscured beneath a rough hewn layer of droney harshness. by and large this is a decent release from a fantastic label. if there is more to come from reaching i will be there for the listenings.   

     

bbblood / reaching. 'split'. cdr. no label listed.

two artists who both tread the harsh path. two tracks from bbblood and three from reaching. both seem to understand that you can be harsh without going apeshit crazy on the pedals. all the tracks consist of shifting levels of harsh textures that teeter on the brink of full on feedback and squeal. everything is tightly controlled and manipulated and remains solid throughout. a very good listen from two harsh heads who refuse to appologize for their art.worthy stuff.

d/a a/d. 'catholic bed death'. cdr. dumpsterscore.

you wake up bound and gagged in a dark room and sunlight never seems to come. you are taunted by your captor. night never ends. this disc is a true horror soundtrack simply because each of the four tracks reeks off anxiety and dread. there is something dark looming in each track that never reveals itself yet comes in taunting waves of synthy drone and filthy black shadows of static gloom. this is what black noise is to me. i dont give a fuck what anyone else defines it as. this is a top notch release full to capacity of creepy and unsettling nothingness. this disc gets the gene symptoms seal of approval. drop some acid and put yourself on a bad trip just because.

various artists. 'modern language'. tape. snapped in half.

andrew coltrane. head boggle. demons. angel of decay. envenomist. pulse emitter. carlos giffoni. oneohtrix point never. d/a a/d. and spine scavenger all kicking down a track each for this synth themed comp. based on the lineup alone you know you should have this in your collection. each one of these artists knows exactly how to operate their gear. when done correctly you can be taken to the farthest regions of space to the deepest pit of hell. from euphoria to despair and all points in between. from new agey meditations to sinister drones this compilation has it all. if you dont have this i suggest you get it. 

holographic beast. 'perpetual filth'. c-40. know/care sounds.

i am extremely impressed with the tracks on this tape. holographic beast clearly understands that there's a fine line between pulverizing audio damage and epic contemplative experimentations. when it is done right the results can be astoundingly good. this has the perfect amount of brutality and sublimity. beautiful tone excursions scrambled up by cold hearted thunder and sadistic crunch. when your aren't having some vulgar clods of graveyard dirt dumped on you there will be moments where you are getting swept away. this is some true pacific northwest experimentation that will get plenty of air time on your cassette deck. serious dark and intriguing listening for the true noise fiends. get this or get fucked.

andreas brandal. 'blood will be poured out into the dust.' c-20. phage tapes.

heavy duty blackened ambience setting a very unsettling mood. very dark and very well executed tonal displays. not so much on the harsh side of things as one might expect from phage tapes but still a great ear full of half dead ambient sounds. side two has some acoustic guitar creeping in from the shadows to add extra weight to the proceedings. although side two is well played and expertly assembled i really believe that the track on side one is pure black nightmare fuel and as good a reason as any to snag this tape up and puff on some greenery then zone out in hell. 

invertebrate. 'extermination procedures'. c-20. phage tapes.

although jared liebenau has moved away from creating noise and is now heavily into making films i still found that anytime there was a new invertebrate or rotted brain release i felt i needed to hear it. he along with i died are two of the most improved noise artists of the last 5-6 years. never resting on laurels and always ready to perfect on previous ideas. what you get here from invertebrate is a really sludgy mess of oppressive rumble and a disdainful yet thin layer of static. this in some respects could be considered wall noise but it is almost too textured and layered to garner that designation. suffice it to say 'extermination procedures' is a fucking beatdown of harsh ideas and cruel noise. side two goes even further out with some monolithic rumbling accompanied by a wave of withering death frequencies. there is a slim possibility that im hearing some pulverized vokills struggling to survive in the chaos but i could be wrong. it really doesn't matter because this is a thoroughly crippling painful fuck of a ride. northwest represent.

werewolf jerusalem / the slasher is the sex maniac 'among the killing'. c-20. phage tapes.

with werewolf jerusalem you get some filthy low budget true kult texas styled ear murder. a deliberately methodical attack of sick fucking homicidal pervert harshness that will leave puncture wounds. blisters. and tattered panties. the slasher is a sex maniac dishes out some seriously ailing frequency destroying unpleasantries. someone is fucking and sucking but you wont ever know for sure because it is torn up and rendered a pulpy raped out mess. a very focused split between two projects that keep it diseased and depraved. walls turned into shit but you'll take it or else because you are a piece of shit noise whore. phage tapes is a label worthy of support and respect for keeping things brutal and in your fucking face. 

emaciator. 'neglect'. c-46. monorail trespassing.

according to the minimalist liner notes contained on the inside cover it says that 'neglect' was recoded in fits of panic and anxiety. personally i couldn't agree more as there is a very palpable sense of being ill at ease. very flat and glib rumblings and layers of gray floating across the desolate bulldozed plains. even as side two shows a small glimmer of positivity in some reflective musical leanings the lingering sense of despair is all too powerful and eventually things go dark again. if you are familiar with emaciator's work then this is a classic that i was lucky enough to swoop down on. this would be perfect for pill popping on a dreary day.

emaciator 'whitewash/days without fear'. c-60. self released.

this is the debut tape from 2004 and somehow i managed to scoop up a bunch of rare and out of print emaciator stuff from someone a while back [cant remember who....sorry]. and while this has probably been reviewed several times already for me this is my first time hearing it. so fuck you it's new to me and i have thoughts about it. this is the sound of complete ruin. anguished feedback and oppressive lows getting completely fucking mangled and turned inside out. emaciator to me is all about the gloom and it manifests itself in some of the most disfunctional brittle semi-drones and pulverized noise that i have ever heard. things are allowed to operate and are paced in a way that is clearly about feeling rather than by random. so gloriously dead sounding. you shoot heroin and it feels good to you. you dont care if you live or die. your soundtrack plays beckoning waves of devastated primitive despair. 

wapstan. wild stars and fighting saints'. c-30. phage tapes.

this tape is 30 minutes of intense listening. heavy layered drones and synthy movements moving at a glacier's pace. you want some serious experimental listening then you need to hear this. fucking haunted and impactful. one of the best wapstan releases i have heard and another stellar example of why phage tapes is one of the best underground labels in the united states.

ikteka. 'scenes of gore.' c-62. phage tapes.

pure unadulterated drudgery and savagery from ohio's resident hnw specialist. getting drug down a gravel road by your ankles. let there be no doubt that there is no escape and no reprieve. no ambient breakdown sections no mongoloid pedal spasms no fucking frills. for the serious harsh heads only. ikteka makes harsh walls that are suffocating and punishing. guaranteed to give grand masters such as the rita and vomir a run for their money. deadly material.

teeth collection + plasmic formations / phosphene form. 'split'. c-62. phage tapes.

i love when i press play on a tape and i am immediately drawn in. sometimes it's difficult to determine what's going on in a piece but it's always fun to try and guess. with this collaboration: teeth collection and plasmic formations create some very interesting ambient music that is equal parts light and dark. their two tracks are deep and have just enough basement hiss to give off a very strange low budget sci-fi soundtrack vibe. both artists work very well together and have managed to create a very interstellar setting for your joint rolling exucrsions while staring at your black light posters. phosphene form kicks down a single track of some gritty rips and tears. some low rider farts accompanied by dead frequencies other sonic litter. somewhat cut up and riddled with stops starts and those moments where it sounds like something is falling off the shelf and breaking. stuff getting pounded on in rooms both near and far. sounds like it was recorded back in the 70's. total echoed out gutter noise that makes me wish i was smoking a cigarette for some reason. so scattered and messy but in a really good way. a great split with much to hear from both projects. 

teeth collection. 'object of metal and tape'. cassette. factotum tapes.

creepy warehouse death. metal is obviously the medium of choice and it is used with quite stunning results. from minimalist nearly silent passages to chaos heavy topplings and thrashings all with a hint of underground sleaze that gives this an extra bit of gnarl. an intriguing extended trip through a very dark and unsettling world. you wont be able to put your finger on it but it will still provide a great listen. 

demonologists / teeth collection. 'split'. c-60. hung like a horse.

teeth collection kicks things off with a thich drizzling of thick static and crumble combined with blasting piss heat and urinal wind. some severe stitch ripping action and a deep undercurrent of bad intentions abounds. towards the end it goes into more mellow [fucking word sucks] territory but no less disturbing. the demonologists side is a serious cloud of graveyard stench and brutal blackened harshness that just keeps blasting you in the face. a sick session that manages to straddle the line of ugly and beautiful while melting your eardrums and letting your brains seep out. this split is a worthy addition to your collection no matter how you slice it. i will however give the slimmest edge to demonologists just for the sheer ferocity. however teeth collection brings a high standard in the melding of harsh and ambience. killer.

wretched worst. 'bleeder'. c-31. husk records.

when i hear something that has equal parts experimental. brutal. noisy. and musical in a deeply absurd way you can goddamned rest assured that im gonna like it. rudimentary rhythm poundings. menacing bass. anguished vokills not too far removed from those of david yow. and gritty noise chirps and feedback squeals it is as close to a perfect fuck you in audio form as you can get. it manages to stay together all while slowly morphing into some serious knuckle dragging crap. side two is a really slow doomer that is just as filthy and out there as side one. some real trashy snuffed out vokills and a repetitive bass line keep you in the zone as the rhythm is like nails getting pounded into wood. the second track on side two is even more slow and dying than the previous one. reminds me of gg allin if he was doing music in his coffin ala 'suicide sessions'. if andre the giant ran on dead batteries. shitty cymbals rule. this is a beautiful piece of shit.

the cysts. 'public release' 7inch. eolian records.

i have been looking forward to this motherfucker ever since it's eminent release was anounced many months ago. this slab includes 5 tracks of tuneless blasts of hardcore with short bouts of sludge. the mess that these dudes manage to create is filled with cynicism and good old fashioned portland oregon styled anger. does that make sense? probably not but those who know know. the A side has 4 tracks of trashy hardcore that doesn't let up. james is a master lyricist. the singalong bits are full of gang violence. the B side is a single track that is more mid tempo but still as mind eroding as the fast stuff. if you like your hardcore straight from the basement and blowing up your speakers then you will love this killer slice of portland art-core. teeth rotting glory.

gone to croatoan. 'they'. 7inch. eolian records.

huh? this 7 had me wondering what hit me. 2 piece combo of drums along with bass / vokills. spastic blasts of atonal grind and brutal free jazz and experimental skronk. the music is constantly eerie while at times being creepily quiet and other times acting as a hammer to the side of your head. the vokills range from throat slashing screams to normally sung bits and smarmy falsettos. short songs filled with twists and turns along with some serious heaviness to further cave your head in. 8 tracks in total so you get a nice overview of what this portland based cadre is all about and it isn't pretty but when it comes to experimental art brutality i really dont think any other label is doing it better than eolian. where's the fuckin label showcase? another crushing banger from the eolian team. hails.

city of churches. 'memelust.' 7inch. eolian records.

holy fucking fuck. countless short blasts of pure fucking rage. grind attack at it's absolute best. short sweet and to the fucking point. a hit and run fuck of grinder hell. this is the kind of shit that goes so good with a case of beer and a bag of weed. if you are a fan of grind in the vein of anal cunt, 7minutes of nausea, or old napalm death then this will be right up your alley and straight up your ass. fucking non-stop blasting that will leave you in a tangled heap with your hi-fi set up busted into a million pieces on the other side of the room. hell is here motherfuckers get the beatdown of your fucking life. the f-word appeared 8 times in this review.

bbblood / al qaeda 'split'. 7inch. trans-dimensional sushi.

one thing i can say right off the bat is that bbblood is really starting come into his own. his track is a crispy heat blast that just starts chewing you up feet first then by the time it gets to your chest it stops so that you can hear the funereal ambience that beckons you to the other side. in my opinion it is his best work yet. the al qaeda side is some serious meditative drone accompanied by sparse guitar lingerings. eventually things start to pick up with some bubbly interruptions that add to the proceedings. the layers are damn thick which gives this a nice foundation for the guitar and other sounds to meander about. really good stuff from both. 

emaciator. 'reflection'. 2 x lp. acidie records.

this sparsely decorated sleeve is home to a double lp full of empty gestures and creepy drone savagery. some very heavy layers and mysterious depths hiding just beneath a brittle foggy veneer. i hear operatic sounds mournfully howling as they are buried under pure kvlt audio filth on the tracks 'reflection' and 'reflection two' which bookend this set. starting out gentle and lulling and by the end of each side you are drowning and suffocating. there are some very bleak tones and dark rumblings on the track 'dishonesty' which kept me held fast in a hypnotic gaze. as is the case with most of the emaciator material i have heard the sounds can sometimes get so crumbly that it is nothing short of crippling. winds gently float by are quickly replaced by jet engines going off in your ear all delivered with a craftsman's touch with an understanding of the aural equivalent of malaise. emaciator is the master of the withering doomy layers of depressive oppression. you're dying all the time.  

gx-jupitter larsen 'big time crash bang 2008' lp. rrr.

if ever an album title was more fitting. it is only in dreams where automobile crashes happen over and over in succession without stopping. gx has melded together the violence and horror of an auto wreck complete with screeching tires and mangling of metal and the tornado of glass that accompanies them. to give the proceedings a further haunting dimension there is a very anxiety laden foggy tone that just seems to hover above the fray. flip this fucker over and you get even more metallic pummelings and wreckings where no one survives. this one has a thicker fog that hangs around but it isn't as steeped in nightmare fuel as the A side. a thoroughly engaging listen from one of america's true noise heroes and legends. get in the car baby. 

emaciator. 'coveting'. lp. not not fun records.

five seriously dismal yet beautiful wanderings. dense droney fog and emotive tones intermingling with each other. the guitar interludes when the instrument is allowed to be in its natural yet primitive state is an added touch that only enhances the overwhelming depression and despair that creeps up into your brain like gloomy fumes. there seems to be more emphasis on the more heartfelt side of the drone as there are some very nice pieces that manage to let you drift into a morose oblivion. the track 'no one will ever know' is such a perfect melding of sound and song writing. throughout the duration of this album i kept picturing being out on a river at sunset floating slowly and staring up into the blueish pink sky. life flashes before my eyes. memories like snapshots long gone. birds fly overhead. night is approaching. this album is nothing short of a masterpiece that should be in your collection. ominous beauty. 

lame prey. 's/t'. 3 inch. dumpster score home recordings.

some fairly run of the mill yet furious material from this pennsylvania based duo. this is my first exposure to this project. while the first few tracks have quite a bit of punch the further along it went it just didn't maintain the power. alot of harsh rumble crackle and bursts of feedback along with some venomous vokill attacks is the overall theme. their inclusion of some pre-recorded samples doesn't enhance things. i will say that this is a good introduction from this project and i'm certain that future outings will have the gritty power that is merely hinted at on this release.

various artists. 's.m.e. mixtape vol. 3'. c-60. soccer mom ebonics.

remember the good old days of tape trading where you would kick down a tape of your favorite stuff that you knew your friends hadn't ever heard of? well the fine folks at soccer mom ebonics haven't forgotten the fine art of the mix tape. there are 20 different artists on this cassette and they run the gamut from acoustic folky stuff, to some nu-ish metal type thrash, to noise, to raver core and all points in between. the unfortunate thing is that most of it isn't all that good. this is a shame since there are some quality artists to be found here i.e. sparkle girl. syphillis sauna. algiers. and black ops. the opening track from the ghost of kyle bradford is a great track and well worth a listen if you like some semi mopey acoustic pop. while the majority of the material from the other artists is lackluster i do appreciate the variety and the different genres represented. the old school hiss that ran along with the tuneage was a very cool and unintentional nod to the tape trading days of old. i would really like to hear the other volumes of this series so if anyone has them send them on over. not so great on this go around but i do appreciate the concept..

sparkle girl. 'tanked'. c-60. soccer mom ebonics.

one thing i know for certain about this seattle crue is that they get some of the most interesting and engaging sounds. from deep hums and drones to field recordings to out and out dadaist convulsions and feedback blasts. 'tanked' keeps things on the dark side. i got a really sinister vibe off the tracks they had on offer. long walks down gravel roads that are frozen and frosty in the dead of night while not quite sure if you're losing your mind or just dreaming. i need to see how these dudes do business when it comes to the recording sessions as everything is tightly assembled yet free to move and morph from place to place. the faces change but the frown is still the same. another great one from this authentically northwest noise / art twosome.

corephallism. 's/t'. 3inch. lascivious aesthetics / apop records.

a black wave of cancerous revenge. extreme ambient meets horror movie soundtrack. track two made me jump out of my seat with it's creepy yet unassuming intro and instantly loud mangled frequency hailstorm. when all is silent you are left with the mournful sobbing of a girl off in the distance. fucking sick. someone needs to die while listening to this. total suicide ambience and self mutilating noise. short but highly recommended for the sheer death that oozes from the speakers. 

regosphere. 'into the deep red'. 3inch. fragment factory.

absolute genius plain and simple. with each successive regosphere release the level of craftsmanship increases by leaps and bounds. the level of control that andy has on this 3 inch is enough to convince me that regosphere belongs among the elite in the world of synth based music. dedicated to the work of itallian horror master dario argento and holy shit does it ever show as regosphere lays out some incredible soundscapes that are filled with dread and anxiety. layered expertly and controlled to perfection. track two 'eyes in the closet' is one of the best synth based pieces i have ever heard. if you have yet to discover the work of regosphere then i am commanding you to get in contact with fragment factory and get this 3inch. this is so good that i can't imagine how andy will top it on future releases but i am curious to hear him try.    

obozdur / i died. ' fire shit and sacred face'. tape. black and purple.

although the fall of communism opened the former soviet union up to the world, the noise scene to me is one of the most mysterious and least exposed in the world. thanks to the efforts of chris gierig and his black and purple label we get a great glimpse into the russian noise scene. obozdur delivers a lo-fi dose of ear scouring kvlt noise that manages to bury itself under a mountain of pummeling static and thunderous audio crust. no refinement. no finesse. just pure old school sleaze. eugene oregon stalwart i died unearths some disgusting, loud as fuck cemetary violence. keeping things true and primitive, i died's track is a devastating demonstration of his ever darkening grimness. thunderous harsh blasts and hellish wall segments. im going to go on the record and say that this is the strongest material i have yet heard from i died. this is a great split that says 'fuck you' right to your fucking face. while many claim to be harsh, they are merely blowing smoke up the public's collective asses. to me it is artists such as obozdur and i died that are going out there and putting their disgust on tape and beating your fucking asses thoroughly. fuck the imitators, because it doesn't get much more true than this.   

earth incubator / i died. 'ursid'. tape. black and purple.

i died from eugene oregon teams up with another russian based artist in an attempt to outkvlt the competition. russian noise head earth incubator lays down the law with a wall of devastating rumble and crackle while delving into some cut up segments of tightly chopped pedal stop and starts and gritty volume swells. while track two is some of that digitech flanger stylee turned up loud and allowed to blow some tinny breeze in your ears. gets really spacey all while maintaining the requisite tornado of  grit and grime that is a russian stylistic hallmark [at least to my ears]. some old school eastern european noise: archaic, extremely lo-fi, and grim. i died kicks some live aktion down for you with some tracks that appear to straddle the line between his earlier works and his more currently blackened approach. there is a bit of chirpy campiness on this first track interlaced with some severe frequency damage that goes low as low can go. while i have always found i died's early material to be consistently interesting i feel that it is his work from the last year or two that is really showing the true potential. this manages to bridge the gap between where he was and where he is now which is a remarkable leap to be certain. i think what makes his current work so appealing is that it has all the atmospherics and venom without the wackiness that sort of defined the early stuff. on the second track, i died really tosses your sorry ass out with the trash and lets you have it with both barrels. severe kvlt darkness and some seriously fucked up drags scrapes stabbings and sluggish frequency ruminations. cruddy to the tenth power bitch, and i mean that in a good way.

i died. 'abyssal plain'. c-20. black and purple.

some more grim noise from i died. while this tape needs to be cranked up to get the full dose you need it should serve as a reminder that i died is getting into some seriously heavy territory these days. this was recorded in 2007 which i consider to be i died's year where he trimmed the fat and got down to some serious kvlt business. the A side is a blackened slab of vibrating tones that are brittle and scraping the bottom. the B side is another dead excursion to the ocean depths where you drowning is a very real possibility. the thick gritty tones ride deep and stay firmly rooted. the vibrations are nervous and methodical. another killer from i died. keep 'em coming brother.

i died / oubliette. 'split'. tape. black and purple.

blast off courtesy of i died. flanged out jet engine burning a hole in your ear drums and rattling your brain stupid while upper level snake charmer feedback cuts through the crispy rumble and thick hatred like a hot knife through butter. the over the top flange attack reaches near absurd levels and nearly ruins his track but it fails to compete with the barbaric foundation crumbling detonations that are conjured up. southern kvlt leader oubliette dredges up some serious basement disgrace with his two tracks. zombified pissy hiss and harsh southern sweat dripping from every pore with a distant melee of feedback and gutter frequencies. sounds like it was recorded live with no overdubs as it has this unhinged quality that you just can't get when you plan things out too much. shit is going on but you can't see through the cobwebs and pitch black to figure out what it is. suffice it to say, it's not pretty. it is possible that oubliette makes some of the most disgusting primitive noise in the business. gritty, creative, and weird just as it should be.    

rj myato. 'reporductive rights'. tape. black and purple.

two extended pieces that are brutally harsh and full of twists and turns. lo-fi pedal abuse that rides when it needs to and clusterbombs all over the place when it needs to. lots of deadly rattle rumble feedback and some savage bowel wrecking low end with some dwindling spectral crispiness here and there. nothing that a ton of artists haven't already done but still a decent enough listen. i dig the fact that black and purple is releasing material from lesser known artists and giving them an opportunity to show off their wares. good tape. 

hunting rituals. 'bear eater'. tape. poor little music.

a very interesting listen. some odd distant hiss and hum. here again is one of those projects where i would love to see what's going on as the material is being created. in some respects this reminds me of oubliette where there is a basement vibe that gives the listener something to explore. side one has a some really damaged wind instruments i.e. recorder and saxophone but done in such a fucked up way that it creates a nice creepy mood. hunting rituals is a unique mix of lo-fi pieces that are gritty and wierd. definitely a project on the rise. 

ghost food. 's/t'. tape. wintage records and tapes.

how in the hell does on catagorize this sort of thing? thin whispy tic-toc rhythms and mutilated horn playing with an anxious undercurrent just hanging out like a cig smoking delinquent. total c.b. radio on crack vocalizations interspersed with haranguing feedback spikes. the B side goes in a different direction with quiet machine hummings that pick up slightly in amongst the artificial breathing and rising temperature. circuits are gently sizzling. two vastly differing sides on one tape. there must be something in the water up there in canada.

rob michalchuk / fossils. 'split'. tape. middle james company.

on rob michalchuk's side, he unfurls a ragged dark current of low notes being drug around like a rag doll. distant anguished highs and a down and dirty stream of brown piss. claustrophobic and grim. with fossils you know you're going to get a dose of the unusual. i am not disappointed as they proceed to clean out the closet in your ears and leaves it to you to figure out what's going on. sounds like stuff being dumped into a bucket. then dumped on the floor while you stand outside the room and wonder about it with a tape recorder in your hand. fossils is one of the most interesting projects going as it always maintains its mysterious aura while constantly challenging the listener with unique loops and taped shenanigans. if you don't know about either of these projects then this would be as good a place as any to start. not completely essential but a nice overview nonetheless.

various artists. 'tiger bar, toronto ont. may 20th 2007 live'. dvd. poor little music.

ghost food. women in tragedy. disguises. and magik markers kicking down the live aktions for your viewing pleasure. ghost food starts off the proceedings with saxaphone and pedal workouts delivering some interesting pseudo ambient sounds. a decent demonstration of what ghost food is about, but im sure that there have been better performances, as this one seemed a bit spotty. one man project women in tragedy conjures up some seriously morose funeral / wedding sounds and then goes off on some vocal hysterics and then back towards the ambience albeit in a more devastated form via casio keyboard and pedal line. a very well constructed set and a great mix of music and massacre and by the conclusion the crowd is thick and well into stuff. disguises is a 'band' that refuses to play its instruments but would rather make racket with them. drums / guitars / dude bangin on a piece of sheet metal who also picks up a guitar. some weird sounds to be found but sometimes this sort of thing just pisses me off especially when it just turns into cord hum and little else. when the vocals kick in they are the scream your head off variety. their set is dumb. i have to admit there are times when i really don't have the patience for people who go up on stage and do this freeform shit. then some asshole gets up and reads some bullshit story as a sort of time killer. then for the main event we get magik markers who do a 2 person guitar / drummer thing. long extended tunes with beats and some piss poor guitar playing. although i will admit that there are some moments where it seems like things are flowing pretty good but then it immediately degenerates back into tuneless wankery. i dont know if this is intended to be taken seriously or if this is just for fun but either way it needs to be kept away from a stage. but.....the crowd seems to enjoy this so who am i to say what's good. anyhow this goes on for entirely too long as it concludes near the one hour mark. im going to say that while this may have been fun for the artists and the attendees who were there, this wasn't as good for me to watch. the saviours on this are ghost food and women in tragedy who completely kills it. anyone following his set was fucked no matter what.