Andrea Belfi is an Italian electro-acoustic musician and composer. He
began playing drums at the age of 14, and studied art in Milan, before
becoming involved in experimental music in 2000. Belfi is also a member
of electronic outfit Medves. Rotterdam artist Rutger Zuydervelt started
his prolific project Machinefabriek in 2004. This striking
collaboration took place between Belfi on drums and assorted small
percussion, and Zuydervelt on guitar and organ. Together they produce
the 'pulses' and 'places' mentioned in the title. Organic yet partially
improvised, it resembles a kind of sonic geography. The listener is
taken away for a journey of mild drones, soft yet outspoken percussion.
A strong release. Presented in a card-slip-sleeve.
A definitive tribute to the many years of activity of these Italian minstrels! A
collection of 14 remastered atmospheric songs, carefully chosen by the
band covering all previous albums and singles plus 2 new exclusive ones
only available here.Dedicated
to the water and its hidden mysteries, "A Calliope... Collection" is a
visionary static voyage, a flowing soundtrack for the solitary moments
spent in front of the Mediterranean sea, lost in the hypnotic rhythm of
the tides in a contemplative, nostalgic state.To
enrich this work, the jewel case comes housed in a slipcase with an
extra, extensive 32-page full-colour booklet with many exclusive
photos, drawings and writings by the band's most passionate listeners
from all over the world. Ltd x 333 copies. RARE ITEM - ACT FAST!
Reissue
of this 2002 title with slightly different artwork. "Ownliness" offers
trip-hop rhythms, guitar-ambient, beautiful road movie-music, strange
samples and loops deliver with a twist only the Beequeens can master.
From the opener "Clockwise" to the long melancholic piece "Beam Ends"
(featuring a ticking clock, atmospherically guitar work, environmental
recordings and cellos) this new CD offers one of Beequeen's most
musical products. It will certainly appeal to Beequeen fans old and
new, offering an album full of beautiful tracks. "Ownliness" proves
Beequeen more alive than ever, willing to take on new challenges in
their music.
C.O. CASPAR - 'Reports From This Lunatic Asylum' CD
(Hau Ruck!)
- £12 / £13 / £14
The
latest album from this legendary Berlin Industrial artist is a
symbiotic mix of text-fragments, archaic soundscapes and rhythm. The
album tries to reflect the present chaos of the world in a specific way
- a combination of proclamations and assurances which never will be
fulfilled in the end, a criticisms on today's politics and media.
Digipak.
Malignant
presents another rising star within the dark ambient scene, this time
in the form of French act Collapsar. With their debut CD, Collapsar
transports the listener on an epic journey deep into the cosmos,
forging a path across a vast, inky void, and steering a course around a
roiling galactic core of hyper-dense stars and black holes. The sound
is epic, expansive, and most of all, HEAVY. There is beauty and
tranquility within these realms, but there is no light - just massive,
pulsating textures coalescing into shimmering drones, rippling sound
waves, and billowing, multi-dimensional layers of powerful dark energy.
“Beyond the Event Horizon” is without question, dark ambient in its
purest form and one of the more genre defining releases of the last
several years. A must for fans of Inade, Lustmord etc. In 6 panel
digipak, with design by eyelyft.
"...these
Russians play doom at a snail's pace. Even if it was played at twice
the speed, it would still be agonizingly slow. The lethargic riffs
generate a heavy and oppressive atmosphere enhanced by minimal drumming
and keyboards. The vocals are initially ineffectively distorted, but
these are quickly discarded in favour of a more efficient natural
grunt. It need not be said, but just in case there is any doubt: these
are lengthy compositions, tending towards the double digit mark. The
band is not too dissimilar to funeral doomsters Tyranny, but do possess
their own distinctive flavour... Recommended for all who like their
doom to proceed at approximately the same speed as a glacier -- only
less welcoming and with less warmth" (Chronicles Of Chaos). Finished
with a nice slipcase.
De Magia Veterum is the magickal creation of Mories (Gnaw Their Tongues)
which was summoned in the year of 2003. Bearing a few resemblances with
his other musical endeavors, De Magia Veterum represents a far more
chaotic outlet, one that prefers to communicate the grand mysteries
through an utmost violent and mesmerizing medium. "Migdal Bavel" is the
band’s second full-length album: 37 minutes of chaotic, raw, technical,
esoteric, avant-garde Black Metal. Let De Magia Veterum guide you as
you navigate through Samael's seas of madness. Packaged in a custom
made 6-panel deluxe A5 sleeve, with silver ink printed on black
cardboard.
DER BLUTHARSCH - 'The Moment Of Truth' CD & 3" CD
(WKN)
- £12 / £13 / £14
Collection
of rare tracks from the classic, early years of Der Blutharsch, with a
bonus 3" CD. 6 tracks are from "Der Gott Der Eisen Wachsen Ließ" MCD
(1999), 3 tracks are from "The Moment Of Truth" 10" (1998) and 1 track
is from the rare "Thank You!" 7" (2000), featuring Death in June. Those
10 reissue tracks were all remastered for this release. The bonus 3"
MCD contains previously unreleased versions of three classic Der
Blutharsch songs, along with the traditional tune "Lili Marleen",
played on a Commodore 64. Packaged in a nice 6-panel digipak with
silver foilblocked lettering.
Shipping next week: DER BLUTHARSCH 'Flying High!' CD / DLP
One
of quite a few albums from this prolific Russian band, whose compelling
funeral doom edges close to dark ambient and black metal at times.
"Flegethon draws deep into the melodic asceticism specific to the genre
it stands for and yet, when its music gets corrupted by some evil
sounds, industrial stutterings, subterranean creakings, harsh blows and
even ethereal female choirs (a burst of light in the dark magma), well,
damn!... Flegethon paints the extreme desolation, the edge of the
world" (Doom-Metal.com). File next to Until Death Overtakes Me, Beyond
Black Void, Celestiial and Nortt. Finished with a nice slipcase.
Francisco
López (Spain) and Richard Francis (New Zealand) have created "in de
blaauwe hand" upon invitation from Extrapool for a brief working
residency in Nijmegen, to develop a collaboration piece for the
Brombron CD series. Working with very small seed source sound samples
that were exchanged between them, two intermingling compositional paths
unfolded in two parallel small studios. In a short (but very intense)
period of time a whole world of very delicate and subtle materials
arose. The hour-long track merges without mix a dreamy geography of
subtleties and complex organicities that is more the result of
aesthetic affinities than pre-structured plan. In that sense, this is a
composition born from the sound themselves, following the paths
indicated by them. Presented in a card-slip-sleeve.
Last
year My Own Little Label released 'Haze Shrapnel', a new piece by Bass
Communion and a remix of that by Freiband as a 3" disc. Already back
then it was agreed that there should also be a release by Freiband with
a remix by Bass Communion. Due to the immense success of that 3", the
new one is now released as a factory pressed 3" CD. For 'Headwind'
Freiband returns to the guitar playing by Martin Luiten (Pick-up) and
produces a spacious computerized remix of his elaborate playing. Bass
Communion takes matters further up the line in a likewise sizzling
remix. Mini j-card sleeve in PVC sleeve.
Picking
up where 2008's "An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood" left off, Gnaw Their
Tongues is back with nine new tracks of fearsome blackened orchestral
chaos and abstract horror that still sounds like little else out there.
An even heavier bass-assault compared to the other releases, and this
is easily the heaviest Gnaw Their Tongues release yet. This monstrous,
noxious bottom-end roar that skulks and slithers throughout the album
suggests a foul fusion of Abruptum's black chaos and Leonard Rosenman's
most nightmarish film scores, piled in towering heaps of sadistic
noise, warped orchestral strings, degraded samples, shrieking voices,
and punishing lurching doom draped in suffocating atmosphere. This
album plunges even deeper into a black pit of cinematic horror, sexual
perversion and shapeless heaviosity. Hardback digifile.
IRM - 'The Cult Of The Young Men' CD
(Annihilvs)
- £11 / £12 / £13
Returning
with a singularly cold, desolate and lonely release, IRM continues to
fervently espouse irreligious, body-obsessed abstractions of the
highest order. Departing from the aggressive PE outbursts of the past,
the Swedish duo of Erik Jarl and Martin Bladh sculpt pulsating drones,
shuddering frequencies, and powerfully dark sounds, as the bleeding
wound of IRM continues to flower. The aggression may not be there, but
the intensity is in full effect. The Cult of The Young Men contains
'live' tracks recorded in the studio, selections from live performances
(including the APEX Fest), and a cover of JOY DIVISION's 'Here are the
Young Men. Essential!
Isomer's
latest offering takes a sharp turn towards more aggressive territories,
with the raw industrial hinted at in previous outings getting a proper
airing. The dark ambient textures for which he is known still feature,
but "Face Toward The Sun" forges new stylistic ground for the project.
From the throbbing electronics of the opening track, through power
electronics, walls of noise, violent vocal deliveries and carefully
structured dark ambience, this is a characteristically varied album.
The tracks here will appeal to listeners of martial industrial as well
as to an industrial dark ambient audience. A lusty, varied album of
industrial music. Presented in a 6-panel digipak with potent imagery.
A
collection of 10 unreleased works (2004-2006) from the Osaka musician.
"The music of Ishigami can best be described as a computer version of
electro-acoustic music, true to the original form of Musique Concrete.
Collage like, bouncing up and down, back and forth, jumping, but
sometimes also with longer sustaining blocks of sound. All of which
dwell heavily in the world of ones and zeros. I am not sure but it
seems there is not an analogue machine in sight" (Vital Weekly).
Released in a plastic snap case.
Recorded
in November 2008. This time Masami Akita, the legend of Japanese noise,
delivers a Jazz(?) Noise-Muzak album. More than 66 minutes of powerful
noise in best Merzbow quality with live free-jazz-like drums which turn
into more rhythmic and beating ones... Very unusual for Merzbow: this
is a very rhythmic album! Russian import.
Funeral
Doom Metal from Russia, with a touch of apocalyptic Death Metal. The
sound of "Ars Moriendi" is raw and unpolished, bringing variation and
brutality to the record. The great, deep vocals are supplemented by
some melodic and melancholic parts, adding another dimension to the
sound of total darkness and solitude. For fans of Skepticism, My
Shameful, Colosseum etc.
The
third album from Theme (Richard Johnson of Splintered, Stuart Carter
and Jeanne Boyer). On "Valentine (Lost) Forever" Theme often witnesses
barbed yet oblique words cut-up and formed into mantras over a mesh of
cascading drones, textures, blissed-out guitar strums, submerged
tamboura, metallic sheets of electronic frah, occasional drum pounds
and chilling swells 'n' flecks of musique concrete. With an additional
remix by ex-Siouxsie & the Banshees bass player Steven Severin,
this genuine album offers an apocalyptic sound mirage that recalls the
experimental and post industrial works of :Zoviet*France, Throbbing
Gristle and Coil, as well as the occult-like numbness of Current 93,
the bleak avant-electronica of Andrew Liles and the psychedelic drones
furrowed by the group's own previous work. "Valentine (Lost) Forever"
is a definite masterpiece in the ever-evolving legacy of the UK
industrial scene.
Improved,
remastered version of the influential 1985 LP (Electro Institut) from
the French legends. Pioneer of Bruitist Music, Vivenza (under its proto
name Glace) formed in 1976 and is undoubtedly the first band of
Industrial music in the most natural area of the foundations and the
decline of heavy industries. "Don't look for any sensitivities, human
ego, idealogies of sex stories: Vivenza is machines". This 2009 edition
is faithful to the original recording and comes with a visual specially
redrafted for the occasion. Ltd x 500 copies in a super jewelcase.
Improved,
remastered version of the influential 1985 LP (Electro Institut) from
the French legends. Pioneer of Bruitist Music, Vivenza (under its proto
name Glace) formed in 1976 and is undoubtedly the first band of
Industrial music in the most natural area of the foundations and the
decline of heavy industries. "Don't look for any sensitivities, human
ego, idealogies of sex stories: Vivenza is machines". This 2009 edition
is faithful to the original recording and comes with a visual specially
redrafted for the occasion. Ltd x 500 hand-numbered copies in a glossy
sleeve.
You could be excused for being confused. Like all previous albums the
new Wander album for Divine Frequency is entitled "Wander". Blame it
on Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar's conceptual sense of humour. You
might know these boys from Beequeen, where they combine soundscapes
with pop songs. When they feel like a day out they disguise themselves
as Wander, and concentrate themselves on organ drones. This album is
another step forward; these recordings (mostly created on ancient and
dangerous synthesizers and open microphones) take Wander back to the
70's with an open, warm, spacious sound. Card slip.
"Those who worship at the altar of all that is slow and low and heavy
and sludgey and doomy and droney, you must now bow before a new lord,
the duo from New York known simply as Wicked King Wicker. After three
records, each heavier than the last, comes Borne Black, a sprawling
black sun explosion of creepy crawly riffage, lumbering lugubrious
tempos, tarpit sludge, and spaced out abstract buzz and shimmer, if you
fancy Moss, Bunkur, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, SUNNO))), Wolf Eyes,
Khanate, Skullflower, Human Quena Orchestra, Monarch, Corrupted,
Otesanek, Habsyll, and all the various other denizens of the inky black
dronedirgedoom underworld, and have yet to hear WKW, you are in for a
treat. (Aquarius). Ltd x 999 copies.
WILT - 'The Damnation Helix: Zeitgeist Movement Vol. 2' CD
(Annihilvs)
- £11 / £12 / £13
With "The Damnation Helix", James P. Keeler sinks to new depths of
sonic necromancy. Hearken to the sound of black teeth grinding against
the boundaries of the afterlife to send us a message of fear, as the
voices of the damned cry out from beneath blankets of charred skin just
beyond the threshold of a universe of pure madness. This material
ranges from the familiar dark atmospheres of Wilt's previous works to
pieces infused with a new sense of brutality. Prepare to navigate the
confounding array of sound that is "The Damnation Helix". Ltd x 500
copies.
