Low ambient droned industrial noise portrayed by Ana Fosca (born Linn Hvid) out of Copenhagen. Pedals, computers and synths meld together to create an ominous inferno of destruction. She’s dark and creepy, evil and sinister. Lurches and swells of wafty textures tendril through machinery warehouse echoes. Effected vox with unintelligible words. Cavernous screeches and heavy weight. Fantastic.
cinder 7/1/2022 A Library, Cassette
Solo synth and drum machinery from John Touchton, of Florida. Dystopian midnight hovering car rides in swampy neon-lit cityscapes, 100 degree minimum. Razor sharp melodies intertwine and weave through synth drenched rhythms. Recent descriptions of equal parts synth-wave séance, abduction hallucination, and paranormal noir. Drift + Lift.
Max Level 7/1/2022 A Library, CD
Ambient excursions exploring darkness and light from this Oregon duo. Four droning pieces (ranging from 10 to 15 minutes) featuring electronics, samples, and processed guitar. Trippy and beautiful.
whngr 6/29/2022 12-inch, A Library
Shivering Northern Declamation
Highly adept, if not terribly unique, Black cum War Metal, recorded and mixed proficiently that fully captures the vehemence, violence, and venom of its creators. No quarter is given on this devastating assault, barring the first track which is a brief electronic drone affair, the pace is relentless; absolute carnage. However there is enough variation in structure and execution to highlight the abilities of this impressive release from Finland.
Thematically Hatespirit embraces the ouvre of their Scandinavian counterparts noting death, darkness, misery, misanthropy, and nature mysticism on their Metallum profile but further reading will unveil that the founding member and drummer, Woewrb (Serpenfyre) flirts with forbidden ethos citing an apolitical stance and an unapologetic devotion and respect for Northern ancestry. It isn’t difficult for this miserable volunteer to relate to, and be slightly jealous of, these perspectives as the trickle of Nordic blood in my veins longs for those frozen climes, filled with trolls, fjords, and forests. Regretfully, it is impossible for me to truly connect with my heritage, as my bloodline is so muddled and impure, the connection to my homeland so tenuous, and the society that I inhabit so utterly enthralled with inclusion and misconceived virtue that I must relinquish the truth. I belong nowhere. Unlike this fine album which belongs squarely in our library henceforth to spew vitriolic rage and a veneration of the withering natural world at our listeners until the end of civilization which, given the current social and political climate, seems to point to early in 2023.
Oulu – 2018
whngr 6/29/2022 A Library, Cassette
Thunderous squealing Power Electronics with textures and buried screams that do nothing to mitigate the horrific and appalling synaptic disturbance. Modulated frequencies, pulses, throbs, and white noise ejaculations. Not a wall of noise but structured, and perhaps composed expulsions of sound.
“Hure” is German for “whore” though little more information can be coaxed from the sopping wet panties of the web with my pathetic grasp of the German language.
Also of note is the apparent use of theater during their copious live performances. It appears that the two members are clad in masks and bandages of duct tape while manipulating their hand made instruments that are strapped over their shoulder like guitars and may even utilize strings and magnetic pickups but are also festooned with electronic hardware like laptop keyboards and mysterious black boxes with cables spewing out of the sides like the proper post-apocalyptic horror show they appear to be. HURE is a viable and appropriate accompaniment to our modern cataclysm, slide in the cassette and imagine our listeners lurch, nod, and spasm as we embrace the End Times.
Berlin, Deutschland – 2022
atavist 6/29/2022 12-inch, A Library
Fast, furious, crusty thrash metal. Definite hardcore element as well. Quick tracks that drop in fast and get right to the pummeling. Old-school, grimly focused on the proper expression of hatred for the machinery of control. An older form of sonic fury pressed into service to fit our current moment of inexorable decline. The excellent recording captures what I imagine to be a ferocious live sound. There’s an FCC in Gridlocked but you’ll be hard-pressed to make it out.
Mister S 6/29/2022 12-inch, A Library
Released 2022.
Musique Concrete, Experimental, electronic freakout for the adventurous. Go down this rabbit hole of noise cut-up wildness and hang on to the handrail and do not let go. Wonderful heavyweight vinyl for the connoisseur of the black crack. Fans of Framework radio and industrial sounds will be in heaven, or perhaps hell. YMMV. Beware of what additives you choose for your listening experience and consciousness expansion.
Mister S 6/29/2022 A Library, CD
Released 2020.
Super groovy experimental electronica. Lo-fi synth beats with variable bpm from track to track. From downtempo to driving industrial style beats. Flavored with hints of Sun Ra-like electronic keyboards to hints of gamelan. Take in a good listen. Exhale. Enjoy.
rbanks 6/28/2022 A Library, CD
“Darkness is Easeful” is the title of track 5, and I imagine it would be for whoever made this stuff. A tinny clang rings out across a ruinated, lamenting, and paranoid landscape that Jesse Sanes has decided to make his playground. Sanes is a hardcore man who sang for punks HOAX from Western Mass, active 2010-2016. This CD compiles two cassettes released in 2014 and 2017 under his solo Liebestod moniker (“love death” in German). While noise tapes are known to sell fast and disappear forever, save for the rare appearance and coinciding astronomical markup on Discogs, limits of the medium often belie the scope of the sounds they contain. Enter “Chill” Will Killingsworth (renowned engineer, Dead Air Studios, WMass), who did this material a solid kindness by mastering this work to sound not only crisp but dangerously loud on CD. I was literally cringing at the thought of and afraid to go above 50% volume, but my ears are pretty sensitive and damaged so maybe that’s just my problem.
A pastiche of field recordings, power electronics, and spoken word converge on you in the fetal position as you try to gather your scattered and scribbled thoughts to steel yourself for the foraging of anything that might sustain you until darkness falls once again.
-Robin Banks
abacus 6/25/2022 12-inch, A Library
inevitable collaboration between PNW power electronicists bring us a brief study in postcolonial epidemiology: spread and origins. enveloped in humidity ideal for festering, lingering, mutating; dense with vicious feedback and jagged edged noise; rife with geographic exploitation and exclusion. both artists’ portfolios pose hopeless charges for the human condition and its kismet: mankind as the nemesis of its own annihilation: race and disease as its weapons: this is the soundtrack of the plagued scourge and roar of slow extinction
KFJC 89.7FM