PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I still have some of Meteoryt.

About HÖH, it is not only mastering what is done on tape, but EVERYTHING. It is curious that none of his material has computer editing on it, but even for the CD releases, artists sends the master c-cassette, and nothing has been digital until it is being digitized to be pressed on CD.

Freak Animal will be doing both new CD, but also re-press of the s/t CD. Back when it was releases, which is not that long ago, but it didn't seem realistic to sell more than small press of such a ultra primitivism. Talked with a lot of noise folks now, and it is clear how the primitive and broken noise became one of the many currents in contemporary noise. While putting out CD of HÖH seemed almost insane when it was done, now it seems like you can actually easily make too little of them, since there actually is audience for no-tech noise.

I guess it would be interesting topic of its own. Contemporary no-tech noise. While there are such an advancement and easy access to gear, all sorts of things, and people pushing noise to unheard technical excellency... but at the same time, you got like CD's being pressed consisting broken cable sounds on wrinkled magnetic tape. Some years ago when such material was being published, I can't remember many raving how great it was.

[Krigsverk]

Been spinning Jaako Vanhala's Here Be Lions for a few days here... damn, this is still the shit. Non stop action, and so many little details that you keep discovering with every listening. Probably on my top 3 list of best noise albums ever. Few things cleanses my soul like this one.

[Fistfuck Masonanie]

V/A - Psychomania C30 (Der Dunker)

What an absolutely stacked lineup, damn! Two Zyklon SS tracks to bookend the comp, then you have Mania, Bizarre Uproar, Skin Crime, and Coma fucking Detox in the meat of the sandwich. Grabbed this recently from the Black Psychosis distro in the UK. Definitely missed it when it first came out and a testament to the gift of releases sitting around for a couple of years and remaining available.

"Released in Memory of Keith". For some reason guessing this comp was planned before Keith's passing and the Mania track may have been one of the last things he recorded, but I'm not sure when the track was submitted. Please someone correct me or fill us in on the back story. Definitely more raw than the tracks on "Raw Nerves & Unseen Eyes".

Every track on the comp is a short but precise 5-minutes or less. Just enough time to shred and leave you wanting more. But then followed up by one of your favorite noise projects who kicks your ass all over again.

The comp definitely has the rawer "tape comp" production, do you know what I mean? That is not a knock, the tracks are a little rougher and less polished, a little nastier. I love it!

Skin Crime starts side B and it's a great ominous and menacing build-up. You just know something nasty is coming and builds excellent tension. You sit anxiously in their brothy and bubbling stew. After Skin Crime finishes boiling their cauldron of noise soup, Coma Detox kicks in harsher with a plan of attack. Lots of smashing, pummeling, and I don't know what else EQ'ed pretty high in the mix.

Our curator Zyklon SS phases back in to see our way out with a synth-heavy pulsing attack. Instead of letting you out graciously, he kicks your ass back out the door. It's over before it's begun and you flip the tape back over.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

HÖH/Violent Shogun - Untitled (Narcolepsia)
My first encounter with both projects. A-side has some beautiful lo-fi tape-loops and in-between-stations-radio. Very organic flow and a wonderful oldschool, murky sound. B-side sounds a little more refined and "musical", while A-side had a more collage-like character. B-side even features some almost hi-fi sounding synth drones. Some tracks feature loops with speech samples and some classic music in the background, which gives them a little martial/industrial touch. Unfortunately I cannot compare the tape to any other material of those projects or even make out who contributed which elements. Nevertheless enjoyed it very much and played it a couple of times back to back.

A little addendum: there seems to have been no mastering or only light compression in post production. Tape levels are rather low, but there are some great dynamics to be found. Compliment on that.

A is Höh, B is me, the last track on each side is the artist using sound sources submitted by the other one.

There was no mastering made for the tape. And yeah, Höh is as primitive as it can get. His setup is pretty much non-existent and I sent him a sound interface with a homemade written guide on how to use it last year, but I think it is a lost cause (for the best, though.)

[monster ripper]

"Released in Memory of Keith". For some reason guessing this comp was planned before Keith's passing and the Mania track may have been one of the last things he recorded, but I'm not sure when the track was submitted. Please someone correct me or fill us in on the back story. Definitely more raw than the tracks on "Raw Nerves & Unseen Eyes".

Originally the comp was to help raise money for Keith, but unfortunately he passed before it was finished.  Not sure if the Mania track was recorded specifically for that comp, or if it was something they had lying around already.

[morbid_dyspepsia]

V/A - Psychomania C30 (Der Dunker)

Our curator Zyklon SS phases back in to see our way out with a synth-heavy pulsing attack. Instead of letting you out graciously, he kicks your ass back out the door. It's over before it's begun and you flip the tape back over.

Heard Active Abuse's rip on YouTube a few months back... the Z-SS track at the end is easily the best. Genocide Organ-esque sinister synth nice finish to the comp.

[Bloated Slutbag]

Höh is as primitive as it can get. His setup is pretty much non-existent and I sent him a sound interface with a homemade written guide on how to use it last year, but I think it is a lost cause (for the best, though.)

Yeah, tread lightly there. Would hate to ruin the world's best sound project.

[Commander15]

LHD - Opaque cd (Pure)

37 minutes of relentless and classic Troniks-style harsh noise bliss. Metallic, resonant shards of feedback ripping through wet electric blankets. Not too much of those certain "bubble bath" kind of comforting bass-y walls, which is a totally good thing. Sudden oscillations, lots of those tasty feedback candies and rich, organic overall sound makes this an instantly pleasant experience. Last track breaks from the mold with hollow and stuttering wall of noise, buried screams, broken tones and in-fighting delay(?) oscillations. Like listening to dying mecha slowly disintegrating in the middle of firefight. Totally my kind of harsh noise.

[Commander15]

Treriksröset - Kristen musik från Rågsved tape (Harbinger 2019)

My copy is an tape dub from TC. Not sure if it is dubbed straight from the master or from the LP. Nevertheless the dub quality is super good. Hats off to mr. Carlsson.

Treriksröset never ceases to amaze me. It honestly amazes me to the point that i consider myself to be obsessed with everything related to TRR. There is certain sense of absolute control and utmost quality in mr. Carlssons main body of work.

KMFS album is no exception. Sweaty and bleak mass of living feedback and electric noise. It's feels like witnessing the eternal struggle between arty qualities and caveman-like brutality in mono. First track "Filantropen (irate, peeved)" is nice yet bit reserved epiloque to the monolithic second track "I taksamhet". What an unnerving and wonderful trip to the center of harsh noise maelstorm. There are some profoundly unsettling aspects in the TRR's sound that stirs up images of gray nordic suburbs and violence hidden beneath the surface level.

Title track is another monolithic slab of artisan harsh noise. Thick bassy rumble leads the track until the layers start to appear. Whirlwind of feedback, junk metal bashing, contact mic abuse, waves of white noise - you name it. But it doesn't sound cluttered despite the amount of layers. It's hypnotic, it's beautiful and there's some tasty flanger action in it. Loop action at the end of the track is awesome and fitting.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

OVMN / KADEF split C-90.
1996 harsh noise tape, USA + Ger.
VHS box with color graphics + multiple A4 size art prints. Unabomber and related stuff for Macro. Abstract art etc for Kadef.
It is long enough that could be two separate full albums. Both have differen type of artwork and also sound. OVMN is brilliant, crunchy harsh noise, all-on-red saturated stuff, but ”compositionally” it could have been Macronympha and would be flawlessly what you think Macronympha to be. Same style slowly changing slabs of different types of harsh noise.
KADEF is one of those projects you don’t hear anyone talk about, but I tend to name-drop it once in a while. German noise, often in weird packaging, ultra limited, handmade, very own style that would probably appeal now to guys who seek some less efx driven, less edited, more tape-deck home recording noise type of thing.

PBK "Life-Sense Revoked" CD
I like the most his 80’s stuff, but this early 90’s CD is really good one too. Some sources from AMK. Jarboe guests in couple songs doing vocals. These two things are oddity in mix. Especially Jarboe. You got so abstract sound manipulations, at the time quite hi-tech sampler work etc, and then all the sudden pieces of atmospheric music & singing, and back to noise. And when I say noise, it does get into loudness and hardness legit real deal noise. Some sounds are really nasty and damaging, in most positive meaning.

BOB MARINELLI "Confused & Isolated" tape
self released
When Hospital prod annouced doing Bob Marinelli CD,  I was quite surprised. Mostly because I assume not that many remembered or even know who is Bob Marinelli, and I doubt before that CD happened, there was anyone saying ”what we need in noise scene of 2022, is some Bob Marinelli reissues!”.
When CD happened, I don’t known if situation really changed, but what this guy did, was the kind of real deal 90’s noise. Not the 90’s noise most think 90’s were, but the reality of getting tape and having no idea what there might be coming when you push the play. Occasionally some Deadline harsh noise or MSNP crunch, but besides that, there was so much what was the 90’s.
I just finished listening this, what I assume is very first Marinelli tape. This was artists own version before Weird Vision label did the ”label edition”. That one is hard to get, but who knows how many of these cloth bag + couple folded inserts and artist signed tapes existed before that. Probably not many!
A-side has a lot of stuff that reminds of what Hospital CD was about. Makes me kind of think Monde Bruits, with fast paced electronic assault. Kind of same sound pallette, but always moving. It has other types of stuff too. B-side has moments when it makes me think Aube. It is not REALLY like that, but something about efx processed sound loops manually adjusted into noisy, but never TOTALLY harsh noise. It is all noise. But just not the crunchy distortion pedal oriented type.
Really good sounding chrome C-40, crispy and neat after all these years.

BAD SECTOR "Pressurized Music" tape
Original edition 1997, 3rd release, 2nd tape I guess!
I am not big fan of the beat oriented later stuff. Nor I am Bad Sector expert who could name when his work became like that, but these mid-late 90’s works are great, while some of later stuff and withnessing him live, I could not handle the …. Beat shit haha.
He was advanced, hi-tech, but also very hands on -type approach to sounds in the 90s. Curiously Ampos cd issued multiple times, but this tape has only 2 tape editions.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

BLACK LEATHER JESUS "Butcher!" tape
If someone thinking of putting out more BLJ reissues, why not Butcher tape! Edition of 50 came loooong ago on BWCD label, and it is good.
It is hour long, lots of samples, a bit of structure in it, but also crushing noise. It had the industrial vibe on it.
In latest WCN podcast finn Nuori Veri was asked about industrial, and he quicky declined. I think this is one of best element of genre. Nobody with some sense wants that baggage, and very few of originator even like to be branded with it… but stuff like this particular BLJ, like it or not, it feels like industrial noise. Not free noizu, not improv, not university art, not punk noise, … it could be like early SPK with more balls, eh eh… crushing metal sounds, crossover to weird avantgarde art sculpture packaging etc. Surely not industrial music anymore, but there is a lot what leans to such elements. Artist *not* feeling comfortable branded as industrial… something .. is perhaps most expected reaction of all, but all this factory esque massive metal bounding, trangressive samples, razor sharp noise attacks, etc I know what lineage I associate it with…

LABORATORIO ASETTICO "esplorzioni" tape
This one thing I can’t find any info about it, exept what you see on cover. LABORATORIO ASETTICO, about one hour tape according to info, recorded during two hours in february 2000 at home. What we have here is nasty simple and rugged ”power electronics”, mainly consisting of radio noise. Its good, though! Some vocals here and there, some structure/layering, but keeping it really basic core. You could drop names like early Consumer Electronics and John Duncan, but perhaps more accurate would be throwing them along russian radio-noise projects like YAO 91404 D. Would be curious to hear if any Italians know this project?

DEAD BODY LOVE "Erase the body" tape
Loud!
Dead Body Love surely is know well. This tape is damn good. Certainly re-issue worthy stuff, full of crunchy and well made noise, that also has some vocals, perhaps exceptionally fierce high pitched feedback abuse for DBL, but also plenty of the crunchy harsh loops, wall-ish rumbling noise, but never ”HNW”. Just heavy as fuck noise. After several DBL releases, one does think how many reissues would be needed, but there really is diversity in tapes, and they are so damn good, that now feel better than ever. So why not..

[-NRRRRK-]

... I sent him a sound interface with a homemade written guide on how to use it last year, but I think it is a lost cause (for the best, though.)

That is so awesome. Thanks for the info.

[ritualabuser]

BLACK LEATHER JESUS "Butcher!" tape
If someone thinking of putting out more BLJ reissues, why not Butcher tape! Edition of 50 came loooong ago on BWCD label, and it is good.
It is hour long, lots of samples, a bit of structure in it, but also crushing noise. It had the industrial vibe on it.
In latest WCN podcast finn Nuori Veri was asked about industrial, and he quicky declined. I think this is one of best element of genre. Nobody with some sense wants that baggage, and very few of originator even like to be branded with it… but stuff like this particular BLJ, like it or not, it feels like industrial noise. Not free noizu, not improv, not university art, not punk noise, … it could be like early SPK with more balls, eh eh… crushing metal sounds, crossover to weird avantgarde art sculpture packaging etc. Surely not industrial music anymore, but there is a lot what leans to such elements. Artist *not* feeling comfortable branded as industrial… something .. is perhaps most expected reaction of all, but all this factory esque massive metal bounding, trangressive samples, razor sharp noise attacks, etc I know what lineage I associate it with…

LABORATORIO ASETTICO "esplorzioni" tape
This one thing I can’t find any info about it, exept what you see on cover. LABORATORIO ASETTICO, about one hour tape according to info, recorded during two hours in february 2000 at home. What we have here is nasty simple and rugged ”power electronics”, mainly consisting of radio noise. Its good, though! Some vocals here and there, some structure/layering, but keeping it really basic core. You could drop names like early Consumer Electronics and John Duncan, but perhaps more accurate would be throwing them along russian radio-noise projects like YAO 91404 D. Would be curious to hear if any Italians know this project?

DEAD BODY LOVE "Erase the body" tape
Loud!
Dead Body Love surely is know well. This tape is damn good. Certainly re-issue worthy stuff, full of crunchy and well made noise, that also has some vocals, perhaps exceptionally fierce high pitched feedback abuse for DBL, but also plenty of the crunchy harsh loops, wall-ish rumbling noise, but never ”HNW”. Just heavy as fuck noise. After several DBL releases, one does think how many reissues would be needed, but there really is diversity in tapes, and they are so damn good, that now feel better than ever. So why not..

Completely tangential, but glad that see someone else use the term "punk noise". We may understand it differently, but for me, it's immediately what comes to mind to describe stuff like The Grey Wolves and Survival Unit.

[Baglady]

OCHU – Lähmung Des Wartens 12” (Verlautbarung)
The opening feverish grinding of small rocks soon summons the wreck of some sunken ship, and little by little, it comes alive in sound. Thumping, hammering, swaying, grinding, a bent and bowed song of a rusty old hull. Truly evocative, and also impressive in its sound design – it really does feel like a slow climb into some salt-ridden cathedral of a wreck. The descent continues on the flipside, the sense of space narrowing as the sounds become more and more intrusive and violent – an abundance of jawdroppingly rich acoustic noise here – before it all ends in a slow maelstrom of buzz and hiss.
   It's an initially more restrained Ochu than one is used to, and I don't think he's ever managed to convey a sense of physical space as well as he does here. I'm listening to The New Blockaders' 2CD TNB Est Mort! (Tesco, 1995) as I'm writing now, and there's definitely a likeness in the restless ghostly spacious and slightly sickening creaking, but it doesn't take you places quite the way Ochu does on Lähmung.... Another thing that stands out is the little use of electric sounds (which is a route he's been going for quite some time now, but it still struck me). The label text says this 12" continues the themes surrounding Unproduktiw (2018), and while I'm obviously not going to debate that, the look, sound and general air of Lähmung Des Wartens is to me first and foremost evoking, well, our maritime past, with it's exploits, toil and danger in a haunting way. Brilliant record. There is a small edition tape version out there, but it's thankfully sold out – this is the version you want, trust me.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

CIRCLE OF SHIT "Almost there now" CD
Aussaat
I suppose I have almost always said COS is getting better and better... and I can repeat this mantra again. This CD is, by far, best thing I have ever heard from COS. Instantly multiple spins. Instead of plain noise, it has quite strong industrial vibe. Percussive elements, darker and better "production" than some of the tinny crackling sounds of past. There is good amount of sheer noise, there are some odd decisions like using pitch effect in few moments that border the WFT -atmosphere. This is all positive, that he had the skill and taste to go into really CD album worthy material, but no desire to play it safe, but throw in something that will bring unexpected things into it.

HEYDRICH "Entschlossenheit" CD
EE prod
After couple tapes, notably special packaged on Nil By Mouth, I know bunch of people got curious about new ultra primitive German power electronics / noise artist. What they didn't probably expect, like I didn't either, that suddenly out of the blue, debut full length CD comes on Finnish RAC label! Quite odd move indeed. Label mostly known for Mistreat, White Minority, Genocide Wolves, Pylvanainen and such acts. Couple martial industrial titles for sure, but this level of radio-noise-broken-cable-rattle -esque utter damage with buried vocals and such. It ain't something you would expect classic RAC audience to be into, haha. And do noise guys find where to get it. Perhaps Finland is anomaly here, though. So some noise dealers actually do carry it, so you don't have to try figure out how and where to find Europa Erwache label.
It is hard to really explain in what ways this is different from big part of contemporary power electronics. Its almost as if CAPERS or HÖH would try to do power electronics that leans to earliest Ramleh, Victor/im, Riot era John Duncan, or such, but none of these dropped names really sound what Heydrich is. Just on of the no-tech acts that appeals to me for being such a simple and to-the-point, that it becomes unique in this time and place.

SCATMOTHER & PISSOIR ROUGE "Toxic Masculinity" CD
Filth monument
Sheer amount of stuff makes it difficult for anyone to really be completist anymore. These both artists I gladly distribute, but I do not have all of their stuff in my own shelves, nor have even heard it all. Based on what I have heard, there has always been moment of being on border of nicely outrageous and somewhat ready-chewed filth. This CD is pretty good and some moments absolutely strong and loud noise assaults, some tracks good vocal efx, some have a bit feeling of noise made out of extreme metal aesthetics or something what is so current moment. Like title of collaboration itself. That said, when you read the lyrics of songs like "Heroic Cumshed", they have way less feeling of being brutal, dark, objectionable. More like different angle to sleaze, that has been in fine tradition of noise all the time. For me feels more like Smell & Quim, Masonna or should I rather name drop Hanatarashi! If you compare song titles and such of Toxeic Masculinity, they certainly have vibes of Hanatarashi classics like Apartheidfunclub, Pisshole Surfers, Gag Nuts Gum, and so on...  So... filthy fun? Some sort of thing like that. This CD easily goes into my own shelves.