PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[holy ghost]

Knurl - Initial Shock CD - sounds incredible, had not heard this before picking up the CD last week. Really interesting to hear how ahead of his time he was 26 years ago, and how consistent his output has been. Highest possible recommendation for this reissue! Will have to drag out my laptop so I can watch the footage as I don’t have a DVD player....

Agoraphobic Nosebleed remixes from PCP Tornado and Altered States - these are fucking great. So weird. I dig the output of the band up until about..... 2007ish give or take, but these are the high point.

Merzbow - Amlux - really nice record I’ve overlooked from the digital era. Was a great listen.

[[MBD]]

Mistletoe - Gestas & Dermas CDr (Small Mercies 2020)

This project never ceases to surprise me.  Starting off as raw black metal akin to the earlier one-man acts (but with a style unique in it's approach enough to separate them) Mistletoe is now a bleak, monophonic synth-driven Death Industrial entity that would fit well within the Slaughter catalog but like the Black Metal era of the project, doesn't come off as derivative.  This is Mistletoe's first full-length album at 66 minutes and remains quite the journey through out.

Tortured, reverb-soaked vocals accompany claustrophobic rudimentary synth drones.  What I like best about this album is the consistency of it's thematic elements.  There are 13 tracks but most are past of a sequence (being labeled I, II and so forth).  These tracks don't follow each other but when the next track in a series that was three tracks before picks up, any crescendos or lingering atmospheres left behind pick up and continue to evolve. 

Some tracks are a little long and repetitive but this album doesn't want to impress, an intense and highly satisfying experience.  The CD was limited to 44, there may have been a repress in the 10s but who knows?  Someone will upload a bad rip to YouTube eventually. 

[TordonLjud]

Chazev - Katatonia (CD, Narcolepsia)

One of my favourite reissues of 2020. Hypnotic industrial soundscapes with a decent amount of grittiness, not particularly harsh but not particularly un-harsh either (far away from the dreaded dark ambient-trap in other words, where a lot of industrial soundscapes seem to end up eventually). Great variety throughout. No bit overstays its welcome and it's a perfect accompaniment to reading some Dalkey Archive Press anti-novels. On the under-appreciated label Narcolepsia.

Grunt - Spiritual Eugenics (2LP/2CD, Freak Animal)

It's a bit too early to say whether this is the crowning achievement of Grunt so far but it is without a doubt the best material for... at least ten years. It's a very exciting album to listen to since every track has its own character - some favouring harshness, some favouring inventiveness - and perhaps the best sign of all: even after 4 sides of listening you still wouldn't mind another couple of sides. I think a lot of listeners who wouldn't normally be interested in power electronics would be wise to check this out. With that said this is probably the best power electronics album of 2020 for me.

[New Forces]

K-Group ‎– SERIES 4 (Knotwilg)
Drone perfection. Incredibly warm, organic, with the perfect hint of industrial clang. There are 10 distinct tracks on the album and I've managed to lose myself in each one when I listen to this record. A high-point so far this year.

[Baglady]

K-Group ‎– SERIES 4 (Knotwilg)
Drone perfection. Incredibly warm, organic, with the perfect hint of industrial clang. There are 10 distinct tracks on the album and I've managed to lose myself in each one when I listen to this record. A high-point so far this year.

Very good record indeed! Bought it more than a month ago but hadn’t played it until now. I need to pick up the 1997 CD on Corpus Hermeticum, and revisit some other old New Zealand drone in the meantime, such as the Le Jazz Non compilation on said label, which was my introduction to the whole thing. Oh, and the Handful Of Dust CDs...

[vomitgore]

Chazev - Katatonia (CD, Narcolepsia)

One of my favourite reissues of 2020. Hypnotic industrial soundscapes with a decent amount of grittiness, not particularly harsh but not particularly un-harsh either (far away from the dreaded dark ambient-trap in other words, where a lot of industrial soundscapes seem to end up eventually). Great variety throughout. No bit overstays its welcome and it's a perfect accompaniment to reading some Dalkey Archive Press anti-novels. On the under-appreciated label Narcolepsia.

Great album indeed. Needs way more exposure!

[[MBD]]

SHREDDED NERVE - Acts Of Betrayal CD (Chondritic Sound, 2020)
The only thing I had heard of Shredded Nerve prior to this was a 7” from 2014. I barely have any memory of how it sounds, just that I thought it was allright but nothing special or original. Just... tape noise. Six years on and he has definitely worked out something of his own. A fusion of all eras of industrial and some very jagged oil-soaked tactile mechanical noise. And the (at least initially) odd acoustic number (”Meridian”) bringing Organum, Metgumbnerbone and whathaveyou to mind. But I digress, this is mostly strange, loud and unsafe machinery. He’s partially tiptoeing into Worth territory here, while dragging a sack of his own props and tools behind him, refurnishing, fucking up the scenery. Molding and melting all this into something coherent and comprehensive (well...), Impressive! It’s alot to digest, but that is a good thing. Exactly the sort of noise I feel there is too little of right now. Great disc!

I listened to this on repeat last night and can't agree more.  It really is such a dense album that's overwhelming in the best possible sense. 

For some of Justin's older work, I was always partial to this one https://norentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shredded-nerve-nrr34 with the LP on Chondritic being a close second.  Definitely a different beast than the CD but still a favorite.

[J_D_H]

Somewhat copied n pasted from the Noise Now Playing FB group...need to make more effort to post here. While a large number of other threads have descended into utter tedium, I still value this one. 

Worth - Gone Down tape (Bacteria Field, 2020)

Sheppard's Crook Holds Mind Barred, which takes up the first side occupies a similar space to the beginning of Hidden in Christ, never a bad thing. Hideous industrial ambience that grows in intensity, not a world away from recent Skin Crime in slow moving creeper mode, but quicker paced, colder and more prone to outbursts of violence. Flesh of Fire on the flip is noisier, sprawling and pretty wild - more typical of what I've come to expect from Worth. Things get particularly tasty from around the halfway mark - drilling feedback textures and obliterated voices giving way to more junk orientated sounds. Played this three times on repeat, can see this becoming one of my favourite Worth releases.  Oculus up next...

[J_D_H]

Adorama - s/t tape (I Am Elegant, 2020)
Chrome tape, oversized packaging, odd inserts that are making me miss my local Asian restaurants, the usual quality you'd already expect from I Am Elegant. This one reeks of peak Dead Body Love, albeit a slightlier airier, less dense take that is very much doing its own thing. Slow moving crunch, that isn't overly harsh or punchy and instead is more concerned with (bad) mood. Occasional almost rhythmic elements from churning loops. Even the upfront, vaguely annoying chattering electronics of the second track wouldn't sound out of place on mid 90s DBL, although they'd of course be barely peaking through a thick layer of crunch. GREAT tape.

[TordonLjud]

Knurl - Initial Shock (CD + DVD, Absurd Exposition)

I wondered fairly recently where all the Knurl reissues are and suddenly here is one and what a reissue it is! I have yet to listen to the DVD: 3 hours, so that is a solid weekend project. But having listened to the CD my immediate thoughts are maybe less about the actual material on this CD (impressive physical harsh noise, of course) and instead how consistently impressive Knurl has been (and still manages to be). There are not many projects which epitomizes the tag "long running harsh noise project, consistently high quality, but severely underrated" quite as well as Knurl. (Obviously you have to mention Government Alpha and perhaps Guilty Connector in the same breath.) I do have quite a bit of Knurl releases in my shelves but there are really no good reasons not to get more. Lastly, a mention for the label and those involved for the effort going into materializing this reissue.

[absurdexposition]

TED BYRNES - Formula CS (Lake Shark Harsh Noise, 2020)

Given the context of this being released on LSHN, some the sounds here initially reminded me of those of certain works by THE RITA - rumbling friction of contact mics on nylon, contact mics (and/or knives) dredging watery depths, etc., but these eventually give way to barreling sounds that conjure up the desired images of Formula One cars idling, engines crackling (and/or cackling), sputtering as they prepare to hit the track in full precision force at top speed. The "solo acoustic percussion" that Ted Byrnes defines his work as has never sounded more "electronic" than what is presented on the B-side - that description should not betray the material's authenticity, however, as its "purpose" has perhaps never been more fully realized than in these perfect emulations of short stroke engines. Compare the sounds to DAMION ROMERO's "Idle" [recording of a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner idling in the driveway] and one would be hard pressed to say there is any difference between the "natural" sounds presented on both releases. The liner notes to "Idling¹", a release by Byrnes and Sam McKinlay collaborative project CACKLE CAR, state "The physicality and visceral nature of rapid percussion sampled and interpreted with analog overdriven gate and bias fuzz effects. The resulting textural sound resembles an idling top fuel dragster engine" - an effect achieved by RITA-izing Byrnes' percussion. Here on "Formula" the desired outcome is attained without electronic aid, and that speaks volumes to Ted's ability and intent. After running a comparison to "Idling¹", I immediately put this tape back on and found that whatever "other" sounds I had been hearing upon first listen simply did not exist and were likely a result of my own bias and/or preconceptions. Hearing "something else" is easy to do with contextless noise, but no context is lacking here. This is streamlined in such a profound way that it can be nothing other than Ted Byrnes' "Formula". Recommended listening.

[absurdexposition]

Knurl - Initial Shock (CD + DVD, Absurd Exposition)

I wondered fairly recently where all the Knurl reissues are and suddenly here is one and what a reissue it is! I have yet to listen to the DVD: 3 hours, so that is a solid weekend project. But having listened to the CD my immediate thoughts are maybe less about the actual material on this CD (impressive physical harsh noise, of course) and instead how consistently impressive Knurl has been (and still manages to be). There are not many projects which epitomizes the tag "long running harsh noise project, consistently high quality, but severely underrated" quite as well as Knurl. (Obviously you have to mention Government Alpha and perhaps Guilty Connector in the same breath.) I do have quite a bit of Knurl releases in my shelves but there are really no good reasons not to get more. Lastly, a mention for the label and those involved for the effort going into materializing this reissue.

Those other early Knurl tapes are still criminally unavailable and I did have a brief thought to abandon the idea of a single CD reissue and do a box of many instead, but alas, here we are.

Copies of the CD+DVD still available from the source!

[eyesofsatan]

Mistletoe - Gestas & Dermas CDr (Small Mercies 2020)

This project never ceases to surprise me.  Starting off as raw black metal akin to the earlier one-man acts (but with a style unique in it's approach enough to separate them) Mistletoe is now a bleak, monophonic synth-driven Death Industrial entity that would fit well within the Slaughter catalog but like the Black Metal era of the project, doesn't come off as derivative.  This is Mistletoe's first full-length album at 66 minutes and remains quite the journey through out.

Tortured, reverb-soaked vocals accompany claustrophobic rudimentary synth drones.  What I like best about this album is the consistency of it's thematic elements.  There are 13 tracks but most are past of a sequence (being labeled I, II and so forth).  These tracks don't follow each other but when the next track in a series that was three tracks before picks up, any crescendos or lingering atmospheres left behind pick up and continue to evolve. 

Some tracks are a little long and repetitive but this album doesn't want to impress, an intense and highly satisfying experience.  The CD was limited to 44, there may have been a repress in the 10s but who knows?  Someone will upload a bad rip to YouTube eventually. 

One of the best releases I've heard this year for sure, wish more folks were talking about it but guess the limited number of them existing has something to do with that.

[[MBD]]

I don't have any concrete details yet, but more Mistletoe is on the horizon for the (hopefully) not too distant future.

[NaturalOrthodoxy]

https://outsiderart.bandcamp.com/album/calcified-stolen-time

Plague Mother - Calcified Stolen Time

Not much to say about this other than that it is really hitting the spot after a few weeks away from noise (autumn puts me in more of a black metal mood). Insert any number of clichéd noise fan onomatopoeia here - crunching, dense, ripping. It's a hot meal on a cold day.

The tape is currently available from Outsider Art, my favourite active UK noise label and general good egg.