PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Commander15]

Sewer Election - Vidöppna Sår CS/LP

Had to listen to this digitally, which is a shame because this this album really could benefit from analog format or at least from decent sized speakers. Really, really good album. Junk metal handling in resonant space, weird loops and field recording feeling, especially in the second part of the album. First part slowly ascends from distant metal handling to intense screeching and creaking that has some lovely tonalities of a good free jazz saxophone blasting. Moody, rustic industrial overall feel, like some odd secret that leaves you puzzled and restless.

[Lazrs3]

Necroviolence - Tears of Change. 2022 I have been aware of this project from posts by creator on Facebook,so checked it out to review on my blog. Particularly savage sound, vocals screamed over the top. some parts sound psychedelic, others blackened Moog assaults.  I am playing it off the Gates of Hypnos bandcamp, the cd comes out soon on BeTon Raw. To praise it I like how tracks slow down into murkier sounds allowing atmospherics to resonate in the space and in contrast, the use of agressive noise accelerates the tracks as layers build up. A lot of ideas streched across the album.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Couple weeks out of town, relying on bluetooth speaker for noise. First day home, and question is was the Aprapat CD this good?!?!

Aprapat "Hot Lava Shampoo" CD
WCN
Well, probably it was, but couple weeks with less soundsystem makes one appreciata the noisephile rust carving even more. I must have been paying too little attention when it came out, or maybe it was just because tapes sent standard high, and then knowing it will rule, and listening "ok, Aprapat, good!", but that it was this good actually. If you got to pick up couple current day finn noise CD's even for sake of general education, common knowledge of things happening here, this CD can be it.


Murder Corporation death files, CD
90’s sample noise made out of noise samples. Raw, yet not as grim and nasty as earlier MC. Great CD nevertheless.

I was actually all day reading Special Interests next issue content, proof reading things and needing good things on the ”playlist”, to be heard while reading, but something familiar that it won’t be taking all attention. What is more familar than
Grey Wolves "Catholic priests fuck children" CD?
hospital prod
Really damn good reissue done just about as nicely as CD reissue can be.

Organum & TNB "PULP" CD
This might be for old me, what Aprapat might be for current scene guys? It is about taking physical interesting metal junk screech into best level. Not so much efx, more about finding how objects can make sound. Not only great album to listen to, but can be one of those "you think shakerbox alone will be enough" -moments, where you set apart guys who just use some sort of junk to make whatever noise sound for pedals, or guys who use objects to carve really personal sounds.

[Leewar]

Cabaret Voltaire - Extended play A record i always come back to, simple, sparse and effective.

[Manhog_84]

Alo Girl - Bangkok

Urashima put this out on vinyl as well, but the tape version looks better. It adds the charm to have it in a black minigrip bag, with a stapled picture of street whores looking sad and abused as a cover art. Lots of spoken word samples and crude noise blasts. Okay and dirty noise tape but no urge to check other releases from this project.

[Krigsverk]

OCHU - Lähmung des wartens (Verlautbarung)

This one took me by surprise; quite mellow and hypnotic soundscapes constructed by field recordings, slowly progressing and lulls you in, paints pictures in your mind. Some melancholic almost musical loops comes and goes towards the end of side A, giving it a nice dusted feeling of old times past and forgotten scenery... side B is more of field recordings, but here things get more intense and distorted, almost climactic, but never full throttle - always maintaining that hypnotic feeling. A masterpiece.

[Commander15]

Aprapat - s/t 2CD

Compilation of early Aprapat tapes, released by Freak Animal. Well thought out compilation, top notch cover art and beautiful package in whole, simply gorgeous. Aprapat is, besides Jaakko Vanhala and Umpio, my first real gateway to the world of harsh noise and scrap metal experimentation in general.

It is an absolute joy to listen to the gradual progression of Vilho's skills of manhandling various kinds of metal objects and mangling of the sound in linear fashion by this compilation. Imaginitive stuff, full of tension and drama, with keen sense of dynamics and textures. Humbling stuff to listen, just like watching some old-school car mechanic in work, resurrecting old car carcasses back to life with craftmanship and pure love of metal and mechanics. It's nice that the tape sound has been preserved in this collection. 5/5.

[TS]

Alo Girl - Bangkok

Urashima put this out on vinyl as well, but the tape version looks better. It adds the charm to have it in a black minigrip bag, with a stapled picture of street whores looking sad and abused as a cover art. Lots of spoken word samples and crude noise blasts. Okay and dirty noise tape but no urge to check other releases from this project.

Agreed, very well put together visually, a bit disappointing sound-wise. Still enjoy looking at it from time to time..

[burdizzo1]

That new Pain Nail 2x10" is pretty good - and a bit of a step up from the slightly disappointing CD last year. Or '21, even.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Dead and gone short lived Finnish label, New Old Sentinel. Some CD’s, some CDR’s, some tapes.

Cloama"Cloama" CD
Real CD and damn good one. It is experimental, pretty damn unique sound. Not power electronic, not noise, not really drone per se. Not ambient. What it is, is unusual very advanced Cloama own style release you can’t really put in any category. It is dirt cheap still today, even if being done back in 2005.
Somnivore + Kivelä CDR,
edition of 100 and goes into similar category with Cloama CD. Can’t really categorize, even if it ain’t anything outrageously different. Some sort of experimental, noisy soundscapes, that are really cool and always nicely floating forward. If it would not be under such name, but have some nice name like…. ”Illusion of Safety”, maybe that kind of listener would have noticed it, hah..
Post-industrial soundscapes done 20 years ago, I guess its less sexy moment, but I would make assumption that these releases will sound good still 2040, while some of now hot things might not…  At least Cloama will. Not sure if the CDR will survive till that date.

ConDemek "Technological Shack Job" CD
Functional
I don’t hear ConDemek mentioned too often. I recall friend was listening this CD while ago when visiting him. Have had this about since it came out, and back then, when didn’t have internet access home, couldn’t visit the neat URL written in disc… So ConDemerk was very mysterious group I know nothing of.
Well, honestly, still now, I guess I only know their musical output, and not even all of that. Don’t think I ever read interview or checked out what they may have done after, or besides ConDemek. Any other projects? .. May have to take a look at discogs. What I do know, that compared to how good their recordings are, industrial-noise kind of stuff, they tend to be dirt cheap still now.
This CD has exceptionally funny.. or deranged series of prank calls or… just calls? Christian Phonesex pt 1-6 goes throughout the album, with type of language and words that ain’t that fresh in current times.
Functional Organization put this out, and when you think that 90’s was not yet huge era of industrial reissues, but this Tesco sublabel did plenty. Con-Dom, Contrastate, Mental Destruction, Satori, BDN, Illusion of Safety, Archon Satani, Asche,… so many may know those names, and ConDemek goes just fine among the rest. Haven’t checked lately, but I assume these are still dirt cheap?

K2/AMK/THE HATERS "Three phenomena" CD
Vinyl Communications
Earlier same day was listening some recent Grunt noise recordings, and then listening this and thinking… got to make better noise! Of course that was just live takes so far, so once its done, maybe matching level of 90’s classics, hah.. This CD here is 1997 K2 basically cutting best cuts of sound submissions. I guess you could almost see it as extension of the noise tournaments series. That 7” series SHOULD be CD.
So yes, this is K2 doing editing for all material. One track of K2+Haters, one track K2 with AMK and Haters and last one K2 & AMK. All so god damn brilliant.
K2 of this era has such distinctive sound, that even if it is often ”metal junk”, if it takes you more than 2 seconds to recognize K2 metal junk, you have clearly not been listening much of his mid-late 90’s output.
Very soon to be announced is repress of Macronympha ”membranes and black holes” CD, and that has Macro using K2 source sounds throughout the album. Every time K2 source hits in, you recognize it 1000%. It is very odd, when thinking how much there is metal junk banging and cutting noise, and this one guy managed to develop such unique sound nothing sounds like it.
On this CD seen in picture, K2 cutting method is phenemenal. Also very unique way of cutting sound.
On top of everything, jewelbox with obi, that has Vinyl Communications label previous noise titles advertized. What we have here is… Merzbow Oersted, The Haters Mind the Gap, Merzbow Hybrid Noise Bloom… Zipper Spy, Psywarfare, etc..  It is very very rate I hear anyone mention Vinyl Communications. I guess since it is not exclusively noise label, it ain’t that hot label name to mention? But we do talk about Relapse..

[Zeno Marx]

Batchas - Explorations 85-95

One of those projects I forget about and how good it was.  AKA Myiase.  First heard them on the great Bunkur Archeology comp.  There's a tribalism, or industrialism, to them not commonly found in ambient.  There's no percussion.  There's a crumbling and grumbling that gives it a different feel.  At times, it can sound like a Jeph Jerman work being manipulated.  A collaboration with Voice of Eye would have been interesting.  Or with Life Garden or Ure Thrall.

[moozz]

Proof Of The Shooting - Demonstrative Evidence
4 CDs full of varied '90s noise. Sometimes harsh, sometimes pretty spacious, but always interesting. I was not familiar with the project at all but I am glad I got this one. Plenty to explore here!

Rotat - Infidel Gastronomy
Harsh noise is the name of the game! Nothing more, nothing less. With a quirky tongue-in-cheek twist but not goofy. Yet another solid album from this Finnish gentleman.

Circle Of Shit - Almost There Now
I have not always been that impressed with CoS but this one is great! Kind of atmospheric industrial but on the noisier side.

Amek-Maj - Amek-Maj
Brand new CD release! I was expecting harsh noise but got something entirely different. And I was not disappointed! This is "narrative noise" that brings to mind some sort of hybrid of Jason Crumer and Altar Of Flies. Excellent!

[HateSermon]

GRUNT "Cast Iron Hand" 10", Old Europa Cafe 2022

Mikko mentioned here recently how the latest Grunt releases have been fed through a tape deck once or twice to get that extra overall distortion that only tape can provide. This technique is especially evident in this release. All of the usual Grunt elements are there - grinding synth, maniacal vocals, metal drenched in feedback - but the merging and melting of sounds as a result from this recording technique is what really makes this release so special. It's the type of result that you can't really predict or plan and it becomes an unpredictable animal. There's an overall warm, old school sound to it unlike so much of the crystal clear hi-fi mastering you hear today. Nice presentation by OEC, too. Great quality print on the jacket. Copies still available through Malignant for those in the states.

[Fistfuck Masonanie]

Hymenal Opening - Fucked to Death By A Horse C30 (IOPS)

The great Hymenal Opening return! First release since 2019. I absolutely LOVE this project. I literally chased down every tape a few years back and I can't get enough. Not sure I ever heard a modern harsh noise project that successfully created as much of a feeling of grime and underbelly seediness as well as HO. A lot of familiar elements as far as high-frequency ear shredding, but there are some subtle new elements here and there. BUT NOT MUCH!

It's too bad there are no song titles on this release because they always come up with good ones. For example, "On The Way To The Hospital, I Showed The Guy In The Ambulance Her Asshole And Asked If He Wanted To Fuck It". No track titles mean we also didn't get any new songs about red wigs this time either, bummer.

FYI, the main man behind the project was involved in Rectal Hygienics. Fantastic band. I also VERY highly recommend checking out the Hymenal Opening – Red Hymen CD on Filth & Violence from a few years back. Nasty nasty stuff.

[HateSermon]

Unclean “Marked And Slaughtered / Replicated Humanity” lathe 7”
Narcolepsia

2 raw and suffocating tracks done in a minimal but effective way. Both sides present buzzing synth sounds and a sea of junk metal abuse. Commanding vocals on this reminds me of a mix somewhere between Shift and Contortus… certainly in good company. Great packaging on this too. Screen printed jackets with several inserts including lyrics. Rough collage work reminiscent of the old F&V days. Limited to 50 and I believe there are still some available through the label. Looking forward to his new tape on IOPS.