Augmented Atrocity - Anomaly

 

Augmented Atrocity – Anomaly – Aussaat – CD – Aussaat28 – 2023

https://augmentedatrocity.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Aussaatundernte/

E-Mail:  ernten@aol.com

1.    Circling Around Sin.

2.    Monkey.

3.    The Army of Copycats.

4.    I Won.

5.    Control & Dominance.

6.    Body Is an Object.

7.    Straight Line.

8.    Progression Upon Progression.

9.    Bareback Purist.

10. Anal Anomaly.

Anomaly: an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc. an incongruity or inconsistency.

Anomaly is the third album by Finland based act Augmented Atrocity, the cd comes in a bloody red 6 panel digipack.

From the last, most recent album I became very familiar with Augmented Atrocity’s use of big synthesiser sounds, when they use drones, they truly know how to do it well - Circling Around Sin revels in massive drones. There is a strong use of bleak, ambient atmospherics that the sound can slowly move around in. The drones seem to become a singular tonal frequency that hums as the vocal shout comes in, a buzzier synth drone then takes its place, the distortion to this emphasises a nastiness to the sound that remains when the vocal comes back. A small amount of wobble comes into the electronics to highlight the aggression’s effect.

A fractured electronic comes in for Monkey, this is fractured through a subtle raise in distortion. The vocal is tweaked via adjusting the speed and tone, so it sounds mutant. A crunching beat comes in as the backing sounds indicate a riot and chaos – an impressive rise in impact to the track. A forceful vocal replaces the mutant voice and kicks things off at the end. Big drones and crackling form a crunchy rhythm, the vocal goes off on a rant, things are emphasised through subtle rises in backing drone, it demonstrates a clever use of tension. The title ‘The Army of Copycats’ is repeated over sample.

I Won shows a good fall into Death Industrial through a dominant synth pattern over a wall of distortion. The electronics are allowed to play out for a long period of time until the vocal arrives to hammer the point into the listener. Excellent use of Synth pattern shown here. The screech that kicks into the sound after the vocal ends, is the perfect cut off to I Won. Control & Dominance does as the title said by stepping up the vastness of the synthesisers and allowing the sound  to throb. Vocals are limited to samples in the background, a gritty distortion begins to overlay the drones and a bigger wall like blast thickens this suddenly, the lack of vocal allows the noise to do the work and build a picture, the samples are buried just enough to allow the noise to be so effective. Low-level electronics and rumbling intertwine with each other on Body Is An Object. A rhythm comes in, the electronics weave in and out of this rapidly.

A similar, but slightly stripped-down use of electronics allows space in the sound for the vocal to return on Straight Line. This allows ambient textures to slowly grow in the track and lead towards its end. A thicker wall of distortion with shouting forms Progression Upon Progression. The distortion falters, so it is less solid and becomes an irregular rhythm for the shout to kick off with. Bareback Purist is literally a bareback use of distortion and screeching, it isn’t smooth; this serves as the perfect backing for the shouting. The backing drone that arrives is excellent, providing a platform for things to break down and remerge upon throughout the track.

The finale is Anal Anomaly, this allows a total fracturing of the track, everything is cut into so it becomes a continual morse code overlay of the stops and starts of different noises. Only the vocal noises are untampered and roar weakly over the noise. I don’t mean weakly as in bad, but the forceful shout isn’t there, it indicates a tiredness, an exhaustion, an end. The choppy distortion gains prominence, becoming forceful as report samples play. This is a textured, cut-up end to the album.

I truly rate this project, Anomaly is a strong album, like their latest album, it just might be excellent. Available from all good distros or directly from Aussaat.

Nothing and Nobody – 2024.

Augmented Atrocity - In Search of Something That Doesn't Exist.

Augmented Atrocity – In Search of Something That Doesn’t Exist – CD – Aussaat – 2024 – Aussaat 31

https://augmentedatrocity.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Aussaatundernte/

1.    Searching, Through Skin. (Removing Thins Within).

2.    In Search of Something.

3.    Dog Without Teeths Can Only Bark.

4.    Pile of Decay.

5.    Echoes of Her High Heels.

6.    Call of the Void.

7.    Entwined With the Vines of Regression.

8.    To An End.

9.    Back to Where It All Started.

Augmented Atrocity is a Finland based project by J.S. he is also the man behind the project Kovana. I am unsure if Kovana still exists or has been replaced by Augmented Atrocity as J.S.’s main project. In Search of Something That Doesn’t Exist is the fourth release by Augmented Atrocity.

Huge synthesiser sounds build a dominant introduction to Searching, Through Skin, bass pops in the background. The sounds here are immediately immense and let us know of Augmented Atrocity’s presence, the vocal is cold and direct, surrounded by the noise, it is the Power Electronics trick of being flanked and becoming one with the surrounding noise. The faux die off to the track abuses sharp frequencies as the bass splutters and chokes. The vocal, bass and drones return at full strength – the rant intensifies with the bass – this creates the overdrive die off.

Splattering synth sounds rumble, blasts of distortion are In Search of Something, short and sweet. A melody plays out and repeats as if it is a locked vinyl group for Dog Without Teeths Can Only Bark, muffled, rumbling noise and a frail narrative appear to work alongside the melody. The rumbling builds up slightly as if to mist over what is happening, both rumble and vocal disappear to leave us alone with the melody again. This is classic Industrial use of aggressive looping.

An infected, distant sound builds on Pile of Decay – flies buzz to create a grim visual. What I hear as metal springs being contact microphoned and hit begin to intervene. A shouted vocal begins to rage into all of this. Everything rises into chaos until elements begin to drop out for short periods of time until it all kicks off again. The vocal here is particularly noteworthy as the shout is original and effective.

Looping, psychedelic drones swirl as a distorted vocal narrates a dialogue, this is the Echoes of Her High Heels. Big synthesiser drones return with a sharp treble movement flowing through them are Call of the Void. The vocal is up there again, on here it is has such a high amount of echo it becomes half noise, half dialogue, as J.S. shouts it is effective as can be. Augmented Atrocity is vocally brilliant on this album. The use of synthesisers here is excellent as they resonate death frequencies impressively. Further looped melodies are Entwined With the Vines of Regression, big synth rumbles loop out too, the two sounds dance in uneasy harmony to allow a fractured vocal to sound off in the background like a dying transmission.  It sounds like a very pissed of distant relative of Faust. Drones and scraping electronics boom over ambient darkness, the electronics sound like they are choking and gasping for To an End. A spiteful vocal adds to the hellish sounds coming out of the track. Menacing electronics brood on Back to Where it all Started, noise from a contact mic thumps in the background. This forms a slow ending that rounds the album off well.

This is a very good album; it could possibly be excellent – make sure you get it.

Nothing and Nobody 2024. 

Johnny Scarr - Etude in Black.

Johnny Scarr – Etude In Black – CDr – 2024 - Chocolate Monk – Choc.615.

https://chocolatemonk.co.uk/available.html

https://mantile.blogspot.com/

1.    Untitled.

2.    Untitled.

"Some significant personal events occurred and I made some inept "faulk" music in response (so emo). Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the work fails to convey much of anything about those events. After making stuff which was intentionally devoid of emotional resonance for years, this way of working felt pretty revealing and somewhat pathetic. Which is probably why, by the time I was done with it, I think I ended up burying most, if not all sentiment that might have been there." - Mr J.Scarr

Quote taken from Chocolate Monk website.

Etude in Black comes three years after Johnny Scarr’s last release ‘NONNAH’ in 2021. NONNAH was excellent, so it will be a hard act to follow. I also have the opinion it was one of the best things that I had ever heard from Chocolate Monk. The title alludes to an episode from season two of the US Crime Series Columbo. I believe the cover is an image of Columbo (Peter Falk) with corpsepaint added. 

Etude in Black follows the use of solo synthesiser work that NONNAH also used, deep resonations, shifting melodies, two long improvised pieces of work that were heavily edited afterwards. The synths begin as haunted echoes that eventually begin to sparkle at times and achieving a dark beauty. It feels like the slow comedown of too much beer at Rammel Club and walking home down Woodborough Road in search of cheap pizza to eat in a shop doorway.

Like good Ambient work it shifts into different territories, at one point it begins to form glitchy drones that sound like bagpipes channelled through electronics, in another it sounds like basement bleakness, cellar creepiness playing out. In other parts the synths take me to the film A Chinese Ghost Story and makes me desperately want to watch it again. The second piece goes into murkier, choppier territory. The sound melts itself, bubbling and gargling in parts. Sections cut out and remerge in different sections, it is like a record skipping from one track to another. The second track emits more despair than the first creating a total contrast.

Etude in Black like NoNNAH is a challenging work of shimmering, shifting beauty. Well worthy of your purchase and listening.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Spiteful Womb - Traumacore

 

Spiteful Womb – Traumacore – Tape/Download – Vial Recordings – 2024

https://vialrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/traumacore

https://vialrecordings.bandcamp.com/

https://spitefulwomb.bandcamp.com/

        1.    Touching Bruises.

        2.    Sleeping Bag.

        3.    Cool and Creamy.

        4.    Teeny Tiny Tears.

        5.    Purge Memory.

This is a forthcoming release by Spiteful Womb, a limited cassette of 50 copies on Vial Recordings, a label based in New York. It is the first release since the vinyl release of Interior Castle in 2023 on Cipher Productions.

Touching Bruises feels like it is being wound up to work at the start, a pulsating, muffled rhythm kicks in as ambient sounds go off around it, the sound is nervous, dark and nightmarish. Different noises join in the sound before the rhythm sharpens up to be more prominent. The intensity of the track is constantly adjusted and played with throughout the track. Sleeping Bag demonstrates a word Gaya of ANTIchildLEAGUE used to describe Spiteful Womb’s sound to me ‘Dominant’, this is done through big resonating synthesisers that pulsate as a warped vocal sounds off in the background. Harsh noise starts to attack the drones, leading to a combative ending.

Low tonal, shifting frequencies form Cool and Creamy as drones hum in the background playing off the frequencies. This demonstrates good morbid atmosphere being allowed to lead a track whilst metal rattling tinkers into the sound to bring the track to a close. Infective synths hum and buzz on Teeny Tiny Tears, glitchy waves of noise shift alongside the synths, this is tweaked around to alter the frequency subtly. Nice, sick sounds. Vertigo like loops and field recordings of a baby crying and contact microphoned movements take over the sound, it feels like a glimpse into the artists real life. Loops of water splashing and further drones play out.

The finale sounds like something off Death Odors as Muffled, ambient rumblings start. This is backed by keyboard drones slowly moving around underneath all of this. Subtle distortion hisses through everything, more contact mic creaking shuffles around all of this. Deep, dominant drones begin to undulate amongst the busy atmospheres – all of this is Purge Memory.

Whenever anyone talks about Death Industrial and where it is at now, this artist is a good place to look. Traumacore hits the excellent standards that I expect from this artist.  See the Vial Bandcamp link above for purchase as it is well worthy of that.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

S.T.A.B. Electronics - Funerals.

 

S.T.A.B. Electronics – Funerals – Old Europa Café – CD – 2023 – OECD 337.

https://www.oldeuropacafe.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556830742937

        1.    Birthdread.

        2.    The Howl.

        3.    She Fucking Died (In Memoriam JS).

        4.    A Poxing.

        5.    The Death of Sex.

        6.    All Things Bright (Snowtown).

        7.    I Stand Alone.

        8.    Violence Begets Violence.

        9.    The Wisdom of the Grave.

        10. Grief.

A baby cries, this is the introduction to Birthdread. rumbling electronics and ranting soon become the core of the track, Keith Finnan never stops reminding us that “We Scream!”, he doesn’t stop for the entire track. For the first time in years a repetition as good as the start of Enemy of Pigs ‘Mother, mother please, mother, mother, please’ or the death tirade that began Day of the Male.

Muffled sound samples play out until an impressive display of synthesisers and distorted rage laden vocals becomes ‘The Howl.’  This uses something common to the Dalek power vocal technique but makes it original by heightening the treble of the vocal to such levels so that it becomes too sharp to accurately decipher. The electronics warble in accordance to the vocal, heightening the confusion of the sound. The muffled voice sample returns to its report after the death of the sonics.

Descending, depressive electronics back a bleak vocal rant of ‘She’s Fucking Dead’ -is this a lost love, a relative? The vocal repeats ‘She’s Fucking Dead’ until it becomes emotion made into a weapon to batter the listener into submission. I swear I can hear grieving in the background. This track is horrible, pure grief made into noise.

‘A Poxing’ impresses us away from grieving with big electronics, the drones, samples and vocals kick the shit out of each other, warbled vocals rant with a terrifying urgency and we are pulled back into the horror of She’s Fucking Dead. It is here that I am aware I am in a position similar to that of Martin Sheen’s character Captain Benjamin in Apocalypse Now being dragged down the river through the deepest recesses of Colonel Kurtz’s mind, I have no choice but to follow this journey to its end. The death synths impress the fuck out of me here, they are unbelievably huge, so drag me down that river.

Horns go off, sampled voices argue and the vocal shouts it’s head off, I feel as if I am properly in the middle of things now. Stuck in an argument deciding who to go off at, fuck you all I am ready, let’s fucking go for it. Let me finish my drink so I can break my glass ready for whatever comes next. This is ‘The Death of Sex,’ samples cry, the vocal roars, the horns sound like a traffic jam building up towards road rage.

Pulsing distant beats go off, boom, boom, boom, boom. Raving, ranting and electronics arrive, sampled dialogue plays simultaneously – that and the vocal battle for prominence of All Things Bright (Snowtown). The urgency isn’t in the vocals, but is totally manipulated through the electronics, they sound like old electronics, a bit Moog like, but they are in charge, bigger, divebombing drones cut in and kill the Moog until the vocal is left to do its’ work with the sample, the electronics come back once this has all been sorted out.

A dramatic intro lets us know ‘I Stand Alone’, the electronics throb, repeat and allow the sermon to begin. The vocal seems laced with more spite here than on other tracks to express the isolation. Technical question here, is this the stance of any listener of this level of Power Electronics? I have been playing this in my car on the way to work for months, my own deaf levels of isolation never stop, words and actions stab me in the face daily, am I completely fucked? Technically that makes this the soundtrack to the listeners life. I stand alone raises too many questions upon questions in my head, so fuck off S.T.A.B. The repetitive electronics and their tonal fuckery are amazing at least, the track’s die off is gradual and painful.

The urgency continues with samples in ‘Violence Begets Violence,’ the vocal reports, the electronics and the rhythmic beating noise are anxiety made into sound. The depth of the synths radiates an ambitiousness akin to a lot of Cold Spring artists like Colossloth and Satori and that of Control, but the vocal is a ranting death sound that radiates pure hatred. The ‘War Is Good’ chant is greatness akin to that of Hydra.

Mournful Synths and prayers spin together, beautiful, distorted, whirling electronics to form a black vortex of funeral sound – this is ‘The Wisdom of the Grave’. The vocal goes off, shouts and spits at the death of life. This is very bleak, but the best electronics are saved until last, perhaps the best of the project’s career, ‘Grief’ uses overridden organ noises and warped vocals. Whatever this is, it works.

My only suggestion is sometimes the project should let the electronics do all of the work, vocals aren’t always needed due to the clarity and strength of the samples and noise on here. I say this as I always thought of S.T.A.B. as an effective PE/Death Industrial project, but this release does demonstrate a clearly intelligent, effective and subtle use of electronics. Funerals is potentially the starting point to a new era of S.T.A.B. Electronics. Good work within this genre needs solid thought behind it to be remotely effective and the sharpness here is all in the fine details. Better be this good in Manchester next month, welcome to the now of Death Industrial. Excellent.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Pale World - Regulate.

Pale Word - Regulate - Cassette - Ridge Tapes - Ridge02 - 2024.

www.ridgetapes.bigcartel.com

https://paleworld.bandcamp.com/music

           1. Regulate.

           2. Best.

Pale World has been creating a bunch of impressive releases in recent years. The project has been around since 2013 and is based in Birmingham. Creator Joe Parkes is a key gig organiser in Birmingham with many great noise gigs under his belt. Pale World's own live performances have been tense affairs. Releases have been more frequent since 2020 mostly on Outsider Art. Some releases are splits with other projects and some are just alone.

Regulate is released on Alina Church of Distraxi's new label called Ridge Tapes. 

This cassette shows of some thick, textured tracks of harsh noise, there is a clear attention to sound and detail present throughout the entire work. It begins sounding like a broken machine, dense bass heavy roaring distortion breaks out, tense scraping runs along with it and feedback sqeals out at intervals. Caustic, creaking, battered texture is forced out of the sound as it accelerates towards a cut out. Mournful, melodic drones play out as broken machine noises click away in the background.

Further drones and mechanics return for the second side 'Best.' I like that we are allowed to hear this for some time before shuddering noise starts causing havoc. This feels digital in comparison to 'Regulate' through how it shudders. The drones come through the chaos at times, adding glimmers of beauty to the textures created. We are left with shimmering melodies playing out to the end of the release.

This is an excellent tape, everything great about Pale World shines through. I have been greatly impressed by this project since hearing them on Outsider Art on the Death Garage release and seeing him live supporting Knifedoutofexistence and more recently with Fleshlicker and Insatiable Wound. There are links above to check out the project and label.

Nothing and Nobody 2024..

XAL Spirit Breaking.

 

XAL – Spirit Breaking – Cassette/Download - Cloister Recordings – 2024

https://cloisterrecordingsus.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-breaking

https://cloisterrecordingsus.bigcartel.com/

https://xinjiangdocumentation.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2020/12/Darren-Byler-Spirit-Breaking-Uyghur-Dispossession-Culture-Work-and-Terror-Capitalism-in-a-Chinese-Global-City.pdf

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55794071

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-56986057

        1.    Spirit Watching.

        2.    Seven City Blocks.

        3.    New Dominion Pioneer Corps.

        4.    The Three Evils.

        5.    Terror Capital.

        6.    Dispossessor.

        7.    Disappear.

        8.    Behind The Black Gate.

        9.    God Is Dead.

        10. Takbir.

        11. Bioluminescence II : Sleeping Citadel.

        12. Dungeon Theme.

XAL is a project consisting of AM NOT, A and Mollusk King all of whom are familiar names with releases behind their belts in the UK Post Industrial scene. Spirit Breaking was created as a tribute to Darren T Byler’s thesis (Spirit Breaking: Uyghur Dispossession, Culture Work and Terror Capitalism in a Chinese Global City) which is about the Chinese government’s persecution and state war against the Uyghur Muslims and other Muslim groups within Xinjiang. This included men being arrested, women being arrested, sterilised, raped and tortured within prisons. I was aware of the issues mentioned here, but listening to this recording forced me to research further and I was disgusted and disturbed at what I found out is happening to the Uyghur. Spirit Breaking refers to the government’s process of removing the people’s culture and historical lineage by banning or restricting their religious, cultural practices and Islamic education ensuring they used only government approved religious text and schools (education centres). This ensured the continual degradation of the Uyghur, specifically through the inhumane treatment and abuse of their women. I have tried to do some research about the title tracks in relation to the text, my definitions aren't concrete and are of my own opinion. .

The album begins with a combination of Dark Ambient atmospherics and samples, this accelerates to increase its own intensity. Quirky keyboard sounds, pulsing beats and cinematic synthesizers build Seven City Blocks, this works together to form a landscape of which events play out. It refers to the seven new cities the Chinese government built during the urbanisation of Xinjiang a decade ago. The sound here pushed into a lot of post noise sound futuristic and ambitious, this works well as work. New Dominion Pioneer Corps is a short blast of huge industrial soundtrack, possible reference to the Police State and Capitalistic growth in the area. The Three Evils (A political slogan of the Peoples Republic of China – terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.) goes into a screwier use of warped noise with vocals buried into the work, to add further dynamics to the track.

We are in the thick of the situation as Terror Capital refers to the clashes between Uyghurs, State Police and Han Chinese and other incidents over the decades. The track uses restrained noises, phases of dramatic percussion and samples to start a build-up of tense sound. A voice that is either AI or a sample is used to throw facts and statistics across the noise. Rumbling and suspenseful electronics mix up on Dispossessor (someone who takes away something that belongs to someone else.) big synth sounds dominate the track. Uyghur people started being sent to jail and then re-education camps, In 2021, the BBC reported that China has imprisoned at least 630 Muslim religious figures since 2014, and over a million practitioners of Islam. This is soundtracked by the brief sounds of Disappear. Behind the Black Gates refers to the entrance of a detention camp in Xinjiang, this uses eerier atmospherics, muffled voices and shuffling noises in combination to build a picture of the location. The pace of these elements accelerates to intensify the track as if to voice domination and control – the noises progress to become more attacking in their sound.

God Is Dead could refer to the repression of the Islamic Religion through the government specifically the Uyghur, or feeling as if God is dead when imprisoned in any of the many prisons in Xinjiang. The bleakness the track projects is intense as drones and clashing waves of discord repeat. Takbir (God Is Greater), contrasts the previous track through simple melodic, repetitive instrumentation and sampled conversations playing out in the background. Musically this contrasts the previous methods of making tracks beautifully. Sinister electronics and whisperings make Bioluminescence II: Sleeping Citadel, as this dies off a pulsing beat is all that remains. Dungeon Theme ends the album on a dark note with big build ups and moody beats.

Is this a good album? Yes. XAL is unafraid to tackle complex political, humanitarian issues, it is forward thinking, progressive in how it uses sound and could lead to great things. Spirit Breaking is a step forward into a new territory and is backed up by strong context like all good art should be. Watch this space.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Kevlar - Criteria

 

Kevlar – Criteria – Cassette/LP/DVDr/Pal – Unrest33 - 2015.

https://kampfunrest.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/people/Kevlar/100063614945240/

https://soundcloud.com/kevlar-unit

Criteria A :

        I.      Milieu Control.

        II.     Mystical Manipulation.

        III.   The Demand for Purity.

        IV.   Confession.

Criteria B:

        V.    Sacred Science.

        VI.   Loading The Language.

        VII.                Doctrine Over Person.

        VIII.               Dispensing Of Existence.

Kevlar is a very tough synthetic fibre used in the making of bulletproof vests; it is also the name of this present-day UK based Power Electronics project. One of the members also did the project Kontinent for a time. Kevlar was a duo and is now one person, they have done 5 releases over the years on Unrest since their formation in 2010.  Kevlar played three of the four United Forces of Industrial that Unrest hosted in London as well as gigs around the UK and Europe. Criteria was their 2nd release after Alpha Strife in 2014.

The first side of Criteria rumbles into action as glitching, hissing distortion and muffled field recordings build the sound of Milieu Control, this rumbles away in the background for a time until Mystical Manipulation barges in with rumbling bass, various drones, waves of distortion and humming weave together to make a tense, compressed sound. Restrained feedback screeches into this before the vocal kicks in, the sound intensifies into a heavy Power Electronics assault. The battering that is caused by the choppy distortion is impressive feeling like a Jetstream of sound being continually cut into, bashed metal also adds to the overall choppiness.

Low, pulsing drones move into The Demand for Purity, the sound repeats itself as another drone moves across it creating two opposing sounds. Both noises seem to do their thing and ignore each other, creating a strong tension until only one of them is left. Small sounds of electronics seem to fiddle around, until a deep bass drone is hit upon, this forms the core sound of Confession. Distortion crackles across the drone as others enter the sound periodically. Each sound has its own movement and all of them move along together providing subtle shifts of texture within the track. A clear electronic pulsation ends the track.

The second side of Criteria takes an instantly aggressive tone as wall like noise is punctuated with howling blasts and possibly religious vocal samples sound desperate as they are buried within the storm of rumbling noise that is Sacred Science. Death like drones bark out the base of Loading the Language, dense, overdriving bass builds thick waves to back the drones. The tension becomes warfare as each sound changes their prominence in the full sound, different shifts in the mix make massive movements within each track.

Things drop right down as small noises interact for Doctrine Over Person raising the sound levels as each element of the sound begins to find its feet. A vocal joins in to take charge, it is warbled through effects making it a voice noise. The bass deepens, making the sound’s brutality clearer through the slow simmering rage. Dispensing of Existence starts off as gloomy atmospherics cut into through fractured crackling, a vocal is buried within the mix as the cracking noises and eerie sounds fight it out. The vocal shout emerges and sinks in a continual cycle through and into the noise. Lines of feedback cut into the work, chopping it into collaged sections, very disruptive stuff.

Criteria very effectively holds noise back to intensify it, using the mix to do this. As the tension is released slightly it makes the sound shout out. In my opinion, Unrest released a lot of pissed off, simmering Industrial and Power Electronics that brooded at and menaced the listener, using a variety of different ways to create and exploit tensions of sound. Shift, Soft Option Killing and Kevlar do this best. My online wheeler dealing led me to Criteria last month and I am glad I got this. Another Unrest gem unearthed and a great project becomes more apparent.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Soft Option Killing #2

 

Soft Option Killing – Cassette – Hospital Productions – 2010 – HOS-296.

        1.    Untitled.

        2.    Untitled.

https://phosphorusburning.bandcamp.com/music

There were six Soft Option Killing cassettes released between 2007 to 2010. Three were self-released, Three on labels. Two (Rogue State and Every Brutal Act a Service) were on Unrest Productions and this self-titled release was released on Hospital Productions and Abrasive Records, I believe Abrasive was the artists own label, so it was also self-released. The project was based in the UK, supported many well-known names within Power Electronics circles and now makes work as Phosphorus Burning.

Vocal dialogue samples and rumbling drones fill the sound as the first side starts. An undercurrent of distortion wavers under the main noise, becoming increasingly prominent over time. Vicious drones kick in and hum menacingly whilst waves of distortion start to hit this and howling, echoing noise makes the listener feel lost in a nightmare of sound. It’s mastered and controlled well in that the storm of noise is busy but not at ear splitting displays of high volume, space is kept within the sound. An aggressive blast of distortion then screams over echoing, rumbling bass. The distortive blasts eventually serve to repeatedly cut across the deep rumble – this has a higher level of aggression in the delivery than the earlier part of the tape. This all dies off allowing the rumble to come across as a passage of ambient storm with a lower hissing distortion shooting across it as sampled dialogue plays out to add further layers of depth to the work. The ambient sounds drift through to the next part of the piece. Vocal roar and distortion soon dominate the sound, the vocal is buried within the noise, occasionally resurfacing for short periods of time. This soon dies off into overlaps of subtle, quiet noise to bring an end to the first side.

Side two’s untitled track begins with distant voices cut into by wavering distortions that continue the ambient sounds explored on the first track. High pitched electronics soon wail over this, but they eventually drop slightly so they blend more into the sound. This all forms a layered, bleak Industrial landscape. The varieties of returning feedback are the noise, it isn’t intended in a Harsh Noise context as they are often too isolated, as it wails over echoing, chugging electronics, you realise it is meant to scream across the sound in a Power Electronics way (as were the vocals that briefly appeared.)  through how it accurately intensifies in tone to force the listeners attention. As this part dies out, a busier passage of echoing noise and sharp distortion collide to make a choppier passage of the track. The rise of angrier sound through throbbing sound sources, echo and distortion can be felt very much here. The way this continually drifts into dark ambient territory and is yanked out with subtle and sometimes hostile use of noise is impressive.

Each side seems to have four passages of sound that together, form one track. All are very effective and well considered in their use of sound. Another excellent Soft Option Kill work reveals itself.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Fleshlicker, Insatiable Wound, Sword of Democles, Pale World, EOP. Centrala, Birmingham, 16.04.24

Live Review –

Fleshlicker, Insatiable Wound, Sword of Damocles, Pale World, EOP.

Centrala, Birmingham, 16.04.24. (All photos by the author)

https://centrala-space.org.uk/

https://fleshlicker.bandcamp.com/merch

https://paleworld.bandcamp.com/music

https://slowmurder.bandcamp.com/music

It is always a treat to come to Centrala for a noise gig. Many of my most memorable gigs have been there. Tonight, the event was held downstairs, the last one that I went to was Knifedoutofexistence which was held in the upstairs gallery.

The first act on was EOP which was two people: a drummer and a guy making noise through machines and pedals. They sparked off each other very well during a long piece that was kept interesting through changes bought by the improvision. The drummer was very good at what he did and completely mesmerising to watch.

I was excited to see Pale World and had high expectations of the project. Sadly my pictures were too dark to use here. However, I’ve reviewed his work on here before, seen him live and my expectations were very high. His set consisted of electronics and contact Microphoned steel sheets. His set started off subtly with slight sounds going off and built up to explosive levels of intense, claustrophobic noise though metal sheets that were hit, scratched and slapped. I am sure there were other electronics involved too. Joe Parkes who organised the gig and does Pale World seemed like an intense guy to talk to - this came through in his set with ease. Melodic instrumentation could eventually be heard and the noise built up again and intertwined with the melody, this made a strong contrast to the explosive, earlier part of the set. Pale World’s set ensured that this is presently one of my favourite UK projects.

I had only heard of Sword of Damocles by name in the past. This set was the technical set out of the lot as he was using a lot of intricate cut-up technique over Harsh Noise, melodic drones and samples in his work. All these elements were continually spliced together and broken up to allow other combinations of the sound to occur. His techniques were rapid so there was a lot of fast movement to his work, this was done very effectively with a lot going off in one set.

Next up was Insatiable Wound, which is another project by Jo of Slow Murder. This set will forever be named ‘Grooving in Green’ in my head, Jo wore all green, had green hair and worked under green light. Despite the March Violets reference, this was pure energetic, top tier harsh noise. There was a lot of Contact Mic, Sandpaper, a bit of head wound and it was very loud. The set was very short, this made it work perfectly, allowed for the high energy and left me wanting more Insatiable Wound and even more Slow Murder. An amazing blast of a set.

I knew nothing of Fleshlicker other than he is otherwise known as UK mastering maestro and distro Foul Prey. My ignorance made the show even better. The strength of the support acts made for a hard line up to follow, this had to be at least good. The lights went off in the venue, all went quiet too, I was unsure what was happening as no one was in the performing area. Suddenly I heard retching sounds and a topless Foul Prey appears dribbling everywhere, stretching out as if he was an undead person from 28 Days later, staring at people, retching, staggering around. “Ugh, Ugh, UGGGGGH!!” was all he did until he staggers up to a huge amplifier and Harsh Noise Wall blasts out and he continues staggering, contorting his body and retching. This was a Mike Dando or Michael 9 level noise performance; I was seriously impressed. This could easily get too samey if repeated too often, so Fleshlicker needs to keep up the progression and conceptualisation to stay this great and keep me this blown away. An outstanding finale.

I couldn’t fault this line up if I tried. These are new times with new champions.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Insatiable Wound - pain seeking behaviour

 

Insatiable Wound – pain-seeking behaviour – Cassette – self released – 2024

side a – pain-seeking behaviour. (recorded summer 2023).

side b – live recording. (Bristol 20/06/2023).

https://slowmurder.bandcamp.com/album/pain-seeking-behaviour

https://slowmurder.bandcamp.com/music

Insatiable Wound is a project by Jo Sheehy who also does Slow Murder. I saw them live at Birmingham Centrala recently and I was impressed enough to buy this cassette after the gig. I was also completely thrilled to meet Jo as I love the work of Slow Murder. The cover and free sandpaper strip also demonstrate their commitment to the colour green; Jo had green hair and was completely dressed in green for the show. I believe the sandpaper can optionally be used to administer pain to oneself while listening to the work.

The studio recording begins with contact mic sounds that are fed through distortion; feedback goes off at the same time. Both elements begin to accelerate into a faster paced sound, the feedback begins to wail as the distortion becomes increasingly abrasive and louder. The sound starts to get cut into to allow each element a short, shifting solo. The distortion becomes a woofing bass roar that is periodically cut into by the feedback, which is now a cutting, shouting sound, yelling out at the listener. A hum of drone stops everything so the sound can begin again, muffled bass goes off, the drone cuts in again, the feedback wails at the drone to signify the sudden end of the recording.

Live in Bristol begins as screaming feedback and a banging cacophony, this sounds way more energised than the recording as the shifts in noise come rapidly before anything can settle. Constant changes to the feedback and contact mics provide the movement of sound. I am sure I witnessed a combination of Jo, sandpaper and a contact mic to make noise, resulting in a head wound, when I saw the project play live – I am convinced that happens here. The distortion progresses to a roaring void that battles with the screaming of the feedback until it cuts out and ends.

A very good recording available from the links above.

Nothing and Nobody 2024.

Lover's Leap - As Purity Dissolves Through Fingertips.

Lover’s Leap – As Purity Dissolves Through Fingertips – Digital Release – 2024

https://loversleap33.bandcamp.com/album/as-purity-dissolves-through-fingertips

        1.    As Purity Dissolves Through Fingertips.

Lover’s Leap is a new project based in London and they have done four releases since 2022.

As Purity Dissolves begins with echoing creaking, muffled banging and scraping, all 3 interact for a time. This is then taken over by hissing static and further scraping made through contact mic abuse. Static is slowly complimented by a wall of distortion that is compressed so it isn’t allowed to dominate the proceedings, the vocal enters complimented by warped electronics. It all feels restrained, caged. The electronics throb within the murk of the static noise bulging and resonating until things die off to quiet electronics, this isn’t for long, things slowly begin to build up again and change into a passage of mournful synthesiser melody – this has more clarity and is allowed to roam free.

Interesting release worthy of your time and money.

Nothing and Nobody. 2024.

Soft Option Killing - Every Brutal Act A Service.

Soft Option Killing – Every Brutal Act A Service – Cassette – Unrest Production – Unrest 23 – 2007.

1. – Fajr.

2. - Isha’a.

Soft Option Killing was an industrial project based in Nottingham UK. Two cassettes were released on Unrest Productions, Rouge State (2007) and Every Brutal Act A Service (2010). There was a self-titled cassette put out on Hospital Productions & Abrasive Records in 2010, in addition to this there were three self-released cassettes. The person behind Soft Option Killing was also involved in the project Front Towards Enemy/Bear Faced Boy. Soft Option Killing stopped releasing around 2010.

Side 1, Fajr (the time when the first of the five daily prayers of Islam is performed), the track opens with samples of fighter pilots discussing targets, ending in ‘do not engage the mosque.’ Deep bass noises go off as if to mimic bombs exploding. All of this goes off over a subtle droning sound that changes tone gradually throughout Fajr. The drones begin to take further depth as the time moves on, turning into deep rumbles as the atmosphere intensifies. The shift from wavering wind sounds to distorted code comes in with the changes of the drones, both elements co-exist uneasily. In part the deep rumbling depths that Soft Option Killing engages in reminds me of the slower rumblings that could happen in the work of label mates Shift.

Side 2 – Isha’a. (Second prayer of the day, occurring in the darkness of night.) Thick synthesiser resonations seem to pull this track into murkier, territory than Fajr. The drones are ominous and threatening throughout the track. The synthesisers become more death-like further into the work whilst a holing distortion sounds off over this intermittently. I’d argue there was a clear policy in Unrest acts where synthesisers are pushed to maximum effect or to the forefront of the sound. Soft Option Killing was clearly unafraid to do this and dive into Death Industrial territory, a few acts on the label revelled in that for passages of time, S.T.A.B. Electronics lives it. The murkier Isha’a gets, the more it intensifies and steps up to the mark. It wails and gives deep horn like drones at the peak of the track – the sound becomes massive.

The missing in action status of Soft Option Killing adds mystery to the work. The sound of this tape adds credibility and integrity to the name. There are some heavyweight acts on Unrest and this easily holds its own amongst them. 6 tapes released in three years, if ever something should be reissued and known about, it is this work.

Nothing and Nobody 2023.