Inner Demons 24.

Inner Demons 24.

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

Fail - Dated Eleven – 3”CDr/Download – 2024 – IND0182

       01. 080919

       02. 080830

Fail is a Dan Fox project that has been happily reviewed on this blog many times. Eleven is made up of two tracks. The first work, 080919 is the longer of the two,  it begins as gives off bass pulses, like a slow, dying pulse. Slow, rumbling deep low tones and a splattering sound thicken the sound up with more detail. Feedback wails in for a short time, thicker, roaring, bass heavy distortion comes in and creates a low wall for sounds to break out of. The wailing feedback sounds lost within everything. The juggling of different sounds keeps the track textured as the sound quickens. Rapid shifts, choppier sounds and deeper bass progress the sound quickly. Things slow down to low rumble, drones and spluttering sounds as it moves to an end. 080830 pulls things back into slow, heavy, deep Industrial ambient territory, I like the density of this track, it is just right, achieving an atmospheric sleepy, dream soundtrack. This is a beautiful ending to another gem of a release by Fail. Fail is greatness.

Ennaytch – Negativity Positive Lullabies For the Malignant, Vol 2. – 3” CDR/Download – 2024 – IND0181.

https://ennaytch.bandcamp.com/

           01. I Shall Diminish Until There Is Nothing Left.

           02. Pound of Meat, Rotten Flesh.

           03. Do Not Mourn Me When I Am Gone.

The familiar Ennaytch bleakness is immediately apparent on I Shall Diminish Until There Is Nothing Left, a 3” CDR – the familiar Inner Demons format. A beat goes off like fireworks in the distance as a wall of rumbling ambient fog and hissing noises go off at the forefront of all of this. Pound of Meat, Rotten Flesh doesn't have any beats, just layers of ambient murky noise and I feel this works a lot better as a track without a beat pin it down. Do Not Mourn Me When I am Gone continues radiating a fog of despair, this is just the right shade of murkiness. This is a good release, Ennaytch and Inner Demons has produced a good working relationship. I want Ennaytch to get better and better, they have the capacity for great things, I stand in their corner.

Moreine – Upon Thy Cattle – 5”CDR/Download – 2024 – [IND198F]

https://moreine.bandcamp.com/music

       1.     Skull Rack.

       2.     Venom Cult.

       3.     A Long Way Home.

       4.     2 Spades, 1 Grave.

       5.     The 13^th Cabin.

       6.     Dog Teeth.

       7.     The Fifth Plague.

       8.     Witch Sector.

       9.     Die Like a Pig.

“Behold, the hand of the Lord is uponn thy cattlewhich is in the field, upon thy horses, upon thy donkeys, upon thy camels, upon thy oxen, and upon thy sheep: there shall be a very grievous moreine.” Exodus 9:3 quote off Moreine bandcamp.

Upon Thy Cattle’s biblical themes run with very present-day diseases. This focuses on cattle, the last album focussed on horses and can be found on the project's BandCamp page. The album uses big synthesiser drones, contact microphone sounds and some field recordings to create the individual tracks. The playoff between the different sounds (drones & contact mics in particular) is constant and the tension is manipulated to create different pictures and disorientating shifts that pull the listener across different directions, Venom Cult does this perfectly. There is a haunted theme running across the album, a sense of foreboding doom is also created through the tension between sounds. Some of the vocal sounds that are made can mess with the balance, thankfully they are few. The album has that big, expansive sound that acts like Control revel in. Haunted tension is demonstrated in Dog Teeth which is the perfect balance of the album's signature sounds. The Fifth Plague models an excellent ambient tension as the work slows down. This allows for warped, screwy sounds to come in and intertwine with drones and pitches of feedback mixing all three elements well.

Upon Thy Cattle gets better towards the latter part of the album and show confidence in mixing sounds to adjust the textures of noises created.

Polarlicht – Practice – Download – [IND234G] – 2025.

https://polarlichthnw.bandcamp.com

         1.     Practice 1

         2.     Practice 2.

         3.     Practice 3.

         4.     Practice 4.

Polarlicht is a mystery project active since 2023, they also operate as Alice When She Cries.

Practice 1 is a lighter density wall of crackle, that is layered well with space between each element so that they can function clearly. A static hum drones away at the core, swooshing wind like distortion cuts across this with a  crisp crackle sprinkled around it. This dies off with a howling frequency that pierces off into the distance. Practice 2 starts off as static electricity and crackling sounds sounding off each other. It feels like an electric wasteland, an exercise in prolonged, static tension. A bigger sound with a lot more energy and explosiveness comes through on Practice 3. This track seems to fire off a lot, with the rolling distortion underneath it, to keep things in a continual motion, the crackle again is a sprinkling, allowing the deeper textures of sound to lead the work. The mix allows the elements to change in prominence later on in the work, this allows random clips of change into the sound. This also gives off a desolate feeling that runs across the whole album. Practice 4 has a sound it will roar as a normal war and then the friction increases to make jagged, stuttering splats of noise it dies off to a very Industrial hum that fades slowly into nothing.

Overall this is good wall work.

Substak – Synaisthimatikos Thoryvos – Download – [IND236G] – 2025

https://substak.bandcamp.com/music

           1. Kathodos.

           2. Lethe.

           3. Tartaros.

           4. Dyshonia.

Substak is Kostak Staikos based in Greece and active since 2014.

Drones build on Kathodos, they resonate and pulsate as the communicate the opening of the ep. T times it feels as if there are chants buried in the background. This is a simple, effective track that feels as if it has depth. Lethe functions in a similar way, distorted keyboard drones swell ominously giving off menacing vibes. Tartaros doesn't start off as strong as the other sounds, it sounds like a slightly distorted didgeridoo. As the distortion and backing noises increase it meets the high standards of previous tracks. The final track Dyshonia is a lengthy 20-minute epic. An immediate mixture of elements is  shown here, big drones, distortions and rapid shifts between how they operate and communicate are evident. This is all strong, effective work, Substak is ace on this release, excellent work Kostak. (this needs a physical release too, it's super.)

Nothing and Nobody 2025.