Power Electronics and related noise in Britain Since the Demise of Whitehouse.
The Old Guard is dead/Long Live the Old Guard.
In August 2007 I came home with my regular copy of Wire magazine. I glanced quickly at the cover and had to look again, it said that Whitehouse were interviewed in there by David Keenan. The name still had that air of threat to me in the 2000s, William Bennett and Philip Best were sharp as scalpels in that interview. A year later they were gone, Bennett had moved on to do Cut Hands and Philip Best returned to Consumer Electronics and eventually started running his Amphetamine Sulphate publishing imprint. I never saw Whitehouse play live and totally missed out on the Come Org Box on Vinyl on Demand 12 years later. Appearing in Wire magazine did nothing to demystify Whitehouse. Meeting Philip Best in 2013 and seeing him twisting his nipples and shouting live shed no light on the mystery. Whitehouse is now long gone, but to me, they forever remain the mysterious, day one of Power Electronics.
What is so significant about the end of Whitehouse is that it represents the end of the act that named and started Power Electronics. Was this the end of an era or the start of a new one? The air of mystery that Whitehouse retained to me and my love of their work spurned me to hear more of what they influenced.
Two years later, Ramleh also appeared in Wire and thankfully they didn’t split up afterwards. Harbinger Sound ensured their early releases were never forgotten. Gary Mundy went into stellar overdrive releasing new Kleistwhar material and Anthony DiFranco also is busy as JFK. Ramleh’s recent work such as Circular Time (2015) and The Great Unlearning (2019) has been amongst their best. They played café Otto in 2016 and 2018 and are still very active today.
Satori is another act from the 1980s, now solely run by founder member Dave Kirby. The latest amongst the steady stream of recordings seem to expand the project’s sound each time – The Woods (Cold Spring, 2023) is a key example of prime, modern-day Satori. There have been releases on: Cold Spring, Antipak, Cloister, L-White and Outsider Art. Live shows are phenomenal, Kirby combines well themed, conceptualised visuals and savage sounds. At his recent performance at the Star and Garter, in Manchester, 2024, he delivered an, impressive live presence.
Skullflower goes from melodic to brutal across releases with Matthew Bower doing nothing to positively publicise himself, upsetting blogs like The Quietus. But the releases keep coming and his Bandcamp is a treasure trove of amazing recordings that appear on an almost monthly basis. Sutcliffe Judgend stopped in name, continued as Slaves No More for a short time and finally settled on the name of Sutcliffe No More. They continue to play live and release new material to this day. Vinyl on demand did two 10lp box sets of their material in 2023.
Two acts that are now gone, but continually radiate danger and threat in their work were The Grey Wolves and Con-Dom. Both acts go right back to the early eighties, they networked internationally with many Live Assaults over the decades. They ran their own labels and shared distribution networks. They continually confronted the listener with works that ambiguously reframed and presented societies attitudes in their work. Grey Wolves were Trev Ward and Dave Padbury who came from Salford, rumour has it they worked on material together and alone, working as two separate cells of the same project. When I see pictures of them, they looked like menacing football hooligans. The mission was terminated in 2017 after the release of Exit Strategy (Tesco). Dave Padbury continues to make work as Salford Electronics. Mike Dando was originally a member of Death Magazine 52 and then became Con-Dom. His final Con-Dom release was How Welcome is Death to I Who Have Nothing More to Do but Die’ in 2016 (Tesco) which remains his most disturbing release. It was described on Facebook by Lee Howard of Iron Fist of the Sun on Facebook as ‘Evidence that Mike Dando is still top of the food chain.’ Con-Dom ended in 2016. Neither Con-Dom or The Grey Wolves were ever reissued on Vinyl on Demand.
So, what happened next?
Harbinger Sound, Steve Underwood's label is key in aiding the development of Noise and Power Electronics in the UK over the decades. He ran Harbinger Sound from 1992 – 2021. As a UK presence Harbinger were well active way before the noise boom of the 2000s. Harbinger ensured acts from all around the world released new recordings on vinyl and sometimes CD. Their work was given the importance it deserved, this also extended to Underwood organising UK gigs and tours for many acts that he released. Not counting represses there were around 128 known releases on Harbinger Sound over three decades. The label started with Pain Jerk and ended with Girls in Synthesis. Underwood described this saying: ‘putting out records was the next logical progression’ to helping at and organising gigs.
Underwood promoted Harbinger Sound events in the UK, USA and Europe. He and Rammel Club were responsible for acts like Ramleh, Consumer Electronics, The Pop Group, Prurient, Con-Dom, The New Blockaders, Mark Durgan, Olympic Shit Man, Pain Jerk and many more playing Nottingham over the last three decades. A key release by the label is the 2005 3lp compilation ‘...And the Vultures Miss Nothing.’ This had contributions from Con-Dom, Taint, Evil Moisture Mlhest, Government Alpha and Putrifier.
Underwood was responsible for the success of Sleaford Mods, releasing their records beginning with Austerity Dogs in 2013 until they moved to Rough Trade in 2017. He managed them from 2010 to 2021, they went from playing small clubs to playing at Glastonbury Festival several times (their 2024 performance was outstanding) and Nottingham Arena thanks to his generous support. The success of Sleaford Mods benefitted the UK Noise Community as they played live with support from Consumer Electronics, Cremation Lily and others linked to Harbinger Sound. The Mods rise in popularity meant Underwood was able to put more money into putting out a lot more releases by other acts on Harbinger Sound from 2013 – 2021. These were prolific years for Harbinger Sound.
The label was also responsible for several key UK festivals that tied into other important events. Firstly, there was The Lowest Form of Music: The Los Angeles Free Music Society in London, 22.10.10 – 24.10.10. At this event, Ace Farren Ford (RIP), Smegma, Airway, John Wiese, Mark Durgan Hijohaiden, Incapacitants and many others played live. It also served as the launch event for As Loud as Possible magazine, the publication edited by Underwood and Chris Sienko, this had a huge impact as there were interviews and articles on many forgotten past artists and then unknown present-day artists and labels. It had a huge overview of the Broken Flag label in which key figures spoke about their releases on the label.
The next event co-organised with Johnny Scarr (Rammel Club organiser, Spoils and Relics & solo) was the Rammel Club Weekender at Chameleon Arts Café in Nottingham – 9-11/3/12. This was important is it showcased veteran and newer artists such as Con-Dom, The New Blockaders, Storm Bugs, John Wiese, Surfacing, Blood Stereo and Nacht Und Nebel. This was followed a few months later in May 2012 by the Broken Flag 30th Anniversary event at Tufnell Park Dome, London. Con-Dom, Ramleh, Kleistwahr, Sewer Election, Grunt, JFK and many others played. This was also the release event for the Ramleh – Awake 9cd box set on Harbinger Sound. The last event was Extreme Ritual: A Schimpfluch Event 30/11/12 – 2/12/12 in Bristol, this included Alice Kemp, Mike Dando, The New Blockaders with GX Juppiter-Larsen, Vagina Dentata Organ, Rudolph Eb.Er, Sudden Infant amongst others. Underwood now runs Pressing Matters record shop in Hastings and has book imprint – Sounds on Paper. He is currently planning to launch two new record labels.
Unrest Productions - The next generation started via Martin Wilford and his label Unrest Productions. Unrest Productions has been actively releasing from 2006 to the present day and has a sub label Unsound Recordings. Unrest started releasing in 2006, as they gained momentum, Unrest proved to be a key presence in the Industrial scene once Whitehouse had split up. Wilford’s label philosophy is clear:
‘I was picky about who I worked with, fewer releases – higher quality and over time I decided I wanted to work with a more exclusive and long-term roster of artists. Just like labels I admire had done before me. Labes like: Mute, Factory, Some Bizarre, 4AD, Tesco and Cold Meat Industry of course.’
Unrest productions have five key projects. They are Shift, Iron Fist of the Sun (RIP), S.T.A.B. Electronics, AM NOT and Kevlar. Key earlier UK acts on the label included Soft Option Killing and Hal Hutchinson.
My relationship with the label began when I bought a release by Iron Fist of the Sun, it was a split release with Burial Hex in 2011, ‘Grown Under English Ice/Actaeon’ (Cold Spring 2011). I had started listening to a lot of PE back then and liked it, but this release floored me, I remember seeing IFotS live around this time with Vomir (Nottingham, 31.10.11) and getting the rest of the discography in no time at all which led me to Unrest Productions after I reviewed it and contacted Martin. Howard’s first Unrest release was 2010’s ‘Blush’. It had a clinical, clean, precise sound that seemed as if he worked on it for ages until the noise did exactly what he wanted it to - the rage in the work was explosive and perfectly timed. I feel Lee Howard, from his debut release in 2006 ‘The Power of September’, set his own bar very high. I truly believe that Iron Fist of the Sun was amongst a few acts that pushed the boundaries and standards of Power Electronics at that time and in my head, he reigned supreme from 2006 – 2019. In Special Interests, (issue 3 in 2010), Howard explained his own motivations for making noise:
The topics I have chosen to explore are all generated through personal experiences and by doing so, I think a different power is generated from the recording as opposed to merely a narrative dark storyteller.
It could be said that the approach of using the personal narrative would be a pointer to the partial future of the genre in the UK as we will see later on.
S.T.A.B. Electronics is Keith Finan based in London. The project started in 2008 after the death of Marco Corbelli in 2007 as a tribute. S.T.A.B. Electronics has played live around the world and even appeared on Resonance FM. The projects lands somewhere between Death Industrial and Power Electronics. After a series of strong releases, the best work came with the big step up that is 2015’s ‘Day of the Male’ on Unrest, which is a rise to power in the aftermath of dire personal circumstances at the time. Enemy of Pigs and Funerals are other standout releases that continued to push the project’s own boundaries and mental depravity. Funerals is by far the projects most morbid release, it is a complete downer of an album, which shifts away from the streetwise bleakness of Enemy of Pigs. The trilogy of cassettes that came before this: Apotheosis (Before Perdition), Sons of Perdition and Welcome to perdition (Hell is Home) could be seen as a long sonic depression building up to Funerals. S.T.A.B. Electronics along with acts like Spiteful Womb and Kadaver are strong examples of a newer generation of where Death Industrial is at in the present day.
Am Not didn’t release until 2012 with First Morbid Vibrations on Unrest, this was an outstanding debut release, the project went from strength to strength playing live, with further releases on Unrest and Tesco. The latest album ‘Cold + Disloyal’ in 2022 signifies the project’s approach in full. The use of electronics is cold and precise, in other areas it falls into warped nightmarish atmospheres. AM NOT sits in a combined area of Industrial & Power Electronics that is likely to spawn a lot of influence over the next few decades, but I can foresee there being artists heavily influenced by this approach in terms of production and expansiveness of sound. Seeing Tamon live with XAL (Manchester 2024), I was impressed with his abilities as a frontman as he would be right on the edge of the stage delivering it to the audience bluntly and un self-consciously. He talked about his approach in Noise Receptor journal (Issue 7 2018):
‘I think that the approach to a subject matter as well as the deliberate use of ambivalence and critical/strategic approach to sound and images are defining characteristics. ‘
Tamon Miyakita continues Am Not and in 2024 released a tape as XAL called Spirit Breaking. The members are Tamon, Tommuel Reynolds and A. A is a practicing visual artist who has made two excellent solo recordings as The Death Is in The Details and contributed to AM NOT recordings in the past. Tommuel Reynolds has produced a body of work as Content Nullity and Mollusk King over the last two decades. Content Nullity is well worthy of mention as there are a batch of strong releases from the project’s 8 years of existence, a lot of which were made when he was only 18. Mollusk King also played Unrest’s United Forces of Industrial event twice.
Soft Option Killing was a short-lived UK project, they are important because they set high standards on Unrest for Slow, pissed-off, brooding Industrial that leant heavily into Power Electronics. There were a handful of releases between 2007 and 2010. These were on Unrest, Hospital and self-released. The project vanished and reappeared as Phosphorus Burning recently. Shift is Wilford’s own project; key releases here are Altamont Rising (2014) and Abandon (2017). Altamont Rising is highlighted in the Shift discography as it uses a shrill trebly assault across a violent, angry album the vocal is raging and direct. Abandon is the other side of the project, slow dragging atmospherics sums the album up. Abandon reaches similar nightmarish hells akin to those of Altamont Rising but does it at an unbelievably sluggish pace, allowing the electronics and samples to resonate within more space – Abandon is the project’s best work. Wilford’s artist strength is that nobody at present can do slow and dragging better than Shift can.
Kevlar has been active since 2010 and has produced 5 albums of heavy electronics and played many live shows around the UK and Europe. The sound is one of controlled and concise violence– a Kevlar attack is a planned, thought out and direct one. One ex-half of Kevlar also had a project called Kontinent that also released on Unrest. Kevlar is now one person still releasing and playing live. The latest release is Agitators of the Mind (Unrest 2021) which shows the project like its title to be the most volatile of the Unrest artists, samples and sharp electronics clash to build hellish assaults that stand as a strong example of pure Power Electronics within the UK.
Unrest Productions reinforced their presence with a stream of releases, acting as a UK distro for labels around the world and organising live events around London. Although Wilford has been involved in promoting gigs in Sweden and London years before this, the first Unrest line up gig was in May 2012 with Iron Fist of the Sun, Hal Hutchinson and Shift at The Victoria in London. The next was in Prague in May 2013, with key Unrest players: Iron Fist of the Sun, Shift, S.T.A.B. Electronics and Hal Hutchinson. The Unrest gigs continued from here and expanded to the United Forces of Industrial festivals every year from 2014 – 2017. This initially started as a one-night event in 2014, with the ones in the following years being two nights. The line ups would feature key Unrest artists and other names on the worldwide Industrial Scene. Over the years names including Bizarre Uproar, Halthan, Umpio, Concrete Mascara, Martin Bladh, Koufar, Armour Group, Genocide Organ, Military Position and She Spread Sorrow amongst others played to audiences in the UK. Martin Wilford left the UK in 2020 and now operates Unrest from Sweden with Tesco Germany acting as the main distro for the label.
With Unrest back in Sweden and Harbinger stopping 2020 – 21 could be seen as a significant time since 2008 and the demise of Whitehouse, both labels were strong branches in the tree of influence, we now have to look at others.
Post Power Electronics, Power Electronics. (we're not Power Electronics, wink wink.)
An artist who played the second United Forces of Industrial in 2015 and released on Harbinger Sound is Cremation Lily. Originally based in Brighton, Cremation Lily is the project of Zen Zsigo. In 2011 he emerged with a series of outstanding releases Cremation Lily, 2, Funeral Home, and Sexless Merit on his own label Strange Rules, Waterpower and Harbinger Sound. Those early works were, at the time, a very different take on Power Electronics. I’d hold Cremation Lily’s Funeral Home up as a great key influential release of this time. CL also stood out, as each show was a totally different experience. They could be build-ups to a huge explosion of the self or long drawn out, mournful experiences. Cremation Lily’s recordings do progress and never stay in the same place for long. Zen’s label Strange Rules introduced us to Knifedoutofexistence, Natural Assembly, Nacht Und Nebel, False Moniker, Reptilian Sexual Predator and amongst many others over the years. In an interview in issue 8 of Special Interests Magazine (2012) with Aaron Vilk, Zen Zsigo explained his motivations for starting the project, although harrowing, it further set a tone in future projects that would come in later years:
I grew up in London, Essex and Greece around drugs, crime, violence, sexual abuse and anything else you can imagine until the age of 7 or 8. A series of increasingly extreme events occurred until my mum and I had to flee to a relatively isolated city in the east of England. Growing up I had these memories that were not quite repressed, I knew they were there, but they were more like half formed shards that I never fully acknowledged. Years later, I was saying my last goodbye to my dying grandmother and as I kissed her forehead, I felt this huge surge overcame me. I guess the same way your life flashes before your own death, I was witnessing someone I loved on the cusp of death and it triggered something in my brain, like a smaller version of ‘life flashing before your eyes’ experience. That evening a lot of things in my childhood came into focus, little details I knew were there but became clearer and more pronounced… Cremation Lily was started the next day.
Knifedoutofexistence formed in 2012, a year after Cremation Lily. They frequently play live together and collaborated with 2021’s Mist and Static. Knifedoutofexistence is Dean Lloyd Robinson Knifedoutofexistence is important as he tours a lot, releases regularly with a definite Power Electronics sound. On Harsh truths podcast he described the project as ‘a vehicle for healthy expression of negative emotions.’ The same could be applied to Cremation Lily. Lloyd Robinson came from hardcore bands and arrived at noise in his teens. When I asked Dean about his Power Electronics influences, he said the following:
I’m not sure how many of my influences would be considered Power Electronics. There’s definitely a lot of things that are explicitly labelled power electronics that don’t connect with me at all. Out of the genre classics though, Ramleh is definitely a huge influence, especially Hole in the Heart. That for me seems to be the ground zero for taking the power electronics sound and pushing it into more melancholic, emotional and inward-looking sound that resonates with me the most. It depends how specific you define the genre. Oscillating Innards – Nadir Emergence is one of the most important pieces of sound to me, ever. But it depends on where you draw the line between noise with vocals and power electronics. Friends like Cremation Lily and Content Nullity were around as I was getting into performing and playing with them was probably as influential as anything I was listening to.
The first time I saw Knifedoutofexistence, it was big synths and shouting, it was ok. Cremation Lily gradually moved into an ambient, experimental territory as seen on the ‘Lines of Golden Light’ 5 cassette box set in 2014, this is no slur on the work as Zen’s work is consistently good. Knifedoutofexistence quickly matured as an artist, as if he was stepping up with his live and recorded work. He perfected what he did by being able to bury his vocals in the noise and remerge at various times. The complexity of the electronics had improved too. This is as impressive a sight as I could see within this genre. Releases try novel approaches and methods without straying beyond reach from the core of what he does, releases such as Inhibitors (2017), Fragility (2020) and The Future Grows Beneath My Skin (2020) convey these methods perfectly. Recent work such as ‘Disappointment in Realisation’ (Opal Tapes 2022) and ‘Gone Is the Shell Garden’ (Turlin, 2024) shows further experimentation that moves into even darker, murkier territory than before. At present it is difficult to pick a key time for the project as the releases seem to keep getting better and better.
Alocasia Garden was the project of Reece Thomas Green, is worth mentioning at this point in parallel to the shifts that the work of Cremation Lily took or Knifedoutofexistence’s quieter, reflective moments. I have only recently discovered the project, although the work dates to 2014 and was active until 2020, Alocasia Garden’s work at lower levels bordering on quiet is amongst the best projects using those methods, ‘Spirit of Violence’ and ‘Colony’ are the good examples of the project which played live a lot in the UK during their existence.
Dean Lloyd Robinson has also run the Outsider Art label since 2012 and in 2019 he started doing batches of tapes featuring many up-and-coming and established UK artists. Many of these acts play together around the UK, as Outsider Art promote their own gigs, as of 2024 there have been 37 Outsider Art gigs.
Outsider Art also released Active Denial for one of the projects two releases ‘What Dreams Are Made Of’ (2019) This and their self-titled debut showed a lot of promise. Live show’s with S.T.A.B. Electronics and Iron Fist of the Sun reinforced their growing reputation. Sadly, the project seems missing in action – which a is a shame it seemed like there truly was great things ahead. The fact that they stopped is one of my greatest ever noise disappointments as a reviewer and a fan. Thomas LaRoche of Active Denial also runs the label Research Laboratories who are keen challengers to Psych KG and Chocolate Monk for the most difficult experimental releases in the world. As a UK label, Chocolate Monk always throws surprises in the mix as Johnny Scar’s two recent releases ‘NONNAH’ and ‘Etude in Black’ have demonstrated. Chocolate Monk’s history is possibly a whole book as they continue to deliver releases that push the boundaries of experimental, abstract sounds year upon year.
There is a plethora of great releases on Outsider Art, but I want to focus on what I see as key artists on the label. The first is Cardiff based Ordeal by Roses, which is the work of Alexander J. Evans. Ordeal by Roses started putting things up on Bandcamp in 2017, progressing to ‘Ordeal by Roses’ on Outsider Art in 2017. The work is continually reinforced by about 5-6 live performances a year. The impact of Knifedoutofexistence on the project was mentioned when I spoke with Evans -
I’d always dabbled in the medium since my teenage years but it wasn’t until coming across Knifedoutofexistence work that I understood there were people doing this who had the same attitudes and approach to the genre that I did. That gave me the confidence and drive to take things more seriously and make something I felt was worth sharing.
Their description of their own work in Kodak Ghosts Run Amok (Issue 5, 2022) puts Ordeal by Roses into context -
Thematically my work deals with very real grief, abuse and shattered relationships. “Trauma Electronics” felt like a way to mark it as something a bit different from the norm.
Recent releases City of Forms (Outsider Art, 2020) and Red Death (Black Ring Rituals, 2021) have seen ambient influences and spoken narrative coming through, these serve as a build up to the explosions of electronics that eventually happen and are impressive because of this.
A project with close ties to Ordeal by Roses and releases on Outsider Art is Slow Murder which is also based in Wales. Jo Sheehy has been active as Slow Murder and Insatiable Wound since 2017, from the ashes of a project called Pathogenesis. Sheehy’s Power Electronics comes through Slow Murder, one of their skills is being able to simultaneously bury their vocal within the noise and project outwards from it. Harsh Noise is explored to extremes under the name Insatiable Wound. Standout releases amongst the bleakness of their discography are ‘Death to Fascism. Freedom to the People’ (Outsider Art 2020) and Pain Seeking Behaviour (self-released, 2024). Shows can be incredibly short, explosive and are always intense affairs. Sheehy’s work highlights them as easily being amongst the best new, present day Power Electronics ever produced. Only time will tell how their work will progress, there’s a magic to this work that continually rings in my head and won’t go away.
Pale World is a Birmingham Harsh Noise project of Joe Parkes, who has released on Outsider Art. Shows are loud and tense and releases have been impressive. Many releases use textured harsh noise coupled with mournful drones that seep through the layers of distortion in his work. The formula is minimal and highly effective in recording and performance. ‘Death Garage’ from 2021 on Outsider Art and ‘Regulate’ (Ridge Tapes, 2024) are examples of strong releases by the project. Parkes is now the main noise gig organiser in the Birmingham Area.
Fleshlicker ran a distro, organises gigs and is prolific as a mastering service for many UK noise artists as Foul Prey. I mention him as a performer as he has stepped up massively as a performer in the last couple of years, combining Harsh Noise and performance to impressive highs. To see him live, truly is an unforgettable experience. A recent transplant from USA to the UK is Peter J. Woods who also combines a use of noise and performance to impressive levels visually and sonically.
Distraxi is the keen, young contender amongst the newer Power Electronics acts. Active since 2021, Alina Church has been playing live, releasing frequently on labels including Eggy Tapes, Brachliegen Tapes, Haunted Head and Outsider Art. She has also recently started her own Ridge Tapes label. Releases demonstrate a strong experimental approach to Power Electronics that seems to have everything vital in the UK scene right now, melody, drones, aggression, rabid hysteria, can all be found flowing through her work. Her latest release on Outsider Art – There is a Warmth I Crave That I Never Get is a good place to start listening. Alina summed her work up in Kodak Ghosts (Issue 6.666, 2023):
I started the project as a way to channel intense feelings of negativity and it remains that way now. I’m definitely not a naturally happy person and I feel that channelling depression and negative emotions which are a big part of my life into something creative helps to make those emotions into something of value.
Linked to many projects I have mentioned is Genderisthebastard, they are responsible for a large body of work and seem to be the master of mastering a lot of projects albums right now. Lucifer Sky is another project of note to watch too.
Blackcloudsummoner has been gaining momentum over the years, their work began as Occult Synthesis in 2017 with releases becoming stranger as it progressed. with their recent releases such as ‘Power Ballads’ in 2021 and ‘The Private Pleasures of Blackcloudsummoner’, (2023). They have strong working relationships with Itching, Territorial Gobbing and Luxury Mollusc that have led to many small UK tours, whether each live show is a ritual, a performance or somewhere in-between remains undecided. Nothing else sounds like this project, they are a bastard lone maverick truly working in their own territory. They also have a project with Peter J. Woods called Hoodwinks that has been making waves recently.
The Outer Limits.
Blackcloudsummoner’s work leads me to mention the continued influence of past artists with esoteric leanings such as Psychic TV and Coil. The continued reissues and popularity of these two artists was bound to emit waves of influence into the noise scene over the decades. It begins with one previously mentioned player Skullflower, Matthew Bower came from Total and formed Skullflower in 1987. Their work goes from melodic to extreme across releases. Lee Stokoe was linked to Skullflower but also makes work as Culver whose drones heaviness blurs into noise across a massive discography via his own Matching Head label and others. The 10-cd box set ’The Body Beneath’ on Stoic Strength is a good introduction to Culver. Stokoe also works with Martyn James Reid as Vampyres producing work that falls into harsher territory- Reid’s work as Neomortoria is impressive Death Industrial worthy of further investigation.
Wraiths from Edinburgh made some impressive ritual noise between 2006 and 2016. Tunnels of Ah is former Head of David frontman Stephen Ah Burroughs, he creates what I see as caves of noise that have been falling into some dark rumblings since 2013. Often described as Dark Ambient, but I feel his work has a roughness that pushes it into other zones of sound. His work explores its’ raw, aggressive side in his other project Frag. Stephen Ah Burroghs goes right back to his Power Electronics project Comicide that played live with Con-Dom in 1984. The progression from Comicide to Frag to Tunnels of Ah is impressive.
Another Cold Spring artist who has been releasing since 2006 is Colossloth. This is the Leicester based project of Woolly Wollaston, he frequently plays with noise and Black Metal line ups. His esoteric sound is a complex one, he combines metallic harsh rhythms, noise, samples, discordant instrumentation, psychedelic sounds and much more to create his full sound. Sonically he shares Satori’s present day ambitious, expansive sound. Promethean Meat (Cold Spring 2022) is an example of someone with a very forward-thinking vision in terms of what they create.
Lone Outsiders.
There are several lone projects that have come to prominence in the years since 2008 and remained active in the UK. These have been aided by labels and distros such as Cold Spring, Black Psychosis, Tordon Ljud, Stoic Strength, Outsider Art and Unrest while they were UK based.
Steve Bagman from Newcastle has been making work since 2000/2001. His Bagman project became known in the Myspace era of social media and he actively started releasing prolifically in 2008 with crude, harsh recordings such as ‘Welcome to my Fucking Misery’ (Self Released, 2008), ‘For Kenneth Mckenna’ (Self released, 2008) and ‘In Their Blood and From the Gutter’ (CDr Sub Rec 2009). Bagman stands out as he released on obscure labels around the world, played live with Sutcliffe Judgend, took inspiration from them and took the depravity of the self and outside subjects to new extremes culminating in 2015’s ‘New Wave of British Murder’ on Obsessive Fundamental Realism. In Special Interests magazine (#13, 2022), he explained the moment that changed his life and lead him to do Bagman.
When I was 18, I took a step back from creating anything in order to concentrate on being a drug addict/dealer/alcoholic/all round cunt, but it was Suttcliffe Judgend that saved my life. I’ve attempted suicide many times and one night I was sitting with a pile of pills and whiskey. I had cable tv at the time and the Redemption channel was included in the package, so at 3AM I saw video footage of the return of SJ at the Red Rose. That genuinely changed everything & stopped me killing myself.
Years of Bagman led to what I see as his mature work under the name of Stark that delves deeply into his own personal psychosis and addiction. Stark also sees Steve Bagman making his best, original work, it is generally slower and a lot more introspective than Bagman. It is impossible to honestly pick out a standout Stark release as all 5 have been outstanding and pushed Steve’s work into the higher leagues.
Treading a similar, extreme uncompromising path to Bagman is ANTIchildLEAGUE – since Gaya Donaldo’s gig promoting slowed down, the project has started to release more in recent years. Her work has been continually improving across releases on many labels. A good place to start is the rabid first album ‘Hellworm’ and the three singles she released on her own label Hagshadow – Big Fat Arse, MeMeMe and She’s Lost Control, these works represent the project at its very oddest. Recent albums such as Entrenched Extreme and Brain Waves are sonically ugly, aggressive Power Electronics at its best.
David Wilson’s Monarch as slowly started releasing and distributing their own low-fi, raw Power Electronics releases this year. This remains an elusive, personal project that is worth chasing down as releases are in limited editions. Natural Orthodoxy is a young present day Power Electronics act worthy of note. This Manchester based project has been busy since 2017, live shows and recordings on Phage, Vanity Pill Tapes, Total Black and Outsider Art. Outsider Art released a good compilation of Natural Orthodoxy’s work ‘Strike One: Industrial Actions From 2017.’ (2022). This collects all the early work in one place, the project shows no fear of dropping the sound down into murky, low levels of Industrial.
Thomas Tyler produced impressive Power Electronics hybrid work under his Pastoral Abuse and Plastiglomerate monikers. Pastoral Abuse’s Cold Hand of Power (Invisible City Records, 2020) is an example of rabid, warped, abstract sounds that assault the listener whilst moving the genre forwards massively. Tyler ran the label Base Materialism that put out a lot of releases by acts like Territorial Gobbing, Content and Carnivorous Plants. His work can be traced back to 2018.
A Harsh Noise artist of Note in the UK is the prolific Tim Drage, responsible for many projects including Cementimental, Disgusting Cathedral and Isn’tsis. Drage is a key player in the London Noise scene along with artist and organiser James Shearman who does solo work and works under the moniker A Raja’s Mesh Men. Keeping Harsh Noise Wall alive in the UK and well with bleak subject matter is Northampton based HOMExINVASION also releasing on a range of labels, but their big release was a 6 CDr set on the label Harsh Noise London. Lydia Musonic is another name worthy of mention regarding wall noise, her Cybercrud label is an example of a small internet label with a strong wider agenda. She is currently working with James Shearman on a new project. Petrichor suddenly appeared in Nottingham and makes waves with his Ascend to the White Lodge release and a spew of recent gigs in the area.
Tom Rushton ran the highly prolific Void Singularity Recordings from Bradford until 2022 and does many projects including Niks and EEEE. Up until 2022 Invisible City Records ran up an impressive discography of experimental noise and ambient. Gen26 made many impressive harsh noise recordings in the UK for a time too. This Slovenian project is now based in Ireland and had influence through their label Harsh Noise London when he worked in the capital.
Harsh Noise London was an interesting label, they put out a recycled cassette series in their 4 years 2016-2020, many Cdrs and organised their own gigs around London in that time. It was run under the pseudonym of Mike Onabanjo by several people from Gen26 and Wolvestribe. They focussed mainly on Harsh Noise, but the other key act of interest here is the Power Electronics of Wolvestribe.
Wolvestribe is Harry HV Westwood and Kshayaath, both were based in London. Wolvestribe were unique, they made accomplished releases, released exclusivity through Harsh Noise London and their own labels Aaarrg!, Technological Onslaught/Morbid Media. They played around London from 2018 – 2019 a lot, but they would never venture beyond their own tight circles, it is as if they are determined to remain truly underground. They were well known on the squat scene for playing gigs. Their own philosophies towards the planet and environment were clear:
I would say eco-aware... eco-friendly is the hypocrite way to brand yourself again. In fact, most of the people are not deeply preoccupied with about the planet, people are concerned about their future in this planet. Mother nature can survive without us.
Respect is everything, we need to respect ourselves to start respecting each other’s and the planet. Recycling, reusing, using biodegradable, non animal tested products, veganism is a form of respecting nature. I’m aware of my mistakes..... there are no saints these days...sometimes we have to go the way we don’t want for the sake of survival.
Wolvestribe leads to a bunch of other great Kshayaath projects such as Animal Machine, Maeng Da, Culture and Valve of Pleasure that are worthy of further inspection.
Itching is the project of Henry Davies, he formerly worked under the name of Nacht Un Nebel from 2006 – 2019 making huge crescendo of noise from samples of Cello sounds. Nacht Un Nebel released on Strange Rules and many other labels in the UK. From 2019, he then started working under the name Itching, making noise from recordings of Cats purring. This sounds strange, but the build-up of noise he gets from doing this is sonically very impressive. No actual cats are used in Itching live performances. Soft Issues are part of the Opal Tapes label, both based in the UK. Opal Tapes has thrown some interesting artists into the mix, Soft Issues are one and Aja Ireland is another.
Lover’s Leap and Prior are two new UK Power Electronics projects that potentially point to the future. Both come from Black Metal, obviously the links between PE and Black Metal have been getting stronger over the years. But it contrasts the Outsider Art and Strange Rules generation of whom a lot of artists come from Hardcore.
Lover’s Leap from London has been active since 2022. He also has a Black Metal solo project called Glemt. He has played live with Knifedoutofexistence, AM NOT, Ordeal by Roses and Prior. There are some strong recordings such as ‘I Won’t Survive the Winter’ and ‘As Purity Dissolves Through Fingertips.’ The recent cassette release ‘I Won’t Survive the Winter’ is the next stage in bleak Power Electronics after the work of Ordeal by Roses, this album is a good example of a harrowing modern release - this is a name to be watched in the future.
Prior is another new London Project that comes from projects like Decoherence and Resection. She has made a lot of interesting work including splits with GROT, Crepuscular Identity, Ennaytch, a track for Women of Noise and Industrial Coast’s Cease Fire. She has played live with AM NOT, Don Mandrian, James Shearman and Ordeal by Roses amongst others. Prior came from projects like Resection that was an ambient noise project that leaned into Power Electronics and Decoherence that came from experimental Black Metal. Prior explained her motivations for her work to me:
The other main motivation behind Prior is subversion. The author Anna Kavan renamed herself after one of her fictional characters as a form of defiant self – creation. There is a similar approach to “Prior” it is a family name only passed on to the sons. Prior therefore is a way to subvert ideas and defy traditions. Contrarian and confrontational.
I’ve attempted to show you the different strands of Power Electronics noise and related over the last three decades from 2008 – 2024. Power Electronics never has had a mainstream, it is always there, forever underground. Some acts are forgotten as their time was before social media, it was surprising how Facebook was handy in finding how often acts play live and in some cases I found out about some artists here though the posts of others. Simple searches in Forums like Tronics, Special Interests and Facebook groups turned up some gems that had no to very little internet presence. Acts will become elevated in status through time, different labels they release on, live performances and reissues. An act that is relatively minor in my article could be seen as a huge influence in 10 or 20 years, others may have been forgotten about then suddenly they are relevant because they influenced someone new who ends up making a name for themselves. But I bet it will still be an entire underground performed and known about by the few. If you didn't like this write your own essay.
Nothing and Nobody, copyright 2025.
Notes.
1. David Keenan’s time as a Wire writer spawned a plethora of amazing articles and interviews and can never be underestimated.
2. Left Lion newsapaper 28th March 2018.
3. https://muhmur.blogspot.com/2012/10/extreme-rituals-schimpfluch-carnival.html
4. All interviews are with the author unless stated.
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