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.

The Night Soil Men – The Transmission Tape Recordings

 

The Night Soil Men – The Transmission Tape Recordings – 2022 – CDR.

https://www.discogs.com/label/450192-Blue-Spectrum-Tapes  

This is an anonymous 11 track disc that landed through my doorstep this morning. I say thanks to the mysterious disc sender, I admire anyone that will send me a disc and not expect an Mpfree review. Tearing the label off for recycling reveals it is from Birmingham. Birmingham and I have a strange spiritual connection being from Coventry and having a bleak Goth past there (92-93, Death Cultures at the Hummingbird, the Institute and the Mercat pub).

My boombox gives off lots of unidentifiable crackle and rumble, the levels vary across each track, I feel that I am somewhere that I don’t know and never will. A female vocal sample comes in as if reporting from another time. I can’t make out what’s been said as it is a slightly muffled field recording, I feel transported into the listener’s past through their VHS collection. Rumble and crackle return to take me elsewhere for a time. When the sample of a female narrator returns, I feel as if I am being told a story as the voice is warped, I can’t make it out, but it feels cosy. Passages of distortion return, crackling away as if struggling to stay on the recording, feedback pins it all down. At times the distortion is tied in with recordings of conversations or noise of the surrounding environment, offering a brief lucidity that fades as the distortion covers what is happening. The feel of being haunted appears in the later part of the recording, making it feel as ghostly.  Music at the end does all the things I described in one.

Sometimes, to be sent somewhere else recording is a treat, experiments that function to push us to other places are unexpected surprises.

Army of One @ Coventry Soul 2022.

Level Four Heatwave.

Level Four Heatwave. Self Released Cassette – 2021 – Edition of 3.

I was just browsing through one of the Harsh Noise Wall groups on Facebook, seeing what was happening within the world of the group and I clicked on a friend’s comment on a post and ended up on a page that showed all his activity within the group. He frequently posts links and images of releases that he is listening to and comments on posts. Scrolling his activity, I was surprised to see that he had recorded and released his own tape last year. I was so thrilled to find out about this, I talked him into sending me a copy.

Side A was made using a Walkman, tower fan and a tape loop. The use of low fi equipment excites me as this was the norm in the early days of some now classic Power Electronics projects from Birmingham (where this recording comes from!) and around the UK. Hearing the back story of the recording was exciting, the maker is an avid, wide ranging noise consumer, who keeps to themselves and just did this. This short, crackly wall is fascinating because of this story. It seems alive as if breathing and pulsating subtly through the dense fog of sound.

Side B was made using a microphone, desk fan, jade and voice. This piece excites me more as it comes out infected and darkened, without any wall noise. It relies solely on the atmosphere created through the small, selection of raw equipment allowing for an effective use of noise. Both tracks differ greatly but present as strong work.

Sometimes the beauty of obscure, anonymous projects is what is brilliant about experimental noise. This is what this scene is truly about, obscure transmissions of creativity broadcast out into the world!

Nothing & Nobody 2022.

Gig Review - Knifedoutofexistence, Blackcloudsummoner, Itching, Steckdose, Cites Prepare for Attack, Pale World.

 

Knifedoutofexistence, Blackcloudsummoner, Itching, Steckdose, Cites Prepare for Attack, Pale World.

Birmingham Centrala Space,

Friday 11^th June 2021.

I’d been to Centrala previously to see Tunnels of Ah, Satori and Colosloth play over a year ago, I found it a pleasant venue and it was a good gig. This venue’s reputation as one of the key venues for creative culture in Birmingham is now intact. Centrala has an art gallery, café/bar, book shop and sells music: I was excited at the thought of visiting there again. What I didn’t expect is that this socially distanced gig (my first in well over a year) was that it was held in the upstairs gallery, which was a massive space instead of the downstairs area all acts played in last time round!

The first set was a brief one by Pale World, now this performance set the benchmark high - Joe Parkes was crouched on the floor, hitting and throwing a piece of sheet metal that was contact microphoned up and this created a loud assault. There was feedback added to this and mournful drones that came through as the metal abuse slowed down. It was a simple but incredibly effective set. I have seen a handful of sets over the years that use a minimal amount of gear to strong effect, this did that perfectly. I am a fan for sure now as I have been playing stuff off the Bandcamp since this night.

Pale World.

Steckdose was meant to play next, there were technical issues with his equipment, so Cities Prepare for Attack played second.  This was a surprise I wasn’t expecting, I knew of the name as I have met Andrew Cooke a few times and I was expecting some sort of guitar drone type work. It wasn’t like that. There was a guitar that was amped up, I am usure if there were extra pickups or contact microphones added, but the guitar would be hit with different metal instruments to make different sounds. The clanging ranged from dreamy psychedelic sounds to harsher noise reminiscent of the torture scenes in the Ipcress File film and many moods in-between. This all created complex experimental music - another highlight of the night.

Cities Prepare for Attack.

The Steckdose technical issues were sorted out by this time and his set began. I liked the minimal feel the sound started with – just a slow, pulsating hum that wavered and shifted gradually. There was a constant feeling of intense focus on the sound, the feedback that started to punctuate the sound even further concentrated and controlled. Drones emerged that cut through all of this and built up like an infected storm, the intensity to the sound was consistent as it accelerated, getting busier. There was a sense of purpose and discipline to the intricate details that cut into the storm of noise. Steckdose’s relentless, microscopic eye to detail created a constant tension that gripped the audience. This was by far the tightest set of the night, an exercise in sheer control, this artist knew what they were doing and demonstrated that perfectly.

Steckdose.

I have reviewed Itching several times before. The project is by Henry Davies and has replaced his Nacht Und Nebel project that ran for many years. The Cello was the source for all Nacht und Nebel’s sounds, Cat Purrs are the source for all of Itching’s noise and this started the set - due to the volume of the PA, this really filled the gallery making the audience feel like they were inside a happy cat. The source sound gradually began to distort and crackle adding unease to the happiness. It became something else that became increasingly apocalyptic and fractured as the set evolved. The purr eventually came back and the distortion faded all harmony was restored. I like the continued originality of the source materials; this was a powerful set that demonstrated effective methods that truly delivered solid results.

Itching.

Blackcloudsummoner followed Itching. There was a real element of performance here, the sound was immediately there was an aspect of him being the depressed DJ blasting shards of dark, chaotic weirdness at the still audience, his use of noise was immense, fractured and odd. I liked how he really seemed to get off and react his own cacophony as it grew and filled up the space. It is difficult to clearly describe what went off as the build-up and sounds were very odd (when I repeatedly use the word odd, it is meant as a compliment as there is no one else that sounds like this). Blackcloudsummoner’s set was haunted, very impressive, easily the darkest set of the night and the best performance that I have seen by the project so far - a unique one off.

Blackcloudsummoner.

I have seen Knifedoutofexistence several times in the past and reviewed much of his work – there seems to be constant progression occurring here. The set seemed to start from slow rumbles until sharper sounds began to cut in and take over, this is how the sound intensified. I am always raving about how Dean Lloyd Robinson is the master of burying his vocal behind his noise, so it is still a vocal, but also part of the noise – he did that to the full. At one point he was joined by Richard of Unyielding Love and the two as a duo was impressive. Dean’s vocal became less coherent and noisy at one point, so it was pure noise. A melody then enters the set towards the end and he appeared to sing for a time, before it all broke down to noise and shouting again, this was strong how he just did it, successfully weaving it into the set. Knifedoutofexistence alone is strong, backed by the rise of his label Outsider Art, Llloyd Robinson has surrounded himself by similar thinking Harsh Noise and Power Electronics artists old and new that forms a new chapter in the History of the movement (I am aware there are many chapter’s occurring). This set was an intense, dramatic finale to the end of the night.

Knifedoutofexistence.

Often at these sorts of busy gig line ups there will be a bad act, or someone who isn’t as good as the others – this wasn’t the case here. All six acts were different and strong in their delivery making it one of the best noise gigs that I have ever been to.

Coventry Soul 2021.

Artist Links:

http://centrala-space.org.uk/  

https://outsiderart.bigcartel.com/   

https://knifedoutofexistence.bandcamp.com/

https://blackcloudsummoner.bandcamp.com/music

https://itching.bandcamp.com/

https://paleworld.bandcamp.com/

https://steckdose.bandcamp.com/