The Vomit Arsonist - To What End.

The Vomit Arsonist – To What End – Cloister Recordings – CD/Download – CRUS-143 - 2025 

https://thevomitarsonist.bandcamp.com  

https://cloisterrecordingsus.bandcamp.com 

1. By Every Measure.

2. I Do Not Want to Be a Part of This.

3. The Onset of Calamity.

4. Made to Crawl.

5. Rendered Useless.

6. Blessed Emptiness.

7. It's Coming and You Can't Stop It.

8. Demoralization.

‘We are fucked as a species, and this is the soundtrack.’ – quote from Cloister recordings website.

I read in Special Interests that Andy Grant lyrics are taken from a notebook of thoughts and writings and applied to tracks. He also sound collages sounds recordings that he has made recently and over the years into his works. Reading about Grant's recording process seemed to lock me into his work, as I was unfamiliar with it before this review.

The thick texture of an ominous, abstract, landscape of sound greets me, distorted pulsations form pillars of rhythm. The album often uses huge bellowing drones, crunched up, slow rhythms, loops and some samples of metal being scraped, hit and dragged. Electronics, buzz and play out for long periods of time.  On some tracks, drones are left to operate for long periods of time while intricate details of roaring bass and samples are intricately woven around this – there is a clear eye for fine detail running through the album.

A distorted, infected vocal rains over this – the vocal is raspy, distortion that runs through it. It also functions like a mist of angry static that simultaneously shouts over the compositions of noise being made and becomes a part of the work, it blends into its' surroundings. The overall sound is infected, as if decomposing while flies party over it, that is the Death Industrial of the work. 

The use of noise rhythms through slow beats is sophisticated, as it is often distorted so it blends into whatever else is going off slightly, to quote the Facebook group Noise Now Playing, there is no ‘Beat Shit', it works well within every track. I highlight this, as beats are a yes or no in noise, it either works or it flat out fails, there is no maybe and here it works well. 

Overall this is a good album, this is further evidence that these are exciting times for Death Industrial and Vomit Arsonist is a key part of that. The album can be purchased from the Cloister link above.

Nothing and Nobody 2025.

 

Crawl of Time - Growing In the Fertile Dirt of Her Terrible Hidden Memories.

Crawl of Time – Growing Into the Fertile Dirt of Her Terrible Hidden Memories – CD – Phage Tapes – PT:374 – 2022.

https://crawloftime.bandcamp.com

https://phagetapes.bandcamp.com

         1.     No Love (Intro).

         2.     Contagion (You Were Always the Victim).

         3.     Tears of A Clown.

         4.     Sophia.

         5.     What's Yours Is Mine.

         6.     Soledad.

         7.     Growing In the Fertile Dirt of Her Terrible Hidden Memories.

I was lucky enough to see Crawl of Time play live last week at a small venue in Nottingham. Crawl of Time, for this show was Samuel Torres (Crawl of Time) and Mackenzie Chami (Koufar, God Is War). I'd had that feeling before, without ever hearing them that I would love what I was going to see (Music buyer sixth sense), so I bought 3 releases from them before the show, this cd was one of them.  

The live performance featured heavy electronics (distortion and drones) and Beats that were handled by Mackenzie Chami. Beats in Power Electronics is tricky as it can very quickly and easily turn to shit, but here, it was just right. They split vocals, Torres did the majority of them, it had a similar gargled effect to this album and Chami's vocals would take over for a time. There were no visuals, just pure, raw sound. The impact of who they were didn't hit me until I read up on them. Both have worked in Koufar and Terror Cell Unit, Disgust and Crimes of the Crown together.

As an album, Growing in the Fertile Dirt of Her Terrible Hidden Memories, is sonically very ambitious. The Intro track, No Love, echoes, ruminates and sets a nightmarish tone to the album, Torres's familiar vocal comes in and delivers the dialogue. Sharp keyboard patterns play out with a slow, pulse beat backing it all. As sound the vocal is shrill on the layers of bass and drone, the vocal is effectively assaultive. The keyboard drones are left to play out at the end. Contagion (You Were Always the Victim) radiates some menacing electronics. Samples and noises eventually begin to go off in the background, as these grow the sound becomes increasingly menacing as if stuck inside a bad dream. The electronics do a lot of work, building the scenario for the vocals to work upon.

The beat returns on Tears of a Clown and it works well. The vocal rips on top of it, drones play out through it all. As the vocals die off, the drone becomes a melody, this is an example of the album flexing its' scope, stretching out. Lengthy twinges of beauty come through on here. Sophia submerges fully into melodic lines and ambient atmospheres and shows us one end that the sound of Crawl of Time can go to. The assault of What's Yours Is Mine, is a pulsating beat and shouting, the shout is different in that it is untreated without the warbling effect usually employed by Torres. The drone is slight, the work is done by the beat and the vocal. Eventually the vocal fades and the remaining components play out for a long time.

The nastiness plays out to church bells on Soledad (when translated from Spanish means  loneliness or solitude) it feels like a rant on a landscape created by the sound, the combination of sounds feels like a field recording that eventually chokes out and ends. The final track is the title track which lies between ambient hostility and low-level industrial bleakness that strike some good balances of tension on which to end the album.

I question if the album is about someone in a relationship, the discovery of that person's past over the course of time that the people were (or are still) together, either way, it provides good concept and food for thought about the album. It is also possible that this album is an expansive work of nightmarish brilliance.

Nothing and Nobody 2025.

Prior - Dripping Tongue.

Prior – Dripping Tongue – CD/Download – Black Mound Sound Lab – [bmsl/005] – 2025

https://blackmoundsoundlab.bandcamp.com

https://prior-noise.bandcamp.com/music

          1. SPIT B[01]LOOD.

          2. SPIT C[02}UM.

Prior is a UK project that has been releasing since 2001, Prior’s work lies heavily in Death Industrial, but also leans into Power Electronics, Ambient and Harsh Noise. Her work came from earlier projects like Decoherence and Resection. There have been split releases with Crepuscular Entity, Superfuzz, Ennaytch and Grot. Prior has played live artists like Distraxi, AM NOT, Ordeal by Roses, Gender is the bastard, and Khost. Dripping Tongue comes a beautifully presented, fold-out sleeve with a small booklet all covered in different artwork.

A bass note is repeated as ambient sounds play out around it on SPIT B[01]LOOD, sometimes the repetition fails, which grabs the listener's attention and pulls them back into the work. Subtle changes in and around this can be felt as the repetition quickly becomes familiar and the changes act as sudden surprises in the experience of hearing the work. The noises become increasingly aggressive towards the middle of the track and replace the bass with percussive repetition to allow the  surrounding chaos to move into  the central focus of the work. You are left with a cacophony of noise with vocal sounds buried within it.

A sampled vocal is warped into an intro to SPIT C[02]UM and woven into drones and more percussion, this is tribal and nightmarish. I am unsure if the vocal is sampled or made by the maker of the noise, but it continues throughout the track, the percussion intensifies as does the chaos of the noise.

This leads me to say Death Industrial is in good hands in the UK, there are a select few artists in there pulling it to their own sounds and creating strong work with it (S.T.A.B. Electronics, Slow Murder, Prior, AM NOT). As an object this CD is very well presented and the sounds made are strong. I have been playing this for a few weeks repeatedly and very much recommend buying it, the link to the label is at the top of the review.

Nothing and Nobody 2025.

 

 

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. 

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.

Spiteful Womb - Interior Castle

 

Spiteful Womb – Interior Castle – LP – Cipher Productions - 2023 – (sic150)

https://spitefulwomb.bandcamp.com/

http://www.iheartnoise.com/cipherproductions/

https://cipherproductions.storenvy.com/

1.    First Mansion.

2.    Second Mansion.

3.    Third Mansion.

4.    Fourth Mansion.

5.    Fifth Mansion.

6.    Sixth Mansion.

7.    Seventh Mansion.

 

I’ve been listening to Spiteful Womb for ages. I own a few releases on tape, a bunch of downloads, but I have never reviewed the project on here - it is time to rectify that.

Spiteful Womb is Nora Egloff. The debut release was Postpenitent in 2014, there have been many releases since then, but Interior Castle is the debut vinyl LP by Spiteful Womb. The album comes on heavy vinyl, it has a colour sleeve with inserts.

Side One - Flies buzz and sounds click with a low under drone, sounds go off, it is hard to gauge what is going to happen, this causes immediate tension to the listener; it feels like fragments of memories from the past floating around a space. Buried lyrics flow through dense atmospheres, the noises fill the space, the drones are pushed forwards more so the sound has a thickness that is being continually compressed to give off tension, this forces the different sounds together to become a new form. It is like when you become someone else in a dream or a side of yourself that you aren’t aware of. I like the shift in the third mansion, keyboards melody and drones form the main sound. There is a delicacy to the sound, a minimalism and very successful combination of the different elements. Third Mansion is a break away from the noise and an impressive burst of musicianship across the Interior Castle – that isn’t to detract from the other interiors, but this sudden shift hits the listener.

Side Two – Texture builds within the sound until deep radiating synths pulsate across the sound to make way for the vocal to curse across the work. This has a Power Electronics urgency that heightens the darkness of the work, it is as if the work has taken a step forward at the listener to get in their face. The Fifth Mansion drops back into hostile subconscious territory. Inaudible vocals that play out in the background, high pitched synthesizer sounds wail over the work and the fluidity of the work makes it feel as if the sounds are being pumped through the body – this has a physicality to it that is very prevalent in the work. The sound begins to accelerate and become nosier, falling into PE territory again. The last two mansions descend into dream-like ambient territory that returns partly to the feel of the third mansion and leads us to the end of the album's journey.

I have read Spiteful Womb interviews, where the inner self and obsessions becoming the work is discussed. I feel Interior Castle achieves this and is a perfect representation of Spiteful Womb as a project. The images on the cover, inserts, sparse labelling on the heavy vinyl make for a beautiful, well-presented object. The sound is like a nightmare with fleeting moments of beauty, consistent depth and a sharp attention to detail. I have always liked the work, but this, to me, is Spiteful Womb’s best release so far.

Army of One, 2023.

S.T.A.B. Electronics - Instrument For Operating on Mutant Women.

 

S.T.A.B. Electronics – Instrument for Operating on mutant Women.

S.T.A.B. Electronics – Instrument for Operating on Mutant Women – CD – Unrest Productions – 2023 – UNPRCD17

https://kampfunrest.bandcamp.com/

https://tesco-germany.com/en/label/unrest-productions-uk/

 

1. Instrument for Operating on Mutant Women.

2. First Her Then Him.

3.  Aggressors.

4. A Little Transgression.

5. Ex-Fat (For S.G.O.)

6. The First 45.

7. Defaced (Burnt with Acid).

8. Nothing More I Can Give (Marco’s Lament).

S.T.A.B. Electronics has been releasing since 2010, but had been around since around 2007, forming from the ashes of Einheit 731. In that time albums have been released on Unrest, Filth and Violence, Antipatik and Urashima, which builds a good cv. When I listen to this project, I hear a streetwise aspect to the sound which really came through in the project’s London live performance for the release of Enemy of Pigs. I also feel Stark/Bagman treads a parallel path to that of S.T.A.B. Electronics. Aspects of the self are woven into the discography along the way. 2019’s Enemy of Pigs is in my opinion and one of the best examples of the Death Industrial genre as it stands today and Day of the Male before that is pure destruction of the self and their enemies made sonic.

Recent years have been busy with several reissues of earlier S.T.A.B. releases, new recordings such as the Perdition Trilogy on Unrest (the final part is coming this year), a split release with Maskhead, appearing on Resonance FM, many compilation appearances and numerous live performances.

Instrument for Operating on Mutant Women was originally released on vinyl LP, it was limited to 99 copies on Urashima in 2014. The album took inspiration from the film Dead Ringers, the spate of Acid Attacks in London around that time, leading to the idea of turning somebody from beautiful to ugly so no one else would desire them at all, media manipulation of the self-image of young women and men, jealousy and gang warfare. AS you can see there was a track to mourn the death of Marco Corbelli of Atrax Morgue in 2007, an event that saw the immediate beginning of S.T.A.B. Electronics as a project. Unrest have re-released Instrument for Operating on Mutant Women in a digipack CD format.

Vocal samples masked by buzzing drone  introduce the album’s opening Title track, the depraved vocal takes over the vocal dominating the humming the noise stands no chance as the dialogue is spat out. As far as the original family of Unrest artists, I thought Iron Fist of the Sun was the master of concise, calculated electronics, but this is equally successful at those methods of control. I like the bile of the vocal too as it is easy to mask a vocal in PE voice effects, but the rage of the dialogue never stops. Precise methods continue First Her Then Him, the vocal is screamed out here in contrast to the opening rant. A minimal palette of noise is executed in a calculated manner and the vocal is never killed by the sound.  Aggressive orders are barked out by sampled dialogue, noise hums and meows over it, a warbled vocal steps in as lead performer. It is noteworthy that the assaultive vocal on this album had several targets in the sequel to this album Day of Male that had a clear hate running throughout it, this isn’t far off that, this is Aggressors. At this point I find myself asking which tracks are drawn from the artists real life and which are themed from outside topics, it is hard to tell as each track’s performance is consistent and convincing. The vocal is surrounded by noise and drops into it during silences between lines and then explodes out of the noise on A Little Transgression. It is as if the vocal uses the noise to fill gaps and explodes out of it. The resonating shouting that erupts as the track blows up was a frequent weapon in later albums, the fits of temper make S.T.A.B. veer into inhuman sounds.

Sampled dialogue re-enters, it is female and less aggressive, but the humming drones that eclipse it are. Cut up shouting screams over everything, it is as if each noise element wants to eclipse the next. The vocal on this (Ex-Fat) is the angriest yet, the way it is cut into makes it seems like an angry stuttered rage of diatribe. Powerful drones feel like waves of energy cursing through my head as The First 45 goes off, screeching echoes cut over the drones and the shout uses this as a platform, this is mildly treated with effects in comparison to the previous tracks. On this the vocal and one element of the noise eventually end up fighting each other, which doesn’t lessen the vocal, it only emphasises it more.

The news broadcasts of Katie Pipers story is sampled on Defaced (Burnt with acid), I always thought she stayed beautiful and radiated a beauty that eclipsed her attackers intentions, she showed strength beyond strength (to me, she became perfection.). This track takes on the disturbed mind of the perpetrator and the sickness in the vocal mirrors the possessiveness that brings out the worst in people – it is effectively disturbing. Through the samples it shows her individual strength wins out in the end. Nothing More I Can Give (Marco’s Lament) seems to have a spiritual radiation to it as the vocal chants in the background and the looped synthesisers resonate. The lead vocal barks over this, I never saw this side of S.T.A.B. on another album other methods can be noted on other albums or were developed, but this track is a complete one off.

The intentions of the album are blurred, like all great Power Electronics. It maims its’ own detractors, some of its themes and continually strives to explore the wider picture. When the project goes in on its’ own experience that’s is when it is at its’ nastiest, but also reaches conceptual high points across this album and later works. I like that.

We know how great this album is, it sold out quickly, goes for high prices online and the high quality of S.T.A.B. Electronics output has remained consistent. This had to be reissued. But we need to talk about its’ new home at Unrest, formerly of the UK and now in Sweden. That label dominated the UK Industrial scene in the 2010’s. You had the label, sub label (Unsound), the United Forces of Industrial Festivals, the individual gigs and the distro. They were a powerful force in the UK with the impressive work of S.T.A.B. Electronics, Am Not, Shift, Iron Fist of the Sun and Kevlar, that’s my era that I followed and reviewed parts of along the way. I’d discovered other artists before this from Europe and America, but these artists really captured my attention. In my opinion there was a sense of menace to the label, they didn’t really network, you had to find them, they kept to their own. The label moved away and continues its good work in Sweden, will the UK ever have it this good again? I don’t know, but I now own this slab of greatness.

One and alone, 2023.

Ennaytch - Withdrawn

Ennaytch – Withdrawn – Cassette/Download – 2023

https://ennaytch.bandcamp.com/album/withdrawn

      1.       Withdrawn from Family.

      2.       Withdrawn from Friends.

      3.       Withdrawn from Love.

      4.       Withdrawn from Everything.

Photo courtesy the artists Bandcamp.

Ennaytch is a Noise project from Tucson, Arizona that has been active and releasing since 2019 on labels like Basement Corner Emissions, Machine Tribe Recordings, Imploding Sounds, Mutual Aid and Father of Lies. The project tends to move across all areas of noise, never confined to one area and they allow themselves to experiment across recordings. Ennaytch has played live several times in America. The Withdrawn, double cassette is available from the Bandcamp site.

I’ve become aware of this project through their livestream performances from their recording studio, they have impressed me with what I’ve seen. I felt I needed some detailed listening time with the project.

Photos courtesy of the artist.

Each track on Withdrawn is just under 25 minutes long. The first is Withdrawn from Family. This begins as subtle, diseased, insect-like noises that chirp and churn away. A subtle hostility resonates as things play out in spacious lower levels. This is classic Death Industrial menacing, I feel as if I am in a face off with a potential enemy, wondering how I can get out of the potential combat that awaits. I am particularly fussy about low level noise as subtlety and tension aren’t an easy mix – this pulls that combination off very well.  Recent live, video broadcasts have demonstrated that well.

There is a complete change of methods on Withdrawn from Friends, drones and glitches combine to form a scratched ambient sound. The glitching seems to spit over the drones as if to interrupt the meditative feel that they would give off alone, it is as if they are interrupting a dream. A sea of distortion floods the work as pitched drones swim through this. There is a subtle beauty to the work that I like, it doesn’t revel in ugliness, but swims happily in waves of bleakness.

Pulling back to the low frequencies and subtleties of the first track, Withdrawn from Love splutters into life, progressing into whirling psychedelic effects, whilst pulsating distortion is the only element keeping it bound to the other tracks stylistically. This maps out a bleak landscape, a constant theme throughout the album. I like how the sound breaks down into struggle as the keyboards splutter, gasping out noises, never dying, it eventually progresses to a solitary drone and echoing quack-like noise basking in the ambient fog.

A more Industrial feel is initially present in Withdrawn from Everything which clutters with drones shifting in the background. This progresses to an ambient soundscape with electronic glitches interrupting, eventually progressing to a passage of more complex noise. This is the liveliest Withdrawn of the four, it is as if the maker has accepted and adapted to the position taken on this recording (Withdrawal) and they are revelling in it. There is a warped sense of victory that can be felt to achieving solitude and this expresses that perfectly.

The mastery of this album is the execution of consistently quieter tracks over 25 minutes, the variety of methods used to do this and binding them all together. The dynamics of the sound, how they create a bigger soundscape and expand when needed works well. I initially thought I was going to just do a review for a new Facebook friend, draw on the positives and that would be it. Instead, I found a great album that I love.

One alone, I am the crack in all cliques, 2023.

Necroviolence - Tears of Change.

Necroviolence – Tears of change.

https://gatesofhypnos.bandcamp.com/album/tears-of-change

https://necroviolence.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCANiZ5jx1p_QNmMNlmal8MA

https://www.discogs.com/artist/9447961-Necroviolence

https://www.discogs.com/label/1768164-BeTon-Raw

     1.       Bear it, my beauty.

     2.       Grave Games.

     3.       High Functioning Sadist.

     4.       Hear Murmur.

     5.       Tortured Orgasm.

     6.       Feral Angel.

     7.       Cryptid Tongue.

     8.       Fleeting Essence.

     9.       Melankoli.

     10.   Sublevel Psyche.

     11.   The Price of Being Feared.

     12.   Black Vapor.

     13.   The Pale Executioner.

     14.   Sea of Sedatives.

     15.   Manipulation Therapy.

     16.   Degeneration of the Capillaries.

     17.   Suicide Crescendo.

     18.   I Don’t Want Healing, I Want vengeance.

     19.   Tears of Change.

Necroviolence is a key player amongst the new young generation of American Death Industrial artists pursuing the genre today and Tears of Change is the latest release by the project. Necroviolence has been active since 2020 and linked to projects such as Atrax Hex and 1940s Nihilist. The work is heavily influenced by early Power Electronics and Italian Death Industrial. There have been 23 Necroviolence recordings including albums, splits and Eps on labels several labels including: Rat Covenant, BeTon Raw and Death in Venice productions.

I am immediately impressed by the Moog resonations on Bear it, My Beauty as the drone shatters and the gasping vocal forms a rhythm for the sound to interact on. Graves Games radiates mournfulness, the vocal is drenched in the noise and becomes a noise itself. Much of the work commandeers slow but abrasive electronics that at first appear to be shifting through random patterns of noise with the vocals being the consistent that binds these sections into tracks. However, the album quickly gains a clearer focus and the electronics are reigned in and operated under tight control with focussed synthesizer work leading the way. The aggression intensifies massively on High Functioning Sadist, the vocal works at the front of the work instead of being buried within it. There are slightly psychedelic elements in earlier tracks, but here they are allowed to branch out and lead. Hear Murmur, revels in fractured sound allowing fragments of cracked sound to form a violent tapestry until the synth drones eclipse it out. Haunted rage is the main vibe of Tortured Organism, I like how the vocal cuts into the noise, shouts its’ diatribe and slower drones and chimes form a bleak meditation until the vocal re-enters and rages over everything, beckoning further destructive noise to the track.

Feral Angel has a highly amplified, broken sound that projects a feeling of warped insanity. I can imagine with the rage pitched right that this would be amazing live as the vocal is amplified by the noise.  Churning drones and screeching hiss square up to each other to form Cryptid Tongue, this sounds like 1970s sci fi film ear torture – simple elements combined to make effective work. Fleeting Essence strips the range of noises down to create murkier ambient tracks. Melonkoli continues to keep things minimal to allow space between the noises so they can resonate and warp themselves effectively. Conflicting samples and springier electronics form Sublevel Psyche this allows for longer periods of noise to play out whilst weaving in and out of the vocal.

A focussed, aggressive sound erupts from The Price of Being Feared, the synthesisers are given space to pulsate and resonate, whilst the vocal mostly allows itself to slip away from Black Metal screaming into screwier, fucked-up territory.  Black Vapor and The Pale Emperor also allow less elements in so the electronics and distortion can play off each other for longer periods of time. On Both tracks there are early Earth like guitar chords like progressions buried in there, I like that element.  A slower, infected territory is explored on Sea of Sedatives with the main element being the wailing feedback that all the samples and vocals work around. The vocal is fractured and spluttered across the track and seems to bond with the distortion as if communicating a broken signal of noise.

Wailing drones repeat mercilessly to form Manipulation Therapy. A combination of different, shifting noise assaults kicks off to give us Degeneration of the Capillaries. This breaks off at different times to go into passages of headache inducing psychedelia to eventually reach death by feedback. Pulsating drones and combative hiss battle in Suicide Crescendo, this moves on to shifts of focussed passages of sound quite quickly melding many methods together over four minutes. I Don’t Want Healing, I Want Vengeance uses similar shifts but with more subtlety, sounds shift across passages to weave into other displays of noise to produce a Death-like display of hatred. I like how the electronics seem to kick off here as if racing towards a meltdown. A loop of distant folk music that is Tears of Change leads the album to its end.

Tears of change is due to be released on CD on BeTon (Raw). This is a good album, an impressive full display of the project. It has also served as a strong introduction to the project for me.

Choppy Noodles 2023.