Wolvestribe Interview.

 

Wolvestribe are a UK Power Electronics duo that have been actively releasing since 2018, they are London based consisting of KSHAYAATH and HTV. They have released on The Harsh Noise London label and produced Lathe Cut vinyls and CDs on their own AAARRRG! I have reviewed several releases on here and feel Wolvestribe is a leading light amongst an impressive cluster of new artists exploring Power Electronics in the UK. I was fortunate enough to interview the duo by email in 2021.

NK - Introduce yourselves, what were your backgrounds in noise, I know one of you does ANIMAL MACHINE and other projects, what led you both to combine as WOLVESTRIBE.

KSHAYAATH: Electronics/Mantras & Harry HTV Westwood: Electronics

KSHAYAATH: I like to keep my projects apart from each other, I like people to feel the music and visualize the idea.  Every project has its own mood. I only keep constructing on the way...new names appearing. Too many bastardized foetuses on the road.

I've been doing industrial music since 1997, I always had the idea of a band with industrial elements (industrial metal) too many tries and fails, difficult in finding the right people with AATMAA... So, I decided to go alone as solo a project ANIMAL MACHINE, it was basically experimental music after all (unclassified) with elements of Industrial music and gabber electronics (breakcore/speed core) that fusion became later noise.

In January 2017 I met LOU (PURE LAND) while doing noise gigs at Destroy All Artifacts. We decided to combine forces and name this new project WOLVESTRIBE. There is a live set released in recycled tape by Harsh Noise London. Louis left to join a sludge metal band.

In December 2018 I was hanging out with NEO FUNG, my crazy vampire friend from Holloway Road and I met Harry at the Headsquater Paradise.

HTV is a guy with a lot of passion for the old school analog /industrial Dada and punk. He was playing some filthy drones that evening, so we decided to fix a day to record some music.

There is a lot of chemistry between us, perhaps our brains have different directions but when we clash it's like being in the battlefield. Power electronics is more fun as a duo.

HTV: Hi and thanks for your interest in such a disposable and ephemeral phenomenon as WOLVESTRIBE.

We met as was described above: in my location, during the photo session. soon after we noticed that we just have similar ongoing interest in all sorts of subversive sounds. We are improvised formation, which allows loads of freedom. We are also very triggered by raw noise, which is not generated by PC, all sort of stark archaic machines are used in our sessions.

Your answer 'perhaps our brains have different directions but when we clash it's like being in the battlefield' is revealing as I find the sound of Wolvestribe to be combative, so this translates into the music fluidly? Do you ever discuss what you are both going to do, or does it happen?

KSHAYAATH: Not much to discuss, we try to compose a set, but it always ends on free fall.

Wolvestribe live. 

Tell me more about the themes of Wolvestribe, what are the motivations?

KSHAYAATH: WOLVESTRIBE is into ritualism, geo-politics & survivalism "Understanding the Ecological Role.”

We are aware of the mental conditioning. We keep coming back and forward to the old rituals, the old plagues, the crescent wars...  We sink and breath these paradigms of a thousand years and repeat it again and again.

Our motivation works like a mirror, the mind versus the environment, like painting thru necromancy envisioning our future... the decaying civilization.

HTV - Pretty much everything we are shaped by listed above bands and general culture from where we derive our inspirations. Films above books and music we listen to are the source of our inspiration. While WOLVESTRIBE is more visceral where vocal is more an instrument, driven thru raw noise, remaining honest and devoted to noise.

Therefore. we are out of sync, a raw chaotic outburst of unpredictability and if you listen to our “The Early Years “, you can sense that exactly.

How do you feel about the Earth, are you personally eco-friendly, what is your outlook in relation to how we treat the Earth? I ask as I am big on this in terms of recycling, reusing, using biodegradable, non-animal tested products, locally sourced as much as possible and veganism.

KSHAYAATH: I would say eco-aware...eco-friendly is the hypocrite way to brand yourself again. In fact, most of the people are not deeply preoccupated 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 not saints these days... sometimes we have to go the way we don't want for the sake of survival.

You're from London, how does the massive, busy environment of the city affect your work? The reissue of your first recording on Harsh Noise London had a Tower Block on the cover, in my eyes this resonated Wolvestribe?

Kshayaath: London is one of the world's most amazing cities. This city has its own spirit, a living organism erected from alchemy, modern days of multi-cultural expansion and the bloody past. So, it gives us a best way for understanding the world we are living in.

Tower Block on the cover was idea of Mike Onabanjo Harsh Noise London president. He started that crazy series with glitch photography He collected from the city.

HTV: Yes, obviously this has got lots of to do from many sides.

Wolvestribe - Understanding the Ecological Role - Lathe Cut Vinyl - AAARRRG! 2019.

How many times have you played live as Wolvestribe? What has the live response to the project been like?

KSHAYAATH:: Sadly, we didn't have the opportunity to play much but people seem to like the music. We are happy we can express that way; we are not meant to be popular. It's mostly around friends... we also do not relate much to power electronics or noise scene, even if there is a furtive past.

There is too much politics and still too many taboos for free-doom, we prefer to walk dead, it sounds pretty autistic, but We feel it's the way to survive. But far off our introverted visions, we are always happy to meet new people and projects and build something together.

Yet difficult... we get fun making music, it's our hobby not a job.

HTV - Like you can sense it from this what is written, bent on very stark, archaic my fav world is amphibious sound which is a sheer outburst of unpredictability. Dada, punk art etc.

We are constantly evolving I guess our noise sounds dynamic as it is not killed by high tech innovations also that dissatisfaction derived after listening to many great acts which were previously devoted to noise and now playing music it is a big contribution to our desire as well as dissatisfaction from over performed rock music which is no more punk.

Tell me more about your phrase free-doom.

KSHAYAATH - free-doom as free fall, like start or end point. Now you can see it more easily, it's amplified around the world. As We come, we go.

You talked about sounding pretty autistic in regard to how close you keep and control Wolvestribe. Yet as a reviewer, you are part of a new now with PE a wider picture that people should be paying attention to and checking out. If people want to talk PE, like Unrest is, I am a huge advocate for now and point people your way.

Do any names of present-day PE stand out to you, do you feel you have any affinity out there with other projects or is it that centralised?

KSHAYAATH: I'm more into Old school 90's, Class 2000 Industrial stuff not necessarily Power Electronics. Some names like Brighter Death Now, Institut, Mental Destruction, Folkstorm, Karjalan Sissit, Shift ... In the U.K. I've had to dig S.T.A.B. Electronics, Messiah Complex.

Perhaps there is affinity, these projects are living their own movie.

HTV: At least from my side I want to be a laboratory and very amphibious in selections of sound. First recordings of THROBBING GRISTLE and WHITEHOUSE are big influence for me .so do CRASS and CONSUMER ELECTRONICS.

Your most recent release 'The Mind Responds to Its Environment Much Like a Body Turning Away' seems sharpened compared to the earlier material as if aiming to be more torturous and punishing, tell me more about this release and your intentions behind it.?

Kshayaath: There are not intentions, we just let it to the flow ...everything is instinctive, all recording have something special for us. We are focused on unique pieces. Most likely live improvisation and some studio releases. 'The Mind Responds to Its Environment Much Like a Body Turning Away' has a ritualistic display. It sounds more into noise; we got some nice takes from it.

Harry likes to use different machines and pedals for each recording and in this one he was a bit pissed off.

HTV: I don't know how it sounds, so far, we are meeting/jamming/recording after KSHAYAATH is doing the rest.

I'm often positively surprised by the outcome. I just do noise; I don't have much control on whole aesthetic neither. Desiring it totally.

Your recent work also seems to use noise to effectively create 'other' atmospheres as if you are channelling the environment or the earth through your work? When the noise isn't roaring or blasting what are your intentions? I ask this as you have slowly evolved as being able to use quieter noise to strong effect.

Kshayaath: The planet is a living organism, and we are just part of it... sure our mind, body and soul is being soaked in a vagina. The spirit of Earth. We are some kind of fucking microbes... viruses killing and loving each other in a cycle of death and rebirth...

I would say after the storm comes tranquillity or vice versa... It's what we have on the plate, days and nights...So there is evidence of that in our music. Music doesn't need to be necessarily noise or going extremely loud to fulfil a cause. Music is just another way of communication. The energy (vibration) is around us, so we are only casualties. We joint waves and leave the sea to tell the story.

HTV: I would like WOLVESTRIBE to be more cohesive formation in terms of message and aesthetic we convey. We will use noise as weapon more effectively in the future but like you can sense it from this what was said we just Jam and recently we do this very rarely, sadly.

https://www.facebook.com/Wolvestribe/ 

https://aaarrrg.bandcamp.com/ 

Animal Machine – Technological Murder

 

Animal Machine – Technological Murder – Aaarrrgh – 2019 – Download/3”CDr/10” Lathe Cut Vinyl

https://www.discogs.com/Animal-Machine-Technological-Murder/release/13660223

https://aaarrrg.bandcamp.com/album/animal-machine-technological-murder

          1.    0603

          2.    0252

Animal Machine is the oldest project from the Aaarrrgh label’s stable of acts, it stretches back to 2007. There have been many releases since then, this is the most prolific project of Aaarrgh.

The 3” CDr is for promotional use as it came with a Kshayaath album I received from the label.

Both tracks are named after their running times, I like the delivery, it is sharp, energetic with a lot of wild hiss and very cut up in parts. This is very much top tier Harsh Noise that also seems centred around the Harsh Noise London label, this, Wolvestribe and Gen26 are key examples of this kind of work.

The theme of this release is how our future evolvement seems linked to intelligent machines. As I drive around, on a day-to-day basis, I am aware of drivers and pedestrians glued to their phones, this concept seems true as Smartphone zombies seem to gain higher numbers and visibility. As the label and projects are mostly based in London, this reality must be even further realised than here in the Midlands of England.

Another gem from Animal Machine, excellent work.

Army of one 2021.

HOMExINVASION 3.

HOMExINVASION – Noise Wall Compendium – 6xcdr – Harsh Noise London – 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1753676681522146

https://www.facebook.com/HOMExINVASION

https://homexinvasion.bandcamp.com/

Once this blog got truly focussed in theme, the pleasurable aspects of doing it emerged, they are reviewing what I buy, free stuff and most of all discovering new present-day acts – the Facebook side of it is great for that. The passion for new acts put an end to me doing the Greatest Hits reviews, e.g. reviewing bigger more established names to get more likes and views (zzzz). I honestly prefer discovering new acts that are shifting the parameters of what constitutes noise now. One of those artists I discovered is HOMExINVASION, a young British HNW project that has released his own recordings physically and online over recent years. There have been recent releases on UK based labels including Harsh Noise London and Lost Notes Media. One of the key themes of the project seems to point towards a timeless darker side of modern Britain, others include the darker side of obsession. As these themes resonate, there is almost a Tales of the Unexpected feel to some of the releases.

Noise Wall Compendium on Harsh Noise London is the project’s largest release to date spreading across six discs, each has its own unique cover.

The first disc is two tracks, Razorblade Fascination I & II. The unique sense of Bleak Britain that surrounds the project is immediately apparent in the consistent, low rumble of the sound. The sound is pure Northampton bleakness, no warmth, no light. The blade is a frequent cast member to the work of HOMExINVASION, having appeared on 2019’s Thousands of Trivial Wounds. As the sound drags itself along, I question is this the loneliness of isolation and comfort through blades sound tracked or violence? The second Razorblade fascination is a sharper affair with a more energetic rumble, this has a higher level of aggression to its’ sound.  There is a clear crackle that moves with the lower rumble to give a layered feel to the sound.

There is a sharper crackle on the second disc, this also has a more abrasive drag that pulls through the sound as if to create a shift in layers at times. There is also an energy to the back rumble that seems to spread outwards and affect the other aspects of the sound.  The second work has a richer crackle with more hiss woven into it, the back roar has a sharp intensity as the crackle bounces on the surface. The Untitled titling of both passages of sound does work and give an appropriate emptiness to the work. Emptiness isn’t easy to do as it can come across as very generic, this is the first example of HOMExINVASION doing nothingness well.

The third set of walls on disc three reflect the obsession with various aspects of a female nature, in this case two pieces based on college girl knife fights. This also relates to the violent underbelly of society, with knife crime amongst teens, particularly in gang rivalry a constant problem;  Crime frequently appears in the project’s body of work. The wall in the first knife fight has a deep bass roar and aggressive sharp crackle that resonates with the deeper sounds violently. The second wall is more aggravated with a mono like roar and little distortion, here the mono hum is the chaos, there is less distortion, only the gradual shift and rough edges of the bass.

The first wall of the fourth disc combines a deep bass roar and wall of distortion layered close to it. The subject here is Grey Sky worship 1 & 2. Grey Sky makes a frequent backdrop or in its’ entirety in many of the themes of HOMExINVASION often on the covers of his work. The bass seems pushed to the edge as if at breaking point, but the distortion acts as a protection, two become one. This combination allows the sound to step up a few levels, never breaking up. The second Grey Sky Worship is more broken and splatters its song, it is a lot looser than the first. This loosens more to intensify its’ roar.

Disc 5 has a double edge, it truly explores emptiness, with 2 studies of static purity. This goes to the core of the genre by presenting two passages of low-level hiss, the emptiness becomes the noise. This stripped back approach throws me and impresses me a lot. Both works differ, with the second having a lower hiss that does fill the space slightly more, but still little. This impressive disc is the rouge card of the pack.

The theme of emptiness continues the sixth disc, this is two studies of Reclusion. This may possibly be more tied in with the personal aspect of the project. This has a sound that has a combination of incredibly low roar and very low hiss, silence also partially occupies the sound here. The second Reclusion has a slight increase in sound producing a restrained rumble to create a wall, this Reclusion stammers and struggles with its’ sound as if unwilling or unable to communicate, this is conceptually rock-solid work.

A range of obsessions are explored, most are frequent themes in the work of HOMExINVASION. Here we are given the wider conceptual being of the project. At two to three years old this is a brave move to spread all aspects of the work across 6 discs so successfully. At times, the work is very innovative, all of it is strong and it makes for an excellent set of discs. I am very impressed with this body of work; it is available through Harsh Noise London.

Euphoric Bullshit Vibe of the Sonic Deathwish Posse 2020.

Harsh Noise London 10CDr set.

 

Harsh Noise London – 10 CDR set – 2020

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1753676681522146

Harsh Noise London have done their most ambitious set yet, 10CDrs by different artists all housed in unique artwork with linear notes in DVD cases. Some are regulars to the labe, some are new, this is a list of the said releases.

#35 - Niks – Nihilism.

#36 – Harsh Noise Movement – Digital Cunt Ripper

#37 – Animal Machine/Clusterfuck.

#38 – James Shearman – At the Bottom of a Deep Hole.

#39 – Gen26 – Euromutation: Live

#40 – Francesco Terrini – Hell.

#41 – Grey Smoke – The Great City Is Dead Now.

#43 – Wolvestribe – The Early Years.

#44 – Mutations – One Thousand Dead Swans.

#45 – Dosis Letalis – Mon Creation.

 

NIKS – Nihilism – Harsh Noise London #35 – CDR – 2020

https://www.discogs.com/artist/5599073-Niks-3

https://nikshnw.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR3OBkOJ9Yp-faC_usGa-c9f8_QuUykfFtcMi1L7YnVC1icClgLcEqBdtLs

https://www.facebook.com/nikshnw/

https://voidsingularityrecordings.bandcamp.com/

NIKS is a Tom Rushton project that has been releasing since 2016, recordings are described as having no changes and done in one take. This, due to the release order has the pleasure of being first to be reviewed. NIKS is HNW and here at 1208 North Fuller Avenue we are into that as we’ve been digging in seriously for a few years now. Nihilism is presented as Part One and Part Two.

Nihilism is immediate, when play was pressed, I was immediately in the middle of NIK’S Distortion blast. The sound is consistent in pitch and tone, yet there is movement through the wavering of the crackle. It is difficult to tell if this is repetitive or spontaneous movement. There is a warm background roar behind the crackle. Contradiction exists, the no changes, one take ethos coupled with the Nihilism title suggests a coldness, yet there is a warmth to the sound as if the distortion were flames.

Nihilism Part two has a sharper, crisp sound that seems to rhythmically falter behind the sharp distortion. There is sharper hiss within the sound, this combines to give it a more pointed crunch. Part 2 also seems to push outwards as if to resonate more. In parts the sound seems to have a scraping drag that replaces the faltering and this gives it a torturous, spikier feel and far less warmth than part 1. It ends as if it was never there.

Both Nihilism’s add up to seventy minutes, it has been a long seventy minutes. Both tracks differ from each other, this is what I would call sharper wall work with raw sound, and the power of the title to spurn the imagination as the work plays out. This is a good release.

Harsh Noise Movement – Digital Cunt Ripper - Harsh Noise London #36 – 2020

https://www.facebook.com/hnmrecords/

https://www.discogs.com/artist/4849967-Harsh-Noise-Movement?page=4

Harsh Noise Movement is one of these projects that have somehow stretch back to the early 80s in the earlier work of its creator Ade Rowe, but officially started in the 2000s sometime. I reviewed their split tape on Harsh Noise London last year.

Digital Cunt Ripper is an extreme title, the humour is bleak, but it sets a tone, this is a piece of a big jigsaw, that jigsaw is the massive discography of Harsh Noise Movement. I’ve been playing this in the car this week and I was immediately impressed by the variation and the overall badass quality of the sound. Eye for an Eye has insane shifts and rises, I am unsure if there are vocals in there, but the noise is so articulate, at times I feel I am being screamed at. This is all acted out on a wall of distortion, so it is like a wall that throws bricks out at you. You have the texture of the wall and a ton of bad attitude thrown at you.

Lip Service is echo heavy dialogue that forms a sense of mid song psychedelia. What I am beginning to see here is a project that doesn’t stop at spikey Harsh Noise, it goes off in different directions, I look at the mix of artists they have work with and realise this is an oddball project that does Harsh Noise too. Chemobrain goes off on a drone tangent, where frequencies rise and distortion crackles away in the background. The texture of the crackle shows and goes through shifting passages of contrast against the droning frequencies.

Tracks and ideas flow through each other on Digital Cunt Ripper the Lip Service Dialogue appears in the opener Eye for An Eye and Fucking George builds on the simmering of Chemobrain – here the distortion rises, and the drones have a bigger scope. Fucking George is the longest track on the album, causing a longer act out of sound to happen. There are passages of playfulness in the noise, as if the noises talk amongst themselves. These come and go quickly as you become aware of them, they are gone. This becomes creepy and ghost like, the sounds are like death.

Crazed variations of wall and Harsh noise form Cow Zone 2, the noise is just slightly submerged in the wall of distortion as if to pull your focus into the work. Hellish frequencies collide in this strange passage of murk. Chemobrain and Cow Zone 2 are really depressing, bleak passages of Harsh Noise and that vibe carries through on the second album epic Cwmbran; this takes the form of a bleak wall assault of distortion, death by bleak texture.

Sampled Dialogue forms Back Shoes as a line of tone noise backs it. This weaves back into Lip Service. The backing sounds get more playful as the work evolves (creepy, dark playful mind). Serene Fusion Serene Fusion is a fun jam with loops, noise jazz drums and saxophone that end the album nicely. A bit of Jazz at the end really works.

A unique, Great recording.

Animal Machine / Clusterfuck – Harsh Noise London #37 – 2020.

https://soundsofautomation.bandcamp.com/

https://www.discogs.com/artist/2091584-Bohorquez-Balogh-Project?fbclid=IwAR09iNZMGhzfJW8iJcdBm3je6wQqSN5y2wHkZAyQA8mPikTLfTuvWr1R45w

 

Animal Machine is an Erenesto Bohorquez project that goes back to around 2006, this is his most prolific project, he is also a part of current Heavyweights Wolvestribe who as you know keep blowing poor me away every time. Animal Machine has been reviewed several times on here before. The project is often very experimental and choppy, more manic. I tend to pay a lot of attention when Erenesto sends me something to hear.

Each title is simply dated, so the feedback kicks in and we are straight into 02.11.2017, this really embraces sharp, hissing noise and crunching distortion. It wavers as the back space (silence) seems to overtake the noise and push it to the distance before it comes back, it’s minimal as it uses the finely woven noise and silence as its’ main components until some sort of digitizer mixes over the twine to give it a machine gun rapid effect. This manic pyrotechnics of this focussed noise is a typical display of raw Animal Machine.

The second 02.11.2017 seems to up the ante on the first, the sound seems to intensify, I didn’t think that was possible, but it is. The sound gets more treated so that as the treatment intensifies, so does the sound. This never stops, it is as if this is three takes as the third 02.11.2017 manages to build on the last one, a brief massive explosion of noise outburst.

The final track shoots us back to Poland in 2009, with 15.04.2009, I like this as the intensity of 8 years later is there but he muffles it as if to cause a constant feeling of suffocation to the sound, it’s brutal as the sound tries and tries to break out of this, I am unsure if this is bad sound recording or genius? As the sound picks up and really rises, I am inclined to think genius. Animal Machine is pure discipline and thought.

Clusterfuck is interesting, it is a collaboration between Bohorquez and Jared C. Balogh. You have Jared’s drums with the noise of Animal Machine and it works! Like the jazz at the end of Harsh Noise Movement, this totally provides a massive shift of sound. It is an improvised jam as the drums are freeform and shift around a lot, so the noise has to do exactly the same. Both elements weave and shift around each other, I do really like this.

Five of the six tracks are short jams, short blasts of improvisation. The last track VI is a lengthy session at 20 minutes. This is where Balogh settles into longer patterns and the dialogue between the two has more contrast and drama, at time they are one and at others, one takes over and goes solo.

What I like is that this isn’t metal drumming as I have seen that on noise and it is stupid. I see all this Black Metal, Power Electronics mix and 99.5% of the time doesn’t work, the genres are similar, but the subtle differences are there. In my eyes having a BM side project when you are a noise musician is often dilutes itself, this is a plague to the scene. The drumming here is chaotic yet simultaneously intuitive and a perfect example of the instrument used successfully. Skullflower’s Fucked on a Pile of Corpses is the only other release I can say has ever demonstrated this to me.

I can easily write about any Erenesto Bohorquez project, but all I can now say is go forth and check any of his projects out. Excellent split.

James Shearman – At the Bottom of A Deep Hole – CDR – Harsh Noise London #38- 2020.

https://jshears.org/

https://jamesshearman.bandcamp.com/

https://enemasmashjar.bandcamp.com/

James Shearman has been reviewed on here as his pseudonym A Raja’s Meshmen once before in June 2019’s big Harsh Noise London review. Shearman is another prolific sound artist whose noise work seems to go back to 2013/14.

At the Bottom of a Deep Hole is one long continuous 65-minute wall track.

Crisp is a word that immediately comes to mind when thinking of the texture of this wall. There is what I would call friction laden, creaking noise in play that really pops out at you as if the sound is continually peeling itself down, remerging and breaking down continuously. There is a strong bass boom that seems to form the core of the wall, while the snap, crackle, pop shoots out at you as if in a state of constant eruption. The lead elements shift as well, sometimes peeling, scraping, or popping, the back bass consistently wavers, all of this creates a lot of movement.

I think this wins the award for the longest wall that I have ever reviewed.

Gen 26 – Euromutation: Live – CDR – Harsh Noise London - #39 – 2020.

http://matjaz.jezakon.com/

I have never not been impressed with a Gen 26 release and I have had a lot of them over the last year, the sounds and dynamics within the work are often strong enough to come through well on the recordings of the show – Gen 26 releases many of his live recordings. This Slovenian act has become a big name on my radar, Dr. Matjaz Galicic has a clean take on Harsh Noise that allows the clarity of noise to really work whether it is simple stripped down sounds resonating or very detailed layered work that can literally scream at you when in full assault. I can’t say that I have had a bad release from Gen 26 yet.

Euromutation is four live performances from 2016, 2018 and 2 from 2019.

The first performance is from Brno Noise Fest 09/10/2016. It subtly starts from restrained sharp noise which once unleashed is like a massive screaming tantrum, the sounds are at times like screams which is parallel to the work of Harsh Noise Movement in that respect. As the screaming noises intensify, this coupled with the distortion gives the impression of rain, as if the performance is a storm of rage. This performance is an effective violent Harsh Noise outburst where the sound seems manipulated and controlled to full effect.

Full wall, textured distortion blasts out at Mrož Fest 26/10/2018 – this is very dense blast and crackle seem to form immediate depth. As the shifts in the elements begin, I feel as if I am in the core of a small planet, this is good wall work with a big roar. The wall seems focussed on the inner movement of the sound. As the wall progresses it seems to gain density in its’ sound. Gen 26s wall work is great. The performance at Hlukova Mysteria on 13 – 14/09/2019 begins with sampled dialogue, as this plays out a rain of distortion grows over it, sharp blasts of distortion join this. It becomes about the two elements forming an effective wall that contrasts that of Mrož Fest greatly by radiating a shrill, hostile harshness.

The last performance is a sad one for me, it was the last Harsh Noise London festival on 23/11/2019, other commitments meant that I could not go. This excerpt is at first, shriller than the other performances, it sounds like an electricity storm hissing and blasting severely as sounds go off in the background. This does seem to have some sort of broken melody core that is masked. The sound thickens as it accelerates towards the end forming a dense wall as sharper hiss seems to bounce on top of it.

This is a good collection of Gen26 performances, I feel as if I have happily travelled to different noise festivals around the world as I listen to these.

Francesco Terrini – Hell – Harsh Noise London #40 – 2020.

https://francescoterrini.bandcamp.com/

      1.    The Plague Exiting from the horses.

      2.    Fractured Sphinx.

      3.    Labyrinth of the chosen undead.

      4.    Mystical Warfare of the ancients.

      5.    Conjuration of Astaroth’s Seal.

This Philippines based project is Chester Masangya (Coalminer Recovery Centre) and seems to have been active since 2019. There is a wealth of material on his Bandcamp page, there have been splits with Mai12 and many other projects in the last 2 years. Hell is the first full length recording of Francesco Terrini.

Haunted is how I’d describe the first track; it uses ambient sound and noise to create The Plague Exiting from the Horses. This seems to hold back and exist in existential terror. Fractured Sphinx is slightly more aggressive, the restraint is still there, but the sound is impressive as it pulsates whilst a warped vocal begins a log dialogue, this is good Power Electronics, very impressive in fact. It is infected, disturbing, and radioactive in sound. The vocal increases its’ mania on Labyrinth of the Chosen Undead, the sound intensifies accordingly as it pulsates with nauseating loops. The vocals seem to flip out as if lost in the subject and the performance. At this point the psychedelics of the sound become very apparent and as the vocals become increasingly pained, I realise parts of this work are a nod to early Ramleh. Mystical Warfare of the Ancients pulls into further depravity and the sound has gone from a simmering Power Electronics to a murky Death Industrial, the last track is dying murk that eventually kicks off and kills the album off.

This is an excellent album, an impressive debut full length and a project to watch.

Grey Smoke – The Great City Is Dead Now – Harsh Noise London #41 – 2020

Massive Sonic Destruction Bandcamp

Broken Tape Records Compilation

Grey Smoke Discogs

      1.    Night of the Death.

      2.    Dawn of The Insomnia.

      3.    Day of the Sickness.

“In the last weeks we’re living hard days. Quarantine, Isoloation, fear, contamination, viruses…. Looks like a horror movie directed by George Romero.”

Grey Smoke.

Little is known about Grey Smoke, my immediate impression is that they specialise in truly aggressive head abusing noise. This like Hydra (RIP)or Dosis Letalis and others; it is obnoxious and headfucky, if you don’t get into it and pay attention, you’ll hate it. The first track Night of the Death totally replicates its’ title, antisocial repetition, and subtle shifts within it make wall noise seem pleasant and meditative. This exists to assault your ears and has a negative purpose.

Dawn of the Insomnia is nauseous Psychedelia that creates middle finger music. I have heard of people making antisocial music and I know I have used this term twice, but this really is. I like that, people making antagonistic, negative noise that lacks the security of genre cliché and hip association.  In some ways the sound is like a misuse of early BBC Sci-Fi sound effects to make a confrontational soundtrack to early Sci-Fi films that were themed around disaster and the end times. Grey Smoke is Power Electronics more horrible cousin as they meditate on their antisocial repetition of sound.

The traditional Death Synth sound is abused and made into a loop for Day of Sickness. I feel like whoever is the creator of Grey Smoke, creates music for themselves and nobody else, this track really reflects that. It is as if they have looped two sounds and allow them to interact interfering occasionally. The methods and sound seem to reference Harsh Noise Wall and Power Electronics and go elsewhere with it. This focuses on itself brilliantly, it pulls itself in and radiates outwards massively.

Grey Smoke sounds unlike anything else to me, this album is great and easily makes it to my top releases that I have heard this year.

Wolvestribe – The Early Years – Harsh Noise London - #42 -2020.

https://www.wolvestribe.bandcamp.com/

Power Electronics is an odd one, how do you stand out? Which labels do you release on? How is your angle going to be original? So many barriers must be negotiated to stand out. There is always a lot going on, lots and lots. Discovering Wolvestribe was like a punch in the face to me, some oddballs from London, playing their own gigs and releasing their own albums; to me they were a lightning bolt that made its mark on me immediately.

This compilation is basically a physical release of their digital debut, The Paths to the Formation of Symptoms.

It is sharp, cutting, and brutal straight after the opening manifesto dialogue. Warped vocals wade through the sonic outbursts. The use of electronics is very raw and chaotic.  I like the grinding sounds that rip across tracks as if to cut them up into separate areas of noise. However, the vocals cut through the grind to create another area of noise, this makes for a very choppy recording. The bonus track is like a plague of locusts bursting out of my stereo.

I translate this album as the last gasps of society, the continual breakdown of things and essentially the war within the self. I am thrilled this has made physical release. All I can do is marvel at this one and urge you to check out Wolvestribe’s excellent work.

 

Mutations – One Thousand Dead Swans – Harsh Noise London - #43 – 2020

https://mutationsnoise.bandcamp.com/

      1.    Another Falling Out of Love with the World.

      2.    The Song Must End.

      3.    Ebb and Flow.

      4.    Toward the End.

      5.    Swan Song.

Mutations is a Harsh Noise project from Australia and is created by Markus Begutter.

The slow progression of this album is impressive, it starts from clicks and tics. It builds to something that has part HNW delivery, but this is woven into other noises and is very much about the textures and sounds produced. It is done well, the sounds are interesting, and the work retains a sense of mystery. Mutations demonstrates complete control with a lot of interesting interplay going on between the sounds.

As the tracks progress the sound builds up to immense noisy distortion heavy displays, particularly on The Song Must End. In contrast Ebb and Flow plays off high pitched screeches and chimes. The Song Must End, takes on a more industrial feel to its’ sound. Mutations has an anonymous coldness to One Thousand Dead Swans, but the language and interplay of sounds is strong. Toward the End seems to accelerate into noise overdrive layering up and stripping down its’ sound repeatedly. Swan Song is by far the albums’ most violent display of sound.

This is a well textured, detailed album.

 

Dosis Letalis – “Mon Creation” – Harsh Noise London #44 – 2020

https://dosisletalis.bandcamp.com/

      1.    Mon Creation.

 

Prolific Serbian, France based project Dosis Letalis has been active for 5 years across a wide range of labels releasing many split and solo releases.

Dosis Letalis lurks at the more challenging, antisocial end of Harsh Noise, never one to please the ears. On Mon Creation he delivers a scraping wall that drags and scrapes with its’ sound. The distortion is consistently spluttery as if it is coughed out. The work seems to be barley alive as it drags itself across the length of a CDR. This is an intense recording that does not stray from Dosis Letalis’ usual, challenging ear torture. One track of what I would call a broken wall, that stays broken. The Creation does focus within itself focussed on the crackling detail of the sound. It is Harsh through its repetition and refusal to change for such a massive amount of time.

Mon Creation stays true to the challenging nature of Dosis Letalis as I would expect this was the hardest release of the batch, but also one of the best.

Euphoric Bullshit Vibe of the Sonic Deathwish Posse 2020

 

Harsh Noise London #25 Cutty Sark.

Harsh Noise London Recycled Tape Series #25: Cutty Sark.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1753676681522146

https://bandzone.cz/usnu

https://elmanue.bandcamp.com/

Side A: USNU?

1.    Ta Nasa(The Ours)

2.    Pro Noise Fest (For Noise Fest)

3.    Sestaky (Farthings)

4.    Mroz (Walrus)

Side B: ELMA

1.    Abandoned people.

2.    Slow death.

USNU? Is a Czech Harsh Noise project by Peter Obst that seems to have been actively releasing since 2017. All sounds on Cutty Sark were recorded at different noise fests. I don’t know if it is because of the recycled tape but the rawness of sound is immediately dark and bleak. Church sermon samples open the work, demented screaming starts that is buried within distorted noise, this works well. The sermon rises as the noise falls which I suspect is a constant all along. Lone feedback and further demented holing create Pro Noise Fest. Distortion and crackling rupture together and drop to allow the vocal to rage itself out.  Murky distortion and muffled noises form Sestaky and Mroz, despite the cloudiness, the sound is explosive and suits the work. The USNU? side is good, I feel bolder presentation of the project outside of this release will boost it well as the sounds are spot on and have loads of potential for greatness.

Elma is Ueda Hido, based in Japan, this project has been releasing since 2003 and creates rapidly shifting blasts of Harsh Noise. There have been around 37 solo and split releases in this time. There is a hiss and sharp sound heavy blast, making for a cutting sound. The sound gets fuller as bass like noises kick in, making for a bigger explosion that vibrates heavily. The sound continually squeals and chokes as if at war with itself. The second track’s squealing feedback is harsh and painful as if killing the sound violently. I like the all-out attack of both works, this is good work making for an impressive tape overall.

Nevis Kretini, 2020

Harsh Noise London 24 - Lucas Abela - Live at Cafe Oto.

Harsh Noise London #24 – Lucas Abela – “Live at Café Oto” – 2020 – Recycled Cassette.

Recorded 11/08/19. Recorded and Mastered by Matjaz Galicic

Side A – Untitled 1 (4:50)

Side B – Untitled 2 (4:50)

https://soundcloud.com/lucas-abela

http://www.dualplover.com/abela/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1753676681522146/

Lucas Abela is an Australian noise artist also known as Justice Yeldham. Abela’s performance for Harsh Noise London was recorded live at Café Oto in 2019.

The first track starts off as unearthly and haunted, this changes as he builds into an impressive, revving barrage of Harsh Noise. The sounds seem to hit from sharp to massive and really build up at various intervals whilst shifting at high speeds – the work shifts from busy to minimal until it just cuts out and dies.

Mutated blasts of noise that are made with broken pieces of glass that are attached to contact microphones blast out vocal sounds that are sonically abused beyond recognition. This pulls back to the haunted nature of the earlier track. Speckles of sharp noise and blasts of distorted noise really cut into the work, allowing for the language and feel of the work to change, this is more explosive than the previous track. Applause signals the end of the performance.

I like both tracks; they are gritty, harsh and slightly esoteric in their overall feel. Abela delivers a good demonstration of experimental noise. This is a strong release from Abela and Harsh Noise London, this is available through their Facebook group.  

Nevis Kretini 2020.