Inner Demons #22

 

Inner Demons #22

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

Sick System – I Was. I Am. I Will Be. (Homage to Rosa Luxemburg) – 2023 – CDr/Download – [IND151]

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-i-am-i-will-be-homage-to-rosa-luxemburg-ind151

https://www.rosalux.de/en

https://www.discogs.com/artist/11482655-Sick-System

     1.       I Was. I Am. I Will Be. (Homage to Rosa Luxemburg) 1.

     2.       I Was. I Am. I Will Be. (Homage to Rosa Luxemburg) 2.

     3.       I Was. I Am. I Will Be. (Homage to Rosa Luxemburg) 3.

Homage to Rosa Luxemburg begins with a reading from Rosa Luxemburg’s writings delivered with a clear, concise voice. The wall kicks in, I am immediately impressed by the shift from introduction to sonic chaos. The wall blasts distortion over creaking, dragging sounds as drones go off in the background. The feel of the wall is a rustic haunted with an aged timbre that is emphasized through the continual creaking buried within the distortion.

The second movement is higher pitched, with faster movement and cuts through with sharper noise a lot. The main sound becomes something that lies between the noise equivalent of a solo and the sound trying to be vocal as it jitters its chaotic dialogue out. As part 2 progresses, it becomes choppier, faltering, allowing sounds to pause while the others take prominence for a time.

A howling, wailing, distorted blast becomes the 4^th movement. I like the looped wail of the sound that is added to this part, the distortion is subtle on this, the pain of the sound is prominent here. Individual sounds drop back subtly to allow for the isolation of particular (howling) sounds to emphasise the agonised aspects of the track. A reading of Luxemburg’s writings ends the work.

There’s often a lot of online discussion about good and bad harsh noise, with an emphasis on crap Bandcamp projects. This is good Harsh Noise bolstered by the backing of an excellent label and a physical release.

Infelix – Abyssal Despondency – 5” CDr/Download – 2023 – [IND150F]

https://infelix.bandcamp.com/

1.       I. Murmurs Ov The Tormented.

2.       II. The Stagnant Nausea Ov Existence.

3.       III. E_R_D.

4.       IV. Ecstasy ov Null.

5.       V. Stench ov Death.

6.       VI. Sepulchral Occupation.

7.       VII. Burdened by Ash.

8.       VIII. Endless Rotting Sky.

INFELIX has musical roots in 80s and 90s industrial music, blackened dystopian ambience, nightmarish death industrial, depressive black metal, and doomed power electronics. Philosophically INFELIX navigates depression, environmental collapse, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, animal rights, existential dread, cosmic pessimism, misanthropy, and metaphysical nihilism. Quote from the Infelix Bandcamp

I am familiar with the work of Infelix from a previous Inner Demons batch. The project has been around since 1998. The creative mastermind behind the project is Jason M. Stevens who is also does the project Lapsed.

Murmurs Ov the Tormented begins the sounds moving through ambient landscapes, created by drones that gently evolve via shifts of tone and mists of distortion. Thudding, roaring distortion and vocals deep inside the mix resonate The Stagnant Nausea of Existence – the sound is big.

E_R_D demonstrates effective repetition and a noisier approach to the sound, this carries through to Ecstasy ov Null the layering is impressive here, sounds weave through each other and bounce off each other beautifully. Stench ov Death utilises effective electronics that perk my interest further. The churning sound that begins to dominate the sound is strong. Sepulchral Occupation is the album in full stride, the beat is slow and acts like a pillar for the noise to explode around slowly. I am often averse to beats in noise and take a lot of persuading of their validity, here I am persuaded. The track gets deeper and thicker as it goes on. Burdened by Ash is the perfect balance of noise, melodic synth as if soundtracking something in a sci fi film. Endless Rotting Sky allows some diseased drone to infect vocal samples and spread the noise rot and a melodic, dramatic end.

The majestic, large sound resonates across this album with its cinematic ambition. The Blackened Death Industrial factor is there, the darkness of the tracks is also consistent throughout the album.

Jettenbach – A Meditation on Procrastination – CDr/Download – 2023 – [IND149]

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-meditation-on-procrastination-ind149

www.jettenbach.bandcamp.com

 

      1.   One Simply Can’t Sustain This Level of Gear Acquisition. But I Might Get Another Reverb.

      2.  I Have Come to Accept That I Will never Have as Many Pedals as Dan and That’s OK.

This is one of those releases that grips me immediately. It begins with a new age ambient feel on One Simply Can’t Sustain…. The sound has consistent gradual shift and change, within the grand scope of its landscape of sound. Jettenbach uses drones and synthesiser sounds as the main sources to evoke a subtle darkness punctuated by rays of light through synth key notes until it begins to glitch out and comes to an end.

A synthesiser noise tries to take off but it can’t, the sound is rephrased through pops and drones that slowly evolve into the even bigger sound of I Have Come to Accept... There is also a clearer air of suspense to this track with a feeling that the sounds are repeatedly coming at the listener like waves in the ocean – soundwaves.

Despite the humorous, carefree titles, A Meditation on Procrastination presented here is complex and very well executed. I like the whole body of work of this release, the small quirks and glitches work well to add character to the expansive lushness this artist continually produces. A futuristic gem of a release.

CHEFKIRK – A Non-technical Introduction – CDr/Download – 2023 – [IND148]

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-non-technical-introduction-ind148

https://chefkirk.bandcamp.com/music

https://cementimental.bandcamp.com/

     1.       Accidental Birds.

Accidental Birds pulsates into life, CHEFKIRK controls the pulsations whilst warped waveform noises play with those pulsations as they morph into glitches of sound. I like the fresh, original use of noise that combines with other sounds as if to add a bumpiness to the movement of sound, I’d describe it as having a deliberate multi-layered, rough texture. At times it falls into cacophony of psychedelic science fiction sound effects as if in a film from the 60s or early 70s. It has a lot in common with the work of Tim Drage’s Cementimental project and I would advise working together. This sound seems to occasionally push overload on itself and run excitedly towards a meltdown. This is a strong release, well worthy of purchase.

One and alone 2024.

Inner Demons #21.

 

Inner Demons #21

Inner Demons logo from the Inner Demons Bandcamp.

James Nathan Powell – Hateless – 3”CDR/Download – 2022 - [IND131]  

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hateless-ind131

https://jnpowl.bandcamp.com/

1.       I.

2.       II.

3.       III.

4.       IV.

5.       V.

6.       VI.

7.       VII.

8.       VIII.

9.       IX.

Spitting crackle greets me as my introduction to the work of James Nathan Powell. The crackle functions alone with no backing bass unlike the following track that uses a combination of deep bass and sharp hiss cutting along the top of it. The bass is effectively cut into on II, it dislocates the smoothness of the sound, but the hiss isn’t – this makes for good listening. Guttural clanking and banging seems to hijack the track - James isn’t having any of this smooth continuity lark, he’s very difficult.

Very fractured noise makes up III, it is as if this looked like it was going to be something, but changed direction as the sound splutters and coughs out noise. This is abrasive work. Hissing distortion and clanging make up IV, I like the level of experimenting that emerges on each track. V marks a return to fractured distortion as it progresses to gargled spatter on VI, this sounds like a broken voice trying desperately to communicate. Bass tries to back the work but it is equally fragmented. The broken approach continues into VII which has more splatter to its sound. VIII ups the ante with fragmented elements forming a broken wall, this sounds gasping and dragging. Piano playing ends the album, giving a nice finale from all the splattered walls and chaos.

Interesting work, broken up nicely with different experiments and recordings.

INFELIX – Eternal Hymns of Entropic Darkness – 2 x 3”CDR/Download – 2022 – [IND122D]

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-hymns-of-entropic-darkness-ind122d

https://infelix.bandcamp.com/

https://lapsed.bandcamp.com/

1.       HYMN I: GBK.

2.       HYMN II: The Divine Abyss of Sleep.

3.       HYMN III: Doomed to Devour.

4.       HYMN IV: Hoarding Decay.

5.       HYMN V: The Anguished Light.

6.       HYMN VI: Eternal Suffering.

This is an Inner Demons double 3” CDR release, I like these as you end up with an album worth of work across two Cdrs Eternal Hymns of Entropic Darkness initially has a majestic Industrial sound, it is dark and futuristic. It also doesn’t sound like anything that I have heard before with its’ ambitious sound and cinematic quality. There are moments when the sound has a buzz like a swarm of flies, giving an infected feel to the work. Noise is used amongst the rhythms in different tracks, at other times noise is prominent in the work. The work on the second disc is the best as the use of prominent noise kills off the majestic rhythms with impressive ambient textures. I feel the work does glide across genres and think it shows some impressive synth skills across 2 discs. I didn’t take to the first disc, but the second disc really perfects what INFELIX is trying to do across the other disc, I was eventually impressed.

Goose – Selah – 3”cdr/download – 2022 – [IND125]

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/selah-ind125

http://zaftigresearch.com/

http://angrygoose.net/

1.       Selah.

Goose is a USA project by Brett Lunceford that has been active for 23 years.

Selah is starts quietly, ambient drones and sounds play in the distance. The sleeve information tells me that this release was made using only a 22” Gong and a signal processor. At some points there are rhythmic beats, subtle beats on the gong. The dark atmospherics the gong creates are strong as it resonates and rolls. I find myself wondering where it was created, in a room, a recording studio, someone’s house? Lunceford makes the gong resonate in different ways; he can make different passages of sound from the same gong to allow several shifts across Selah. As a piece of work it moves along beautifully. Selah is very effective and very strong.

Army of One 2023.