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.

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.

Nevis Kretini/Choppy Noodles - 2019 Best of list.

Choppy Noodles > Nevis Kretini – Best of 2019.

This has been an amazing year, so many ace releases. Too many names to mention, it was impossible to limit to 10,so here are my 12 favourites.

Rusalka – Base Waters. Absurd Exposition – LP – 2019.

I knew of Rusalka, but this was the first time that I really listened - I reviewed this on first listen. Base Waters shifts through a lot of changes in Sonic Language over two tracks to create an album of powerful conceptualised effect. The sound builds to massive proportions as the language shifts and I am now very aware of this top tier project.

Nacht Und Nebel – Limitations – Self Released Cassette and Download– 2019.

I’ve gradually accumulated a lot of Nacht Und Nebel releases over the years through seeing the project play live. Both live shows and releases are always consistently strong with the project playing with acts like Ramleh, Blackcloudsummoner, Vampyres, Culver and many more over the years. However, this release really does stand out against the others, here the project really ups its game. Sounds are all sourced from a Cello and treated to varying degrees, overlaid to make epic compositions.

Ordeal by Roses – A Petty and Childish Obsession – Outsider Art – Cassette andDownload – 2019.

Both releases by Ordeal by Roses on the Outsider Art label this year have been very strong, I could have picked either of them. I’d call this a stand-alone, outsider project based in Cardiff, Wales that has come from trauma to the self. This took me by surprise, and I see this as a standout project amongst newer artists.

Niku Daruma – She Gets What She Wants – Black Ring Rituals – 2019.

Niku Daruma have been prolific this year, they featured on a lot of great split releases as well as their own. They all do other noise related projects, but this one really stands out. Some of the releases are base raw and work even better and I could pick from a few of their releases. They seem like nice people who turn into hysterical, violent monsters when performing, making amazing Harsh Noise whilst erupting everywhere.

Suffer In April – Pomona. Corde Raide Productions – Cassette – 2019.

I met this guy as he runs a tribute page to another noise artist, we got chatting and he said he had his own project called Suffer in April. The first release Femme Fatale is what I would call forward thinking Power Electronics, in contrast Pomona carries on these methods yet goes elsewhere and radiates immense beauty.

Entre Vifs – Offrande et Partage - Aussaat und Ernte - 2019.

This is a beautifully presented cd that cases the angrier side of Entre Vifs. I liked the previous album Ontologie a lot, but Offrande seems to go to much higher levels of intensity. Entre Vifs use their own self-made instruments to create an elaborate sound that is simultaneously structured and chaotic, yet to me they remain one of the most brutal noise acts of the present day.

Wolvestribe – Understanding the Ecological Role – Aaarrrg.

Wolvestribe came to my attention when a label called Harsh Noise London sent me some of their releases. HNL tend to put different artists on compilations together on recycled audio cassettes – Wolvestribe were part of a 4-way split. I was very impressed and had to investigate further and I was suitably convinced that we have a new heavyweight amongst the newer UK noise crop. Wolvestribe release their own lathe cut 10” records and frequently produce new material that is consistently of a high standard.

Testing Vault – Amnesia Milk. – Looney Tick – 2019.

I’ve followed Testing Vault for over a decade now, the project has changed and shifted gradually – with side projects that experiment in other areas of sound. The output by the project has been consistently strong, but Amnesia Milk seems to take the sound of reeds and drones that have been lurking in recent releases and take a massive leap forward with them to perfect things. Amnesia Milk eclipses Complete Shit Exorcism as the best Testing Vault recording so far.

S.T.A.B. Electronics – Enemy of Pigs – Unrest – 2019.

S.T.A.B. grabbed my attention as a strong modern-day project. On ‘Day of the Male’, the vocals were next level. ‘Mother, Mother, Mother please’ as a repeated opening sample opens Enemy of Pigs, this album is just bleak violence and pushes the project forwards to new levels of intensity and quality. Seeing the project live at the opening party for the release was something I will never forget. This album is strong on every track, a consistent, impressive step up.

Satori – The Braver the Bull, the Better the Bullfight – Outsider Art – 2019.

Outsider art often releases Knifedoutofexistence and does batches of four cassettes, all by different artists. The acts featured are often newer artists on the UK scene, however this time veteran project Satori was featured. It’s a repeated rule in PE that newer artists are where it is really at and older acts are often seen to be not what they were once. When I saw Satori live this year, that wasn’t the case, Dave Kirby was an unnerving presence which made for an effective show. Satori has this distanced rage that I see come through in other Outsider Art acts of the present day such as Ordeal by Roses and Knifedoutofexistence to a point where I see it as being influential. To top it off this cassette is excellent – clear evidence of an older act at the top of its game.

Active Denial – What Dreams are Made Of – Outsider Art – 2019.

Both releases by Active Denial are powerful, but this one is the best one, the sound is stripped down, raw and intense. Horrible noise and ranted sermons of bile. Active Denial are a name to watch as recordings and live performances are amazing. Get both recordings if you can, this was so popular it was gone in the blink of an eye and Research Laboratories reissued it. Thomas Laroche (one half of AD) has a whole bunch of stuff on there that is a whole new nightmare running parallel to this. I’m still not over the Summer of Hate, don’t know if I ever will be – you’re still it.

Detrimental Effect – Your Truth – Tesco – 2019.

I often talk about distanced Power Electronics; this however uses restraint in its sound – the tension that builds up as a result of this on Your Truth is enormous and makes for an effective, powerful release. Noise and samples play off each other, things pushed a hair’s length from their breaking points. This depiction of the lies used in politics and media is the soundtrack of today.

Nevis Kretini 2019. 

S.T.A.B. Electronics - Day of the Male.

S.T.A.B. Electronics – Day of the Male. Unrest Productions – 2015 CD. http://www.unrestproductions.co.uk/

Tracklist.

     1.       As it is.

     2.       Because I could.

     3.       Day of the male.

     4.       Indifferent and Inimical.

     5.       Marquis complex.

     6.       Metal and Excrement.

     7.       Mouth Bites Blackness.

     8.       Sick Human Syndrome.

     9.       This Can Not Be My Eternity.

It always makes me smile when I hear S.T.A.B. Electronics was started in tribute to Marco Corbelli after he passed away as I truly love Atrax Morgue but feel S.T.A.B. very quickly evolved into a next level project and there couldn’t ever have been a greater tribute.  Day of the Male is a few years old now, I got it around a year ago in 2018 from Unrest, it had a massive impact on me, and I feel the blog must occasionally look back to gain a better whole picture. Prior to buying this all I knew of was a recent interview in Special Interests. I bought this and Born for Righteous Abuse/Temple of Disgust and then not long after Enemy of Pigs was released, I saw S.T.A.B. play live and very quickly, this became one of my favourite present-day PE projects.

When I first heard the album, I was blown away by the vocal performance on the opening track ‘as it is’, it quickly became evident to me this project had a strong identity. The pulsating electronics and vocal that seems to berate itself or someone else was barely human, just a mass of ever intensifying rage. In comparison the vortex of sound of Because I Could is an implosion to the explosion of as it is. It takes the old style of warbly PE vocals and incorporates it into the entire sound of shrill noise so that both reinforce each other. The Death Industrial Throb of Day of the Male warbles the vocal so it’s a noise that rides the massive synth sounds, a wall of distortion is woven in subtly too. Distortion intensifies and the vocal becomes rhythmic, rising the works levels whenever something is vocalised until waves of noise drown it out completely.

Pulsating continues with pure blasts of distorted humming as the vocal clearly coherent roars over the noise, as tonal shifts in noise occur, the vocal does too the noise seems to lead the vocal through its diatribe. The vocal is untreated and brings another level to the work as if to demonstrate how it can function fluidly without effects.  Distorted noise and warbled vocals make Marquis Complex, the waves of distortion form a hurricane of noise around the vocal, the sharpness of the vocal cuts through. Again, it seems to lock with the noise through shrill warbling, the continual separation and bonding of the work are impressive. This piece plays with Wall Noise but allows the vocal to function and not be drowned out, just held under for periods of time, I feel Finnan allows himself to act out punishment, torture and violence to the self through his work.  

Metal and Excrement is an exercise in allowing massive synthesizers to do their work and pulsate against each other. Big Death displays of resonating, pulsating Synthesizers are a frequent guest on Unrest recordings, this is a prime example. Their growling resonance here is pure and effective. As the noise erupts and warbled vocal kicks in, I realise I was being primed for a sonic beating. The vocal is so treated and so sharp that it cuts into your hearing and isn’t forgotten in a hurry.  The vocal seems to be drowning in the infected noise of Mouth Bites Blackness, even warbling it doesn’t help, the waves of distortion seem to grow in intensity and multiply, eventually the vocal gradually resurfaces to gain more clarity and win the war and make its point.  Samples, pulsating drones and a spoken, slightly distorted vocal interact on Sick Human Syndrome – the vocal is warped with effects as the dialogue of crude social commentary becomes more explicit. The pitch of the vocal is tweaked continuously to become more disturbing and inhuman. This Cannot Be My Eternity erupts immediately, there vocal is bolstered by explosive walls of noise, the vocal a sharp pitch that seems to erupt with the wall. There is some sort of ethereal backing sound that adds dimension and some bizzare, warped spiritual essence to the track.

I’ve gone way into S.T.A.B. after that live show and this album is the starting point of that journey. I haven’t heard everything, that makes me excited as I’ve got so much to discover. I can’t praise this project enough, I might have missed out on some classic, older projects but I’m right here for this one. Get this album if you don’t already own it.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

S.T.A.B. Electronics - Enemy of Pigs

S.T.A.B. Electronics - Enemy of Pigs - 2019 - LP/MC - Unrest Productions.

I was on the phone to someone tonight talking about music, we got to talking about the S.T.A.B. gig last Saturday and why I like S.T.A.B. so much, I didn’t do a good job of explaining why. So the purpose of this review is to persuade you to get this album and explain why S.T.A.B. is so good. I am feeling the pressure.

Like may listeners I like to discover stuff that I haven’t heard before, but sadly with a good percentage of Death Industrial and Power Electronics I often arrive after the party and a lot of the older acts that still exist today are a parody tribute to their former selves and I can’t be arsed anymore paying daft discogs prices for that stuff. And what’s the point of spending all my cash doing that and going to all these fucking US and Euro Industrial Fests to see the best acts and line ups - I prefer to hold out for a stronger local scene instead. Reading a recent interview in Special Interests that you’ve all no doubt read, led me to S.T.A.B. and I took the dive and bought two S.T.A.B. albums. It was exciting for two reasons, the standout tracks on Day of the Male absolutely blew my head right off, it is a now project, next level and better than most stuff from back in the day and now if I'm honest. Finding a good, present day act is a massive reward to me as a listener.  Months later I’m in London in a crowded room while S.T.A.B. shouts in my face, it wasn’t glamorous, it was raw, real, now and it seemed to happen at me. As soon as the gig was over, I went back to the hotel and wrote my review, I could have made lots of new friends and connections, but I really wanted to hold on to what I saw and heard. As soon as I got home the next day, I played Enemy of Pigs through twice and was really surprised.

Repeated vocal samples of ‘Mother, Mother Mother, please’ form the base of High Infant Mortality, whilst drones radiate ominously, and the vocals rage away from the background to the foreground continuously. The drones do tease slightly at the past while the vocal is anchored in the present; I feel in the middle of the elements experiencing the dialogue.

Slugs delivers aggressive, threatening humming feedback and faltering wall noise while the vocal is way uglier and more direct. The vocal is more like what was spat in my face last Saturday so it subconsciously seems directed at me whilst the electronics try desperately to interrupt the diatribe, they try, they don’t give up, but they don’t win either. I don’t know if I am taking this personally or happily reminiscing.

Her Dead eyes is horrible, overly descriptive to me it seems to describe the horror of extreme porn/sex, but it makes you think, it really challenges you, everything yet nothing is revealed, the high-pitched squealing vocal is less effects laden than previous recordings, it raw, rank and very real.  This is the end of the first side, it’s muddier, yet vocally a lot less effects laden than earlier work and retreats into the murk to deliver a horrible, harsher dose of reality.

Of Misandry is sampled dialogue that serves as a bass for massive drones to spread their horror as the vocals distort in the background, by doing this, you’re forced to concentrate on the vocal. The drones are as radioactive as they can be, as if diseased and echoing death. The gender war continues within S.T.A.B.

Sic Semper Tyranis (Thus always to tyrants) radiates sickness as the drones intensify continuously and the vocal spews and curses away from foreground to background. The electronics are simple and effective. Violent Reprise boasts an inhuman, grotesque vocal and sicker electronics, the album is intensifying continually. Prayers form I am going To Die (And so are You), they’re temporarily eclipsed by urgent, repetitive electronics as the vocal really comes to the forefront, it’s as if the best is saved until last, vocally.  The sample’s continual re-emergence amplifies the songs context massively.

Enemy of Pigs isn’t dominated by a few Standout tracks, it is consistently strong and I’d argue that the vocals don’t reach the same levels of intensity as Day of the Male did (barr I am going to die). In a way it steps back to find a solid continuity and really defines S.T.A.B. as an act in its’ own right - there’s way less Homage on this album. There are newer, interesting vocal techniques demonstrated throughout – Sic Semper and violent are key examples. Here the act moves on, progresses, it’s stripped back reinforced by some conceptually strong sampling and dirtier, muddy electronics. I’d say its way more depraved from the inside, rather than projecting outside themes, but that’s been ongoing too. In some ways this is a person becoming the performance, the self’s past and present are the theme, but done in an original way. S.T.A.B. was in the right circles from the outset (Unrest, Urishma, Filth and Violence) from looking and listening it got better until it got this good. But is this radioactive, headfuck slab of vinyl S.T.A.B.’S best or one of its best? Time will tell, but for now, it is stuck in my head and I can’t stop listening, I really wish I could, but I can’t. Let’s see if anyone matches it this year.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

Enemy of Pigs launch night.

S.T.A.B. Electronics, Iron Fist of the Sun, Antivalium, Active Denial. The Castle, London, Saturday 31^st March.

I went to this gig alone, upon 10 minutes of my arrival I’d met Phil from W.I.P., Lee from Iron Fist of the Sun, Keith from S.T.A.B. both guys from Active Denial and Winston from Shift/Unrest. It was great to meet the faces behind the projects that I love. The occasion was S.T.A.B.s first live gig in 3 years to celebrate the release of Enemy of Pigs on Unrest Productions, I’m playing it now on my turntable.

I’ve reviewed both Active Denial tapes in the past and I was keen to see them in a live context. I believe they haven’t played a lot of live gigs prior to this. The set up was simple vocals, keyboard and four Walkman portable players that all into a mixer.  Adam Apple screamed and shouted into the mic, got right into people’s faces throughout their set. Sometimes both Apple and Bucorvus Leadbeater did vocals together, the noises were primitive like those used on their recordings. For a moment I felt it waned briefly, but sudden a strobe pointed at the audience and a resurgence of rage pushed things up another few notches. I thought this was a great performance that set the bar high for the evening, the rage seemed endless: The Summer of Hate was back with a vengeance.

Antivalium came dressed in suits and masks, their stage presence and image were strong. Their brand of synth dominated industrial noise with beats was good and it shifted a lot in sound. At times it was hard not to dance when they became more animated as beats took prominence. There was an air of deep broodiness throughout an impressive set that really stood out - the excellent taste in vintage microphones certainly helped this. Their sound and intensity were different to the other acts and stood out most as the odd act out, still great and this seemed to allow the differences between all acts to shine through. When researching after, I found out they were both in KnifeLadder with the late John Murphy as well as Black Light Ascension which is impressive, but Antivalium stands as a strong project, this was demonstrated by their performance - I look forward to investigating their work more.

The gig did have an air of sadness as it was to be the last performance from Iron Fist of the Sun. I love this project as I reviewed a lot of his work over the years and have most of the releases. This is a top tier project of present day that I know can deliver live and on record. As he began it was crisp, concise and everything was delivered with precision. He shouted with his back to the audience at the rear wall of the venue or sideways to the audience and it was effective as he became angrier and the sounds intensified massively. The way the vocals weren’t as in the faces of the audience as the other acts seemed to allow for it to really project outwards at the audience. The sound and set up he had was complex and wouldn’t have worked so well in less competent hands, he then flicked a switch and the familiar, powerful death drones of Smile Like Sword kicked in to cheers and shouts. The vocals were great, he shouted and screamed and had some effect that doubled the vocals up when it was used – amazing wasn’t enough to describe it. His set became choppy, chaotic and noisier at the after Smile Like Sword and made for an effective contrast that died out to an end to be greeted by huge applause and enthusiasm from the audience. I’d only ever seen IFotS live once this was even better than that. To end on such a high with a consistently solid, evolving body of work is noble. However, my personal view is the integrity of the project would have kept it great for a long time to come, but greatness is as greatness does.

The night seemed like a series of championship fights and S.T.A.B. continued to up the levels of intensity with a savage, manic performance. He was continually right in our faces shouting, the mic seemed to die out at one point, and I am not shitting you, it made no difference to the vocal levels at all, he continued to yell over the electronics until the mic worked again - vocally S.T.A.B. continues to be next level. His personal, nasty take on Death Industrial was complimented by videos of violent gang fights and sadomasochistic penis abuse. The images of a guy continually being ball punched by a Dominatrix made me hold my balls in protective fear whilst S.T.A.B. seemed to continually grab his balls hard to raise the pitch of his vocals. The set was mostly newer material as I am recognising a lot of it as I play my copy of the excellent Enemy of Pigs; there was a lot of really, muddy, murky noise that was dominated by the louder than loud vocals, the level of performance used to work the vocals from the background to the forefront repeatedly was something else. Height wise he was huge, which amplified his stage presence, he was all over the stage in the audience’s faces, yelling and gesturing; the intensity and menace never let up for a minute. I’ve been listening to the S.T.A.B. cds I have a lot over the last 6 months since discovering the project, this live performance was even better than I imagined it would be and the new album ups the ante.

Four solid performances made for an excellent night.

Choppy Noodles 2019

Unrest Productions