ANTIchildLEAGUE - Brain Waves

 

ANTIchildLEAGUE – Brainwaves – Endangered Species – Cassette – 2021 – ES022

https://www.endangeredspecies.biz/

https://hagshadow.wixsite.com/antichildleague

Since 2017 ACL has slowed down to a halt on promoting gigs in the UK so, because of that there have been regular ACL releases every year. The focus has paid off, with ACL honing closer attention to its overall sound and finer details – the improvement is constant. Along with Hellworm and the early singles, the work of the last Five Years is amongst ACL’s best. I liked the trilogy of albums that came, but the new work is a massive step up.

The vocals throughout the album sound warped; they are basically a female voice pushed so far beyond its limits that it becomes completely androgynous as it spits out hateful venom. This latest sermon from ACL is a diatribe of sonic poison.

The electronics are kept at just the right number of components, without there being too much; elements are allowed to play off each other. The overdrive is very controlled and appropriate to the work. The sense of space in the sound is felt throughout Brainwaves. The distortion forms full assaultive walls punctuated by the vocal, in contrast to this sound is broken into minimal noise as it plays out.

The dying aspect of some sounds gives a morbid stench to the album, it is as if there is a big push to connect to the Italian death sound unique to that area in recent decades. In contrast to the solid electronics demonstrated, there is an Undead feel to the work even if the natural hatred given off by the project masks this.

This is Power Electronics with an excessive barrage of nastiness and a menacing undercurrent of Death Industrial, it will really appeal to fans wanting a more punishing listening experience. Brainwaves is another gem in this continued stream of good work by ACL.

Coventry Soul 2021.

AntichildLeague - Entrenched Extreme.

AntichildLeague – Entrenched Extreme – Obsessive Fundamental Realism – CD- 2020

https://antichildleague.bandcamp.com/

https://hagshadow.wixsite.com/antichildleague

http://obsessivefundamentalrealism.blogspot.com/

Over the last four years, ANTIchildLEAGE has become an insanely violent, desperate louder version of itself. Recent releases have demonstrated this with the choice of recent labels including Old Europa Café and Obsessive Fundamental Realism documenting the newfound, intensified extremity of the project. Since the gig promotion has stopped, the focus on the work has brought out a focussed delivery that continues to deliver amazing results.

Purge Humanity erupts and churns as clanging repetition forms a base for echoed shouting and noises to ejaculate all over the place. This is horrible noise that harks back to the project’s impressive debut Hellworm and the nastier early days of Power Electronics whilst sitting comfortably with the present-day dark side of the genre that keeps the nastiness active (see label’s roster of artists). Everything about this track resonates broken, haunted hatred, it is the artist’s sense of self made into a barrage of noise.  

Horror evoking sounds build into Death Loves You More than God, the noise uses restraint to allow different elements to take turns as the lead to make an entrance into the track’s landscape. The pulling back of sounds makes for a minimal landscape that is a type of noise ambient, any raise in sound creates walls of tension – this method is toyed with to exaustion.

When I said Insanely earlier it was for a reason, The Kiss is insane use of warped noise and vocal that makes for a disturbing track. What is noise and what is ACL’s trademark inhuman vocal is hard to make out as the noise seems to communicate and talk, this is the artist mastering the medium to perfection. The vocals and the noise seem to take turns to communicate to the listener – they are united in their purpose.

Raw, simple beat rhythms of old come back for Paranoid, we are talking RJF (early) beats to the point where they add a slight humour to the horror. The inhuman vocal starts shouting at the beats and feedback. Whenever ACL uses beats now it is to rawer effect than earlier work, making it do its’ job well. The vocal competes with itself further in the track getting nastier with time.

A serious wall presents itself on God never loved you, rich crackle runs over the back sounds, this quickly transforms into Abuse where the noise is cut up into sections as the vocal shouts orders at the noise. Abuse demonstrates a good use of raging distortion, but the added nastiness of approach makes for a threatening display of Power Electronics that keeps getting louder until it dies suddenly.

Those beats return for Negative Control, a repetition forms as the shouts return. This  hits you in the head, you can’t trance out to it, the sound hates you and is literally a form of Negative Control. There is a mid-track eruption that goes off until the reoccurring punishment returns. Brace demonstrates further negativity with a discordant display of synthesizer torture, this is a total shift in sound for more vocal terror to erupt within the nest it forms. That voice is so distinctive I know where I am straight away. The electronics here configure new ways to assault the listener, showing the diversity the album uses whilst weaving everything in together.

Splutter walls form for Entrenched Extreme, this really farts and churns into as a wall. Good textures show themselves as the subtle shifts begin to take shape, this is a good wall that in some ways pulls back offering some respite from what has just happened. Eerie feedback plays off other eerie feedbacks and the respite feels like it never happened, this is Born Again 3319. The layering of feedback increases in volume that resonate and harmonise off each other. Chaotic noise quickly takes over as Transcendental, a shifting distortion and feedback become one accelerating and speeding until in faulters and dies.

Entrenched Extreme has a strong variation of approaches amongst its’ 11 tracks. The history of the project and the person make this album what it is, these are the themes continually displayed. ACL is one of my favourite present day projects and Entrenched Extreme is easily amongst if not the projects very best work, everything that is great about ACL is displayed here and built upon. The evolution of the project continues giving us a great album along the way.

Sonicdeathwishposse 2020.

ANTIchildLEAGUE,Sandblasting - The Grey Lady.

Antichildleague, SANDBLASTING – The Grey Lady. Not on Label. CD – 2019 – Limited to 30 copies.

https://www.discogs.com/ANTIchildLEAGUE-Sandblasting-The-Grey-Lady/release/13662560

The Grey Lady.

Easy Lady.

Lost on the Motorway.

Excite Me.

This is a new, very limited (30) release CDR with Sandblasting providing the sounds and Antichildleague providing the vocals.

The Grey Lady was very different from what I was expecting, it starts off with warped vocals, but once the noises lick in, it is very rhythmic with massive beats and synthesizer drones very prevalent. The vocal is very ACL – warped and inhuman. The electronics and effects are strong, I feel I received this at the right time as I am listening to a lot of Beat driven noise such as Salford Electronics, Occulting Light, Soft Kill and Tetsuo at present.

All tracks are heavy on deep atmospherics, with the vocals whispered, screamed and shouted. At times I am reminded of the broodier, later work of Pain Teens. It seems to build images of cityscapes and their activities – there is an urban feel to the work. Quirky beats and rhythms have long been an occasional guest on ANTIchildLEAGUE albums, and this seems to pull the project well into it.

After my Birmingham gig escapades from a few weeks ago, Lost on the Motorway’s intense, lively rhythms and beats take me back to the journey home from the said event. These malfunctions and slowly rebuilds to an impressive dance and dance. The electronics seem to drag and shoot off at high speeds. The final track Excite Me seems to be the fastest track, reminds me of the film Trainspotting and its observations of the darker sides of life, this falls into some warped form of Techno that drops and rises in sound; the beats seem to get faster until it ends.

I like this, as a collaboration it brings out an area of ACL that’s kind of lurked in the background for years only surfacing in the odd warped form again, I feel Gaya’s voice works well with beats. The music is good, using minimal elements to create big sounds that are rich and evocative. The work of both artists gels together well, making for a solid, atmospheric release. It isn’t listed on eithers Bandcamp, but the CD is available on Discogs, no downloads, just a very limited CD - Good work.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

ANTIchildLEAGUE - Infect Your Gut, Infect Your Thoughts.

ANTIchildLEAGUE – Infect Your Gut Infect Your Thoughts. 2018. Cassette. Bacteria Field. Bacteria Field 061.

 Track Listing.

A1. Infect Your Gut.

A2. Breath in Breath Out.

A3. Infect Your Thoughts.

A4. Resilience.

B1. Spineless Class War.

B2. Your Truth Won’t Make Me Free.

B3. Human Symbolism.

B4. Resilience (Baby Rats Mix).

I discovered the work of ANTIchildLEAGUE years ago via a blog. By then the project had done a demo, batch of singles and it’s first CD album. I’ve been a fan ever since and done a round up of the whole discography here there and everywhere. I liked the first demo a lot, the singles were great, and the album showed a lot of development. The eventual trilogy of albums was strong: The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost.

What’s followed over the last three years is even better -a batch of Cassettes – Holy Spirit, Bruises and Bites (split w Cronaca Nera) a split with The Rita and this album Infect Your Gut, Infect Your Thoughts. Throughout these recordings, the project has begun to mutate and form into something a lot nastier. It is as if a label says “Hi Gaya we want to release a cassette of your work, can you do something for us?” and Gaya says “Oh, cassette, brilliant, I’ll go even more apeshit than I do on CD, make my vocals into raw noise and I can really lose my shit big time!”

That’s exactly what’s happened, one of the angriest, most tortured, torturous ACL releases yet. It has traditional industrial elements that serve as the base for the horrid vocals and noise to kick in. The use of noise as urgency is stronger and more alarming throughout the album. There are times when the tracks seem to go on too long, however this technique makes the repetition and noise more punishing as if forcing the work to do its work better – making it work harder until it is exhausted and finally ready to die. There are bits of spoken more coherent dialogue, but it’s the abstraction of voice where the voice is strongest. You can hear ACL straining at its limits as a project across Infect; this adds manic tension.

There was recently a gig in New York, what was it like? Was it as good as this? Seeing acts like this is so hard and rare in the UK, it’s like a release when you do. Performances or Shows become urgent, explosive actions – violent acting out. If it doesn’t work to this effect, it tends to serve as an excuse to go home early. That’s what makes Power Electronics so taboo here in the UK, so underground and still unique. So, part of this review is a call to action.

Along with Hellworm and The RITA split this is the strongest ACL work to date.

Choppy Noodles 2018.

ANTIchildLEAGUE /The RITA split cassette

ANTIchildLEAGUE / THE RITA – split tape.2018. Cassette. Obsessive Fundamental Realism.

Obsessive Fundamental Realism - http://obsessivefundamentalrealism.blogspot.com/

ANTIchildLEAGUE - https://antichildleague.bandcamp.com/

https://hagshadow.net/

The RITA - http://bakurita.blogspot.com/

ANTIchildLEAGUE

-Elephant in the room you can control.

-I’d rather stay in my hell than share your paradise. No remorse.

-Psychometric test.

-Larva epidemic.

THE RITA

-Gaya Donadio Study (Audio and Aesthetic).

The ACL side of this split starts small with eerily atmospheric and minimal sound. It eventually juxtaposes vague background dialogue and noises that gradually build up. Beeps and drones are playful; other sounds contrast this by snarling at and threatening the listener. In parallel to this the sound shifts from being chaotic to knowingly structured.

On here vocals are used as noise and aren’t often coherent or spoken; screamed hysteria cuts into tracks dramatically and builds extra layers on what is already there. On later tracks beeps and drones become nauseous and intimidating as horrible vocal sounds bully until waves of static offer an alternate static, waves of static distortion flood the proceedings. Larva Epidemic is part ambient soundscape interrupted by urgent repetitive noise.

ACL gleams when the noise is left to do most of the work and titles are suggestive without binding the work too tightly to an overall concept. As I play this release I can immediately say that this is thankfully the  ugliest, rawest ACL release in ages – Best work yet.

The Rita are now a duo of Sam McKinlay and Arlie Doyle, they deliver a slab of noise which is direct and immediate; you are thrown straight in the middle of layers of deep, dense, static walls of distortion. This is cut into with drops and quick stops in sound intermittently with change provided by some impressive shifts across the stereo range and changes of the overall tone of the walls sound. Screaming noise reveals behind the main wall of static and its continually crackling distortion as my attention shifts.

As with many Rita releases the cover is adorned with legs, this time in fishnet stockings/tights. Gaya Donadio appears on the rear cover in heavy eyeliner and a fishnet mask. Women’s legwear - a regular Rita theme dominates this recording. I personally respect this dedication to one’s own interests and with this I finally get why I love the Rita releases that I have. The bold abstract qualities of The Rita have forced the same out of ACL resulting in a solid recording that is typical of Obsessive Fundamental Realism’s growing line of releases.

Choppy Noodles - 2018

Hexas - Libery Nest.

Hexas – Liberty Nest. – Hagshadow – 2017 – HagKenhex1 – CD – www.hagshadow.net.

1.  Liberty Nest.

2.  Reptilian Culture.

3.  Helborn.

4.  Art Demands War.

5.  Beneath the Sun.

6.  Me and I.

There has been a hive of activity in the 6<omm and ANTIchildLEAGUE camps in the last 2 years. The most recent is their new joint project Hexas, the fruits of which are the debut album Liberty Nest. Hexas introduce themselves with an ugly self-titled jolt of tense industrial sound. Gaya Donadio’s vocals are warped beyond belief, spewing masses of aggression and rage. Other vocal patterns are layered to back up and create new layers of sounds to compliment this warped passage of nausea. Leagas’ percussion is layered and complexed as noise pierces the proceedings. 

Leagas takes the lead on Reptilian Culture, continuing the theme with warped vocals; his semi-classical croon is immediately recognisable. Layers of intense, rhythmic percussion and shards of noise collide to create Mother Destruction’s bastard sister until twangs of guitar say goodbye.

The warped theme continues, things simmer down on Helborn as Donadio’s insane narrative leads us through the chaos.  The instrumental Art demands War takes the rhythm factor to the forefront with warped keyboards following the vocal samples. As the album progresses, it temporarily slips away from warped distortion into slower ambient, atmospheric passages of sound. Blasts of noise are tied into this to allow Gaya’s vocal to interrupt and break the dreamlike sonics and shift things back into an explosivnightmare. Donadio’s vocal duets with Legas on the album’s finale ‘Me and I’ building to Liberty Nest’s climatic end. 

The album blends fragments of the Power Electronics extremity of ANtIchildLEAGUE and the percussive complexity of 6<omm. There are continuous warped sound elements that flow through the entire album and tie all the tracks together. This is a strong album; the songs are good and seem to have been cut down to deliver the very best of both artists. Legas’ percussion work is impressive and shifts away from the standard beats that populate many noise albums of late; Donadio’s obnoxious ACL persona splatters over everything throughout the album. Short bursts both projects to blend together and we truly have Hexas, which is beginning to take shape.

Donadio’s mojo is her willingness to take her forcibly direct vocal noise to the depths of abstracted ugliness. Her persona doesn’t menace, it attacks. Her vocal is as much of a noise as anything to come from a distortion box. Leagas’ contrasting vocal and his usual expansive musical scope expands the album’s horizons massively. Both styles are very distinct within the album, where will it go?

Choppy Noodles 2017

Hagshadow 

ANTIchildLEAGUE / Cronaca Nera – Bruises and Bites

ANTIchildLEAGUE / Cronaca Nera – Bruises and Bites – CDR – Digipak – (OECDR 064) – 2017 – Old Europa Café - http://www.oldeuropacafe.com/

1.     Bruises and Bites
2. Calvarium
3. Carnal Supremacy
4. Cum in to my wounds
5. Hate e Prevaricate
6. Total Submission
7. Helga

Cronaca Nera and ANTIchildLEAGUE both released their first recordings back in 2001 despite each being active prior to this. However, Cronaca recently returned in 2015 after a 13-year absence. Donadio has been active since around 1997 first with solo work appearing on the Elegy 2 and Notre Dame compilations prior to ACL.  For Bruises and Bites, Cronaca created the sounds on all the tracks and Donadio did the vocal work.

After the insane areas ACL’s 2016 album Holy Ghost reached with its’ vocal insanity, increasingly experimental and dubbed out sound-scapes, this pushes a rabid return to the intense rage of the earliest recording by ACL - Hell-worm. This was also evident on the infected sonic-tantrum that was 2016’s Holy Spirit released on the Obsessive Fundamental Realism label. Vocals form a mass of rage that surrounds the waves of distortion that rain from Cronaca Nera’s violent pulsations and Death Synths. This amasses to spread panicked sonic filth and perversion throughout the album. 

The backing noise can be particularly choppy and violent, cutting into the massive sounds of the synthesizers. Gaya’s vocals screech, growl and order everyone and everything around. The cold surrounding noise switches rapidly between clinical, splintered and explosive. The explosiveness builds to controlled walls of distortion on Carnal Supremacy as Donadio loses her shit big-time. Selective walls also pop up throughout whilst Donadio rudely interrupts, disrupting the wall’s attempt to build and grow as a wall, only allowing for a whirlwind of anarchic noise.

Donadio’s vocal becomes angrier and increasingly inhuman as Bruises and Bites Progresses. The themes also become more sexual with each track. At other times the vocal disintegrates into violent, screaming, slathering noise. On the low level, minimal frequency abuse that is Cum in to my Wounds the vocal is vile, sickly and frothing. The last two tracks represent the death of the album. 

As a joint recording this is successful, both parties complement each other perfectly. Donadio presents herself as the as the deliverer and recipient of torture in each song’s scenario, yet the dominant persona is the most prevalent side to Donadio throughout Bruises and Bites. Cronaca Nera provide intelligent varied noise that is exceptionally cohesive with the vocals. They deliver rich contrasts in sound that stop Bruises and Bites becoming disinteresting or too samey. This is a strictly limited recording that needs more work together between the two artists to see their combined, abusive sickness develop even further. But if not, it is still an impressive addition to the discographies of both artists. Wanting and waiting for more. 

Choppy Noodles 2017 

Old Europa Cafe site
ACL