Fantasy Island/Hadals split cs

Fantasy Island/Hadals split

Tapes of a Neon God

(5)

I don't go higher than 5 but I really wish I could. This is the best thing I have had the chance to review in a very long time. First of all let's just jump right to the names. Fantasy Island with the song "Steve Albini". Yes. Amazing. Fuck. It is fucking intense noise that just obliterates. Total junked, harsh, insanity. Completely left me hoping it would never stop and be over at the same time. Fucking perfect. Then we have Hadals with their song, "Cupcaking". Arms to the sky, happy with this. Another track of trashed out psychedelic noise. This is less scattered and twisted then Fantasy Island but it's much more ominous and horrifying. Noise lets up to reveal a huge dark cloud of synths and whispered vocals (maybe, it's hard to tell. You almost don't want to find out what those sounds below the din are). At times I wish TOANG would put out more tapes because everything they do is so good but other times I am glad they take this so seriously and do such excellent work. Beautiful double sided color j cards. 

More info here.

Burial Ground "Night of the Living Dead" cs

Burial Ground

Night of the Living Dead

Worthless Recordings

(4)

Fuck. This is a perfect use of samples right off the bat. To begin the final cassette in a trilogy dedicated to George Romero, Burial Ground starts off with a sample from the movie before a total Harsh Noise Wall destroys everything…  and keeps destroying. It's unrelenting and awesome! I never heard the first part of this trilogy but I would bet that it's pretty fucking great as this and the Dawn of the Dead cs were. It's a little backward that Day of the Dead would be first and Night of the Living Dead be last but I guess that keeps Burial Ground from doing any of those later Romero movies. If the level of brutality in the sound coincides with the quality of the film than maybe he can do a Land of the Dead cassette that sounds like Coldplay. Anyhow, this is awesome and I totally recommend clicking on Worthless Recordings and buying a bit of everything on there. Great noise that often has a connection to film in one refreshing way or another. 

Worn Vessel "the Refuse of Nature" cs

Worn Vessel

the Refuse of Nature

Worthless Recordings

(4)

The second this started I loved it. Huge swelling synths pushed to it's limits and breaking into millions of pieces all over your eardrums. It's wave after wave of crashing electric heaven. This is the kind of disgusting industrial dirge that I wish i could knit into a sweater. I find this so comforting. A few of the tracks feel like they are less than a minute long while others take you on quite a ride. Nice mix. Excellent work from what I guess is a project that has been around for awhile. This is the first I have heard of it but I am going to keep my eye peeled for more. Limited to 50 copies in simple single sided j cards. 

Circle of Eyes cs

Circle of Eyes

untitled cs

the Flenser

(4)

Kevin Yuen has been spending a lot of time with Sutekh Hexen lately and no one is complaining but his other project, Circle of Eyes, does such excellent work that I hope he has no abandoned this entirely. Circle of Eyes is actually made up of three people; Kevin, Anthony from Black Fucking Cancer and James from Swamp Witch and Your Enemy. The music is massive, black, occasionally ethereal and often crushing drone. Saying it is unlike SUNN0))) would be a bit disingenuous. It sounds a bit like Flight of the Behemoth era SUNN0))) mixed with their better recent live performances. This is not a bad thing. 0))) gets referenced a lot in many works these days from many different groups. I know they weren't the creators of this music but they certainly have driven their flag deep into the psyche of pretty much all of us. Where Circle of Eyes takes their own path on this is a sense of anxiety and urgency that I think can sometimes be lacking in other metallic drone projects. They seem to move quicker and more belligerently through their cycles than other bands. They seem almost a little drunk and dangerous in a way. You can almost picture this working on a bill with Nick Cave in a crazy mixed up world where I book every show. I think it may be the vocals and piano work that gives this a dionysian flair. Lovely. The tape itself has that little problem that sorta bugs me where there is a bunch of space at the end of the first side, but that is barely an issue anymore. Sometimes you are just limited with the physical qualities of magnetic tape. Beautiful artwork. Kudos to the label for doing such excellent work on this one. Edition of 100 copies. 

River's Edge cs

River's Edge cs

Worthless Recordings

(4)

This is awesome. I know I mentioned it before but Worthless recordings has decided to put movies on cassette. I used to do this before my family had a VCR in the 80's so I completely fell in love with this idea. I know I wasn't the only one. I remember visiting my friend at Kinko's late at night to make zines and whatever around 1994 and he would be listening to Reservoir Dogs on cassette. It's a experience that is all but extinct in the world of iPhones and streaming Netflix. I probably hadn't seen River's Edge in over a dozen years as well but listening to this brought it all back. I remembered every scene but doing it this way brought back memories of where I was when I saw it and with who. It came back in a way that was much different than if I had watched it. It was almost like my visual cortex was working to fill in the memory gaps of the movie so it started replaying all the things I had seen that night. I remembered the kind of TV I watched it on and where I was laying down…  Very strange. Well, to end this I offer a short list of movies I would like Worthless Recordings to release on tape before they receive a cease and desist order.

Red Dawn

Enemy Mine

Flash Gordon (those awesome Queen tracks need the sound effects)

Forbidden Zone

Reflecting Skin

Fire Walk with Me

Heilig Tod cs

Heilig Tod

s/t

Wands

(4)

Totally overblown, filthy, destructive, blackened, punk, crust insanity. I almost want to call this black metal but maybe if you throw in some Accused and Infest with that sort of insanity you get after getting hit in the face. Adrenaline and hatred mixed with the metallic taste of your own blood. That's what this sounds like. This tape is a dogsend. I am very thankful. Awesome design by Stephen Wilson on some of the most backwards "j cards" I have ever seen. Very bare bones. I am also pretty sure that out of the four songs on this cassette three are on side a (totally blank cassettes by the way) and the forth is on side b. It's so counterintuitive that it makes sense. Limited to 32 copies and I believe they are all gone but if you go to WANDS page you can download it. I can't recommend this more. 

Cold Comfort "Brief Moments of Clarity" VHS

Cold Comfort

Brief Moments of Clarity

Worthless Recordings

(4)

So this is my first VHS review. I haven't watched a vhs in years so this was kinda awesome. This is HNW both in it's aural and visual impact. For those that love HNW I think this is pretty mandatory. Five tracks that hit hard and never let up until the artist decided it was over. There should be a sample at the bottom of this review to check out for yourself. Limited to 28 copies and includes multiple inserts of artwork. Nicely done.

I removed the video link because it was taking forever to load this page on some machines but this whole run on sentence is a link because I said it would be in my mind while I typed this.

Recluse/Degenerate Slug split cs

Recluse/Degenerate Slug split 

No Visible Scars

(3)

I have to say that I am digging NVS' new packaging. A tall resealable bag with a tape and an insert. I think I like this more than the 7" type packaging. Not really sure why, I just like it more. Hmm.  Anyway, the first side of this tape is by an act called Recluse. It's pretty noisy but it's more in the vein of swans or godflesh.  Not that it really sounds like either but that is the vibe i am getting. Drum machines, super effected vocals and some 80s synth sounds. It actually sounds a lot like an 80s b-movie sci-fi movie soundtrack. It's pretty unique. Degenerate Slug is filthy. Really lo-fi noisy weirdness with a touch of black metal. Interesting to say the least. They say this recording is inspired by dissecting table, sleep disorders, swans, abruptum, cheap wine, goblin, havohe j and drugs. You can hear it. It's pretty awesome. I dig the lo-fi under produced nature of both sides of this one. Pretty solid. 

Ur "Clandestine Meeting Park" cs

Ur

Clandestine Meeting Park

No Visible Scars

(4)

I have been familiar with Ur for awhile. I was attracted to their subtle dark drones and have been hoping to hear something new from them. This release is an excellent example of their work. Fans of Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Sunn0))), Klaus Schultz, and maybe Nurse with Wound will find something they love hear. Very dark and grim sounds throughout these two tracks. Distant drums and faraway scraping adds texture to some deep horrific drones. Vocals sound like a desperate mob. This is the soundtrack to a hopeless life. Pure emptiness and sorrow await you. Limited to 50 copies and it's a shame. This will go fast. I guess there is a even more limited version of 15 copies you can seek out if you are fast. 

Pregnant Spore/Actuary split cs

Pregnant Spore/Actuary split cs

s/t

Rainbow Bridge Recordings

(4)

This is an excellent sampling of two of the more interesting noise acts of late, Pregnant Spore and Actuary. Although Actuary is the A side when I received my cassette it was wound to play Pregnant Spore first so here I go: The PS tracks on this cassette have that sound that I totally covet. Justin Marc LLoyd is somehow able to make noise that sounds like it was recorded in the 1960's. It's intense, moving and totally rages but when you listen to it you feel like you have uncovered something. Like a noise loving Indiana Jones. The packaging has the same look. Like a page from that awesome book, "Our Universe" that every kid loved in elementary school. The Actuary side has a similar almost vintage sound as well. A little less harsh and not quite as brutal as their previous releases, but this is not a bad thing. This track is more restrained and tense. It's a new side to what is becoming one of my new favorite noise acts. Both sides of this tape are fantastic and its limited to only 50 so I recommend grabbing this as soon as you are done reading this. 

Actuary/Aderlating split cs

Actuary/Aderlating split cs

Curses and Conspiracies

Love Earth Music

(4)

This split is really a collaboration. Two completely unique yet similar takes on brutality through sound. Actuary's side starts with horror and screaming immediately and then just builds and builds into chaos with the addition of drumming. Like in a Crash Worship sort of sense and the drumming provided by Aderlating. In fact that is how the collaboration works. Actuary has Aderlating provide drumming and Aderlating has Actuary provide theirs. Both sides are totally twisted and amazing but also completely their own. When I mentioned Crash Worship before I should say that this did remind me of them a bit but in the best sense. In the live sense. You know how their records were good but in comparison to their live sets the recordings sort of paled. This cassette is closer to the energy, intensity and derangement of a Crash Worship show from 1995. Terrifying and enthralling all at once. Definitely recommend this cassette.