Ahhh, how nice is it to see the name Beyond Dawn again? One of the great unsung heroes of the '90s Norwegian metal scene, Beyond Dawn never quite got the accolades they deserved . Maybe because even in their early heavier days they were a hard band to pin a genre to. Maybe because they were one of the first metal bands in Norway to abandon metal altogether for more experimental territory. Maybe because every record sounded so drastically different than the last. Maybe it's because they almost never played outside of their native country. Or maybe it's just because they had, like, A TON of trombone. Whatever the reason, a band who should have enjoyed a career as illustrious and respected as their countrymates Ulver (who the band played some of their earliest shows with in 1993) instead dissolved over a decade ago with the most cult of followings. But thankfully Duplicate Records has done all fans of heavy downer weirdness a great service in releasing this retrospective. But in classically unpredictable fashion, this isn't a greatest hits package so much as it is a two cd chronological collection of odds & sods: album demos, alternate mixes, outtakes and live recordings. Despite how that may sound, it works surprisingly well as an introduction to this band's surreal shadowy world, touching neatly on everything that made them interesting. Even in their earlier days of brooding gothic doom there was a touch the modern and avant garde, a somber and mournful dirge in the tradition of early Anathema complimented perfectly by Espen Ingierd's vocals, deep and commanding but strangely emotionless and distant, at times a dead ringer for Michael Gira. And like we mentioned earlier there's that trombone, which is never far away, and man, if Beyond Dawn don't make a good argument for the trombone being the saddest sounding instrument of all time (in fact this release inspired this topic of conversation in the store the other day: Why don't more metal bands use trombones???), but at the same time it lends a certain regal timeless quality to their music that really sets it apart. The second disc tackles the 2000's when the band left metal behind entirely, and began flirting with downtempo electronics, nocturnal dub, post punk and melancholy pop. While it's aesthetically a much quieter approach, it was no less emotionally captivating, engrossing and at times devastating. And while the band certainly evolved drastically as they progressed, this collection provides a nice way to follow the threads that ran through the band's sound, especially the general mood they always seemed to conjure up no matter what genres they were experimenting with: a sort of lonely distinguished elegance. Nocturnal and shimmering, depressive yet strangely proud, like putting on your best suit in preparation for the gallows. Highly recommended for fans of Vaura, Swans, Beastmilk, Ulver, and all things strange, sad and loud.
Not long after we reviewed the recent collaboration between dark ambient drone legends, Nordvargr and Drakh (who started out as partners in the legendary black industrial drone outfit MZ412), we received an email from Drakh, thanking us for the review, and letting us know about his main project Beyond Sensory Experience. What a weird coincidence. Some of us around here were already huge fans of BSE, but had no idea who was behind it. Although sonically it makes perfect sense. Beyond Sensory Experience is an exploration into bleak sonic darkness, vast expanses of suffocating drones and desiccated melodies, haunting disembodied voices and ghostly glimpses into the dark soul. Korrelations is a remix record of sorts. Four original tracks, seven re-interpretations. One from ex-partner Nordvargr, the rest from like minded isolationists Alexxx, Doshaka, P3, Zdan and Alko. While occasionally the new versions introduce Muslimgauze-like tribal percussion, traditional drum kit and electric guitars, the bulk of the record is dark and dreary and rumblingly minimal. Muted pulses underscore streaks of black and grey, distant throbs beat out funereal rhythms beneath huge swaths of thick fuzzy drone, all flecked with bizarre sonic bits of lost dialogue, cracked and creaking flutters, and a completely claustrophobic and creepy ambience.
As we've mentioned before, we have all been huge fans of the black metal ambient outfit MZ412, as well as the work that followed from Nordvargr and Drakh, the two masterminds behind MZ412, Folkstorm, Toroidh, BSE and the recent Nordvargr / Drakh collaboration. Well suddenly, for some reason, it's gotten a whole lot easier to get a hold of all their records so we're finally able to share yet another of our musical obsessions with the AQ faithful. This is release number five from Beyond Sensory Experience, aka Drakh. The first three BSE records (all released in 2003) were ritualistic dark ambient experiments, examining through sound, the affect of and the correlation between numbers, music and life. Pretty heady stuff, but somehow the dense drones and ambient explorations found on those records seemed like they could in fact explain and expose, if one was just willing to let go and let the music carry them away. This newest record is much more active, and alive sounding, perhaps because now the focus is on life and sexuality. Ultimately this is still a drone record, or a dark ambient record if you prefer, but the shading is more distinct, and the sonic pallet much more broad, from the dirgey plucked guitar of "Pursuit Of Pleasure", almost like a minimal, distortion-free Earth, to the soaring strings and cinematic grandiosity of "Affection / Devotion", to the staticky submarine rumble and subtle sepia shadings of "Hold Your Breath And Close Your Eyes". Sure to satisfy drone obsessives and dark ambient freaks, but close listening reveals so much more than those broad descriptors would lead you to expect. Layer after layer to gradually unwrap, sounds that sneak up on you where you swear there weren't sounds before, and so many details that lay hidden, only to surface after repeated exposure...
It's been so long since I saw this movie I can barely remember the plot. I do know it had something to do with an all female rock band and the decadence and wacky hijinx that of course ensued when said rock band headed out west to hit the big time. The best part of the story is that the screenplay was written by old fuddy duddy Roger Ebert with help from the king of sleaze Russ Meyer! I wonder how the old ladies of middle America would feel as they were being told by Roger Ebert to go see the latest Hollywood schmaltzfest if they knew that this respectable man they trust to not lead them astray had directed an X RATED FILM! I for one feel a little bit better. This soundtrack/score is awesome, and made me want to run right out and rent this again. From soaring Morricone-ish dramatic flourish, to cheesy sixties girl group campiness to loungy exotica, to crunchy sixties twangy rock (courtesy of the Strawberry Alarm Clock) to riffy almost-hard rock, to funky porno sleaze. Plus, I just now discovered that the song Look On Up At The Bottom, which I always assumed was by pop gods Redd Kross, was actually a cover from BTVOTD! This soundtrack has it all. This could very well be the grooviest, campiest, wickedly wild party record you'll hear this year! Limited too so be quick.
It's no secret that we've been smitten with the Dark Entries label from the very beginning. Over the years they've cranked out killer reissues of so many obscure lost gems, ranging from post-punk, to dark wave, minimal synth, to left field dance jams, and all with a curatorial hand that's always spot on. In fact this list we have TWO other great Dark Entries titles you should probably grab, but this one in particular stands out as being super unique in that it's a brand NEW recording from an artist right here in San Francisco. We've been waiting for this for a while, as Bezier (aka Robert Yang) has been a fixture in the underground club scene in San Francisco for years, most notably as a member of our favorite DJ collective, Honey Soundsystem.
With his debut release he puts his analog synths to use, creating a kind of hi-prog-nrg music that blows us away. Equally influenced by hi-nrg, disco, sci-fi, and a strain of prog that manages to inject sensuality and sexuality into that usually so nerdy of genres. When we caught Bezier live for a special test pressing release party of this record we were swept away, these songs making us move like crazy but also creating a space where sometimes we just closed our eyes and got lost in the swirling arpeggios and actual songs, brimming with movement and dynamics.
Ensconced makes us think of some awesome hybrid of Giorgio Moroder and Goblin, or maybe Patrick Cowley sitting in with Chris & Cosey. In fact that comparison is particularly apt, this record inspiring us to grab our favorite Chris & Cosey records, and feeling like Bezier is a modern sonic kindred spirit.
All thirty one minutes of the record feel thought out and purposeful, yet never too smart for its own good, allowing for both the mind and body to move in unexpected directions. So totally recommended!
While best known as a reissue label, Dark Entries has also released quite a stellar selection of new records by modern artists which still manage to fit perfectly into DE's dark/synth/new wave aesthetic. One of our favorites of those is by San Francisco's own Bezier, whose debut Ensconced we still spin like crazy, even now. So obviously, we were super excited to get this new Dark Entries release by Robert Yang, also know as Bezier, and the minute the needle hit the grooves, and Yang's analog synth wizardry began to pulse from the speakers, we knew Telomeres was bound to be just as good, if not better than Ensconced!
It's almost as if Yang has discovered the perfect musical formula, taking the spaced out sci-fi sounds of electronic pioneers like Deila Derbyshire, Bruce Haack, and Kraftwerk, and reengineering them for the dance floor, a gloriously sizzling, drugged out sonic swirl. The opening minutes of the record made us think of the earliest incarnation of OMD, highjacked by Patrick Cowley's bathhouse jams.
Seeing Bezier live is so refreshing, in that we all know how stale it has become to see someone stuck behind a laptop, and instead when Yang is on stage he's commanding an army of analog synths, that he manipulates like the mad musical scientist he is. Luckily, that live energy and intense presence can be felt throughout these studio tracks, which find Yang's sound more melodic then ever, and yet somehow still oozing with after-hours sleaze.
If you haven't already picked up this great record, now's the time, 'cause it's been re-released as a "special edition" with a bonus DVD disc featuring live footage...
Be ready to be blown away by absolute total beauty! Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya is one of the best slide guitar players on the planet. He creates his own guitars which he plays ragas on. He is credited as the first person to put resonating strings on a slide guitar back in the 1970's and also the first to put chickaree (drone) strings on the front. His three-finger picking technique allows him the ability to have lightning speed and most importantly create the hypnotic patterns that radiate throughout this record. While the technical aspect of what he does is so spectacular, it's the fact that he transcends his instrument, which is what truly makes Bhattacharya a special artist. You can't help but just get lost in the hypnotic quality of his playing and the ability of the music to take you off the ground. It's almost like hearing Ravi Shankar and John Fahey combining forces to see how breathtaking a record they could make together. While Debashish Bhattacharya's name might not be on the tip of people's tongues like the aforementioned are, here's hoping once this record is heard that he will be. Highly recommended!
Be ready to be blown away by absolute total beauty! Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya is one of the best slide guitar players on the planet. He creates his own guitars which he plays ragas on. He is credited as the first person to put resonating strings on a slide guitar back in the 1970's and also the first to put chickaree (drone) strings on the front. His three-finger picking technique allows him the ability to have lightning speed and most importantly create the hypnotic patterns that radiate throughout this record. While the technical aspect of what he does is so spectacular, it's the fact that he transcends his instrument, which is what truly makes Bhattacharya a special artist. You can't help but just get lost in the hypnotic quality of his playing and the ability of the music to take you off the ground. It's almost like hearing Ravi Shankar and John Fahey combining forces to see how breathtaking a record they could make together. While Debashish Bhattacharya's name might not be on the tip of people's tongues like the aforementioned are, here's hoping once this record is heard that he will be. Highly recommended!
We've been waiting for this one for a while. The first time we heard the masterful playing of Debashish Bhattacharya was on his majestic and mind blowing Calcutta Slide Guitar album, a record which became an absolutely treasured all time favorite around here. Not only a master of Indian slide guitar, Bhattacharya also has the ability to infuse his playing with such truly transcendent emotion. It was a record that really felt like some magical amalgamation of Ravi Shankar and John Fahey. It's been several years since that release, but we had hoped something new might be on the horizon, as he performed live in San Francisco last year, a show that totally left us spellbound. It also made so much sense that when we looked around the audience, it was filled with so many of the Bay Area's best drone and bliss-out minded musicians, it was a little like seeing the teacher school his pupils.
O Shakuntala! is just as sublime and enchanting as Calcutta Slide Guitar was. This time out Bhattacharya merges two very classic Indian music traditions, Kanatic music from the South and Hindustani music from the North. But what makes his playing so special is that whether you have a rich knowledge of Indian music or are a total novice it doesn't matter at all, as he is able to cut through to the music's core and create an intimacy and intensity through his playing that is really the closest to absolute pure beauty we've heard in recorded form. Patient, slowly evolving, and with such innovation which most certainly elevates Bhattacharya to some entirely other level, a master among masters. He's backed by three percussionists on O Shakuntala!, including his brother on tabla, who completely blew us away when we saw them perform live. Some amazing genes that family must have!
The only negative thing we have to say about this disc has nothing to with the music, but there is no denying the cover art is pretty bad. Makes it seem like it must be some cheesy fusion record you would get at a store that sells incense and mood rings. But luckily it doesn't reflect the totally entrancing and stunning sounds inside. Highest of recommendations!
What with all these Bollywood soundtrack compilations coming out it's about time that there was a disc that features the work of one of the all time greats in the genre. Asha Bhosle is, as stated in the liner notes, the "indisputed Queen of Bollywood." With
Debut single from this brand new duo, featuring Eric Copeland of long running noiseniks Black Dice and Jimi Hey, formerly of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, and we have to say, the sound definitely falls somewhere closer to Hey's old outfit, two slab of tweaked, warped, carnivalesque outsider pop, rife with sped up vocals, woozy harmonies, backwards guitar swoops, bizarre production. The A side sounds a bit tropical and summery, very Ariel Pink / John Maus for sure, everything warped and liquid sounding, bloopy melodies, the record almost sounding like it's physically melting, or like a classic pop 45 spinning on a malfunctioning turntable, the RPM's constantly changing, dreamily queasy, sunshiney and washed out, but with a thick buzzy second half that gets weirdly heavy and distorted.
The B side offers up more of the same, another drowsy druggy chunk of outsider jangle pop, more strangely harmonized vox, tangled up wah wah guitars, and a super crazy catchy melody, that the rest of the song and all of the sounds seem deadset on subverting. Cool strange stuff. Definitely recommended for fans of lysergic outsider pop and warped weirdo summery jangle, which we're guessing is probably a whole lot of you!
In the same way that the Melvins' last collaboration (Melvins + Lustmord) was more a Melvins than Lustmord sounding affair, this team-up with former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra sounds more like Jello's record...but it's punk rock, not spoken word, don'tcha worry. As his back-up band, the Melvins rock out righteously, and of course there's nothing like unstable times to stoke the flames of the irrepressible, razor-tongued Jello Biafra. He's sure got plenty of material to work with these days. This actually nears the Biafra fury of old DK days. As usual, plenty of easy targets get clobbered (fer instance, the anti-SUV song "Yuppie Cadillac", perhaps a sequel of sorts to the DK's "Winnebago Warriors") and it's a lot of fun -- as long as you're not a Jello-hater. Anyone with a soft spot for the DKs ought to enjoy this though! Maybe less so for Melvins fans (who were better served with that Lustmord collab disc) but the punkier among you will like both the Melvins-penned cuts and the slightly goofier-sounding Biafra written tunes. Definitely the best Biafra in a while, that's for sure. And in the vast Melvins canon, not nearly as difficult or wacky as, say, Crybaby or Prick!
The team-up of former Dead Kennedys singer / pissed-off political humorist Jello Biafra and underground heavy rock gods the Melvins on last year's Never Breathe What You Can't See album was probably the best Jello record in years, definitely bringing back memories of the DK's heyday. And it sure brought out the punk side of the Melvins. Well, this new album from the Biafra/Melvins conglom should be of interest to anyone who really got off on that last one, consisting as it does of more anti-Yuppie, anti-corporate, anti-Reagan (whoops, I mean Bush) sonic rants recorded during the Never Breathe sessions. Also included: a live track and remixes from Dalek, Melvins's drummer Dale Crover, and Ministry's Al Jourgensen (who collaborated with Biafra some years back in Lard).
A while back we raved about Maurizio Bianchi's collaboration with Land Use as being a legitimate return to form for the Italian post-industrialist. Bianchi had begun making music in the late '70s first recording under the moniker Sacher-Pelz; but it was the dozen or so MB records from the early '80s that really brought notoriety to Bianchi. On the MB recordings, Bianchi applied extremely grim sonic metaphors to the electronic impressionist templates of Klaus Schulze, Conrad Schnitzler, and Cluster. Even to this day the MB dyptic of Endometrio and Carsinosi stands as some of the most devistating and claustrophobic recordings. Ever. Period.
Jump forward almost 20 years and a major existential shift in thinking (Bianchi's now a Jehovah's Witness), and Bianchi's recordings have undoubtably changed. While the Land Use collaboration did explore many of the same bleak metaphors of his MB recordings, A M.B. Iehn Tale shifts away from the heavier ideas, focusing upon a sound that is quite elegiac in nature. Self-described as "piano decompositions," the eight tracks of A M.B. Iehn Tale dissolve the hammered tones of Bianchi's piano into spiralling post-Terry Riley / post-Eno kaleidoscopes of vibrating sound and cosmic Ur-droning. Bianchi is at his best when he thoroughly buries the piano in a thick soup of electronics and effects, echoing his heroes from the '70s once again. Thoroughly mesmerising work from Mr. Bianchi!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
During the late '70s and early '80s, Maurizio Bianchi was responsible for some of the most expressive manifestations of Industrial Culture, recording under the monikers MB and Sacher Pelz. Those albums, in particular "Endometrio" and "Symphany For A Genocide" were overwhelmingly dark orchestrations for mechanical rhythms, ominous synthetic drones, and abject metaphors for grand epistomological conflicts. But in 1984 much to the dismay of his contemporaries, Bianchi suddenly stopped making music and became a Jehovah's Witness. It took 13 years for Bianchi to return to making music. While his return incited the re-issue program of all of those older, impossible to find records, the recent albums haven't been all that good. "Frammenti" - released merely as a cd-r - may be the strongest of his recent work, but it's still not even close to the intensity and execution of those early albums. Here, Bianchi has sharply collaged shortwave static, white noise from a record needle scraping across a label, and snippets from the orchestral finales from a number of classical compositions. Yup, that's it. Even the die-hard Bianchi fans here at Aquarius had to wonder about this one.
Maurizio Bianchi is one of the pioneers of Italian industrial culture, with a single-minded, visionary bleakness that inspired hordes of death-obsessed noise technicians from the '80s onward. He recorded at a frenzied pace from the late '70s until 1984, when he ceremoniously quit making music with numerous stories surrounding his self-imposed retirement. Yet, he slowly began to tinker with electronics in the mid-'90s and gradually returned to a similarly manic pace which once again came to a screeching halt in 2010. Despite this current work stoppage of Bianchi's new recordings, there's still plenty of material which has not been reissued (or may not have been released at all for that matter!). Industrial Murder / Menstrual Bleeding is an album whose recordings date back to 1982, but didn't get released until 1992 when Banned Productions released the album on vinyl. Of course, that quickly went out of print, and that will probably be the fate of this cd edition as well. Not much of Bianchi's best work stays around for long.
1982 found Bianchi cycling through an ongoing variation on a theme, which began with Symphony For A Genocide and came to a conclusion with Das Testament. Self-described as 'decompositions,' Bianchi was pretty much an improviser on drum machine, distortion pedals, turntable, and synths, creating a demonic noise which sprawled above the mutable rhythms which slipped out of militant lock-step grinding into asynchronous pulses, all the while scraped and smothered with scabrous noises, atonal dive-bombing gestures, and sickening vibrations. His weird morphing of sound and rhythm really set him apart from pretty much all of the other industrialists who fashioned their work through the act controlling noise and chaos with plenty of abject and transgressive signifiers floating around. Industrial Murder / Menstrual Bleeding is an adaptation of the same themes you would hear on those aforementioned albums, with all of the noxious rhythmic meanderings, Frankensteinian melodic plodding, and sea-sickening accelerations of synth noise that's commonplace amongst these Bianchi recordings.
Limited to 300 copies.
"NH/HN" is evidently a bootleg of an old cassette-only recording release originally self-released in 1982 (???) by the pioneering Italian Industrialist Maurizio Bianchi (who sometimes referred to himself simply as MB), yet strangely none of this work found its way into the ArcheoMB reissue campaign. Despite there being very little information to be found about this recording, it shares much in common with the last works Bianchi made from 81-83 including his masterpieces of carcinogenic electronics "Endometrio" and "Carcinosi." Dense layers of Bianchi's archetypal fibrillations of grimy electronics and electro-shock dronings crawl ominously through endlesslessly cycling variations, punctuated with frigid divebomb squeals. While the albums reissued on the ArcheoMB series only hinted at such a theory, "NH/HN" appears to be an improvisation with slabs of flickering melodies erupting from Bianchi's abused Korg synth. These improvisational models are far from playful, but do offer extra readings to Bianchi's work outside of the clinical calculation of misanthropic metaphors and deadly, corrosive atmospheres. Well worth it if you've gotten into those aforementioned Bianchi albums.
The last time we remember Maurizio Bianchi (who often referred to himself as MB) producing a good record was back in 1984 when the Italian industrialist produced Armaghedon. After he released that cold cold record of neurally fused electronics, Bianchi infamously quit making music and declared himself a Jehovah's Witness. The transition for a man who produced records alongside Whitehouse and Nurse With Wound toward a fringe contingent of Christianity certainly draws one's attention to the work that he made immediately before this conversion, as the bleakness of the sounds take on grand epistomological references. It was assumed that he was never going to make any music ever again; however in the late '90s, Bianchi returned to music, only to produce some of the worst New Age ambient drivel we'd ever heard. These records were so incredibly bad that when labels ballyhooed one of his records as something as good as Carcinosi or Endometrio (universally considered his best and most devastating recordings), we were more than a little skeptical, thinking back to the lame New Age outings.
Thank God, we gave Psychoneurose a listen, as this record is so spectacular that perhaps we will be searching out some of those other records to see if they are as good as they were claimed to be! Is Psychoneurose as good as the aforementioned Carcinosi / Endometrio dyptic? Well to be perfectly honest, no; but Bianchi and whoever the hell Land Use is have really done well in returning to the all-encompassing, utterly blackened, subterraneanly frigid, nightmarishly grim, soul-crushingly bleak, death-shroud ambience that Bianchi had produced back in the day. Expansive, Frankensteinian drones constanly broadcast a black energy, marred with tactile corrosive noises and synthetic twitches which could only be made by the same anaglog technology of Bianchi's classic recordings. So until those aforementioned albums come back in print yet again, Psychoneurose holds its own as a worthy substitute.
We raved about the last sonic meeting between these two dronelords, the legendary Maurizio Bianchi aka MB, and soundscaper Land Use, that record, Psychoneurose, was a return to form for Bianchi, after a string of very disappointing recordings, which we couldn't help but attribute to Land Use. Whatever sort of magic the two were able to conjure up on Psychoneurose, it wasn't an isolated event thankfully as TSE-K find the two teamed up again in 2005 with similarly fantastic results.
Best to begin probably by simple quoting the two quotes from the back of the lp describing the music within, or at least the ideas behind said music. First: "Electro-neural mitosis for hypochondriac neurotonic waves and farraginous tone emissions, achieved during the decline of the 2005". Indeed. And then: "The tabular discovery of the infectious scent is unseating the undelayable grinding of an extremistic property. In The rancid combination of 'Bionic Music' and 'Musique Conrete', the virological zoning renders some synthetic and respectable optograms to the marginal intractability. TSE-K oppresses the phototherabeutic egotism with its pre-recorded electronic sources and deranged acoustic samples. It's the sharp and insignificant scream melted together with mutated voices... Physiological disinfestation and some treatment for the hypochondriac listener." Phew, um... Okay. Let's be honest, we have no idea what any of that means, but it is clouded in mystery, and in that way definitely represents the sounds contained on TSE-K, which at its very core is a minimal drone record, a gorgeous one at that. nothing really harsh or heavy, more dark and soothing and dreamy, but within the swirling low end tones and softly whirring rumbles lurk all manner of melody, and of texture, overtones create strange rhythmic pulses, the sounds occasionally coalesce into thick shimmering throbs, before slipping back into the drifting blackness below. In the case of TSE-K, headphones are most definitely like a diving bell, letting the listener sink into the inky blackness, and observe the various sonic elements and subtle melodic activities that are all tangled up in the blackened layers of warm ominous murk.
The flip side offers up more of the same, but the drone element is a bit more subtle, more of a backdrop for slivers of feedback, and grinding bits of textural buzz, more colors, the shades of black bleeding into browns and reds, not quite as abject and cold, streaks of glowing warmth shooting through a wide open expanse of greyed ambience and abstract post industrial minimalist drift.
We only got a dozen of these, and we're not sure we'll be able to get more when we run out. Fair warning...
Some collaborations find a way to strike a balance between two strong aesthetics, and others resolve themselves with one aesthetic absorbing the other. Maurizio Bianchi has been a force to be reckoned with in recent years, thanks to his return to powerful, cold electronics featured on an avalanche of recent releases; yet, it's a little difficult to discern where he is on The House Of Mourning. Ostensibly, this is his collaboration with the German industrial project Telepherique; and from the sounds of the album, it's Telepherique who clearly are in the driver's seat. The looping MIDI-synth electronics, the life-support system rhythms, and the heavy use of sampled Arabic media lend themselves towards the realms of Cabaret Voltaire and Muslimgauze; and it's hardly the all consuming swarm of Bianchi drone that we've come to expect. That said, Telepherique's industrialist klank and threatening atmospheres are well articulated and quite pleasing in their own right. Limited to 500 copies, and supposedly out of print by now.
It seems that Maurizio Bianchi will collaborate with anybody these days. We can recall the Italian Industrial pioneer working with the likes of Aube, Telepherique, Land Use, Telepherique, Hitoshi Kojo (whose M.B. collaboration Epidemic Symphony was definitely one the forgotten gems of 2006), and now TH26, an Italian project with only a handful of obscure recordings dating back to the mid-'90s. Many of Bianchi's contemporary collaborations have resulted in teeth-gnashing drones reflecting the existentially torn metaphors of Bianchi's work from the early '80s (which for our money is miles above the work of Whitehouse, Merzbow, and Ramleh back in the day). But in working with TH26, Bianchi appears to be expressing an entirely new facet of his musical vocabulary, that of rhythm. Arkaeo Planum begins with a skittering post-Autechre breakbeat augmented with fragments of smoldering noise strewn about its rhythmic underbelly. Bianchi and TH26 slowly dive into subterranean depths on the next track which features a much more lugubrious crawl for rhythm, drenched in a reverb that expands into an eerie network of Schniztler drones, thudding piano, and fizzing pixilations channelled into focused beams of searing noise. If anything, the tracks on Arkaeo Planum might parallel the final works of Coil with their synthetic sourced sidereal, dark overtures...
Psalmodiam is yet another in the ceaseless output from Italian industrialist Maurizio Bianchi; and this time, he's collaborating with the mysterious project M.D.T for a limited edition CD-R that expands upon Psalm 63. Bianchi is a devout Jehovah's Witness and has attempted to bring his spiritual beliefs into the bleak realm of his suffocating electronics to limited success. That poor track record of bad ambient records with sugary new age sensibilities is turned around on Psalmodiam, which seeks to expand upon the poetry of Psalm 63. That particular Psalm finds David singing to the glory of God all the while asking that those who seek to harm David be "given over to the sword and become food for jackals." It seems that this latter poetry of divine vindication is where Bianchi and M.D.T. begin. The central structure of this album is a series of very cold passages for cavernous drones, upon which tiny electrical glitches sparkle and crinkle alongside churning, mechanical pulses. At times, these expansive sounds resemble the finer moments of Lustmord or at times have some of the smeared fluidity of Troum's dual guitar attacks. This fine entry from Mr. Bianchi is limited to 199 copies and comes with hand painted covers.
The mission has been terminated, once again. Without giving any reasons, Maurizio Bianchi has given up producing music. Of course, this is not the first time that Bianchi had ceased operations, as he famously disappeared from sight around 1984 after a frenzy of releases beginning around 1978. Those albums, in particular Symphony For A Genocide and The Plain Truth, as well as William Bennett's antics on two early MB records released on Come Organisation, secured his status as a heavy weight of Industrial Culture alongside Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound, Ramleh, and Whitehouse; and the demonstrative cessation only served to buttress his mythology. But by the late '90s, Bianchi began recording once again, gradually returning to the frenzied pace he set during his earlier peak of activity. Unfortunately, the new work has not always been up to snuff, as he didn't seem to turn down any collaborative offer and didn't seem too interested in the finer points of editing his content. BUT, there have been some real gems amidst the chaff.
Hence, we announce Das Platinzeitalter. A quintessential Bianchi construction, this album meditates upon the minutiae of crumbling systems, returning to a common theme of Bianchi's classic period -- the cancerous body faced with a slow demise through ancillary pathogens. His sounds are blackened ambiences culled from stacked grey-smear loops and elongated ashen drones, some of which have been purported to originate from Jozef Van Wissem's lute recordings, although you'll be hard pressed to find anything lute-like in these shadowing sounds. Ominous. Grim. Foreboding. Oppressive. Neurotic. These are all apt descriptions to Bianchi's best work; and those all apply here, but with the strange twist that this ambience is somewhat contemplative, as if Bianchi's death-obsessed soundtrack is more of an enveloping invitation instead of a scream of horror.
This 2lp was originally released as a cd on Van Wissem's Incunabula a couple years back, and now appears on vinyl courtesy of Weird Forest in a modest edition of 500 copies.
You would think that with not one, but four archival collections of Maurizio Bianchi's seminal work from the early '80s, all of these recordings would have been made available by now. Actually, an excerpt of Technology 1 did appear on the Vinyl-On-Demand 5LP boxset Archives 1, but nowhere has Technology 2 been reissued, barring the dodgy bootlegs throughout the past three decades. Technology 1 & 2 were originally self-released cassettes that Bianchi issued under his MB moniker in 1981.
For those not familiar with the work of MB / Maurizio Bianchi, Technology 1 & 2 actually works as an excellent primer into his industrial wastelands strewn with carcinogenic pathogens and primitive landmines. This Italian musician came to prominence through his initial work with William Bennett of Come Productions and later through a few releases on Broken Flag; and his recordings throughout the late '70s and early '80s were definitely of the 'Industrial' mindset as in Whitehouse, Throbbing Gristle, and SPK. But his references were less the detourned rock structures of those outfits, his influence came more from the German camps: Klaus Schulze, Cluster, Conrad Schnitzler, etc. In applying the death-culture aesthetic of those aforementioned Brits to the electronic expressionism of those aforementioned Germans, Bianchi had a jumping off point for a massive output, which is clearly why these tapes had yet to see the light of day.
Both Technology 1 and 2 are poly-dimensional explorations of searing hiss, robotic bleeps, turgid noise, and mechano rhythms. The first chapter throb with pulsing electronics that splatter across a hot-wired electrical field that almost engender the noxious energy of shortwave radio receptions of utility signals. These sharply rendered rainbow electronics are contrasted by the far more alienating shivers of electrical sound on Technology 2. Here, Bianchi sets up sheets of metallic vibration and rippling static for his insistent pulses of stun-gun blasts. Both of these discs are much closer to the Symphony For A Genocide and Mectpyo Blut album found in the MB box. Bianchi was true to the misanthropic attitudes of his youth on these recordings, presenting the sounds as the artifacts of technology that invade the body on a cellular level to destroy from within.
We've long championed the work of Maurizio Bianchi, the grim electronic sculptor whose work in the early '80s paralleled the likes of Whitehouse, Ramleh, and Matthew Bower's early power electronics project Total. As much as we would like to ramble on about Bianchi's intriguing musical and existential history in reference to this record, it's almost a moot point as it's really hard to discern any sounds that bear the signature of Mr. Bianchi. Don't let that caveat scare you off from checking out this thoroughly amazing blur of noise, drone, acoustic tumult and electronics; but we have to be completely honest. No, it doesn't sound much like a Bianchi record; instead, the real author of the final mix of The Epidemic Symphony No. 9 is the little known Japanese sound artist Hitosji Kojo (who also records as Spiracle). If there's any justice, Hitoshi / Spiracle shouldn't be "little known" for very long. In fact, he should be heralded as the viable contender to replace David Jackman / Organum as the king of the droning acoustics. And no, none of the guttural drone expressionists who splatter cd-rs with quickly rendered cosmic exasperations come close to the power that Jackman was capable of in the '80s. But Hitoshi Kojo does.
Like Jackman, Hitoshi's work is a dense compounding of layered acoustic textures, each of which are impeccably recorded and carefully positioned within the stereo field. In working with the source material presented by Bianchi and Nobu Kasahara (another obscure Japanese sound artist who has collaborated once before with The New Blockaders, giving some clue as the cacophony he's capable of), Hitoshi continues this strategy of precisely placed sounds which are then given plenty of opportunity to growl, rumble, vibrate, and bristle however they see fit. Where the first lengthy track steadily builds up to a crashing crescendo that abruptly cuts to silence, the second track exhibits some of what may be Bianchi's sounds -- a return to the Sacher Pelz techniques of varispeed tape and crushed turntable clatter which Hitoshi compounds into rippled acoustic shimmer. For the finale, Hitoshi blurs the source material into an industrial chorale marked by a surprisingly elegant two-note melody. Highly recommended!
Apparently the artist known as Bibio (aka Stephen Wilkinson) is a particular fave of Boards Of Canada's Marcus Eoin. So much so that Eoin recommended that Mush Records check him out, and clearly they agreed 'cause here's Bibio's debut album on that very label. Each of the seventeen tracks is amply processed and arranged from his collections of cassette-recorded field recordings, as well as samples of his own performances on various instruments. According to his bio, Wilkinson's list of influences runs the gamut from Joao Gilberto to My Bloody Valentine, from Incredible String Band to Tortoise, but you really wouldn't be able to tell simply from listening to Fi. Not at all, unlike many other current artists who wear their influences on their sleeves to the point of simply aping their idols, Bibio hasn't fallen into this trap. Furthermore, although many of the tracks may fall under the flavor-of-the-day description of "acoustic guitar melodies with electronic and field recording textures", unlike many other current (dare we say lazy?) artists, Wilkinson doesn't just plop a static-y cloud atop a folk song. No, he fully integrates his sonic elements into a fully enveloping listening experience -- brittle and fuzzy like they've being transmitted out through a rickety antique radio. If we had to come up with a point of reference, we might say that the hazy and dreamlike Fi sounds much like an expanded, modernized take on the outro to the mid-70s 10CC hit "I'm Not In Love". At once, it's atmosphere is intimate yet glisteningly space-y.
Following up his shimmery, celestial debut album Fi, Bibio brings his music more down to earth with his no less warm 'n' blissful second album, Hand Cranked. Really pretty, willowy, pastoral soundscapes crafted from slightly woozy sampled loops of delicately picked guitar, piano, recorder and other found sounds from his collection of cassette-recorded field recordings. Can't tell for sure if they're real or not (probably are), but adding to the outdoorsy breezy atmosphere of the fifth track "Marram" are some sounds that resemble twittery birdsong. Another stand-out is the final fluttery track "Overgrown". Conjures visions of butterflies, raindrops and babbling brooks. Very very nice!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Metal IS comin' back... that is, if bands like Bible Of The Devil have anything to say about it. And by "metal" we mean real, Priest/Maiden/NWOBHM inspired heavy metal. Glory days metal, like in the early '80s, before the glam MTV hair bands took over, and most of the non-posers forgot about melody and went underground into the cesspits of death and grind metal... And by "back" we mean, um, at least here at Aquarius we know we can sell some of these.
We first heard these guys when we brought in their last album, Tight Empire, on the advice of our pals Hammers Of Misfortune, who'd played with 'em in BOTD's hometown of Chicago. We liked it, but that disc was almost as "garage-rock" as it was metal, greasy and axe-kickin' but not, y'know, stuff from the gates of Valhalla. But now, bearing the statement-of-purpose title of Brutality - Majesty - Eternity, Bible Of The Devil have unleashed a true metal masterpiece! Bow down to their twin guitar attack, classic riffing, and sheer heavy metal exuberance. Should appeal to fans of some other bands we've recommended who are also in the business of old school metal revival: 3 Inches Of Blood, Early Man and Slough Feg, fer instance. In fact, BOTD toured with Slough Feg this summer -- I caught the show in Boston and it was a slayfest indeed, those two bands are well matched. True enough, with these twelve tracks, you can play spot the influence all album-long (just like with Early Man)... Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, AC/DC. The guitar harmonies and epic songwriting owe a lot to Maiden and Lizzy (and Slough Feg?) while the vocals remind us of both Lemmy from Motorhead and Udo from Accept's gargle at times... But it's all wrapped up into something that isn't quite like any single one of their forebears. And is pretty darn killer.
So if you're into some over the top, denim and leather, flying V action ('specially if you're already a Slough Feg fan) you should definitely check out this new Bible Of The Devil disc!
We're gonna do this review in 2 entirely separate parts:
FIRST, for folks already fans of this kickass Chicago-based old school metal squad (perhaps on account of our previous rave reviews), hell it's a new album from 'em, after four years a fine follow up to 2008's rulin' Freedom Metal - 'nuff said, you know you need it!
SECOND, if like a lot of folks, you're not familiar with the inexplicably underrated BOTD... well maybe you're into another band of shredders, from here in SF, The Saviours? They're pretty durn popular, and we love 'em too (their reviews on our site should attest to that), but we've always wondered why BOTD weren't at least as successful, 'cause, not to take anything away from The Saviours, BOTD are even better. Both bands play heavy, riffy '70s/'80s inspired, but sorta punked up metal, with tons o' twin guitar action - and with both bands, the vocals are the weak link. While the singing is superior in BOTD's case, let's say that their gravelly vocals still aren't the greatest, with more attitude than aptitude, but do get the job done. Besides, they sure do come up with catchy choruses, so that YOU can (and will) sing along, and see if you can do better! The backing vox whoah-oh-oh style stuff has become a BOTD hallmark all right, so they're doing the best with what they got.
But anyway, it's in the guitar dep't where these boys shine. And shine they do, here, there and everywhere. The guitarwork is jaunty and jubilant, with plenty of nods to what's gotta be one of their biggest influences, Thin Lizzy. Yep, as always, we're hearing a lotta Lizzy... NWOBHM too of course... and also some Led Zeppish funkiness on the track "Raw & Order". BOTD are the heirs to a lot of classic rock and metal moves that few bands today do as well as they do, or even do at all. Mention should also be made of the surprise horn section in the middle of "I Know What Is Right (In The Night)", nice!
The rough n' ready production job points up something else you should know about these guys - they're a great live band, go see 'em if you get the chance. Drunken air guitaring will be your fate... very likely too even if you just listen to this at home.
Recommended especially, as indicated, to fans of The Saviours and Thin Lizzy, also to fans of the likes of High Spirits, Gypsyhawk, Danava, and occasional partners-in-crime Slough Feg...
This is pretty much exactly what you'd hope for from a band who has a Flying V guitar as part of their logo! Chicago's Bible Of The Devil are back, all hairy and bearded, with another ripping record of '80s, NWOBHM inspired heavy metal rockin'. It's their fifth album, so along with the guitar, they've got a (Roman numeral) V in the logo on the cover of this, too. V can also stand for victory, and "triumphant" is a word we've used to describe these guys' metallic gallop in the past, a gallop graced with gruff Lemmy-ish vocal gargle and (of course) tons of twin Flying V fret burnin' leads and dual harmonies.
Catchy stoner riffage, soaring melodies, singalong choruses, total shred, these guys bring it on Freedom Metal, recorded by their hometown heaviness production guru, Sanford Parker. No wonder they're such good buddies with those epic eccentrics known as Slough Feg. Their rollicking riffs even seemingly share some of the same Celtic/folk influences at times... or Thin Lizzy influence anyway, as on the likes of "Greek Fire", "500 More", and especially the super Lizzyish, upbeat "Ol' Girl" (which we could also describe as sounding like Southern rock with extra Champs-y guitars). Furthermore, while the whole album hews to BOTD's usual raw rock vibe, one foot still in the garage, they mix it up from track-to-track, some more blazingly metallic, and a few more melodically mellow, as with the moody "Heat Feeler" which has moments that make us think of Elvis Costello or something!
Basically, Bible Of The Devil just keep gettin' better n' better, and Freedom Metal is a blast. And like a blast from the past that ain't actually from the past. Our only question: why no song called "Turn It Up, Man"?
NB. we also have a new BOTD split 7" with Pennsylvania doom metal act Valkyrie, we'll try to list that next time if we still have copies.
On last year's Brutality - Majesty - Eternity album, Chicago's Bible Of The Devil really turned on the Heavy Metal afterburners, rocketing from being just a hard rockin', gritty garage/punk band who obviously loved their old AC/DC, Motley Crue and Motorhead cassettes, to the next level of metallic majesty, crafting truly epic, twin guitar riffed compositions worthy of eccentric AQ faves The Lord Weird Slough Feg -- who, perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, are pals and frequent touring (and recent split 7") partners with BOTD. If, like us, you thought that was a righteous development, then you'll for sure be pleased with their new onslaught, The Diabolic Procession! The sheer metal triumph of Brutality - Majesty - Eternity is recapitulated here, and then some! If anything, these guys have gotten even more Slough Feg-gy, with some hints of Celtic folk seemingly sneaking into their riff-writing. And they're on the same label as Slough Feg, now, in fact. So, as with the Feg, Maidenesque dual guitar action is a big part of this album's appeal, for us -- you've gotta love lots of guitar (twin Flying V's, if you must know) to dig this, that's for sure. But there's more (which is also crucial): strong songwriting, tons of energy, memorable melodies, and cerebral concepts. Regarding that last item -- I guess it's circular logic to say this, but who but a metal band would consider making a whole album all about something like the tragic historical episode of the Children's Crusades of the Middle Ages?? Gotta love it.
And despite the history lessons, and folky riffs, and acoustic bits that have found their way into these epic numbers, Bible Of The Devil still has something of their punk roots about 'em, notably in the vocals, which are a lot rougher and tougher than the typical power metal croon. Gruff and gravely yet sorta screechy, we're reminded of Lemmy at times, Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. at others... works for us! Goes great with the crunchy chuggy, Maiden/Slough Feg mixed with Metallica tuneage. The Diabolic Possession is another definite triumph for these 'garage rockers gone metal'... very metal!!
Like Zebulon Pike last list, here's another band recommended to us by our pals Hammers Of Misfortune, who played with 'em when on tour this past summer. Mike from Hammers lent me their new cd, and I agreed with him that it rocked and immediately wanted one and figured a few of you might want one too...so here it is! Chicago's Bible Of The Devil are a ass-kickin' garage-metal outfit, cranking out raw guitar riffage with raucous vocals. Influences probably include AC/DC, Alice Cooper and the NWOBHM. Both really heavy and kinda punk, these greasy long-hairs know what they're doing that's for sure. You don't possess a profanity-laced screech like their singer or engage in the twin axe action with which Bible Of The Devil's guitarists are adept without payin' some dues. Should stoke all the same urges as Motley Crue and Motorhead...we'd also cite the Hellacopters, Turbonegro, the Necros, and SF locals Night After Night and Drunkhorse as like minded acts whose fans ought to do some 'Bible study'.
Chicago's formation Flying V pilots Bible Of The Devil fight in the skies on this split 7" with another band of metal maniacs, Louisville's Blade Of The Ripper (featuring one of the dudes from Nashville Pussy and The Hookers, letting his Venom fandom come to the fore). The 33 rpm Side A is BOTD's "Hot Deth", and it harks back a bit to their more Hellacopters-ish garagey rawk early stylings while staying as metal as their spelling of "deth" would suggest. On the flip (which is supposed to spin at 45, 'cause they're fucking with you or something), BOTR offer up "Cast Me In The Fire", maybe even more vicious and raw and metallically evil than the A-side, though you do have the option of speeding "Hot Deth" up to 45 if you want to hear something faster (and more ridiculous), to which "Cast Me In The Fire" can't respond unless you've got a turntable that plays at 78 too. We're big BOTD fans already, but this makes us want to check out more BOTR also. Limited edition, Italian import, we have but a fistful.
We listed the latest album of dual Flying V action (Flying VV?) from Chicago's metal masters Bible Of The Devil last list. Here's another, new n' exclusive, kick ass track from them, "The Auld Dirt Road", on one side of this split 7" single they share with Virginia doomsters Valkyrie, who do a song called "False Dreams". Between 'em, BOTD and Valkyrie manage to turn this 7" inch into a shrine to all that's retro, rad, & rockin', with Bible leaning towards Thin Lizzy, and Valkyrie tilting towards Pentagram...
It's a limited edition release, naturally, on either red or blue colored vinyl (luck of the draw). We have but a handful.
Jeremy Bible is the man behind the Experimedia label/distribution/empire, which has humble beginnings as a small imprint for his own compositions for melancholy dronemusic and amorphously treated field recordings. Admittedly, it has been a while since we've heard any of Bible's output; and on Collisions there's a considerable shift from the soft-focus, ambient-grounded smears and blurs from those earlier recordings to the neutron smashing and amplified laboratory hum found the aptly named cassette. The field recordings do persist with chapters of nocturnal tree frogs and daytime birdsong bracketed by passages of clinical electronics, possibly rendered through blorping modular synthesis or some sort of digital equivalent. The tones, nonetheless, are sharp and abraded, reflecting similar rhythms from barking tree frogs and mellifluous thrushes. Bible's jittery splutter of tone into jagged sawtooth patterns and erratic squiggle recalls some of the polydactyl, generative work from Keith Fullerton Whitman or the scabrous digital errata of Florian Hecker. At times, it's a frenzied, furious work; and at others, it can be austerely designed in the vein of Asmus Tietchens. Super limited, and packaged in a swanky box with foil stamping.
We've picked up another title from the Ohio based field recordists / audio collagists Jeremy Bible and Jason Henry, after being suitably impressed by their earlier album Vectors. The title alone to Shpwrck offers unsettled maritime references, and the lulling pace of lugubrious half melodies and creaking metal does little to alter the course down to the bottom of the ocean. The opening track is effectively simple repetition of a haunted melody, with all of the tape oxidization and murk that makes for a successful Disintegration Loop for William Basinski. Bible and Henry introduce quiet cracklings which sporadically make themselves known, sort of like embers popping in the aftermath of a fire. This combination is so effective, immediately other sublime works with seaworthy themes come to mind: Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste, Elegi's Sistereis, or the Philip Jeck / Gavin Bryars / Alter Ego redux of The Sinking Of The Titanic. More recognizable instrumentation comes to the forefront throughout the rest of the album, with twinkling bells and flutes contrasting next to a dystopian blurt of a post-Cosey Fanny Tutti trumpet with matching bellows from huge metallic objects being struck and then twisted into a deep, dark ambient smear. There's even some piano which alternates between maudlin impressionist gestures and angry minor key strikes. For all of the baroque objects which litter the descent way way down, Bible and Henry coax an even surface of atmospheric shadow and tactile grit into the mix. A very fine collection of work that is also quite limited. 150 copies, we believe.
Jeremy Bible and Jason Henry are two Ohio based sound artists, who draw heavily from field recordings from the rust belt and obfuscate them into seductive, occasionally dark pieces of fizzing ambience. The details of decaying leaves from the artwork of Vectors immediately translates into the opening passages of Vectors, as a tactile crackling nestles into a womblike drone. The soft crunch could easily come from Loren Chasse's meditations on broken earth and crumbled leaves, but they could be confused for the vintage turntable collages of Philip Jeck. But as the passages for layered tones and variable loops begin to articulate themselves against the tactile grit of those aforementioned sounds, Bible and Henry showcase themselves more as digital sculptors closer to Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker. Their looping repetitions progressively appear as a slowly generative kaleidoscope with cross-hatched smears, refracted distortions, and slightly eerie abstracted noises, all set against a static electrical hum. Flickered haunted melodies appear and disappear amidst
thobbing metallic drones, 8-bit distortion and post-Fennesz fizzing ring modulation before seamlessly shifting into an obfuscated field recording. On one occasion, a blustery chorus of blackbirds breaks through the shimmer and pixelation; on another, the two include the modulated Doppler effect of cars roaring past along a freeway, recalling the Hafler Trio's revelation that God told him to record the sound of cars passing by. Limited edition to 150 copies, or thereabouts.
Here be the sad sounds of drowning. This Ohio-based pair has quietly amassed an intriguing catalogue of digitally treated dronemusic and manipulated field recordings, with Vryashn being maybe the best so far, oozing with a gorgeous subaquatic melancholia. Aside from all of their sound design tricks, the piano is the central instrument on Vryashn with its notes stretched and elongated into sinewy tones. While the treatments are quite similar to what Brian Eno did on Thursday Afternoon and to what Jonathan Coleclough achieved on Period, Bible and Henry attack the piano with much greater force through their heavy handed arpeggiations on the lower register keys. When wrapped into the slow-motion whirlpool of oceanic reverb and and cyclical drone construction, the brooding notes of the piano sound as if they are the last notes being played by some madman trapped on the ship slowly sinking into the depths of the Black Sea. Tactile bits of organic scrapes and cracklings sweep across the stereo field and dissolve into the ever deeper and blacker void of the waters below. Like Gavin Bryars' similar opus on oceanic collapse, The Sinking Of The Titanic, there is a sublime beauty to these sinking sounds. Recommended, for sure!
Bob Forrest of Thelonious Monster�s new band.
Obscure Italian Freestyle 12" from 1983 for those who love and miss the sounds of early Madonna, Regina and Vivian Vee.
