by on

Now here is a conundrum…. Washington based project Zabus has dropped two albums within three months of each…this year. Soooo, I have decided to showcase the latest release, The Future Of Death, which is out on the non-profit label Saccharine Underground. Jeremy Moore (Thee Rise Ov Sadistic Youth, Zero Swann, Garozde) started Zabus in 2023, joined by fellow musicians Peter Hallock (Garozde), Alkane Shimizu (Zero Swann) and, for this album, Jeroen Achterburg. By the way, is it just me or is the cover channelling New Order’s Movement?

From the get go, there is the jangly guitar with reflective echoing and sweetly morose vocals. The guitars do not seem to want to follow the script as evidenced in “Columbarium” where they go from Southern Gothic plucking to wandering through the track, all the while the electronics blow through in the background. “Subversion” is in the territory of causing your skin to gooseflesh with its haunting simplicity, slowly tracing ephemeral fingers, raising ghosts of 80s British post-punk bands in their wake.

Necro means death and graphs are a pictorial way of representing data, so possibly the track “Necrographs” is about wanting an organised knowledge of what happens after the last breath has left the body. The ability to quantify the final moments and beyond if there is one, “Necrographs” eerily drones with rhythmic oddities holding it together, while the synths wend their way, with the occasional instrumental scream into the void.

The drawling “Captor” leads you down a road of torment of when lovers no longer feel that pull and yet cannot leave, maybe due to fear. The heavy bass is beautiful in “Retribution,” married to the fabulous striking guitars and clicking beats. Honestly, the guitars are the feature of this track and I really adored it. We are thrown into the far more experimental and psychedelic “The All Light,” filled with reverb and distortion, and I can’t help but smile as it reminds me of Bauhaus in some ways. There is also some pretty intense imagery within the lyrics.

There is that Southern Gothic feel again in “Burst Oppression,” and it is eloquent in both tone and vocal imagery, with a true sense of loss and complete hopelessness, dropping us in an expansive desert of mortality. Last track is “Solstice,” and it is poignant and dark. Perhaps it is looking back to a point in history where life was given so that life could continue, in the form of sacrifice or mayhap star crossed lovers, but it lets your imagination run wild with the possibilities.

Moore’s vocals are very reminiscent of Ian Astbury and are a delight to behold. For me, this is the essence of gothic/post-punk music. There are the tried and true expressions of the style from the guitar flourishes, introspective lyrics, brooding vocals and looking through a romanticised lens, a vision of dark beauty encompassing life, death and spirituality. However there is also an experimental pushing of the boundaries, asking instruments to make sounds that they are not necessarily meant to make and not sticking to set musical formulae, which makes Zabus just that little more exciting. Both “The Future Of Death” and “Topography Of Iconoclast” are really worth treating your ears with, so you might savour the intricacies of weaving more traditional gothic, with something I would equate in the region of when you first hear Einstürzende Neubauten and it just blows your mind.

The Future Of Death | Zabus (bandcamp.com)

http://www.twitter.com/@zabusmusic

by on

Yeah, there was no way I was going to give up the chance to review an EP called Fuck, from a noise artist by the name of Conan The Accountant. Is this all adding up yet and does he get upset by magic? We have not all the answers, but I can tell you that the three tracks on the EP have been woven with whatever noise that Conan (known to his friends as Ben) can push out of a Fender Stratocaster.

There might be a ghost in the machine when it comes to the first track “Of Death And Taxes,” as strange vocalisations issue forth from an miasma of laid back noise. It is off to the demon faire to see the “Clown Girl From Hell,” and she does sound like a sassy lass performing in a circus of heady oddities, where the music see-saws between show time and walking the tightrope. It seems to almost seamlessly slips into “Conan The Accountant And The Cave Of The Cursed 1000,” where our hero shall slay all before him with his calculator as it computes and warbles, plodding down his foe with mathematical precision.

Why is this EP called Fuck? I really have no clue on that one, but hey, it catches your attention in case Conan The Accountant doesn’t. Rock noise with a tortured Fender seems the way to go and it is a fun concept, plus it is pretty amazing how many different sounds can be extruded from the one instrument.

Fuck | Conan The Accountant (bandcamp.com)

by on

Since the late 1990s, Ji Jianhong has been a much vaunted musician of the experimental crowd, especially expressing himself through live recordings, a reflection of his home town Fenghua, in China. Melbourne independent based label, Ramble Records has released Soul Solitary, a two track album which runs for nearly forty-five minutes.

Blasts of chords greet your ears before the free form jazz infused rock guitar leaps forward, sometimes with great vigour causing vocal outbursts. The wave after wave of sound assaults your senses, vibrating and prolonged chords hang in the air searing your brain before becoming a monastic chant, timeless and floating. “Solitary Man” goes from attacking to eerily haunting, with Jianhong the resident ghost heralded by what could be described as Tibetan long horns, yet this is still his guitar. There are moments of listening to the wind that suddenly disintegrate into a maelstrom of noise.

The feedback In “Waterfall” is immense and impressive, stretching forth like a hand searching into the world, and finding thorns and open spaces. Lakes of placid water with creatures below dart around, in their own sphere of existence where the noises from realm filter down muffled and inconsequential. And all the while the waterfall churns the water, oblivious to everything else around it.

What was Li Jianhong thinking about when he recorded these?…well unless you ask the man, then we will never know and I guess this is a part of experimental music. It is mean to provoke and everything is up for interpretation. It is a journey you take with the creator and Solitary Man is engrossing.

Soul Solitary | Li Jianhong | Ramble Records (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/Ramble-Records

https://ramblerecords.com

https://www.clear-spot.nl

Vinyl

by on

The label Cioran Records, has released the experimental album Les Couleurs d’une Fièvre, by French group Flagorne. Maquerelle (vocals, lyrics, synthesizers, samplers) and Afga06l (additional voices, computer, digital instruments) make up the group which combines industrial noise with black metal.

And so the decent into Hell begins with “Salutations,” brutally assaulting your ears. Salut aÌ€ vous! or hello to everyone, though this welcome is full of bad tidings for the listener. Drawn taut and extruded, the music and vocals speak of pain before there is a pause, when the voice expresses how all this is a fever dream in the aftermath of a holocaust. Candaule(s), a king of Lydia in the 7th century BC, was mentioned by Herodotus as a ruler of great depravity, and in the track “Adresses,” the line ‘On sera Candaule de tout un empire/We will be Candaule of an entire empire,’ hints at wonton wickedness. The music is spurred on by an explosive rhythmic momentum, swirling in its majestic inferno.

From the depths you can hear the shaman of a bygone era chanting their ritual in “Dévore,” before the electronic clicks and clanks kick in with the vehement whispers and discontented screams, that retreat and flood forth again, which is understandable when one is being devoured. The rise of empires also brings about destruction and this is the angst of “De rien de bien,” where you can almost feel the blood pumping freely from wounds of the tortured souls, as the mechanised world continues to smash on without any emotion. The final track is “Comme plusieurs,” that begins subtly, as I strain my ears to adjust to the bleeping programming, until the vocals take us by surprise, like a call to prayers through a megaphone, and there is a gravity to the austere tone. Maybe a judgement.

Les Couleurs d’une Fièvre basically translates to The Colours of a Fever, and indeed the album does feel like a delirious nightmare, visceral and haunting, as if you were unfortunate enough to enter the circles of hell and yet you know that this is all earth bound. And maybe that is the crux of it all, that man makes his own hell on earth. Flagorne will not disappoint.

Les couleurs d’une fièvre | Flagorne | Cioran Records (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/cioranrecs

https://www.instagram.com/cioran_rec

by on

On the day of his birthday, Sebastian Sünkler released the single “Bohdi” with his main industrial project, STAHLSCHLAG. The German noise master never fails to amaze with how productive he is, and before we know it, the new full-length album will be upon us.

Become one with the drone of “Bohdi” as STAHLSCHLAG take you into another realm, outside of your being, to where celestial souls transverse the stars, god like, as the rhythms continuously make you aware of your own heartbeat. The combination of luminous and mystical vocals with noise is perfection. The second track, “Sri Stuti,” continues this journey, with more purpose, demanding your attention be completely focused on the fragging beats while a winding synth line wanders though.

The maestro of power noise keeps his sound fresh whilst plumbing the depth of your spiritual psyche, pulling on ancient tendrils within our genetics. With the brilliance of “Bohdi,” we await the album and wish Sünkler another wonderful year making music around the sun.

Bodhi | STAHLSCHLAG (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/STAHLSCHLAG

STAHLSCHLAG

https://www.instagram.com/stahlschlag_fundustrial

by on

1990 was the year the iconic album, The Good Son, was released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It spawned several singles, which included the slow burn wonder that was “The Ship Song.” 2023, and Lunar Paths has taken this classic track and given it their experimental, electronic sheen.

Walking in Cave’s deep, sonorous vocal footprints is no easy task, but female lead singer, Diane Dubois, pulls it off with great aplomb. The synths in the background are a constant, swelling and dropping, voluptuous in their role and the live drums of Kevin Hunter are an excellent accompaniment.

“The Ship Song” has always been a rich track, which is why it has been covered by quite a few bands…. mellow and smooth with an incandescent dark beauty that has been brought to the fore in this latest version by Lunar Paths.

https://music.apple.com/kr/artist/lunar-paths/1652044158?l=en-GB

https://www.boomplay.com/albums/80104620

by on

Choose Euphoria is the latest album from UK project The Resonance Association, released in 2023. The brain child of Daniel Vincent and Dominic Hemy, has been around since 2006, and according to their Bandcamp page…. ‘They seek to produce hallucinatory music to transport the listener to uncharted realms of space and time.’

The first track off the rank, “Force Majeure,” leaps out at you, its enthusiastic rock guitar with walls of sound bursting forth joyously, adventuring like a cosmic snake. The electronics continue this journey of sound with “Invocation,” more subdued than “Force Majeure,” but equally full of intonations throughout, as if the solar winds are gracing your ears in the background. “The State of Things” is semi angelic, though some of the effects are near paranoid inducting, especially with the slowly played guitar and it has been combined with a rather psychedelic froopy video. Cool liquid bass lines are the backbone for “No Fear of Falling,” with wailing synths crystalline and smooth, even when faced by the solo guitar reaching out the listener.

There is something very early 80s about “Some Kind” that I just cannot quite put my finger on, but it is hypnotic and all together far too enjoyable, even with the computer created sirens. I somehow doubt the track “Trip Hazard” is about unfortunately falling over one’s own feet, but rather, flights of fancy, and as we all know, some journeys are fraught with real dangers, such as minding the gap, which perfectly leads into “Elsewhere.” Again, we are within the winds that whip around the meandering guitar, courting you to go along for the laid back ride. We finish with prog odyssey “Space Time Politics” which kind of reminded me of a scaled back version of Pink Floyd’s “Journey to the Heart of the Sun,” full of lulls that build up into Hendrix like explosions of guitar.

Choose Euphoria is an eight track album, and indeed The Resonance Association have done exactly as they said they would, using music to transcend our space and the current limitations, opening up movement and achieving wonder, as well as creating textures via experimentation and instrumentation alone. Choose life and Choose Euphoria.

Choose Euphoria | The Resonance Association (bandcamp.com)

Facebook

http://www.trahq.co.uk/

by on

Need a little extra spooky in your life since the aftermath of Halloween? Then we can offer you an extra bit of stalky stalker in the form of Ian James’s new single, “Come A Little Closer,” out on Blue FX Records.

Ah, the dulcet tones of James’s vocals creep up on you like a sexy time Jason Vorhees, with his favourite knife. The music conveys an electronic and consistently funky, going to get you honey buns attitude, rather than the old fashioned plinky plonky norm. So, “Come A Little Closer” darling, and let Ian James croon sweet icy nothing’s into your ears. Lovely!

Ian James – Come A Little Closer | Blue Fx Recording Artists (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/IanJamesMusicUSA

https://www.facebook.com/bluefxrecords

by on

Did someone say they need more experimental music in their lives? You really can’t get more experimental than free improvisation done live. This is where we throw at you Sordid Amok!, hailing from Harrisonburg, Virginia and their new track “Warehouse 12 October 2023.” From what I can gather, Sordid Amok! are a duo, who are joined by different guest musicians, to jam away and just see what magic happens.

“Warehouse 12 October 2023” goes just a tad over twenty-one minutes as five humans build upon each other’s additions, creating a soundscape that one could lose themselves in. There is a rawness due to the nature of it being live and those pregnant pauses or changing tempos just add to the charm.

Warehouse 12 October 2023 | Sordid Amok! (bandcamp.com)

by on

In 2021, the Seattle project, NewVersionOfBlue released the EP, Waves, however, in September of 2023, the title track has been given another lease of life, using anime to create an entertaining new video to accompany it.

There is a laid back vibe for “Waves,” with the vocals relaxed and soulful. The waves roll in and out, and this is the same in life with people and events entering our lives and then leaving us, often a little more changed. The song has a groove about it that reminds me a lot of the experimentation of Gorillaz. This is a NewVersionOfBlue floating in the tide of “Waves.”

Waves | NewVersionOfBlue (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/newversionofblue