It’s a bumper edition of Noise Not Music this month, with 12 largely essential releases to get through, ranging from avant-garde post-industrial noise to defiantly original extreme metal and deformed contemporary techno. So, without further ado…
Ævangelist – ‘Enthrall to the Void of Bliss’ (20 Buck Spin)
Kicking things off this week is the new LP from experimental death metal duo Ævangelist. They’re a difficult group to pin down, drawing upon the lineage of death metal’s most progressive bands while simultaneously being nothing like any of them. Utilising programmed drums, keys, harp and saxophone – among more regular death metal implements – the pair seem set on deconstructing conventional structures and textures in favour of their own mutant strain of extreme metal noisecraft. Nowhere is this more apparent than during closer Meditation of Transcendental Evil, a hypnotic and haunting journey through various underworlds that death metal would usually be excluded from. Recommended for fans of fellow path breakers like Botanist and Dødheimsgard.
Blood Folke – ‘My Heart in the Brilliance of Fire’ (Init)
Sludge metal feels like it has plateaued somewhat in recent years, with an ever-growing number of bands content to rehash the template provided by the genre’s most innovative groups. Blood Folke are a little different. Much like Amenra they have an aura that relates clearly to black metal, thanks to the consistently dark atmosphere that dominates proceedings, but crucially they have found – in Lauren Gaffney’s (frequently effects-drenched) viola – a texture yet to be exploited to its full extent in this form of metal. The results are devastating. In just 35 minutes Blood Folke achieve more than many of their contemporaries might manage in twice that time. A sure-fire contender for debut LP of the year.
Coil – ‘Backwards’ (Cold Spring)
Any Coil fan should be rejoicing at the slew of reissues that have finally emerged – after a prolonged wait – in the last couple of months. While Jon Whitney’s Threshold Archives releases have already disappeared into the ether thanks to ludicrously small production runs (one might question the point in reissuing Coil rarities in such quantities given the constant Discogs bidding war that accompanies any of the sadly deceased duo’s work being placed on sale) Cold Spring have released this version of the demo tape ‘Backwards’ in a more substantial volume.
Reworked by Coil collaborator Danny Hyde, these 12 tracks (which all ended up in alternative forms on the final – and arguably finest – trio of Coil LPs) were originally put together during what some have coined Coil’s “acid house” period. This is misleading in relation to this record – although bouts of deliciously unhinged electronics are frequent – which, more than being of value to those of us already deeply enmeshed in the Coil subculture, makes for an ideal introduction to this most esoteric and significant of British post-industrial acts. If you’ve ever been curious about Coil but put off by the lack of material still in print then this is essential.
It’s nice that Consumer Electronics seem to be aiming for a more prolific release schedule nowadays. Well, when I say “nice”… ‘Dollhouse Songs’ might be the long-running power electronics project’s finest record to date, perfecting the approach first utilised on last year’s ‘Estuary English’, with Philip Best joined by Sarah Froelich and Russell Haswell to cataclysmic (or should that be apocalyptic, given Best’s academic dalliances with the literature of William Burroughs?) effect.
Much like its predecessor the noise here is – by power electronics standards – relatively “clean”, but as a result it’s actually noisier than most of the genre’s notable records. Froelich and Haswell clearly deserve a lot of credit but Best is also on fine form vocally, sounding as nihilistically vicious (and unsettlingly profound) as ever (Froelich also gives a couple of excellent vocal performances). In short, an essential listen for anyone with even a passing interest in antagonistic noise.
Corrections House – ‘Know How to Carry a Whip’ (Neurot)
Any band featuring both Eyehategod’s Mike IX Williams and Neurosis’s Scott Kelly is unlikely to be an easy ride, and that’s certainly true of Corrections House. Their debut LP ‘Last City Zero’ was a draining and uncomfortable journey through severely misanthropic territory and ‘Know How to Carry a Whip’ is very much in the same mould.
The general vibe is anarchic, with squalling industrial noise only occasionally being dominated by Kelly’s brutalist riffs. Williams, meanwhile, sounds as unhinged as ever, especially on the feral White Man’s Gonna Lose and the claustrophobic I Was Never Good at Meth. Fans of the member’s main projects be warned that this might not be to your tastes, but those seeking a dose of seriously unrestrained sonic violence should find this suitably cathartic listening.
Dodmen – ‘Azimuth’ (Extreme Ultimate)
Describing themselves as “space rock, dub and mystic folk influenced ritual”, Dodmen have seemingly treated their debut album ‘Azimuth’ very much as a blank canvas. Stylistically the quartet largely stick to the above description, but what’s impressive is the range they find within it.
For the most part ‘Azimuth’ sticks to well-travelled psychedelic waters, its creators showing an admirable degree of restraint in territory where other bands might get lost in swathes of reverb. Occasionally, however, Dodmen break loose; as in the hypnotic and confrontational album highlight Blood in Stone (the only track under 10 minutes in length). Freeform rock at its most engaging and most richly textured.
Dragged Into Sunlight & Gnaw Their Tongues – ‘N.V.’ (Prosthetic)
To say that this collaboration has been highly anticipated by those attuned to the horrific sensibilities of these two acts would be an understatement. Rarely has the work of two underground extreme metal bands generated such a wave of quiet expectation. Thankfully ‘N.V.’ lives up to the hype by being just as sadistically unpleasant as one might expect.
From the serial killer speech samples to the hideously deformed vocals, this is one collaboration that is all the stronger from sounding much as one might have predicted. If anything Mories (Gnaw Their Tongues) could be a little more prominent at some points – he is a constant but a surprisingly understated one, much like Merzbow on his collaboration with Full of Hell last year – but it is hard to imagine how ‘N.V.’ could totalise its climactic brutality any more viciously.
Mgła – ‘Exercises in Futility’ (Northern Heritage / No Solace)
Polish horde Mgła released one of the finest black metal debuts of the 2000s to date in 2008 with ‘Groza’, then followed it up in 2012 with the majestic ‘With Hearts Towards None’. Now the long wait for a follow-up is over thanks to the superb ‘Exercises in Futility’. This is the purest distillation of the group’s nihilistic worldview to date, its bleak vision of existence making it a powerful listen.
While the group remain relatively orthodox musically, ‘Exercises in Futility’ sees them mix things up more than on previous efforts. The guitar work is more varied than ever, leading to an array of addictive and mesmerising black metal soundscapes. With this album Mgła have unquestionably proved that their rightful position is at the forefront of the contemporary global black metal scene.
Russell Haswell – ‘As Sure as Night Follows Day’ (Diagonal)
More Russell Haswell! Hooray! Another excursion for Oscar Powell’s Diagonal label, ‘As Sure as Night Follows Day’ is a grand collage of all the things Haswell does best. There are moments that hint at mutant rave, others that feel like early Swans at their bleakest and most uncompromising.
What’s impressive is the range of textures on display. This is ruthlessly minimalist stuff for much of its duration but rarely feels austere, with Haswell demonstrating his long-held ability to create blitzes of electronic sound that cleanse and entrance more than they threaten and disturb.
Teeth of the Sea – ‘Highly Deadly Black Tarantula’ (Rocket)
London quartet Teeth of the Sea have been providing brain-meltingly unusual psychedelic noise music for nearly a decade now, evolving to the point at which they can now blend their taste for Morricone-esque cinematic flourishes with a passion for electronic ferocity.
‘Master’, released in 2013, was an instant classic, climaxing in the pulsating epic Responder. ‘Highly Deadly Black Tarantula’ doesn’t throw as much into the mix, starting with two of the group’s most to the point exercises to date: the power electronics-infused duo of All My Venom and Animal Manservant. By its conclusion, however, it has reached peak levels of beauty with the gorgeous Love Theme for 1984, further proof (if any was needed) that this band threaten to be able to do almost anything.
Vainio & Vigroux – ‘PeauFroide, LégerSoleil’ (CosmoRhythmatic)
Mika Vainio and Franck Vigroux are never exactly quiet on the release front but nevertheless it feels like a long time since whispers of a collaborative release from the two first circulated following a performance together in Paris in 2012.
‘Peau Froide, Léger Soleil’ certainly lives up to expectations. In fact it is with little hesitation that I declare it to be the best record Vainio has been involved with since his Pan Sonic days. At times it confines itself to ominous brooding soundscapes, at others its bursts into coruscating walls of industrial drone. The highlight might just be Parabole, which sees Vigroux unleash an absolutely devastating sea of concrete guitar noise. This is one of the true highlights of the year.
Wolf Eyes – ‘I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces’ (Third Man)
The latest Wolf Eyes album – somewhat bizarrely released via Jack White’s Third Man label – is a typically unusual progression for the trio (whose Noise Not Music track gave this column its name). On one level it continues the off-kilter industrial “trip metal” (to use the band’s own term) of previous LP ‘No Answer: Lower Floors’, but on another it seems designed to fuck listeners up with its lounge music opening, industrial garage punk diversions and quasi-ritualistic conclusions.
This is undeniably avant-garde music but it belongs where all avant-garde music really should belong: in a sweaty room with a big speaker stack and some dubious looking light fittings. Yet more proof (not that it was needed) that Wolf Eyes remain completely and utterly essential.
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