Bastard Noise/Xiphoid Dementia - Human Extinction Engine

Labels: Scry Recordings/Phage Tapes/Existence Establishment/Terror

Formats: Vinyl

Release Date: 01 Mar 2019

Tracklist:

1. Xiphoid Dementia - Malevolence

2. Xiphoid Dementia - Spirals

3. Xiphoid Dementia - Fangs

4. Bastard Noise - Avenge The Global Animal Holocaust By Any Means Necessary

5. Bastard Noise - Mandatory Human Exit

6. Bastard Noise - Cries From The Pterosaur Graveyard

7. Bastard Noise - Extraterrestrial Spring Evening

Tonight's review material is one that I approach with great caution. It features music from long-running US electronic/industrial project Xiphoid Dementia and Bastard Noise, the noise alter-ego of legendary power-violence act Man Is The Bastard. This split was released on vinyl at the beginning of the month via Scry Recordings, Phage Tapes and Existence Establishment in the US, as well as Terror from Lithuania. Egan from Existence Establishment was very kind and sent me over a copy of the record, which came on brown vinyl with red, white and black marbling. 

Side A belongs to Xiphoid Dementia and opener Malevolence is filled with scary noise-scapes and electronics that are akin to Author & Punisher. It’s a song layered with various elements of torturous noise that in turn are joined by equally harrowing spoken word samples. The subject matter of the sample here will give you chills and a genuine sense of horror, more so than any fictional horror movie could ever do.

Lengthier compositions are prevalent within this sub-genre and after the near seven-minute opener, Spirals surpasses that mark with a haunting ambience that’s stripped-back and minimal. It may still be early in the song at this point but it’s still enough to put your subconscious into overdrive. The further you get into Spirals, the greater the feeling of foreboding peace becomes, until more of the chilling samples emerge. Journeys without words can sometime be even more vivid and this is no exception.

Orchestral textures give XD’s final song Fangs a much more musical feel, in a traditional sense. It follows the theme laid out by Spirals and reminds you that all is not well. You may think that you’re of sound mind and body but this will convince you otherwise, even as the dark-jazz instrumentation drags it to it’s conclusion. 

Bastard Noise begins with Avenge The Global Animal Holocaust By Any Means Necessary, which is  a song aimed squarely at those who kill animals and it’s genuinely terrifying glitchy, screech-laden noise that I’m scared to turn up too loud. The vocals are deep growls that at times are whispered and are shrieked at others. Structurally it’s way more chaotic and abstract than XD’s offerings but that’s no criticism. There’s nowhere to hide.

Mandatory Human Exit is the first of two short numbers from Bastard Noise and it’s the last one with vocals. Minimalist and with an undercurrent of white-noise that’s difficult to escape from. High frequencies and piercing electronic sound manipulation that brings to mind a broken ADSL line, while being indulging also. Following that, Cries From The Pterosaur Graveyard delivers images of a futuristic re-awakening of the dinosaurs from their infinite slumber. 

From there, a chill wind blows over you as Extraterrestrial Spring Evening plucks you from the earth and drops you onto a distant and dystopian planet where only your thoughts keep you company. Whalesong-like electronic noises dominate this final track alongside more distant ambience. Providing a time for reflection is very clever and that reflection is needed, as you try to soak up what is both alien and comforting.

I’ve always skirted along the edges of the harsh noise/power-electronics genres, afraid to jump into the deep perilous waters but hearing this collaboration, it makes more sense to me now. Both Xiphoid Dementia and Bastard Noise show that their collective experiences both as musical projects and beings on this earth, have helped to forge ornate and thought-provoking soundscapes.

You can stream Mandatory Human Exit by Bastard Noise as well as Xiphoid Dementia's Malevolence below:-

Xiphoid Dementia - https://www.facebook.com/xdementia/

Bastard Noise - http://www.bastardnoise.com

You can buy vinyl copies from the labels below:-

Scry Recordings - https://www.scryrecordings.com

Phage Tapes - https://phagetapes.miiduu.com

Existence Establishment - http://existest.org/ee_v3/

Terror - http://www.terror.lt/index.php?page=home

Scry Recordings - https://www.facebook.com/scryrecordings

Phage Tapes - https://www.facebook.com/phagetapes/

Noise From The Northern Powerhouse #1: Grimmness - End Times

Labels: The Dropa Collective

Formats: Tape/Digital

Release Date: 25 Jun 2018

Tracklist:

1. Joy

2. War

3. Collapse

4. End Times

We're being told by the nation's political parties to celebrate and help build a "Northern Powerhouse”, so I thought (in a non-political way) it would be coot to start shedding light on the many different bands that call Northern England home. Encompassing bands from Merseyside, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, the North East and of course Yorkshire, I intend to cover bands on a weekly basis that represent the rich and creative scenes from across the North. 

Today I'm starting with experimental noise/black metal/power electronics act Grimmness from Lancashire. The project was formed over four years ago now with all of it's releases coming via DIY label The Dropa Collective. Grimmness exists thanks to hand built instruments and a DIY approach to writing and recording. 

It seems bizarre to call a song Joy when it’s obvious that the creator behind Grimmness feels anything but; however, it’s that dark humour and sarcasm that’s the bedrock of Northern England. The song itself features looping, swirling feedback that opens the first half. The second half of Joy is made up of minimal, droning black metal with whispered vocals and a hypnotic tempo. The rawness of second track War is obvious and its collage of uneasy noise and more traditional black metal is not an easy listen and comes complete with a lot of anti-melody. 

There’s a good mix here between stack electronic noise and melancholy, where the music ventures ever so slightly into black/shoegaze territory, especially during Collapse. Feedback reigns over it all and rests alongside the sample at the song’s conclusion before flowing into the closing title-track. If you have the volume turned up you’ll hear a lot of subtle layers within the music. The recording captures a real feeling of claustrophobia and with the cigar-box guitar that’s used, not just in this song but also throughout the EP, there are hints of bands like Oede (Norway) and Vermapyre (Belgium) as well as the icy black metal reserved by bands like Darkthrone and Immortal, albeit stripped down. It’s certainly grim up North!

You can stream "End Times" and purchase on both tape and digital formats below:-

Grimmness - https://www.facebook.com/Grimmness/

The Dropa Collective - https://www.facebook.com/thedropacollective/

Frequencies Deleted #1: Crowhurst - Snuff

This is a new feature/review series that I've tentatively called "Frequencies Deleted", featuring guest reviews from my friend Mikey Ortega. He's been a great supporter of my blog for a long time now and knowing that he's a fan of noise and power electronics, amongst other genres, I asked him if he would like to contribute his thoughts on releases new and old. Mikey's from California and has a noise-doom band called Diclonius. For his first review, Mikey's revisiting an album by Californian harsh noise act Crowhurst.

Label: Self-Released

Format: Digital

Release Date: 14 Feb 2014

Tracklist:

1. Child

2. Immolate

3. Brick

4. Throat Rope

5. You Owned A Store

6. Cartel Warning Shot

7. Imagine John Lennon

8. Torture

9. Punishment Park

10. You Were A Person

Violence is something that everyone has some interest in. Whether it's in the news, on film, music, comics, or in the arts in general.  As humans, it is embedded in us. I know that's pretty much cliche, but watch a MMA fight, and you'll see the crowd get rowdy when someones face is busted open. Or go on Facebook, and see people post grisly images they found on the deep web. And of course, if you're in the metal scene, we see violence on album art and hear them in the lyrics. Most try to shock. And only a few try to make a statement about the World we live in.

Here enters "SNUFF" by Philly-turned-LA project, Crowhurst. If you read the description on the album's Bandcamp page, Crowhurst mastermind, Jay Gambit, talks about how the noise like to talk about violence over loops of feedback. As if to make themselves seem edgy. Well, Gambit ups it by having real audio of torture and murder, backed by a wave of Power Electronics.

The first track, Child pretty much made me take off my earbuds off. The sound of a woman crying and begging for mercy was just gut wrenching. If anything, that's the one that's gonna be a struggle to get through. The fact that the audio came from someones video camera, and not clip from a horror film, is just bone chilling. Brick gives you the feeling of being tied up in someones basement, while watching a love one getting dismembered by maniac. Cartel Warning Shot is another track that is very unsettling to listen. The crushing electronic noise makes everything hopeless. And then you hear that chainsaw, and it's just game over, man. When Punishment Park comes on, you just want to roll in a ball and hope these atrocities will just end.

If you heard of the movie August Underground, director Fred Vogel, talks about when he was teaching make-up/special effects, he was shocked how his students were glorifying serial killers. So he went out to make August Underground, in which the film's antagonist made you feel sick, and wasn't someone you root for like a Michael Myers. To me, "SNUFF" is to music, as August Underground is to film. Crowhurst doesn't glorify the violence on "SNUFF". It is presented as it should be; ugly, unsettling, and disturbing. Even though "SNUFF" is Jay Gambit's least favorite album, I believe "SNUFF" is a important release, in a time where it seems the young generation are desensitised to violence.

You can stream and download "SNUFF" below:-

Crowhurst - https://www.facebook.com/crowhurstnoise/