Buscar:ritual flesh

Ritual Flesh lands on the island for the 7th release of the Madrid-based label with an EP where he shows his versatility. Four bangers built to peak different moments.

Some grooves don’t rush to the dancefloor — they crawl there, slow and heavy, like smoke wrapping around a bassline. With Fragments of Reality, The Balek Band sculpt an electronic funk that lives between shadow and light — an end-of-the-world fever dream, a Barjavel-style Ravage where chaos turns nihilistic.

No sequencer grid here — just four musicians sharing the same room, shaping air and tension together: drums locked tight with a slap bass, a guitar dripping with echo and heat, and a one-man orchestra behind his machines, weaving acid lines and synth arpeggios while mixing the band live — drenching it in delay, reverb, and saturation, like a dub producer in a Kingston studio, Lee Scratch Perry or King Tubby conjuring ghosts through smoke.

This isn’t fusion — it’s friction. A living ritual where the TB-303 hums, and machines don’t dominate but converse with the human pulse. Each track feels like a night that refuses to end — that humid in-between where trance slips into languor, and the body starts to think for itself.

The record recalls the cosmic jazz of Alain Mion or Eddy Louiss meeting the fiery energy of West African afrobeat musicians freshly arrived in a smoky Belleville basement in the mid-’80s. When The Balek Band summon ghosts, it’s only to reshape them — bending the past into something futuristic, alive, and strangely refreshing. Both disciplined and delirious, Fragments of Reality feels like a promise at dawn: dark funk for the late hours, slow acid for warm blood.

This EP isn’t nostalgic, though it remembers. It’s a transmission from a parallel past — a moment when jazz players met drum machines and decided never to stop playing. Each note sweats, each rhythm breathes. You can almost see the light cutting through the haze, faces half-awake, half-possessed.

The Balek Band aren’t recreating a moment — they’re keeping it alive.
Flesh and cables. Impulse and patience.
A band, not a loop.
A trip, not a format.

Isa Gordon and Tony Morris were first brought together through their individual releases on Optimo Music, which established mutual respect within the label’s community. While they had not previously performed live together, they were invited to take part in a fundraiser hosted by Queen’s Park Arena in support of Glasgow NW Foodbank and later for JD Twitch’s end-of-life care. Tony asked Isa to contribute guitar and backing vocals to his set, including a track then called Last Night I Had a Dream. That performance became the seed for their collaboration.

The first phase of fleshing it out, recalls Tony: “Somebody said Isa sang like Shania Twain. That got me thinking about country music and call and response, prompting me to come up with alternative lyrics.” Isa remembers: “I cycled over to Tony’s house with my guitar, and we spoke about what the tune meant. It was about him being wrapped up in dreamland, luxuriating in his subconscious, while my character — impatient and trapped in her own routines — barely had time to remember her own dreams.” Tony continues: “Brilliantly I realised that I could never collaborate with anyone in situ and so I sat in the garden for two hours watching my wife tend to plants. Every now and again I would creep up the stairs and put my ear to the door. I could hear Isa warbling away and so would resume my garden watch. After two hours I went back upstairs to see how she was getting on, only to find that she had written one of the greatest songs I’d ever heard. I still think that.” Tony adds: “My overwhelming sentiment about Wake Up Baby is pride. I can honestly say that I’m more proud of it than anything else I have done. It ticks a whole load of boxes. Isa’s singing in various Scottish modes is unique. The way her electric guitar adorns the dance beat makes it a rock song as well as a dance and a C&W song — truly multi-genre.”

The B-side of the 12” release, Syringe Moustache, is a surreal, darkly playful counterpart to Wake Up Baby. The track was inspired by a dream Tony had: “I was in a shopping mall, in a two-level shoe shop, and my attention was taken by a little girl with a syringe taped beneath her nose like a moustache. She went about her business trying on shoes, confident and wise beyond her years. In the dream, I imagined her as the daughter of cultured, intelligent parents determined to raise her independently. I was struck by my own feelings of inadequacy — I knew I could never have coped with such a contraption myself.” Isa’s take on the meaning of this song somewhat differs: “Tony sent me the tune over Instagram months before I met him, and I was spooked — as far as I knew, he didn’t know anything about me, but the story felt like it was written about me as a little girl, growing up around heroin addiction. The syringe beneath the girl’s nose became a symbol of the inescapable constraints of that environment, literally written on her face, yet something you just have to carry on through. On a buzz from the serendipity, I added a full instrumental backing to this most bizarre of works.”

The result is absurd, unsettling, and strangely empowering, staking out its own surreal, cinematic space. The 12” dance single is a format Tony had long wanted to explore — a tangible artefact to leave for family, a medium that celebrates the physicality of sound and the ritual of listening. It allowed the artists to maximise the format’s potential: a strong, multi-genre A-side, a surreal B-side, and remixes that expanded the record’s sonic world. Glasgow music staples Auntie Flo and 100% Positive Feedback were invited to reinterpret the tracks, bringing their distinctive touch — Auntie Flo transforming the A-side into a luscious, dancefloor-ready meditation, and 100% Positive Feedback twisting Syringe Moustache into absurd, playful shapes with false-start drops and over-the-top vocal editing.

The cover photograph, taken at the University Café by Harrison Reid, captures Isa and Tony embodying the characters they brought to life in the songs — a visual reflection of the record’s narrative and emotional stakes. The Café also holds personal significance: it’s where all of Isa’s meetings with Keith McIvor took place, where she first remembers visiting Glasgow as a child, and a place Tony fondly likes to go to drip egg yolk down his tie and watch the world go by. Together, the 12” format, the remixes, and the artwork create a cohesive, tactile experience, amplifying the duality, theatricality, and emotional breadth of the collaboration.

Renowned for his visceral work with HIGH-FUNCTIONING FLESH, Greg Vand dives deep into the experimental proto-industrial with his solo project NEWBOY, revealing a darker, looser, and more hypnotically unstable side of the music machines. “The Color of Everything” is a transmission compilation with cracked circuitry, lysergic funk, warped tape hiss, and urban hallucinations.Think Cabaret Voltaire jamming with Bourbonese Qualk, Ike Yard, and Esplendor Geométrico: a mutant rhythm ritual for abandoned clubs and alleyway rites. This is rhythm as both weapon and escape. A dystopian groove engine primed for fans of the avant-garde, the unstable, and the underground, all tuned into the fractured future of dance music.presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl.

Steve Bicknell returns to KR3, once again unleashing his mastery of power electronics!
Following his two reinterpretations of last year's "JK Flesh Remixes" and four years after his solo EP "A Day In The Life" in 2021, Bicknell takes us deep into the realms of his sonic mysticism, marking a significant milestone in the fifth anniversary of the label.
Several Streams of Thought LP - is an unrelenting and immersive odyssey, presented through nine tracks, seven of which will be available on a double 12-inch vinyl, with two exclusive cuts in a limited 7-inch format.
The album hits hard, straight to the brain, with no warning, across sides A, B, and C. Each side is a raw, untamed techno experience, with Bicknell's unmistakable signature dominating throughout, delivering unwavering intensity and relentless impact.
However, on side D, a transformation takes place: a 15-minute soundscape that turns the embedded waves into breath - a blinding light emerging from the darkness. It's a moment of tribalism and evocative magic, offering a refreshing pause, a return to balance after the intensity of the shadows.
The 7-inch, available in a limited edition under the title "the eye of the invisible world", contains two tracks - one on side E and the other on side F.
The mystical sounds complete this dual experience: one part filled with dark, untamed energy, while the other brings a sense of mental lightness, emphasizing breathwork and emotional self-
healing.
S | B is back, stronger than ever!

Rising from Warsaw’s underground, Infernal Flame conjure a bleak and uncompromising vision on their debut full-length The Grave. Originally self-released digitally on February 13, 2025, the album now sees its first physical incarnation through Apostasy Records - soon available on CD, vinyl and cassette. Across nine tracks, the Polish quartet fuse the weight of cavernous death metal with the scorched atmosphere of black metal, forging a sound that feels both raw and deliberate - a ritual equal parts feral energy and fatal precision. From the slow-grinding opener “Dreadead” through the tar-soaked menace of “Cauldron of Black Tar,” the feverish descent of the title track and the final farewell of “Godbye,” The Grave unfolds like a single, unbroken passage through dread and decay. Formed in 2024 and operating deliberately outside the label system, Infernal Flame channel a rehearsal-room immediacy that recalls the early second-wave spirit while carving out a distinctly modern darkness. Still largely unreviewed and shrouded in underground obscurity, The Grave stands as an intense and authentic statement - from a band intent on burning their own path through Poland’s black/death scene.

Season of The Dead is a visceral, cinematic extreme metal project born from the twisted minds of Titta Tani (former drummer of Necrophagia and Goblin), Giacomo Anselmi (former Goblin guitarist and current member of Goblin Legacy), and Enrico Giannone, founder and owner of Time To Kill Records, acting as producer and visionary behind the entire concept. The idea is as brutal as it is clear: to resurrect the blood-soaked legacy of horror-infused death metal, channeling the rotten spirit of bands like Necrophagia, Mortician, and Fulci, while paying tribute to the grotesque imagery and raw energy of cult underground horror films. Influences range from Killjoy to City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and Cannibal Holocaust, creating a soundscape that feels like a soundtrack to a lost VHS splatter nightmare.

Hailing from the northern city of Oulu and featuring members of esteemed Finnish outfits such as Haapoja, Dart, and Renate/Cordate, TRYPANON have steadily emerged as one of the most compelling and unorthodox underground acts in recent memory. Their 2021 debut "Amentia" earned widespread acclaim for its suffocating intensity and bleak atmospheres, establishing the band as a vital force in the realms of extreme music. With "Through the Portal of Flesh to Achieve Divinity", TRYPANON push their vision even further into the void. The album is a nightmarish fusion of down-tuned sludge, chaotic death metal, and dissonant black metal, woven together with progressive flourishes and hypnotic melodic fragments. The result is a deeply immersive and punishing listening experience that recalls the extremity of bands like Lord Mantis, Coffinworm and Cobalt, while retaining a sonic and conceptual identity entirely its own. Where "Amentia" was a descent into psychological collapse, "Through the Portal..." drags the listener through a ritualistic transformation - an existential death trip that explores themes of corporeal transcendence, spiritual ruin and ecstatic suffering. The record was conceived not only as an artistic evolution, but as an act of purification through sound: hostile, enveloping and uncompromising. This release marks a significant step forward for TRYPANON, both in scope and execution. Expect a record steeped in raw emotion and relentless aggression, but also rich in nuance and disturbing beauty.

HEXVESSEL erkunden auf ihrem epischen siebten Album "Nocturne" liminale Räume, z.B. zwischen Licht und Dunkelheit sowie Natur und Einsamkeit. Die sich kontinuierlich wandelnde finnische Band besinnt sich wieder auf ihre Wurzeln im Folk und im psychedelischen Rock, indem sie akustische Zwischenspiele, kosmische Synthesizer und geisterhafte Pianoklänge kunstvoll mit den frostgesponnenen Fäden ihres Black Metal Geflechts verwebt. "Nocturne" klingt sowohl vertraut als auch unverhohlen progressiv, da HEXVESSEL ihre eigene Tradition mit einer frischen Neuerfindung ihres charakteristischen Sounds vermischen. Der Keim für dieses Meisterwerk wurde durch die Aufführung eines Auftragswerks beim Roadburn Festival 2024 gesetzt, das ursprünglich den Titel "Music for Gloaming: A Nocturne" trug. Mit diesem Album nimmt das Projekt eine ausgearbeitete physische Gestalt an. Dieses opus magnum verbindet den rauen Geist von Quorthons Black Metal mit dem komplexen Minimalismus zeitgenössischer Komponisten wie Philip Glass, György Ligeti und Avro Pärt. Den eklektischen Charakter von "Nocturne" unterstreichen ausgewählte Gastauftritte wie der ätherische Gesang von Saara Nevalainen oder die harschen Stimmen der Avantgarde Black Metal Vorreiter Yusaf Vicotnik Parvez (DHG/DØDHEIMSGARD) und ORANSSI PAZUZUs Juho Vanhanen. HEXVESSEL stammen zwar aus dem finnischen Tampere, die Band wurde aber vom englischen Sänger und Songwriter Kvohst alias Mat McNerney gegründet, nachdem er im Jahr 2009 in das nordische Land gezogen war. In vielerlei Hinsicht spiegeln HEXVESSEL die Natur ihres Gründers wider. Der Sänger und Songwriter war schon in vielen erfolgreichen Gruppen und Projekten aktiv, deren Spektrum von der britischen Black Metal Band CODE über einen Abstecher bei den norwegischen Legenden DHG bis hin zu den Rock-Shootingstars BEASTMILK reicht, die er später mit GRAVE PLEASURES fortsetzte. Mit "Nocturne" laden HEXVESSEL alle dunklen Seelen der Erde zu einem transzendentalen Nachtritual ein, das unter anderem die Klangvisionen von DARKTHRONE, TANGERINE DREAM und Philip Glass aus der toten Vergangenheit erweckt und mit neuem Leben erfüllt.

With their seventh full-length "Nocturne", HEXVESSEL explore the liminal spaces between light and darkness, nature and solitude on an epic album. The ever evolving and shifting Finnish band has reawakened their treasured roots in folk music and psychedelic rock as they artfully weave acoustic interludes, cosmic synths, and spectral piano into the frost-spun threads on their black metal loom. "Nocturne" sounds both familiar and fearlessly progressive as echoes of tradition entwine with a fresh reinvention of their characteristic sound. The seed of this masterpiece was sown by the performance of a commissioned work at Roadburn Festival 2024 that was originally entitled: "Music for Gloaming: A Nocturne". With this album, it arrives fully fleshed in recorded form. This opus magnum blends the raw spirit of Quorthon's black metal with the intricate minimalism of contemporary composers such as Philip Glass, György Ligeti, and Avro Pärt. Its eclectic nature is elevated and underlined by select guest performances, including the vocals of Saara Nevalainen, as well as the avant-garde black metal luminaries Yusaf Vicotnik Parvez (DHG/DØDHEIMSGARD), and ORANSSI PAZUZU's Juho Vanhanen. While HEXVESSEL are based in Tampere, Finland, they were founded by English singer & songwriter Kvohst aka Mat McNerney after he moved to the country in 2009. In many ways, HEXVESSEL reflect their founder. The vocalist and songwriter has instigated and been involved in various bands ranging from UK black metal act CODE, a stint in Norwegian legends DØDHEIMSGARD, and to rock shooting stars BEASTMILK – later 'continued' with GRAVE PLEASURES to name but a few of his success stories. With "Nocturne", HEXVESSEL invite all souls on earth to a transcendental night ritual that is imbued with DARKTHRONE, TANGERINE DREAM, Philip Glass, and sounds unearthed from the dead past, now instilled with new life.

Steve Bicknell returns to KR3, once again unleashing his mastery of power electronics!
Following his two reinterpretations of last year's "JK Flesh Remixes" and four years after his solo EP "A Day In The Life" in 2021, Bicknell takes us deep into the realms of his sonic mysticism, marking a significant milestone in the fifth anniversary of the label.
Several Streams of Thought LP - is an unrelenting and immersive odyssey, presented through nine tracks, seven of which will be available on a double 12-inch vinyl, with two exclusive cuts in a limited 7-inch format.
The album hits hard, straight to the brain, with no warning, across sides A, B, and C. Each side is a raw, untamed techno experience, with Bicknell's unmistakable signature dominating throughout, delivering unwavering intensity and relentless impact.
However, on side D, a transformation takes place: a 15-minute soundscape that turns the embedded waves into breath - a blinding light emerging from the darkness. It's a moment of tribalism and evocative magic, offering a refreshing pause, a return to balance after the intensity of the shadows.
The 7-inch, available in a limited edition under the title "the eye of the invisible world", contains two tracks - one on side E and the other on side F.
The mystical sounds complete this dual experience: one part filled with dark, untamed energy, while the other brings a sense of mental lightness, emphasizing breathwork and emotional self-
healing.
S | B is back, stronger than ever!

How does one approach the morning after a party for the end of the world? This is a question which Mamuthones had to ask themselves, in the wake of their last album for Rocket, 2018's Fear On The Corner. Nonetheless, from the aftermath of this uncertain period has risen the still more flourishing realm of From Word To Flesh - a colourful and multi-faceted creation very much befitting the outsider spirit of Rocket's new Black Hole imprint. “I believe that with this album a circle has been closed” reflects Mamuthones mainman Alessio Gastaldello. “We returned to the atmosphere of the first Mamuthones albums with the skills acquired throughout the journey, with new sounds and with new creative processes. I would say that what remains constant – and at the core of our music – is the obsessive rhythms and the search for a sonic rituality: this is for certain our trademark”. This is clear right from the curtain raiser 'Burn From Inside', which beams the emotive approach of the band through the shamanic prism of Coil's Ape Of Naples. From there, hypnotic repetition marries to abstract abrasion and mournful laments with equal finesse, as redolent of the spiritual zest of Popol Vuh and Ash Ra Tempel as the gnostic folk of Six Organs Of Admittance. Elsewhere, 'A Symmetry Of Faith' summons a union of post-punk and psychically charged folk aligned with the recent work of Bristol's Beak. The Sardinian ritual of the Mamuthones – in which sinister masked figures weighed down with cattle bells conduct a ceremonial procession to ward off evil forces - has gone on for some two thousand years, and it may be that these ghoulish avatars are engaged in a celebration of the endless cycles of death and rebirth, fortifying spirits for a new epoch. Amidst the chaos and tumult of the 2020s, the band of this name has undergone just such a change themselves, and ‘From Word To Flesh’ is the fruit of their struggle. As Alessio says “With this album I think the Mamuthones have never been so unmediated, so naked: all masks gone”

Although many a vibe has shifted since the days of dubbing NNF001 one at a time on the floor of a Koreatown bachelor apartment in February of 2004, using stolen photocopies and tie-dyeing J-cards with wine, the label’s essential premise has not. Then, as now, the vision was to elevate and enshrine outsiders, foragers, hidden gems, and hybrid sounds on cheap tapes or affordable records, to be savoured and shared in the here and now. 399 catalogue titles later, the centre still holds.

To toast the label’s 20th anniversary and 400th release, we commissioned a gold roll call of alumni and affiliates: Alley Of The Sun. Named in homage to the Malibu mystic music fountainhead, skewed through a smoggy sideways lens, the 16-song, 90-minute, double LP suite spans every shade of NNF’s Pacific palette: rainforest ceremony, skyway motorik, Tascam rapture, silhouette shoegaze, basement vapour, astral ascension, jazz shadows, 5th world tropics, lucid dream drone, desert quests, prophecy electronics, ritual wreckage.

Equal parts snapshot, tapestry, and time capsule, the compilation reflects the breadth of NNF’s two-decade exploration and evolution, from simple soil to a sea of dunes. True undergrounds have no set sound or fixed polarity, only flashes of transient magic and forking paths, to be cherished and championed for as long as the candle lasts.

Efficient Space welcomes Th Blisks to the fold with their mutant strain of melodica dub, torched hip hop breaks, post-punk and procession song.

Th Blisks' members have many notches on their collective belt. Amelia Besseny and Altered States Tapes’ founder Cooper Bowman are prolific in their ritualistic ambient-pop duo Troth, while Yuta Matsumura holds a formidable Sydney punk band pedigree on top of his Low Company-backed solo work. A reward for those who took the time to dig it out, Th Blisks’ 2022 debut How So? was a DIY creation that fully embraced its outsider roots, revelling in opportunities for connection through pop flourishes. Feeling like it might have been a one-off, we proclaim their return with Elixa.

With an unseen clarity of vision, Elixa conjures its meticulously fleshed out world. Those familiar pieces are all there - the mystery, the patience, a cheeky pop hook - however this time there's an intentionality to it all. A blurred dialogue stretching across Australia, it was largely recorded remotely with tracks bouncing between Bowman and Besseny in Muloobinba (Newcastle) and Nipaluna (Hobart), and Matsumura stationed in Warumpi (Papunya). Every element is carefully considered, stemming from their individual time spent as lifers in the local DIY scenes. Through these tracks you can feel that history; echoes of Castings and Vincent Over The Sink in ‘Do You Bless It?’, Bowman's distinctive submerged tape loops gurgling away under boom bap and *that* Sydney guitar tone in ‘Esk’.

Elixa attempts to bottle some pinged-eye wonder at the magic surrounding, whether in the city or the bush. Informed by the old but drug into The New, it is a begrudgingly current Australien record that respectively nods at the UK’s sound history.

What might appear to be the most unlikely collaboration of 2024 proves also to be one of the most invigorating listens of the year! Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance are in full aural/metaphysical alignment in their mutual effort to become Jinxed By Being. On first listen, it becomes immediately clear that this fusion of Shackleton"s bass heavy cosmic dread and Six Organs" ritual folksong makes total sense. Longtime listeners know that both Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance have been unafraid to pursue their muse into any and all encroaching depth of darkness or outer boundary of potential dissonance - in fact, that has always been their default mode, finding more of resonance way out there in the process. They also share that ol" maverick psychedelic ritual transcendental music vibe, don"t they? And a fascination with repetition and cycles. And a mutual inspiration drawn from alternative tunings and literature...all this considered, it"s been basically inevitable that Ben Chasny and Sam Shackleton would work together. It took a while for them to find each other-and once they did, it was almost eerie, how preordained it felt. When the music started coming, though-that"s when it got really eerie. The mood rises from the music like smoke, a sure signal of total integration. Jinxed by Being finds Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance delighting in their synthesis. Reveling in the unique sonic textures found in the collage, they launch small details that unfold into a massive space and often multiply into lines of dimensional space, crossing the stereo spectrum with enervating motility. Here lies all the proof you need against the danger of categorizing by perceived genre rather than intention-encounters like Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance might never have found the linear space in which they sit next to each other, beyond alphabets and other institutional organizing principles. Rearrange your libraries-or you might miss getting Jinxed By Being.

Following up their debut full-length on Ty Segall’s God? label, Wand presents their second album, Golem, on In The Red. Recording with Chris Woodhouse at his Hanger studio in Sacramento, Wand summons the dark and heavy power of the riff. Back in September 2013, Wand was quietly dismembered and ritually eaten in the hills near Dodger Stadium. Wand was reborn as “Wand”—an obese organ falsely organized as four overjoyous nerds. Four flesh balloons betting on a few aging amplifiers. Rumor has it they listen to Here Come the Warm Jets on loop all day and plot mail fraud. What’s more, they allegedely stole Dale Crover’s car and sacrificed it to the weather near the Los Angeles County Line. A few things, at least, are certain: Wand hears ghosts. Wand prefers serpents. The Sun is the mother of every fiction. All phenomena will be consumed in alphabetical order, but desire will recirculate ad infinitum. If all else fails, Wand will just devour more hands. Wand is coming your way soon. • Sophomore full-length from California four-piece with connections to Ty Segall, Chad and the Meatbodies

Live IN L.A - 1998 Set. Black and silver splattered vinyl.

Eight years after its original release in 2015, and sold out upon release, Umor Rex finally presents a vinyl repress of Sirens, by Kara-Lis Coverdale and LXV. This new edition is limited to 500 copies and comes with revised artwork.

Inspired by the link between seduction and violence, Sirens comprises a series of timbrally vast anamorphic pieces that poise the voice as a newly imagined tool of multiplicity. Processes of sample manipulation, signal processing, routing, and source design inform instrumental writing and performance in feedback until intertwined, flickering between states of conflict and consonance. Apparitions of the schizophrenic voice are at one moment fractured and cold and at the next full of warmth and vivaciousness, embodying velvet rituals of romanticism in the digital age.

Ultimately, Sirens is music for ambitious dreamers: surreal sound portraits sound like the warmth of the world laid over an ice cold virtual altar. LXV’s vocal truncations and fleshy sound palettes depict the archivation of the breath and aural fantasies of the flesh which Coverdale sets amongst a vast and unconfined landscape of deeper and unknown force. Harmonically active and dynamic orchestrations underpin post-sacred tonalities while brooding pipe organs, sphinx flutes, and hailstorms of metallic percussion characterize uniquely disjointed discussions between disparate compositional ontologies. At times violent and at others serenely peaceful and seductive, these pieces, at their most powerful moments illuminate a felt space between cybernetic energy and the body.

Composed and recorded by Kara-Lis Coverdale and David Sutton. Mastered by John Tejada. Cover photograph by Cody Cobb. Layout by Daniel Castrejón.

“All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” (Realia006) is the forthcoming record from LATHE 00, the new moniker under which Umbria-based artist Leonardo Carloni has recently started to operate.

Preceded by several collaborative undertakings, LATHE 00’s debut solo album is akin to an experiment in autotheory, where art-making practice and theoretical inquiry are entwined to the point of being virtually inseparable. Through the combined use of autobiographical and philosophical elements, “All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” meditates on individuality, technology, and new forms of (post-)human existence.

The record has been conceived as a three-act project, with each act comprising four compositions that correspond to as many recurring themes: birth, love, death, and emptiness. Produced over the course of two years, the album has a total of twelve tracks, the majority of which run for less than two and a half minutes. Upon closer inspection, these tracks feel less like standalone pieces of music and more like outtakes of a single but continuously mutating continuum.

LATHE 00’s first feature is a work of rare beauty. As a one-person debut project, its stylistic variety, compositional maturity, and technical rigor are outstanding. By combining a forward-looking production style with references as varied as ambient, hyper-pop, instrumental post-rock, world-beat, and modern classical and folk music, LATHE 00 develops a mode of expression that transgresses genres and is distinctively his own.

The result is a signature sound that feels equally primordial and hyper-contemporary, fleshly visceral and detached. The inclusion of the artist's own vocals in the music is a notable aspect of this style. Alongside sampled materials, his non-lexical vocalisations appear as both an affirmative and negative act, simultaneously gesturing towards bodiless dissolution and a desire to reclaim one’s all-too-embodied presence in this world.

Despite being a concept album grounded in a profound theoretical substrate, “All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” surprisingly relies on wordless communication only. As such, in it, song titles become key vectors of information. Appealing primarily to the listener’s sense of sight, they are used in a way that seamlessly blends the aesthetics of the digital (“Loading of Image Aborted!”), nature (the title track), and ritual (Pouring Blood into the Lake).

The album will be released in digital format alongside a limited-edition printed publication conceptualised and designed by Lidia Ginga Cozzupoli and Bernardo Berga.

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh is the fifth full-length studio album by death metal band Morbid Angel. The Satanic-themed lyrics of previous albums had been replaced with lyrics about the Old Ones, which would become the primary source of Morbid Angel's lyrical content from this point on, and has some lyrical content written in Sumerian. This is the first album to feature singer/bassist Steve Tucker, replacing David Vincent. The title refers to the biblical symbol of the Antichrist. The letter "F" is the 6th letter of the alphabet; therefore, it could be read as "6ormulas 6atal to the 6lesh" or 666 for short, the number of the Beast. The album stands out as a landmark for the brutal death metal genre that developed in the late nineties. This 25th Anniversary edition is limited to 300 units and comes as 2 LP Purple Vinyl

With their emotive melodies, propulsive rhythms, angular guitars and dark cinematic electronics, TRAITRS have quickly become one of modern post-punk’s fastest rising independent bands. Consisting of Sean-Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker, TRAITRS formed during the summer of 2015 in Toronto, Ontario Canada. The duo recorded demos with producer/engineer Josh Korody (Nailbiter, F*cked Up, Japandroids, Dilly Dally), garnered the attention of Pleasence Records label head James Lindsay and released their debut cassette Rites And Ritual in April 2016. After gaining buzz in the European and North American dark music scenes, TRAITRS released their critically acclaimed LP Butcher’s Coin (Pleasence Records, Manic Depression Records, Alchera Visions) in May 2018. Backed by the strength of lead single ‘Thin Flesh’, the duo embarked on a series of lengthy tours overseas, performed in over a dozen countries including showcases at Wave Gothik Treffen, Castle Party, Extramuralhas, Nocturnal Culture Night, Wavefest, Canadian Music Week and Pop! Montreal. Their relentless touring schedule and work ethic caught the attention of Schubert Music Publishing’s Thomas Thyssen and Eric Burton, and in October 2020 they announced TRAITRS as the first signing to their brand-new record label Freakwave Records. This year, TRAITRS will release ‘The Sick, Tired And Ill’ EP on July 30 and the full-length LP ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ on November 19.

The killer debut by Belgium’s best kept secret: Slaughter the Giant. Intense melodic Death Metal for those who slaughter the soul! Slaughter The Giant ready to release their debut album “Depravity” in October 2022. A melodic intense Death Metal attack not hear before from Belgian soil. Slaughter The Giant was formed in 2018 and released their 5-track debut EP “Asylum of the Damned” in 2019 and it received good reviews worldwide. The year 2022 marks a new post-Covid start with the release of their first full-length album entitled “Depravity”, on Hammerheart Records. Slaughter the Giant performs intense melodic Death Metal that will appeal to fans of The Black Dahlia Murder and At The Gates. Hammerheart Records heard the album and was convinced of its quality and a deal was made. “Depravity” is a giant leap when compared to their EP, and acts on a whole different level. The brutality and melodic side have been pushed to new boundaries, while not losing the “good song” idea as a first must. The influences are still heard, but are now just that; influences. In the track “Co-ed Butcher” we find a kind of Obscura-esque approch that clashes into Flesh God Apocalypse alike symphony sounds, and album highlight “The Undead” is not a single and video without a reason, featuring excellent solo work on the guitar. The over all level is high and consistent throughout the album, and makes one replay after finishing.

RAW SPACE" is rooted in chaos and chance, sensuality and intensity - it's an album that's able to sound alarmingly freeform and tightly controlled simultaneously. Already established as a genre-disrupting DJ, and even dubbed "demon of the Nile" by Ugandan politicians after an exuberant performance at Nyege Nyege festival in September 2019, Kampala-based sonic hypnotist Authentically Plastic brings a digger's literacy, an activist's intent, and an artist's playfulness to their jagged debut album. As both a DJ and a producer, Authentically Plastic is drawn to the idea of chance as a creative tool - to push against the idea of the all-knowing genius, and approach artistry instead as a facilitator, unraveling parallel mismatched rhythmic events. Their musical process is to start with chaos, then attempt to mold those fleshy structures into polyrhythmic mutations, pulling influence from East Africa's innovative musical landscape and augmenting it with an exploratory sense of surrealism. On opening track 'Aesthetic Terrorism', rough-hewn industrial rhythms chug mechanically against course, dissonant synth blasts and acidic arpeggios. There's a faint sparkle of Detroit's chrome-plated Afro-futurism, but bathed in neon light, reflecting Africa's contemporary electronic revolution. Authentically Plastic's productions have a sense of thematic coherence, but their myriad influences are torched into cinders, leaving inverse impressions and ghost rhythms: the tuned overdriven clatter of 'Anti-Fun' echoes Ugandan kadodi modes, yet simultaneously mirrors the rugged out-zone grit of Container or Speaker Music; standout centerpiece 'Buul Okyelo' meanwhile is as rhythmically cross-eyed as Slikback or Nazar, but juxtaposes kinetic dancefloor thumps with chaotic microtonal ritual cycles. Writing "RAW SPACE", Authentically Plastic found themselves fascinated by sonic flatness. They realized that in Western art, there's an obsession with depth of field that carries into music, robbing it of intensity. The album is an example of the power that can be reclaimed when you let go of depth, letting sounds rub together carnally and spawn something fresh and unexpected.

Initially started as a a solo project until Deacon D. was joined by guitarist Åskväder in September 1999. After an hiatus HETROERTZEN resurfaced in Sweden in 2009 with the release of ‘Exaltation Of Wisdom’ issued on their own imprint Lamech Records. That album put forward the band’s early interest in the occult, Gnosticism and Illumination. 2016 saw the release of their critically acclaimed ' Uprising of the Fallen' previous album, HETROERTZEN are now releasing their brand new album entitled ' Phosphorus Vol 1' for a late Spring release on Listenable HETROERTZEN comment about ‘Phosphorus Vol 1' : " A new day has come to pass. A new ray pierces the veil of darkness and confusion. A new gem feeds the astonished sight and yet we walk through times of uncertainty before facing the switching Era… After five years of silence and lots of work, Hetroertzen finally give you the first Volume of ‘Phosphorus', which is the crown for our latest Opus or the new Sephira in our artistic/spiritual development. This is in fact a strong title, taken from the Vampiric-eucharistic ritual of the “Ecclesia Gnosticae” (Gnostic Church) which inspired the “Libation” passage in the Order of the Knight Templars; and even in the Catholic Mass later on. “Unless You Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and Drink His Blood You Have No Life In You” The Royal Art or the Dragon’s Arts are present more or less in any occult teaching as Alchemy aims to conjoin separated ways into the quintessence of “Holy Marriage”. As one church focused on the feminine esoteric aspect of Communion and the other on the masculine; We use both sides unified as a more accurate representation of “unity” and “oneness”. (The One). 'Phosphorus Vol 1' consists of eight tracks plus one bonus track available on the CD version. They harvest the very soul of Wisdom and Salvation or Salvation through Wisdom as we see it. Each title encloses a key or “Clavicula” which reveals different passages to the Adept. Once more, the term “Eyes to see and Ears to hear” is fundamental when it comes to the listening experience to its fullest. As all of the previous works, this is a unique piece which complements our experimental / conceptual aura into its own mystic tree. Time will tell when the second volume faces the waves of turbulence. Certainly, it shall swallow the soul of the sleepers and haunt the dreams of those who knock at our door… Through plague and war, we survive the hand of destiny by the laws of cosmic thought and the bliss of this endless journey. Light of all Lights, blessed be ! "

Modern Rituals have announced their return with the release of upcoming new album, Cracking Of The Bulk. For a band who’ve tended to flesh out songs in the practice room and track live, the writing and recording of Modern Rituals’ third album was a disparate and protracted process. In cramped apartments and a secluded annex, sharing files over the internet and working on parts in solitude, the band introduced subtler tones from their last record, This Is The History. Yet still, this new direction is matched by an explosive frustration that gives it a unique balance of darker and lighter shades. Tour Dates:20th November - The Victoria Dalston, London 21st November - The Prince Albert, Brighton 22nd - The Crofters Rights, Bristol 23rd - Voodoo Daddys Showroom, Norwich 24th - Gorilla Studios, Hull 25th - Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds 26th - The Jericho Tavern, Oxford 27th - JT Soar, Nottingham


1. Mixx3ed 2. The Flow 3. Nails of Love 4. Wastrel 5. Western Cut 6. Scummeth 7. Incipit 8. Sonder 9. Dog Jerky Haiku 10. Perpetual Dawn

Copenhagens own dj legend and veteran producer KIM KEMI releases another jacking and euphoric banger- ONLY SMOKE - his stylish and subtle sound design and varied arrangement take hints of Robert Hoods minimal riffs and flesh out a full funky arrangement taking us on that classic luxurious sonic journey. Pres play and trigger the
smoke machine - or the soap bubbles.
Martinez ́s remix is a more electro affair that could blend well with classic Underground Resistance releases. Watch out for the acid topline. Martinez is a Swedish electronic music producer and DJ, currently based in Copenhagen. Martinez kick started his carrier
in 2000 with his "Laidback Grooves EP" on the notorious Chicago based Deep-House label Guidance Recordings.
Asmus Odsats remix of SMOKE KILLS is taking the track in a more broken but funky IDM territory, breaking the track down adding avantgarde dub details over the stuttering beat.
Asmus Odsat is a former resident at Culture Box and co-founder of Ritual Malmö as well as the BULK club night releases via. FALK DISKS, the club focused sub-label of FALK (Fuck Art Lets Kill) with his ‘Ecstatic Half Truth’ EP, is played by Courtesy - even in her BBC Radio 1 show mix.
An added bonus to these 3 unique remixes is Kim Kemis beautiful
Tropical Tucan, a perfect opening track fusing sensual chilly Detroit pads and jacking understated beats into a growing glowing mind-state that is worthy of a Carl Craig spin - let it ride - don't miss the climax - you will end up looping it. An essential tool. Enjoy!

With their emotive melodies, propulsive rhythms, angular guitars and dark cinematic electronics, TRAITRS have quickly become one of modern post-punk’s fastest rising independent bands. Consisting of Sean-Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker, TRAITRS formed during the summer of 2015 in Toronto, Ontario Canada. The duo recorded demos with producer/engineer Josh Korody (Nailbiter, F*cked Up, Japandroids, Dilly Dally), garnered the attention of Pleasence Records label head James Lindsay and released their debut cassette Rites And Ritual in April 2016. After gaining buzz in the European and North American dark music scenes, TRAITRS released their critically acclaimed LP Butcher’s Coin (Pleasence Records, Manic Depression Records, Alchera Visions) in May 2018. Backed by the strength of lead single ‘Thin Flesh’, the duo embarked on a series of lengthy tours overseas, performed in over a dozen countries including showcases at Wave Gothik Treffen, Castle Party, Extramuralhas, Nocturnal Culture Night, Wavefest, Canadian Music Week and Pop! Montreal. Their relentless touring schedule and work ethic caught the attention of Schubert Music Publishing’s Thomas Thyssen and Eric Burton, and in October 2020 they announced TRAITRS as the first signing to their brand-new record label Freakwave Records. This year, TRAITRS will release ‘The Sick, Tired And Ill’ EP on July 30 and the full-length LP ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ on November 19.

At the tender age of twenty-five, while he was working part-time at an Italian restaurant in Tokyo's Kamata district, Kazuki Tomokawa released his debut record, fittingly titled Finally, His First Album. While he had already penned hundreds of songs, including his first single "Try Saying You're Alive!," written on a long train ride past fields and rice paddies, it was this recording that introduced Japan to one of its most unique musicians of the postwar era. Each track, as record label exec Kiichi Takahara writes in the LP's liner notes (here translated for the first time), is not a song but a "flesh-and-blood human being," birthed by the singer-songwriter and the raw, guttural cries that would become a hallmark of his incomparable sound. 1970s Japan was a time and place marked by a profound desire for authenticity amidst the onset of television and media saturation. Tomokawa arrived on the scene as a musician with "the personality of a hydrogen bomb," to borrow a phrase from his frequent collaborator Toshi Ishizuka. In an unwieldy interview included here, members of the notorious leftist band Zun? Keisatsu (Brain Police) put it bluntly: here was a man surrounded by the "disingenuous," the "wishy-washy," and the "superficial," who was delivering "real life, unvarnished." These songs are lullabies for the lost, staring not into the void but-as the fourth track declares-from inside it. Finally, His First Album is the first of three Tomokawa records to be reissued by Blank Forms Editions in conjunction with the US release of Tomokawa's memoir, Try Saying You're Alive!, the first-ever English translation of his writing. This debut captures the self-assured trademarks that Tomokawa would hone over the course of decades. Multiple tracks are performed in his native Akita dialect, a distinct and highly regional vernacular of northern Japan seldom heard outside the prefecture-and even more rarely heard in music. Tomokawa's lyrics locate profound interiority in the rituals of everyday life, and are sung against sparse folk arrangements of tender, lilting chords-a prelude to the rock and electronic stylings to come in later years. A self-proclaimed "living corpse," Tomokawa wallows, whispers, shouts, and cries, yet still, through his existential doubt, asks to be heard.

Lim. Gatefold Marbled 2 LP.Aus den nördlichsten Gefilden und tief verwurzelt in der schwedischen Szene, erhebt sich inmitten dieser ein bedrohlicher neuer Keim mit dem Namen NIGHT CROWNED. IMPIUS VIAM vereint ehemalige und gegenwärtige Mitglieder legendärer Acts wie Dark Funeral, Nightrage und Cipher System und ist wahrhaft eine Wiederbelebung der Klänge, die von den einflussreichsten Acts und Meisterwerken der skandinavischen 90er Szene herrühren. Zeigt "Unholy Path", die erste Singleauskopplung (06.12.2019) schon eindrucksvoll wohin die Reise gehen wird, ist dieses Album in seiner Gänze ein wahrhaft unheiliges Ritual, welches mit all seiner Wut, Melancholie und Zerstörung bereits als DAS Blackened Death Metal-Highlight des Jahres 2020 angesehen werden kann!

Lim. Gatefold Splattered 2 LP.Aus den nördlichsten Gefilden und tief verwurzelt in der schwedischen Szene, erhebt sich inmitten dieser ein bedrohlicher neuer Keim mit dem Namen NIGHT CROWNED. IMPIUS VIAM vereint ehemalige und gegenwärtige Mitglieder legendärer Acts wie Dark Funeral, Nightrage und Cipher System und ist wahrhaft eine Wiederbelebung der Klänge, die von den einflussreichsten Acts und Meisterwerken der skandinavischen 90er Szene herrühren. Zeigt "Unholy Path", die erste Singleauskopplung (06.12.2019) schon eindrucksvoll wohin die Reise gehen wird, ist dieses Album in seiner Gänze ein wahrhaft unheiliges Ritual, welches mit all seiner Wut, Melancholie und Zerstörung bereits als DAS Blackened Death Metal-Highlight des Jahres 2020 angesehen werden kann!

VALKYRJA'S FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM OF MAJESTIC SWEDISH
DARKNESS PRESENTED ON THE VINYL FORMAT FOR THE FIRST TIME,
IN GATEFOLD SLEEVE
Valkyrja, one of the prominent acts among the current Swedish black metal
scene, was originally founded in 2004, "with the common collective goal of
channelling violence, deprivation & loathing through means of extraordinarily
potent audio emissions"; a parallel & extension of their own philosophies -
boundless & without limitation in their art.
'Throne Ablaze' was the band's fourth studio album, originally released in 2018 &
was a spectacular assault of finely honed Scandinavian black metal, steeped in
ritualistic darkness & seething grimness. Upon release, the album was considered
a highpoint for the band among an already highly revered repertoire, capturing the
attention of the metal world with eight tracks of pure majestic malevolence,
showing once more why Valkyrja is considered a prime force in today's black
metal climate.
'Throne Ablaze' was again recorded at Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Mayhem),
with Tore Sjerna at the helm handling production duties.
This edition of 'Throne Ablaze' is presented on vinyl for the first time, including
gatefold sleeve..

RNXRX returns to VEYL for his debut album, 'Impreciso'. No stranger to the label, the artist first made an appearance on 'Previously Undisclosed Rituals' and then again with 'Sigil', a collection of B-sides which act as the perfect prelude to this offering.
Derived from an alchemy of inspiration, the album is the result of endless nights unearthing samples, vinyl oddities, effects databases from a bygone era and the artist’s own post-processed vocals - imprecise components which all combine perfectly to form this LP.
Unconstrained by genre, 'Impreciso' journeys through strains of body music, psychedelic rock, soundtrack and more, delivering electronic experimentations which expose the artist’s darkest tendencies while
revealing a long admiration of post-punk, hip hop and science fiction’s finest.
Twelve tracks falling somewhere between homage and reinvention, 'Impreciso' operates with 80’s circuitry, throws back to 90’s beat nostalgia and drills into a cyber-verse for a familiar yet unexpected trip perfect for this moment.

New asset on the granted Future Me Records: up-to-date hostile trio project, nomads from the unknown suburb. 4 grungy ritualistic tunes building up a hedonistic code for the dancefloor.
Spectral fog on “Tuxedo” opening the EP, increasing the voodoo environment with “Lebabon”. It falls to the slow-erosion beat “Ancient Prog” to shut the A side. 

An obscure timbre marks the B side: it’s the stabbed rough track “Torpedo”!
Ending with the very radical Kluentah’s imprint assaulting “Torpedo” — crafting a nasty remix which whips out the deranged flesh of the original track.

Domestic Exile are proud to present the devastatingly deplorable and malevolent recordings (that are sure to corrode yet electrify your ears) by Glasgow's very own KLEFT.

KLEFT aka Vickie McDonald is rooted in and has actively propagated the underground DIY radical queer punk and feminist movement here in Glasgow. Their projects have included the skull crushing sludge doom of Cartilage, the unflinching and infamous multi- membered hard core stars that were DIVORCE and the sacrificial, druid drone glitch of MOURN. Alongside these projects they have uncompromisingly disrupted, motivated and facilitated collective endeavors to take down the capital power structure of the dominant system of patriarchal club venues and abhorrent fuckers in this town.

For this record 'H+ Sexualis', KLEFT explores the neo-modern space where flesh is left behind. Negotiating, analyzing and tearing to shreds the relationship and balance between flesh and technology. KLEFT's expansive and palpable sonic offerings delve into themes of transhumanism and body hacking and seep into our collective skin begging the question; can flesh ever be created digitally. Does a lack of physicality alienate human experience in a post transhumanism society Are we all destined to be skinless yet digitally connected Will the body become superfluous Toward "the utopian dream of the hope for a monstrous world without gender," as stated on Donna Haraway's essay ''A Cyborg Manifesto.'

From the opening track 'Ossein' the listener grasps a foreboding lethargic build up, lurking out of the spatial ritualistic shadows into a sea of suffocating nothingness. A void where there is no gravity. Skeletal and brittle shattering rhythms which echo DMZ / Skull Disco dubstep alongside the more frozen, glacial ominous explorations of grime are often felt proving KLEFT is an artist whose inspirations run deep and wide and generally exist in the darkest recesses of our subconscious. These fearful, disjointed rhythms are set against weightless atmospheric oscillated synths, as if roaming through bleakly opaque, claustrophobic narrow corridors on a first person survival horror video game such as Resident Evil.

Moving through to 'CMBR', KLEFT's dissonant, degrading soundscape ferociously ascends. The resilient kick drum is propulsive and pulverizing akin to 'ardcore tekno - or intense gabba if you have the guts to adjust the tempo up to +8 - aesthetics that overwhelm and agitate finally revealing it's grotesque biological / amorphous bio structure. Elevating the repetitive 4/4 kick to a destructive, distorted banger of a track as layers of converging atonal noise and sound design simultaneously further enhances the sense of imminent radioactive contamination.

Next is 'Writhe, Squirm, Broken' continuing the convulsive, nauseating permutations of the prior track but reconfigured like a mangled, gruesome Cronenberg-esque parasite that has infiltrated an open wound, excruciatingly feeding off of the inner anatomy of it's hosts body from within. Repulsively reformulating the shape and dimension. The intro is akin to a panic stricken bouncy ball contracting and expanding, the spring reverb building momentum and traveling further away in distance and speed.

'Hackfleisch Deluxe' is a muuurrderous stomper and is one of the more grime / bass orientated tracks that deconstructs and disrupts the tempo familiar to sub-low producers on Black Ops / Jon E Cash / DJ Dread D. The crawling, plummeting frequency of the synth is a nauseating rush of coagulating blood to the heed; a deep throbbing sensory depravation in sharp, paradoxical contrast with the driving harmony layered on top which proves to be infectiously addictive. Furthermore are splintering programmed vocal samples that gives a sense of artificial disorientation, mind over matter, a possible hint at our evolving sentient cognition within a nightmarish simulated, augmented reality

Second to last we have 'Keratin' which is filled with the near fatal dissolving thud of Djax-Up acid that gives the impression that you're a biologist peering through a microscope into a petrie dish and witnessing the rapid and furious genetic cellular replication of bacterial and viral organisms.

Culminating in 'Bruised and Bleeding Hands' where the squashed density of a deflated and depressurized helium filled balloon and elastic umbilical cords, barbed wire and copper wires grind n' coil around the lens of a zooming camera. Taking no prisoners, this is a punishing grime weapon. A phat, surgical kick drum bulldozes its way thru causing carnage, syncopated punching snares after every rave stab and dizzying third beat. It won't be long until ye hear this on Silver Drizzle's youtube channel in the near future.

This record transports us to the hyperkinetic mutation scene on the cult cyberpunk film Tetsuo The Iron Man where the organic flesh / mechanical rust of the Iron Man metamorphoses with the Metal Fetishist during the rebirth sequence and we say 'LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!''.

Gaining traction, gaining speed, the primaeval ritual reaches its boiling point, melting the borders of mind and flesh: a turgid vortex of unstable potential, constantly mutating and morphing itself. Unformed and unstructured morphogenetic flows of matter-energy-information, self-organizing processes constituting a veritable non-organic life: the Body without Organs, that glacial reality where the alluvions, sedimentations, coagulations, foldings, and recoilings that compose an organism occur, a motherly womb detonating hydrogen bombs in her prefrontal cervix, atomizing the doors of perception with sheer gargantuan sonic tremor.

Music for post-apocalyptic deserts. Experimental synth-sounds with hypnotic percussions - imagine Moondog performing with John Carpenter and Cabaret Voltaire.

Relating to their live appearances, Phantom Horse might be named a lazy combo since they are not to be found on stage all too often. Yet their withdrawn approach fits this album very well - Als Ob' is once more a journey through inwardness, a contemplative excursion to the electronic outback, still friendly asking for your attention. There's plenty of things to discover if you listen mindfully, the Phantom Horse rides out where you as a listener like to be lonely. Those ancient synths are still around, playing their melodies as if* there were no time thieves waiting around the corner (*That is what Als ob' means).

Altogether, the sound has become more electric yet not eclectic, the duo has dekrauted, describing their sound as more ritual but of course avoiding any kind of mysticism and fairy-tale dullness.

Since 2015's Different Forces' (also on Umor Rex), Phantom Horse have fleshed out their friendly stoicism that hauls their experimental synth sounds into the area of songs - maybe even pop songs that aren't tangible at least. Welcome to the insular state of Phantom Horse.

Blood Debts' is the compulsive debut album from Years Of Denial, the alter-face of London-based French musician/producer and DJ, Jerome Tcherneyan.

Though his formulative Marseille youth was spent exploring the darkest corners of post-punk, New Wave, not to mention Public Enemy and the inspirational Mille Plateaux and Basic Channel labels, Tcherneyan, already an extremely capable drummer, quickly extended his sonic palate toward and beyond the bass-heavy electronic isolationism, insistent beats and drone experimentation that's still very much prevalent in his work today.
One should not either pass over his integral contribution to the much-lauded, though stolidly underground "ghost-rock" unit, Piano Magic, which engineered sublime collaborations with Brendan Perry (Dead Can Dance), Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins/This Mortal Coil) and Alan Sparhawk (Low). Tcherneyan, always prolific, can also lay claim to impressive collusions with Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah (African Head Charge), Damo Suzuki (Can), 70's psych folk legend, Mark Fry to name but a few.
In 2005, Jerome founded and promoted the infamous 'Flesh' parties; guests including Andy Stott /Claro Intelecto/Edit-Select/James Ruskin/Kirk Degiorgio/Mark Broom/Oliver Ho/Sigha/Steve Bicknell and many more. These nights served as an invaluable education in Techno and Dubmixology; marathon sets played deep into the sunrise.
Skip forward a decade and the DJ bug is even deeper embedded, with Tcherneyan sharing the booth with, amongst many others, Orphx/Phase Fatale/Joefarr and London Modular Alliance.

Tcherneyan's muse and foil on 'Blood Debts,' his first for Oliver Ho's splendid and already essential new Death & Leisure imprint, is Maya Petrovna, an entrancing London-based vocalist, film composer and performance/physical theatre artist, whose voice perfectly evokes Billie Holliday, Diamanda Galas and all stations between.
There's a black neon heart at the centre of 'Blood Debts,' a fetishtic ritual of contorted flesh and altered states; a feverish, infectious paradox of primitivism and modernity. Years of Denial is the ghost in the machine.

France proves to be rich pickings once more for the Minimal Wave label with this absolutely superb collection of "ritualistic minimal electronics" from French duo DZ Lectric + Anthon Shield. Crossing paths in Paris in the early 80s, Christian Dezert (DZ Lectric ) and Michel Lecamp (Anthon Shield) bonded over a mutual appreciation of The Stooges, Throbbing Gristle and Suicide and went on to record numerous albums together over a five year period. The focus of Minimal Wave's attentions on the Lickin' LP is the cassette Confessions D'Un Masque the pair released in 1985, with eight tracks lifted and remastered from the original reel to reel tapes. DZ Lectric + Anthon Shield's sparse yet manic approach, described as "challenging and hypnotic" by Minimal Wave, will appeal to fans of CHBB.