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Operating since the late 2010s, Vienna-based sound artist the concept horse has quietly amassed a distinctive and diverse discography, drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of musique concrète, noise, plunderphonics, microsound, and free improvisation. “Public Detail” follows releases on labels such as FALT and czaszka rec., as well as the artist’s own eë editions, and neatly encapsulates the polyglottic breadth of the project. Patinaed piano loops and wistful ambience give way to chance percussion environments, beat research, and treated location recordings, resulting in a suite of evasive and diffuse music informed by dialectics such as repetition/unrepeatability and formal rigor/chaos.

“A door space to further diagrams, white on blue, a window.”

recorded and arranged in vienna, austria between 2021-2023.
35mm photograph taken by the concept horse.
risograph print and cover design by marie vermont.
mastered by angelo harmsworth.

black vinyl ltd. to 200 copies incl. album download code. Neun neue Songs + Interludes auf, die euch die Falten aus dem Hintern bügeln werden. Diese fast 50 Minuten feinster, eigenständiger, brutaler, technisch- klassischer Death Metal hören zusammengefasst auf den Albumtitel "From Origin To Decay" und werden als CD, LP sowie in digitaler Form am 22.11.2024 via FDA Records (Vertrieb: Cargo Records) veröffentlicht. Alles wurde einmal erschaffen. Und alles wird vergehen. Und aus allem Verfall kann eine neue Schöpfung entstehen. Dieses Thema findet sich in den Stories der 9 neuen MAAT Songs, die sorgfältig mit 2 separaten atmosphärischen Zwischenspielen arrangiert sind, um einen Klangfluss zu erzeugen. Von der lyrischen Seite werden philosophische Fragen des Werdens, Seins und Vergehens gestellt, indem lyrische Bilder und Stilmittel verwendet werden, die von der Mythologie und Geschichte des alten Ägyptens und des orientalischen Raums inspiriert sind. Textlich und musikalisch dreht sich das Album um den Haupttrack "Perennial Bliss", der das innere Selbst innerhalb von Zeit und Raum und außerhalb von beidem reflektiert. ,From Origin To Decay' ist extrem empfehlenswert for Fans von NILE oder BEHEMOTH. Alle Songs und Lyrics wurden von MAAT geschrieben und im Soundlodge Studio von Jörg Uken aufgenommen, gemischt und gemastert. Jörg hat bereits mit vielen Künstlern wie God Dethroned, Slaughterday, Keitzer oder Anvil zusammengearbeitet.

Die Debut-EP ,Kingdom of Decay" umreißt in vier Songs alle Stilwelten, aus denen Silverships aus Hamburg ihre Inspirationen schöpfen. Der Desert Rock der 90er und 2000er bildet das Fundament des Trios. Viele Spuren von Queens Of The Stone Age finden sich in den Songs wieder, in den brachialen Passagen fühlt man sich an Kyuss erinnert. Auch Klangmalereien der 70er Jahre Pink Floyd tauchen immer wieder auf. Psych-Poppige Momente der frühen Tame Impala werden abgelöst von düsterer, fast beklemmender Atmosphäre, die den Vibe von The Doors einfängt und sich auch als Soundtrack eines noch zu drehenden Films wohlfühlen würde. Charakteristisch für die Band ist neben opulenten Arrangements und abwechslungsreichem Songwriting die Liebe zu B-Parts, die die Songs mit vielen Ausrufezeichen beenden. Hinter der kraftvollen Produktion steckt Hauke Albrecht, der mit Mountain Witch den letzten größeren Stoner Export aus Hamburg produzierte. Für das Artwork konnte die Band BEWITCHED Graphics bzw. Benjamin Nickel gewinnen, der mit seinen psychedelischen Arbeiten z. B. schon das Reeperbahn Festival versorgt hat.

Die Schachtel Records is proud to present Ifigenia/Oreste, a new vinyl LP by celebrated Italian composer Paolo Spaccamonti. This album marks the seventh installment in the label's renowned Decay Music series, which has become synonymous with deeply emotive, abstract, and electronic/ambient music, which has so fare featured works of such names as Stefano Pilia, Giovanni di Domenico, Sandro Mussida, Vértice, Damavand and Claudio Rocchetti. Aim of the series is composing a fascinating scenario of the most interesting names of experimental musicians – mainly of Italian origins - working at the intersection of sound and music, abstract and visual, storytelling and abstract composition.

Paolo Spaccamonti has long been a significant figure in the contemporary music scene, known for his ability to bridge the worlds of instrumental, electronic, and experimental music. His most recent release, Nel Torbido (2023), is a testament to his ever-evolving artistry. With Nel Torbido, Spaccamonti delivered a haunting and immersive sonic experience that oscillates between tension and release, bringing together moody soundscapes, unsettling textures, and his signature understated guitar work. His exploration of silence, noise, and melodic tension has earned him recognition as one of the most unique voices in modern composition.

Composed by Spaccamonti, Ifigenia/Oreste is the original score for the theatrical production IFIGENIA / ORESTE, directed by Valerio Binasco and produced by Teatro Stabile di Torino. The music, both haunting and subtle, mirrors the play's minimalist and intense staging, immersing listeners in an evocative soundscape that blends ambient textures with guitar-driven melodies. The music was recorded and processed by Filippo Conti, with additional production and mixing by Stefano Pilia. The vinyl’s design has been crafted by Bruno Stucchi of Dinamomilano, making this release a fusion of sound, visual, staging and cultural reference.

In reflecting on his collaboration with director Valerio Binasco, Spaccamonti said: "From the first meeting with Valerio, it was clear that we aimed to create a production stripped of any unnecessary stylistic embellishments. Ifigenia and Oreste had to be severe, devoid of visual distractions, simple yet extreme in its own way. I sought to follow the same path with the music. The foundation is always the guitar, but I wanted to avoid overloading it, either harmonically or sonically. Sometimes, I treated it like a fragmented background noise; other times, I ventured into more aggressive, melancholic, or even melodic terrains, but always in a very human way. The text demanded an atmosphere that lived in the alternation of silence and rarefaction, like in the films of Bresson and Lanthimos. Short scenes interrupted by moments of darkness. In a marked rhythm, a suspense constantly suggesting the advance toward death, announced from the very first scene. Hence, the emphasis I wanted to place on silence through the music, even within individual tracks. Long, granular tails, like the (few) lights on stage."

"In Decay" bietet eine faszinierende, alternative Route für die idiosynkratische Reise des Produzenten SETH HALEY aus New Jersey - aka COM TRUISE -durch die Geschichte der elektronischen Musik. Als Compilation bisher unveröffentlichter, früher Aufnahmen umfasst ,In Decay" 13 Titel, die bisher nur als Online-Demos erhältlich waren und gänzlich ungehörte Titel, die aus der Zeit vor Haleys offiziellen Veröffentlichungen stammen - sein Debüt, die ,Cyanide Sesterz" EP, ihr Nachfolger, das Langspiel-Album ,Galactic Melt" und die ,Fairlight" EP aus dem letzten Jahr. Während die 80er Synth Sounds, die flexiblen Basslinien und Sci-Fi Aromen, die Haleys spätere Arbeiten prägen, hier schon unverkennbar sind, bleibt ,In Decay" aber auch vollwertig als für sich stehendes Album und gleichzeitig ein Einblick in die Entwicklung des einzigartigen COM TRUISE Sounds. Der Produzent erforscht eine ganze Reihe von Soundfacetten, von 8-bit inspiriertem Experimentalismus zu eindeutig tanzbaren Beats - oft innerhalb nur eines einzigen Songs. ,Controlpop" zum Beispiel kündigt sich selbst mit einem Intro an, das nach einem Commodore 64, der mit einem Hammer geschlagen wird, klingt, um sich dann zu einem langsamen flüssigen Synth. Funk weiter zu entwickeln, der an ,Galactic Melt" Highlights wie ,VHS Sex" und ,Flightwave" erinnert. Die langsam schwelende Dance Vibe wird von vielen anderen Tracks geteilt - wie zum Beispiel von ,Colorvision" und ,Yxes" - während HALEY das Tempo an anderen Stellen drosselt und die psychedelischen, kosmischen Abschweifungen von Ahnen wie TANGERINE DREAM und POPOL VUH beschwört. ,Dreambender" klingt nach einem Soundtrack zu einer Reise in unerforschte digitale Zwischenräume, während ,Video Arcade" eine wirr steigende und fallende Bassline sein Eigen nennt - ein Song wie eine Fahrt auf einer Achterbahn der virtuellen Realität. Wie jedes Werk HALEYs ist auch "In Decay" eine Pforte zu einer seltsamen, digitalen Parallelwelt - einem Ort, der aus bekannten und doch durch und durch frischen Klängen konstruiert ist; ein Ort, den es zu besuchen lohnt.

John Davis is a sound artist and filmmaker based in the Bay Area. Active since the mid-aughts, he has published recordings on labels such as Root Strata and Digitalis, as well as on his own Bimodal Press imprint. “Landlines” sees a return to the SOD catalog for Davis, following a full-length release in 2013, and may be seen as somewhat of a spiritual successor to that album. In all of Davis’ work, there is a specific pastoral sensibility that feels firmly rooted in the forests and coasts of Northern California, moving with the delicate and erratic cadence of dust motes rendered visible in bright sunlight. Opening track “Verichrome” articulates the soundscape wonderfully, stitching together Music Mouse-esque formant synthesis and meditative vocal sampling with an exquisite minimalist suite for prepared piano. Of these recordings, Davis himself writes, “In a general sense the conceit here is nostalgia, a desire to reflect on the importance of connection – to ourselves and to the world around us. The title is, of course, a euphemism for the telephone, but I am also considering landscape, horizons, and infrastructure, as well as the invisible lines that connect us, the threads that bind us, and the communities that form us.”

Black Metal, Symphonic grandeur and Deathcore brutality collide in the majestic new album from A WAKE IN PROVIDENCE. 'I Write To You My Darling Decay' is a swathing monster of a record, citing influences from all across the heavy spectrum. As one of the established veterans of the Blackened Deathcore movement, AWIP are now here to set their sights on total domination as they rise to the upper echelons of the genre.

Uun returns to his imprint Ego Death for its 7th release. The vinyl version is pressed onto a special marble red and black color variation created specifically for this release. The artwork is printed on a partially translucent mylar lithograph.

“The more things change, the more things stay the same. The progression of the digital space from a place where like minded individuals can get together over shared interests has gone the way of everything else in the modern world. There is money to be made after all, and data is worth more than gold. All around us are rent-seekers, hucksters, and those who seek to profit from what was never theirs.

Platform Decay is the beginning of the end result. Everything that is unique and interesting is being flattened for maximum palatability and consumption. It is what the advocates like to call content. We have given all of ourselves away, so that we can be advertised to. All to chase the algorithm; the black box where art, culture, and creativity enter and only an amalgamation of disparate nothing exits.

Atrahasis is the genesis, the original story, the prime instance of human creativity and storytelling. We sell ourselves sight unseen for the simulation of a social experience. You try to walk the tightrope between physical and digital but soon realize you can’t have both. However your engagement is up which is the upside of losing everything. Reaching into the past you finally realize the meaning of the lamassu, the double aspect. Only to be forgotten again as you are consumed by the ouroboros.

The project is made whole by the evocative artwork of Ryote, who brings the themes together in a unique visual style. The beautifully printed vinyl insert lithograph print represents the digital tomb of social media, with the label art depicting the mythological double aspect.”

Ende 2022 unterzeichneten ALTAR OF OBLIVION einen Deal mit From the Vaults und veröffentlichten im letzten Jahr die "Burning Memories"-EP, die als Appetizer für ihr kommendes viertes Album diente. Aber NICHTS konnte vorhersehen, was kommen würde. "In The Cesspit Of Divine Decay", das neue Album der dänischen Epic-Doomer, ist ein Konzeptwerk, das auf dem Tagebuch von Gitarrist Martin Meyer Sparvaths Urgroßvater mütterlicherseits, Jesper Wilhem Meyer, basiert, der während des Ersten Weltkriegs (1914-1918) widerwillig für das Deutsche Reich kämpfte.

Die Vorbereitungen für dieses akustische Unterfangen begannen 2005, als die Band eine Demoversion dessen aufnahm, was sich Jahre später in das jetzt fertiggestellte Album verwandeln sollte, das ursprünglich das Debütalbum der frühen Duo-Inkarnation der Band sein sollte. Dieses Album enthält einige der ersten Kreationen der Band, und in vielerlei Hinsicht kann es als eine Art Altar Of Oblivion-Prototyp betrachtet werden, der ihr düsterstes und traditionellstes episches Doom-Werk hervorbringt und ausspuckt. Während und seit der Pandemie waren Altar Of Oblivion im Aufnahmemodus
und haben sowohl neues als auch altes Material fertiggestellt, darunter zwei Alben, zwei EPs und ein Akustikalbum, was der Band eine wohlverdiente Studiopause ermöglicht, um sich von nun an auf Live-Shows zu konzentrieren. Für 2024 sind bereits einige Auftritte bestätigt, und das Kollektiv freut sich nun darauf, wieder auf die Bühne zu gehen, schwerer, älter und stärker als je zuvor. Die Zeit wird zeigen, ob Live-Auftritte die richtige Kur für einen schweren Fall von verfärbter Studio-Bräune sind.

Warning: Riping Remains is absolutely disgusting death metal!

Ripping Remains by Dripping Decay, includes the following tracks: "Lead To Kill", "Oppressive Repulsive." and more.

This version of Ripping Remains comes as a 1LP pressed on a splatter, yellow & lime green vinyl.

CARNAL TOMB aus Deutschlands ebenso chaotischer wie pulsierender Hauptstadt Berlin liefern mit "Embalmed in Decay" ihr sehnsüchtig erwartetes drittes Album ab, das den Geist des Old School Death Metal perfekt kanalisiert. Kürzere Tracks, rasante Blastbeats und charakteristische Doom-Passagen ergeben eine zeitgemäße Version des klassischen Death Metal. "Embalmed in Decay" zementiert den Status der Deutschen als einer der heißesten jungen Acts dieses brutalen Genres. CARNAL TOMB haben sich unter anderem von den Werken H.P. Lovecrafts inspirieren lassen, aber auch von Gore- und Zombiefilmen wie Amando de Ossorios Klassiker "Tombs of the Blind Dead" aus dem Jahr 1972, sowie speziellen italienischen Begräbnisstätten namens "Putridairum", in denen die Leichen der Verstorbenen in offenen Kammern bis auf die Knochen verrotteten. Auch das morbide Cover-Artwork des Künstlers Skaðvaldur wurde von diesen Themen beeinflusst. CARNAL TOMB wurden im Jahr 2014 in Berlin gegründet. Ein unstillbarer Hunger nach Old School Death Metal hatte alle Bandmitglieder infiziert. Neben einer bemerkenswerten Fülle von Demo-Aufnahmen, EPs, Split- und Single-Veröffentlichungen brachten vor allem die beiden Alben "Rotten Remains" (2016) und "Abhorrent Veneration" (2019) der Band einen exzellenten Ruf unter Todesmetallern rund um den Globus ein. Mit dem blutrünstigen Death Metal Horror von "Embalmed in Decay" rufen CARNAL TOMB sogar die Toten aus ihren Gräbern und lassen ihre entfesselten Monstersongs auf eine nichtsahnende Welt los.

CARNAL TOMB aus Deutschlands ebenso chaotischer wie pulsierender Hauptstadt Berlin liefern mit "Embalmed in Decay" ihr sehnsüchtig erwartetes drittes Album ab, das den Geist des Old School Death Metal perfekt kanalisiert. Kürzere Tracks, rasante Blastbeats und charakteristische Doom-Passagen ergeben eine zeitgemäße Version des klassischen Death Metal. "Embalmed in Decay" zementiert den Status der Deutschen als einer der heißesten jungen Acts dieses brutalen Genres. CARNAL TOMB haben sich unter anderem von den Werken H.P. Lovecrafts inspirieren lassen, aber auch von Gore- und Zombiefilmen wie Amando de Ossorios Klassiker "Tombs of the Blind Dead" aus dem Jahr 1972, sowie speziellen italienischen Begräbnisstätten namens "Putridairum", in denen die Leichen der Verstorbenen in offenen Kammern bis auf die Knochen verrotteten. Auch das morbide Cover-Artwork des Künstlers Skaðvaldur wurde von diesen Themen beeinflusst. CARNAL TOMB wurden im Jahr 2014 in Berlin gegründet. Ein unstillbarer Hunger nach Old School Death Metal hatte alle Bandmitglieder infiziert. Neben einer bemerkenswerten Fülle von Demo-Aufnahmen, EPs, Split- und Single-Veröffentlichungen brachten vor allem die beiden Alben "Rotten Remains" (2016) und "Abhorrent Veneration" (2019) der Band einen exzellenten Ruf unter Todesmetallern rund um den Globus ein. Mit dem blutrünstigen Death Metal Horror von "Embalmed in Decay" rufen CARNAL TOMB sogar die Toten aus ihren Gräbern und lassen ihre entfesselten Monstersongs auf eine nichtsahnende Welt los.

'Festering Grotesqueries' is a musical statement crafted and executed by
four individuals who are completely sold out to heavy fucking metal -
Firmly rooted in the sounds of classic Death Metal and Grindcore,
'Festering Grotesqueries' is all at once cacophonous and catchy,
merciless and memorable, an album that is as brutal as it is fun
Avoiding genre stereotypes that would relegate them to the dustbins occupied by
countless imitators of the oldschool, Dripping Decay have combined speed and
technique with groove and swagger to create a dynamic exhibition of crushing
and unforgettable tracks: 14 'Festering Grotesqueries' in all

'Festering Grotesqueries' is a musical statement crafted and executed by
four individuals who are completely sold out to heavy fucking metal -
Firmly rooted in the sounds of classic Death Metal and Grindcore,
'Festering Grotesqueries' is all at once cacophonous and catchy,
merciless and memorable, an album that is as brutal as it is fun
Avoiding genre stereotypes that would relegate them to the dustbins occupied by
countless imitators of the oldschool, Dripping Decay have combined speed and
technique with groove and swagger to create a dynamic exhibition of crushing
and unforgettable tracks: 14 'Festering Grotesqueries' in all

END REIGN makes their Relapse Records debut with their explosive album, The Way Of All Flesh Is Decay. Masterminded by underground music fixture Domenic Romeo (Integrity/Pulling Teeth/A389 Recordings) and featuring an all-star cast of musicians and contributors, END REIGN fuses apocalyptic hardcore with vicious metal in a deadly collision of the classic and the modern. Taking musical inspiration from ’80s linchpins Amebix, Bathory, Slayer and Cro-Mags, END REIGN features the talents of Mike Score of New York metalcore kings All Out War, Adam Jarvis of grind titans Pig Destroyer and Misery Index, the former Bloodlet bassist Arthur Legere and Exhumed/Noisem shredder Sebastian Phillips. Score’s lyrics explore the psychological torment of being trapped between opposing realities. “Most of the album, especially songs like ‘The Hunger’ and ‘Death Comes Crawling,’ deal with being caught between two worlds—the living and the dead, heaven and hell, what was and what is to come,” the vocalist explains. Recorded over a year at Landmine Studios with Len Carmichael at the helm, END REIGN’s full-length debut features vocal cameos from Romeo’s longtime collaborator and Integrity bandmate Dwid Hellion, Full Of Hell’s Dylan Walker and—incredibly—Ed Ka-Spel from avant-rock fabulons The Legendary Pink Dots. The result is one of 2023's most aggressive and enthralling albums. “This album is like riding a rollercoaster in a theme park based on all the extreme music I’ve enjoyed throughout my life,” Romeo says. “I hope that any fans of our musical family tree will enjoy the ride as much as we did.”

Tigercub return with their highly anticipated new album The Perfume Of Decay via Loosegroove Records (the label co-founded by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard). With The Perfume of Decay — Tigercub' third record of nocturnal, hard-hitting rock, as well as their first full-length release for Loosegroove Records — frontman Jamie Hall draws the curtains shut and embraces a moody, melancholic sound that's every bit as cinematic as Hollywood itself. It's an album about counterpoint and opposites, stacked with songs that contrast overdriven guitars with whispered vocals, tight grooves with shoegazing swells of noise, sonic experimentation with sharp songwriting. For a band that's always trafficked in drama and dynamics, The Perfume of Decay marks Tigercub's strongest release to date.

"As long as you come to my garden", the sixth release in the cherished Die Schachtel’s series “Decay Music” as well as the debut of the duo Damāvand (Gianluca Ceccarini and Alessandro CIccarelli) on the prestigious Italian label, is a tribute to the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova, through his lyrics and freely inspired by the cult movie about his life The Color of the Pomegranates (Nřan guynə, 1968, USSR) directed by Sergei Parajanov. The feature film tells the life of the poet, who lived in the 17th Century, from childhood in the royal court, to retirement until his death in the monastery of Haghpat, through a series of episodes, static like paintings that do not tell but show, evoke, they suggest through metaphors, analogies, surrealist flair, dreamlike landscapes, liturgical pauses.

The six tracks are inspired by the dreamlike imagery contained in the movie, weaving sound textures ranging from ambient to noise, to references to the musical tradition of the Middle East.

Gianluca Ceccarini and Alessandro Ciccarelli alternate, without fixed roles, with analog synths, drones, amplified common objects, generative music, audio samples from the film and acoustic instruments such as the tar - a stringed instrument of Persian origin, the trombone and the cornet. In addition, two of the songs on the album contain Sayat Nova’s poems recited in Persian by Nahid Rezashateri.

The sound materials are revealed gradually like episodes, evoking the visual suggestions staged by Parajanov in the movie. As long as you come to my garden is intended as an imaginative journey to distant spaces and indefinite archaic times.

DAMĀVAND is a musical project by Gianluca Ceccarini (electronics, electroacoustic objects, tar) and Alessandro Ciccarelli (electronics, electroacoustic objects, trombone, cornet)

Gianluca Ceccarini, guitarist, electroacoustic experimenter, luthier specialized in the restoration and construction of plucked musical instruments for early music. In 2021 his first album Starving Night was released for the netlabel Laverna and in 2022 the Sarab Label published a CD version. He also works in photographic research, video-art, graphics and independent publishing with the Sarab collective.

Alessandro Ciccarelli is an author who ranges between different languages: photography, video, sound. He is involved in several collective research projects in the musical and theatrical fields. His solo records are released under the nom de plume Elnath Project. The latest work, after six years of silence, from Italian berlin-based composer, performer and publisher (Black Letter Press) Claudio Rocchetti, and a welcomed return on the Die Schachtel imprint after the brilliant Another Piece of teenage wildlife (2008), Labirinto verticale (Vertical Maze) takes its origin from the four years long collaboration of Rocchetti with the Parma-based Fondazione Lenz, a contemporary theatre research collective/organization.

This work takes its origin from the collaboration of C. Rocchetti with the Parma-based Fondazione Lenz, a contemporary theatre research collective/organization. Inspired by the writings of Hölderlin and Calderon de la Barca, and orbiting around the concepts of ›memory‹, ›sedimentation‹, ›presence/absence‹, Rocchetti produced several hours of music, a selection of which is collected in this album, that marks the 5th entry Die Schachtel’s series »Decay Music«, perfectly fitting its mission, which is to explore the ›intangible‹, ›decomposing‹ borders between experimental sound and ›proper‹ music with a special focus on the more interesting experiences of the contemporary Italian scene.

Ursprünglich 1989 veröffentlicht, war dies das dritte Studioalbum der Band bei Atlantic Records. Das Album erreichte Platz 155 der U.S. Billboard 200 und hielt sich acht Wochen lang in dieser Hitparade. Enthält den klassischen Track "Elimination". Limitierte Auflage in
rot-schwarzem marmoriertem Vinyl.

Students of Decay presents "Kaivajaiset" by Finnish composer Niko-Matti Ahti. Best known for his work alongside his partner Marja as Ahti & Ahti, Niko-Matti has been an active participant in the Finnish underground since the late 1990s. "Kaivajaiset" is his first solo recording and was originally conceived of as an installation. Part horspiel, part musique concrete, it is a piece of music that draws comparisons to the work of pioneering avant-garde composers such as Henning Christiansen, Annea Lockwood, Luc Ferrari, and Pierre Mariétan. Ahti weaves vivid foley and domestic recordings together with oration and classical instrumentation (violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute) to arrive at an expansive, narrative, and at times thrilling composition. “Kaivajaiset" was exhibited in two Finnish galleries: B-Galleria in Turku (2019) and 3H+K in Pori (2020). The installation drew inspiration from The Diggers' 1649 pamphlet and Michel Foucault's extension of Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of genealogy, and consisted of sounds, opinion pieces, a print copy of the pamphlet, and four cardboard collages. This record is a summary of the sounds of the installation.

Everything eventually turns to dust. Everyone knows this, but few want to acknowledge that our time on this mortal coil is fleeting, preferring to remain in stasis, in hopes that "the end" will pass them by. Chicago trio FACS (guitarist Brian Case, bassist Alianna Kalaba & drummer Noah Leger) have been perfecting their brand of intense, cathartic post-punk over the course of four ever-evolving albums, beginning with 2017's "Negative Houses" thru 2021's landmark "Present Tense', which saw the trio dig deep into the gaping maw of a black hole & pulling back whatever debris they could grasp onto. Their newest "Still Life In Decay" comes as an addendum to the last album - a "post-event review" if you will. "Still Life In Decay" starts with a squall of white noise before collapsing into the band already locked into "Constellation"s lumbering groove, with Case's guitar a ghostly presence, appearing & disappearing in washes of gauzy feedback throughout the track. FACS have never been more locked in as a unit, and "Still Life In Decay" is a decidedly more focused effort. The apocalyptic chaos that defined their previous album "Present Tense" is waved away in favor of an examination of events with cumbrous clarity. FACS are a heavy band, but they don't necessarily FEEL like one (see side two's "Still Life", where Case's fluttering, melodic guitar lines are buoyed by the insistent, underlying pulse of the bass & drums). As a rhythm section, Kalaba & Leger dance & twist around each other like a double helix, forming the DNA of what makes FACS special. Collectively they approach rhythm from outside the groove as opposed to inside it, creating a lattice where Case weaves guitar lines like creeping vines, which makes the moments on "Still Life In Decay" where the band DOES lock in even more powerful. When the guitar punctures the lock-step swing of "When You Say", it hits like a hammer. Case utilizes his lyrics like a person suffering from anterograde amnesia; repeating phrases & holding onto old memories in a desperate attempt to avoid the slide into oblivion. Freeform poetic missives touching on themes of resignation, cynicism, class warfare, and a search for identity & meaning in a crumbling society; A primal desire to hold onto anything in a post-pandemic barrage of sensory overload. The album is a decidedly local affair; recorded once again at Chicago's famed Electrical Audio by renowned engineer Sanford Parker & mixed at his Hypercube Studio in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood & mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service.

Everything eventually turns to dust. Everyone knows this, but few want to acknowledge that our time on this mortal coil is fleeting, preferring to remain in stasis, in hopes that "the end" will pass them by. Chicago trio FACS (guitarist Brian Case, bassist Alianna Kalaba & drummer Noah Leger) have been perfecting their brand of intense, cathartic post-punk over the course of four ever-evolving albums, beginning with 2017's "Negative Houses" thru 2021's landmark "Present Tense', which saw the trio dig deep into the gaping maw of a black hole & pulling back whatever debris they could grasp onto. Their newest "Still Life In Decay" comes as an addendum to the last album - a "post-event review" if you will. "Still Life In Decay" starts with a squall of white noise before collapsing into the band already locked into "Constellation"s lumbering groove, with Case's guitar a ghostly presence, appearing & disappearing in washes of gauzy feedback throughout the track. FACS have never been more locked in as a unit, and "Still Life In Decay" is a decidedly more focused effort. The apocalyptic chaos that defined their previous album "Present Tense" is waved away in favor of an examination of events with cumbrous clarity. FACS are a heavy band, but they don't necessarily FEEL like one (see side two's "Still Life", where Case's fluttering, melodic guitar lines are buoyed by the insistent, underlying pulse of the bass & drums). As a rhythm section, Kalaba & Leger dance & twist around each other like a double helix, forming the DNA of what makes FACS special. Collectively they approach rhythm from outside the groove as opposed to inside it, creating a lattice where Case weaves guitar lines like creeping vines, which makes the moments on "Still Life In Decay" where the band DOES lock in even more powerful. When the guitar punctures the lock-step swing of "When You Say", it hits like a hammer. Case utilizes his lyrics like a person suffering from anterograde amnesia; repeating phrases & holding onto old memories in a desperate attempt to avoid the slide into oblivion. Freeform poetic missives touching on themes of resignation, cynicism, class warfare, and a search for identity & meaning in a crumbling society; A primal desire to hold onto anything in a post-pandemic barrage of sensory overload. The album is a decidedly local affair; recorded once again at Chicago's famed Electrical Audio by renowned engineer Sanford Parker & mixed at his Hypercube Studio in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood & mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service.

Everything eventually turns to dust. Everyone knows this, but few want to acknowledge that our time on this mortal coil is fleeting, preferring to remain in stasis, in hopes that "the end" will pass them by. Chicago trio FACS (guitarist Brian Case, bassist Alianna Kalaba & drummer Noah Leger) have been perfecting their brand of intense, cathartic post-punk over the course of four ever-evolving albums, beginning with 2017's "Negative Houses" thru 2021's landmark "Present Tense', which saw the trio dig deep into the gaping maw of a black hole & pulling back whatever debris they could grasp onto. Their newest "Still Life In Decay" comes as an addendum to the last album - a "post-event review" if you will. "Still Life In Decay" starts with a squall of white noise before collapsing into the band already locked into "Constellation"s lumbering groove, with Case's guitar a ghostly presence, appearing & disappearing in washes of gauzy feedback throughout the track. FACS have never been more locked in as a unit, and "Still Life In Decay" is a decidedly more focused effort. The apocalyptic chaos that defined their previous album "Present Tense" is waved away in favor of an examination of events with cumbrous clarity. FACS are a heavy band, but they don't necessarily FEEL like one (see side two's "Still Life", where Case's fluttering, melodic guitar lines are buoyed by the insistent, underlying pulse of the bass & drums). As a rhythm section, Kalaba & Leger dance & twist around each other like a double helix, forming the DNA of what makes FACS special. Collectively they approach rhythm from outside the groove as opposed to inside it, creating a lattice where Case weaves guitar lines like creeping vines, which makes the moments on "Still Life In Decay" where the band DOES lock in even more powerful. When the guitar punctures the lock-step swing of "When You Say", it hits like a hammer. Case utilizes his lyrics like a person suffering from anterograde amnesia; repeating phrases & holding onto old memories in a desperate attempt to avoid the slide into oblivion. Freeform poetic missives touching on themes of resignation, cynicism, class warfare, and a search for identity & meaning in a crumbling society; A primal desire to hold onto anything in a post-pandemic barrage of sensory overload. The album is a decidedly local affair; recorded once again at Chicago's famed Electrical Audio by renowned engineer Sanford Parker & mixed at his Hypercube Studio in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood & mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service.

Since the late aughts, Helsinki-based multi-instrumentalist, linguist, and skateboarder Olli Aarni has released a steady stream of diverse and remarkably consistent recordings via labels such as Mappa, Longform Editions, Cotton Goods, Laaps and Superpang. “Koko maailma” constitutes a major new work in his discography, finding a fertile middle ground between what might be understood as his two primary compositional modes: organic/chaotic/aleatoric music and rule-based, longform works of minimalism. The source material for these compositions was recorded exclusively using the Serge system at EMS Stockholm, but the timbres that Aarni arrives at do not recall archetypal Serge music as most know it. Meticulous editing and processing of the material with an array of digital tools has resulted in music that preserves the erratic and cybernetic character of the Serge system but sounds totally unique unto itself. The first piece, “Ylhäällä,” has the sonic character of fireflies at dusk or ants in the dirt — mercurial, hypnotic, flittering, and scattering tones presented in the spirit of the best environmental music. “Alhaalla” functions almost like a zoomed out impression of what precedes it, with just intonation tuning applied to sine wave generators to create grid-like, harmonically rich, and surprisingly emotive drone music. Micro and macro — two pieces of music, two perspectives of a world.

In the two years since their last full length outing, Let There Be Nothing, JUDICATOR have returned from collective and personal turmoil brought on by both the Covid-19 pandemic and foundational lineup changes. The US power metal group are now primed and proud to release their triumphant sixth studio album, The Majesty of Decay, via Prosthetic Records. Refreshed and revitalized, JUDICATOR are eager to let this beastly album out of the gate and into your stereos. Whilst the album’s story remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, JUDICATOR utilizes compelling plot devices as a means to encourage fans to piece together the album’s meta-contextual threads. What we do know, however, is that The Majesty of Decay explores the subjects of love, family, and the transformation of suffering into something meaningful. JUDICATOR invites you to step into this world and contemplate how the story might relate to you. The album is a carefully constructed puzzle of mirrors and metaphor that cries out for Judicator fans everywhere to solve it. What began as a humble homage to their favorite band quickly grew into something that hads fans begging for more, and JUDICATOR is happy to oblige. The band has produced a catalog of music that spans multiple sub-genres and breaks conceptual boundaries. With this latest offering, The Majesty of Decay, JUDICATOR have delivered yet another thought provoking album that fits nicely into their discography.

After a long lockdown and moving to Berlin, the label is back with the next release on Lost Control 2097. They've been waiting for too long to release this record but it's finally here. And OH, it was worth the wait. Salford's very own 'The Fly Insect' (a lot will know him as Johnny Abstract in the Bohemian Grove era) has amassed a large silo container worth of radioactive mutant funk that he's been holding onto for a long while, literally 100 years. Lost Control have been lucky enough to open the taps on this Fly tanker and this EP/mini album is just a slippery snippet of the the sub-aquatic machine-musik. There is 6 tracks of dripping 90s.......the 2090s; ranging from cybernetik techno to ambient electro and back straight at it with heavy robotics. There is one emotional monster of a moment called '12 (Acresfield)' which is a tribute track to the late great Dave Ball aka D-Ball (another electronic legend from Salford). It's been getting repeated plays on our NTS show for good reason. But Decay is the lead track, AND LEAD US IT WILL...into the utter depths of another Fly based multi-verse. Don't sleep on your chance to grab Fly history and don't say so we didn't warn ya. Limited to 300 copies. Digital will also be available for those not wanting wax. This is one for the all the mutants out there. Stay Bzzzzzzttttttttttttttt!

The new EP "Decay Product" by Lesser Of represents dark dystopic industrial finery and obscure noise-techno finesse.
Thematically, the EP is underlined with the following words of the artist:

Our chaos weeps all light
and the powerless will be condemned
to a world of ever-growing sores.

Wunderblock Records and La Notte Di Architetto label are proud to present a debut release of a new project, Urstadt, ruled by Michael Teplov of Wunderblock and Nikita Melnikov, also known as Relic Radiation. Been released on the Planet Rhythm label before, and now the duo appears in a pure new form with fresh techno material.

The EP is called "Ritornels Of Decay" and presents the Urstadt duo's view on the state of the electronic music scene during the post-Covid times, through the prism of classic Detroit and Birmingham techno grooves. As a special VIP guest featured Andreas Sandoval, also known as Developer, with a hyperkinetic, ultra-minimalistic rework of the first track.

Overall, all the tracks of the EP are like polyrhythmic, slowly developing mechanospheres with a touch of cold-euphoric and dreamcore harmonies, fused altogether in a modern superhybridic way. For true techno believers.

Contrast gives art dimension. The juxtaposition of two seemingly disparate elements sparks friction, bringing life to any canvas. The Devil Wears Prada rely on contrast as they nimbly balance metallic turbulence, hardcore spirit, provocatively eloquent lyricism, and melodic exorcism. In between these opposing extremes, the band—Mike Hranica vocals, Jeremy DePoyster [guitar, vocals], Kyle Sipress [guitar], Jonathan Gering [keys, synths, programming, production], Giuseppe Capolupo [drums], and Mason Nagy [bass]—have fashioned an ever-evolving signature style buttressed by layers of sonic hues. Such dynamic divergence defines the group’s eighth full-length offering, Color Decay [Solid State]. “It’s about contrast,” observes Mike. “We’ve really tried to create individualism within the songs and make them distinct. The title references the disintegration and discoloration we experience from daily struggles. Those feelings come with mental health, getting older, and dealing with it.”

"Singe" is the new record by Angelo Harmsworth, a musician who hails from the American Southwest and is operating now out of Berlin. Harmsworth’s work deals resolutely in extremes, but this music is not concerned with presenting binary or dichotomous relationships so much as it is with reconciling disparate sensibilities and sounds. Layers of meticulously edited and sculpted tones swirl around one another, creating kaleidoscopic patterns and hallucinated choral motifs that seem to thrive on amplitude or the position of the listener’s head. There is a visceral physicality to this music that aligns it with some of the core tenets of harsh noise, even while its tonal and timbral choices recall those of ambient music. This record follows excellent releases on enmossed/Psychic Liberation, Angoisse, Opal Tapes, Vaknar, and Harmsworth’s own Lime Lodge imprint and may be the high water mark of his published output thus far. There is drama and implied narrative in these seven compositions that seethes and hums as if reveling in a sort of violent gracefulness.

restock!

Written and recorded during 2020, a year marked by forced quarantine with in turn proved to be a prolific time for musical composition. It is an album about change, aging and the fading memories one has, often more of a product of the current state of a person than an accurate description of those remembered moments. With age we tend to forget or lose contact with particular moments and parts of our own story and context become erased forever, as though they never happened. With this album, peter bjärgö takes the first steps into something new, bringing along his signature sound from past projects into a slowly evolving transition to a sonic world beyond his previous achievements. Leaning towards a more ethnic, rhythmic sound, integrated with his now trademark melancholic guitar work and deep solemn vocals, these are the first steps to a new horizon he’s ceaselessly crafting for our listening pleasure.

Schwedischer Death Metal seit 1990, möge die HM-2 mit dir sein!

Obwohl Entrails in den frühen 90er Jahren gegründet wurde und somit zur "First Wave of Old School Swedish Death Metal" gehörte, wurden sie im Jahr 2008 wiederbelebt, um in den folgenden Jahren zu emblematischen Mitglied dessen zu werden, was man mit Recht als "New Wave of Old School Swedish Death Metal" bezeichnen kann.

Die Aufnahmen der Band überzeugten schon immer durch Kraft und Atmosphäre, aber es gibt immer Raum für Verbesserungen, oder? "An Eternal Time of Decay" markiert jedoch eine willkommene Abwechslung, denn es stellt einen dringend benötigten Neustart dar, mit ausgefeilteren und originellen Songs, die auch eine ausgewogene Technizität beinhalten, ohne dabei die old-schoolness zu verlieren. Entrails scheinen sich einfach nicht um die neumodischen Wege zu kümmern, die sie gehen. Sie lieben ihr geliebtes Genre und versuchen einfach, es zu ehren; hey, wenn es nicht kaputt ist, warum es reparieren, oder? Diese Musik ist unverkennbar Old School, ganz im Sinne von Bands wie Grave und Dismember, und auch mehr als 30 Jahre nach diesen Bands, gelingt es Entrails, einen sehr rohen Geist für dieses Genre und diese Melodien zu bewahren. Fans des "Stockholm-Sounds" werden sofort die wunderbar horrenden

Töne des Boss HM-2-Pedals wiedererkennen, das jede Note in reinen Klangbrei verwandelt... und wir Fans beschweren uns nicht, wenn wir es als solches bezeichnen. Irgendetwas an diesem Ableger des skandinavischen Metals ist so schön hässlich, und diese Band trifft es genau.

Mit diesem Album ist es Entrails endlich gelungen, ihren eigenen Stil zu finden, indem sie die Horrorfilm-Riffs, die ihre Songs durchdringen, vermischen und gleichzeitig viel von dem retten, worum es geht: eine düstere Atmosphäre mit punkigem Schlagzeugspiel und melodischen Riffs, die gut mit einem respektablen Maß an technischer Komplexität gemischt sind. Dies ist eines der besten schwedischen Death- und Death Metal-Alben, die man je gehört hat. Das allgemeine Arrangement und die Platzierung der Songs sind angemessen und es fühlt sich zusammenhängend an.

After the Bend is the second album from Louisville based Flanger Magazine, and the follow up to FM’s 2018 debut, Breslin. Whereas Breslin was the solo creation of Christopher Bush, an album noted for “an astute synthesis of ‘library music’ and solo acoustic guitar,” and “a seamless blend into the uncluttered and airier side of classic 1970’s giallo,” After the Bend is an ensemble affair. An ecosystem, a perfect mutualism bodies forth—of strings, outdoor recordings, electronics, reeds, and percussion—featuring new FM players Anna Krippenstapel (Frekons (Freakwater + Mekons), The Other Years), Jim Marlowe (Equipment Pointed Ankh, Tropical Trash, Sapat), Eric Lanham and Benjamin Zoeller (both from Caboladies). The various combos perform with both a distinguished efficacy and unhurried Sunday drift—charged and beautiful, pulsating and pleasing. The production is subtle and tasteful. Mutating past the old saws of bounded individualism, a strange form of tentacular life accrues, cyborgian-fungral-tangles of the more-than-human variety.

Robert Beatty’s cover art of otherworldly and interconnected river-scape gradients, coupled with song titles like “Reservoir,” “Falls Fountain Removed,” and “Sympathies for the River,” cue and clue the listener toward a river as a singular multitude analogue for the album. Interstitial gaps, clearings and openings give rise and merge into an accumulated flow from the tributaries of spirited improvisational performance, palimpsestic song cycles, and high fidelity studio production. The composite sound-image of After the Bend refuses to put both oars down into any one of the eddies of the folk, sound, chamber, electronic, or jazz idioms, and instead glides along the currents found within the slipstreams between.

Gathering samples, a River Doctor Limnologist inspecting the properties of After the Bend might note the specter of Leroy Jenkin’s free-violin heat-light deepin the water’s thermal stratification. Or mortgage the late-Maestro’s time with Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza to pay down the growing river heat budget. Or take one’s dirty buckets to the banks of the 19th laundromat where Walt Dickerson plays his vibraphone parts from Divine Gemini with dowsing rods. Or excavate the bedrock in the drainage basin, noting skeletal remains of a Shostakovich string quartet attempting to tune up a Kentucky Fiddle’s subsequent influence on the chemical composition of the water. Or consult the historical revisionist reenactment troupe’s episode of Fishing with John (Fahey) in which Codona, The Sea Ensemble and Nuno Canavarro guest host as their fleet of paddle boats churn river water into a regal lager, and all the fish get drunk in their quest for the leaner enamel Hosianna Mantra GPS coordinates of the Fattened Herb.

Bush and Marlowe recorded and produced the album at End of an Ear Studios, located in the Portland neighborhood, in the west end of the city of Louisville, bordering the Ohio River, between Kentucky’s Upper South and the Indiana’s Midwest, during the first year of the global pandemic, amidst the planet’s sixth great extinction event. As good a time to be alive as any other. (by Kris Abplanalp)

“hi leaves” is the new full-length record from soft tissue, the duo of Glasgow-based artists Feronia Wennborg and Simon Weins. Following their self-titled debut for Penultimate Press in 2019, this collection examines microsound by way of extended amplification technique, bone conduction, domestic recordings, and digital feedback. Tracks like “plant pot” and “kettle” appear to disclose their source material, presenting wonderfully tactile environments of highly articulate sound. Wennborg and Weins prove themselves to be masterful arrangers of discrete, organic material, weaving together knotty and immersive compositions from these sharp, prickly sounds. Ultimately, soft tissue inhabits an intoxicating soundworld somewhere in between the patient abstractions of composerly EAI music, the haptic indulgences of ASMR, and the diffuse digital pastorals of the 90’s a-musik/Cologne scene.