Search:decay

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.

The second serving of Grub is here from Swiss beatmaker - Andy Kas. His animated sound spread heavily across four thick cuts, an all you can eat buffet that packs a punch. Nostalgic gaming energy which the rising producer has built a reputation for, combining that with a fresh
and modern take for the dance floor. Sweet tasting sounds straight out of ”Decay Island GP”, built upon tight elastic grooves full of charming character.

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.

Oráculo Records long time partner in crime Carlos Grabstein rules Berlin based MISERIA records. Started as a DIY cassette and digital label back in 2021, the imprint is clearly focused and specialized in ultra-rare synth based darkwave compilations. Now in 2023 MISERIA joins forces with Oráculo Records to present a selection of his best releases to date in vinyl format for the very first time, presented in DOUBLE GATEFOLD format in a ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

'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.

There’s a mystique in things that appear in threes. In Greek mythology it represents harmony, wisdom and understanding: for Pythagoras it’s the smallest number needed to create a pattern, the perfect combination of brevity and rhythm, while in literature there’s no story without a beginning, middle and end or past present and future. Summed up in the Latin phrase omne trim perfectum, for Southampton based songwriter Ian Miles (Guitarist/Songwriter with UK band, Creeper) the perfect trio presents itself as Degradation, Death and Decay. Inspired by performance art of the 70s and Halloween — taking cues from the visual legacies of Robert Rauschenberg and Serbian film maker Marina Abramovic while musically drawing on bands such as Conor Oberst, Leonard Cohen, R.E.M and The Cure — this first full-length is more art horror project than album. “I never really seen this as a solo project because I’ve been writing and recording acoustic music since I was about 15. I low key released some very old songs way before Creeper started and even during,” says Miles about choosing to step out on his own. “I don’t want to be the focus of this record, it’s not about me so I have decided to hide me. I want people to solely focus on the art.” Layered with haunting vocals and a myriad of rhythmic textures, Miles sets out to explore one of natures most habitual cycles: our individual journeys though life, that life eventually coming to an end and acceptance, striving to give the listener full control over the art rather than focus on the inherently human force behind the mask.

Binding a deep social and political conscious with rigorous musical experimentation, the Brussels based, Italian pianist, performer, composer, Giovanni Di Domenico, delivers Downtown Ethnic Music, the 4th instalment of Die Schachtel’s Decay Music series, focused on inspired contemporary experimental efforts in the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract music.

Over the last decade or so, Giovanni Di Domenico has carved a deep path through a diverse number of discrete fields within experimental music, working in various ensembles - Abschattungen, AufHeben, Bonjintan, Cement Shoes, Delivery Health, Going, etc. - as well as producing a discography of critically heralded solo efforts, and intimate collaborations with Jim O'Rourke, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Akira Sakata, Arve Henriksen, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Alexandra Grimal, Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano, and others.

Downtown Ethnic Music encounters Di Domenico reimagining the future of urban music, pluming the mysterious and emotive depths of self, to arrive at vision of sonorous utopia, radically divergent from those of the past. Hybridizing numerous forms of musical practice, while making a conceptual nod to Jon Hassell’s notion of the "fourth world”, as well as the cross-temporal transnationalism of Roberto Musci, Aktuala, Futuro Antico, and the Third Ear Band, Di Domenico’s vision of democracy - rendered through the creative metaphors of sound - is a true to life, bristling conflict, as open-ended as it is ordered, and as dramatic and tense as it is beautiful, playful, and refined.

A colorful tapestry of ideas, experiences, histories, and reference points, woven from a pallet of electronics, synthesis, and various acoustic sources - the intervening rhythms of drummer João Lobo, vocals by Pak Yan Lau and Patshiva CIE women choir, the horns of Ananta Roosens and Jordi Grognard etc. - across the length of Downtown Ethnic Music, the boundaries between idiom, expressive concept, collective, and individual blur, giving way to a visionary, forward-thinking rendering of electroacoustic music, that subtly reminds us of the social and political potential of art.

Seamlessly incorporating bubbling electronic abstraction, sprawling ambience and long tones, throbbing kosmische, acoustic free improvisation, and the human voice, Giovanni Di Domenico’s Downtown Ethnic Music represents a high-water mark in an already astounding career. Issued by Die Schachtel in a one-time edition of 250 copies, pressed to 180g marble vinyl and housed in a pro-printed inner sleeve and jacket, contained in a silk-screen PVC sleeve.

Riding the razor’s edge between rigorous experimentation, innovation, and tradition, London based, Italian composer, cellist, and electronic performer, Sandro Mussida, joins the Die Schachtel family with Rueben, his 3rd solo LP.

Active since the early 2000s, Sandro Mussida worked extensively with Mark Fell, Curl Collective, Lorenzo Senni, Oren Ambarchi, and Alessandra Novaga, among others, as well as a founding member of the interdisciplinary artists' group TQS Collective, before releasing his solo debut, Ventuno Costellazioni Invisibili, on Metrica in 2017, followed by Eeeooosss, released by Soave in 2019. Rueben, like its predecessor, deploys a microtonal vocabulary within a three-instrument sound palette and builds upon Mussida’s long-standing investigations of active listening, augmented by a developing practice that challenges aural perceptions of historical, non-equal-tempered tuning systems.

The 3rd instalment of Die Schachtel’s Decay Music series - launched to highlight inspired contemporary experimental efforts in the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract music - Rueben was recorded during 2018 in the church of St.Giusto in Volterra, Italy. Deeply inspired by Italian Renaissance paintings encountered by Mussida during the work’s composition, and conceived at the intersection of acoustic and electronic aural fields, in careful response to the space itself, the sounds of electric guitar, bass clarinet and cello - treated as minuscule sound atoms, rapidly projected to form structures of evolving densities - harmoniously enter into dialogue, forming a multi-layered, contemplative sonic landscape, within the interwoven complexity of their own reflections.

Central to Mussida’s work is the role of the performer, the experience of sound in a given space, and the relation of those sounds to memory and observation. Across the length of Rueben, bound to the work’s inspiration in the visual realm, the interplay between the senses blurs, presenting the act of listening as a mirror for the experience and legacies of seeing. In Mussida’s hands, sound emerges as a trace or memory suspended in a non-linear conception of time, where imprint, movement, and event, as they relate to place and happening, are perceived by the ear, recalling the Russian theologian Pavel ​Florenskij​’s idea of ‘reverse time’, that likens temporal condition activated by experiences with art as similar to that of dreams.

Vast in scope and intricate detail, the 9 discrete compositions that form ​Rueben​ unfold in a series of interconnected, shimmering landscapes of tone and texture, each, through the interplay of their elements, configuring a radically dense rendering of minimalist, ambient music that challenge the perceived boundaries of those historical definitions. The identity of individual sound sources fades against their collective whole, sculpting an inward-looking aural image of the church of St.Giusto, that echoes the radiance of the paintings that lay at the heart of the album’s inspiration.

An inspired and radically forward-thinking realization of electro-acoustic music, Mussida pushes toward innumerable possible futures of experimental practice, imbued with ghosts and histories of the past. Rueben is issued Die Schachtel on vinyl in a one-time edition of 250 copies, pressed to 180g marble vinyl and housed in a pro-printed inner sleeve and jacket, featuring an original Sumi-e painting by Japanese artist and avant rock drummer Akihide Monna (Bo Ningen), contained in a silk-screen PVC sleeve.

Blue Chemise documents the hermetic soundworld of Australia's Mark Gomes. 'Daughters of Time' follows 2017's brilliant full-length 'Influence on Dusk,' released in micro-edition on Gomes' own Greedy Ventilator imprint. It is an elegiac set of vignettes recorded straight to dictaphone with minimal post-production. These pieces function in a manner akin to Loren Connor's evocative 'airs,' conjuring poignant, intangible senses of longing and nostalgia then disappearing well before overstaying their welcome. Regarding their genesis, Gomes points to a quote from Australian artist Robert Hunter: "It's like I'm external to them. They develop their own assertion and character; their becoming finished is a thing they decide themselves. It's unexplainable."

“Gyropedie,” Anne Guthrie’s third record for Students of Decay, takes us further into her hermetic practice, wherein expertly captured field recordings, French horn, and electronics are woven into potent and richly imagined electroacoustic environments. In Guthrie’s own words, “Quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West. Remnants of Midwest and East Coast soundmarks, instruments sold to lighten the travel load, sketched out and then buried under the new. Winter birds and crunching snow, frozen playgrounds, broken synths - I spent a year decoupaging over this, but of course it's still there. A second moon appears occasionally in the daytime, and there are frequent, murky transmissions. California has something alien about it I'm still trying to grasp. Primarily vintage, unabashed, corny, I find myself becoming an impressionist.”

Anne Guthrie is an acoustician, composer, and French horn player. She studied music composition and english at the University of Iowa and architectural acoustics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she completed her Ph.D in 2014. Her music combines her knowledge of acoustics and contemporary composition/improvisation. Her electronic music has focused on exploiting the natural acoustic phenomena of unique architectural spaces through minimal processing of field recordings. Her composition has focused on the orchestration of non-musical sounds, speech in particular. Her French horn playing has focused on electronic processing and extended techniques used in improvisatory settings, as a soloist and with Fraufraulein and Delicate Sen, among others. Her acoustics research has focused on the use of ambisonics for stage acoustics.

Much like its predecessor, In Decay, the 2014 compilation of unreleased, early Com Truise recordings, In Decay, Too unlocks a new set of rarities and unheard fragments from the past for the producer's legion of fans. To accomplish such a feat, the Com camp tapped the Internet's foremost Com Truise archivist, Polychora (formerly Comrade), whose YouTube channel has diligently documented Seth Haley's musical output since his earliest Komputer Cast (Haley's podcast mix series) days. Polychora's vault and input helped Haley and the team locate and curate the ultimate sequence of career-spanning off-album material, showcasing an artist in perpetual orbit of hazy machinist nostalgia. Haley's singular style of melodic beat music is the work of countless iterations; with In Decay, Too, his idiosyncratic exercises, experiments, and pivots pause for a rightful wave of appreciation. Following the smeared introductory tones of "Zeta," the album locks into its first robotic groove on "Compress_ Fuse," a trademark Truise treatment with cascading synth lines and deep, sinister low-end bass stabs. Further down is the suspiciously bright "False Ascendancy," which lures listeners through a labyrinth of drum patterns and siren-like keys, all colliding into "Constant Fracture." The track pushes to the point of stress, reaching the album's apex with a punishing series of blows before fading to relief, where the beatless and contemplative "Trajectory" awaits. In 2019, Com Truise left his previous sci-fi narratives behind for the visceral Persuasion System, a markedly more human record, which now makes In Decay, Too something like a bookend to an era. One last transmission from coordinates unknown; a culminating exhale ahead of what's still yet to come.