In conjunction with Housepig and Deep Six records, Hear More! is proud to present The Bastard Noise’s newest masterful offering; “A Culture of Monsters.”  This is the release that all of you Man is the Bastard fans and Skull Servants worldwide have been waiting for!  The next step in the dynamic evolution of sound - “A Culture of Monsters” sees Eric Wood and WT Nelson reunited with the mighty MITB drumslinger Joel Connell for a ferocious full length of pure progressive Power Violence madness.  TBN essentially drops the noise journey and changes course back to a more musical realm - as if MITB took a nap and re-emerged after 13 years of dreams where early Genesis, Gentle Giant, and King Crimson all reinvent themselves as Neanderthal cover bands.  As an added bonus for those patient servants of the Skull, ACOM contains several re-worked tracks from the “lost” MITB tapes that were destined for release in 1997 when the band broke up.  I simply cannot say enough good words about this release - as a lifelong MITB and Bastard Noise fan I am humbly proud to have anything to do with this beast of a CD.  Put on your headphones, close your eyes and set sail!  This CD is packaged in a mini-lp style gatefold sleeve, with a full-color 12 page booklet. $10 US / $12 World ppd

The first 50 orders will receive a limited 3″ embroidered Skull patch (similar to, but different than the NSLU patch)

THE BASTARD NOISE follows a first quarter 2010 release of “THE RED LIST” (Split-issue alongside THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE) with a full-length “magnum opus” titled “A CULTURE OF MONSTERS”. A paramount product of composition, sonic-rendering and package, this second volume of BASS/PERCUSSION/ELECTRONICS structured work realizes the full, true power of “THE SKULL” as a critical force in contemporary musical expression. Here “spun-steel-girder” virtuoso ERIC WOOD and Trogotronic “electronic-ace” W T NELSON are joined by original MAN IS THE BASTARD master-drummer JOEL CONNELL for what could become the most interesting T.B.N combination to date following the departure of DANNY WALKER (INTRONAUT/PHOBIA/MURDER CONSTRUCT) and his unmatched performance in the previous line-up.

“A CULTURE OF MONSTERS” revives the depiction of “odyssey” via music and challenges the imagination in unprecedented manner. Arrangements for

“A.C.O.M.” span a wide range of unrelenting, progressive and atmospheric expression without compromising potency or dynamic color.

True to the “skull-tradition” of collaboration T.B.N. enlisted the efforts of many “trusted-skulls” to complete this endeavor, most noteworthy project guests: NATHAN MARTIN (CREATION IS CRUCIFIXTION) who performs the spoken-word title manifesto & MIKE REYNOLDS (LACK OF INTEREST) who deployed his own particular brand of mighty vocal havoc on a key track. Producer MICHAEL ROZON (“ROGUE ASTRONAUT” / “THE RED LIST”) “serves the skull” anew, commanding his lethal battery of audio artillery to deliver this intricate and devastating assembly.

Both 12″ lp and compact disc formats of “A.C.O.M.” feature unhinged brutish imagery: The 12″ l.p. clad in full-color gatefold album jacket & poster; The compact disc is manufactured as a miniature lp with an all-paper, baby-gatefold album jacket & full-color twelve page booklet. Both formats contain complete documentation including lyrical content and wry “skull-commentary” for every cut. “A CULTURE OF MONSTERS” will pleasurably submerge sonic desire until it is abruptly crushed under extreme pressure of singular execution and stunning complexity.

The next chapter in the book of JUHYO: “Human Cargo” finds JUHYO teaming up with Joshua Norton Cabal (Andrew Nolan/Endless Blockade) for two distinct noise offerings on the topic of human trafficking and modern slavery.  JUHYO strays  from their theme of single longer pieces by presenting five shorter tracks of dynamic sound, weaving a complex narrative of discourse and haunting sonic beauty.  Toronto’s Joshua Norton Cabal responds with a different approach; one based on bludgeoning harshness and auditory diversity - never falling into the trappings of the Harsh Noise Wall phenomenon.  Both artists pair well in this sonic exploration of intrigue and modern bleakness.  Pro CD in jewel case with full-color four-page booklet, limited to 500 copies.  $10 US / $12 World ppd

Select Country

United States $10.00 International $12.00

This time around the core Pig Heart transplant line-up of Jon Kortland (Iron Lung, Feeding) and Greg Wilkinson (Brainoil, Laudanum) was joined by Clint Baechle (Acts of Sedition) on drums and Nic Schmidt (Self Communion, Feeding) on electronics.  The result continues the direction established on “Hope You Enjoy Heaven,” but also redefines that sound with layers upon layers of distorted grime.  The track entitled “Your New Life” was written with three very distinct movements to reinforce the dread of sinking into a newly mandated routine for living.  Recorded at Earhammer Studios in Oakland by Greg Wilkinson for maximum sonic result.

Hailing from the Urban Tundra (Minneapolis, MN), Bill Henson (Oblong Box, Housepig Records) and Brian Kopish (Surrounded, Hear More! Records) formed JUHYO in 2005 out of a mutual interest in outsider audio and icy Midwestern slopes.  On the record, their first vinyl offering, JUHYO emerges from the basement with a single track entitled “A Gift of Tears.”  JUHYO’s usual haunting dynamics appear over a droning and heavy ambient soundscape where disembodied voices and squalling, sputtering audio jabs float through in an attempt to draw the listener a map of malfunctioning space.  Recorded at Stereotactic in Minneapolis with post production audio sweetening by Dave Brenneman in Brooklyn, NY

The deluxe packaging was meticulously designed by Feeding and beautifully hand screened by Broken Press in Seattle.  Each copy contains a hand numbered 7″x7″ insert that solidifies the oppressive silver on black theme.  Limited to 300 copies.  Listen tough!

Select Country

US $8.00 Canada/Mexico $10.00 International $12.00

The idea was forged at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, WI.  Bastard Noise and Malachi perform and then retreat to the great Achilles for Robert’s late night tofu soup and early morning biscuits and gravy.   The meals merge together as friends converse through the night. . .

This release is a result of that night.  A result of a group of people with a similar outlook on life and a mutual respect for each others art.  Of course Bastard Noise and Malachi are a perfect pairing!  Malachi with their crusty, bleak doom and Bastard Noise with their spacey, other-worldly sounds.  Both units shift beautifully between the ethereal and the powerful - with an emphasis on power - meshing together to form something much greater.  Malachi’s drifting cello compliment Bastard Noise’s delicate vocal delivery just as crushing riffs collide with piercing oscillators.  This is more than another release in the library of two productive underground units - this is the real deal.  Friends formulating an idea and coming together to actualize a shared vision - a vision of true haunting beauty!

Four Tracks.  38:18.  Thumbprint Press.   Trilaterally issued with the esteemed Housepig Records and 200mg Records. $10 ppd / $12 world.

Select Country

United States $10.00 International $12.00

And then there’s Man Is The Bastard. The supreme rulers of West Coast Power Violence. A throbbing, churning, dual bass-ed behemoth. A crushing low end onslaught, double basses, crushing drums, howled vocals, swirls of caveman electronics, amazing graphic design (that ubiquitous MITB skull!), political lyrics, challenging subject matter, intense artwork, they were the ultimate D.I.Y. punk rock dirge metal outfit. If you don’t own any MITB records, stop right now, and make it happen, any one into heavy, thoughtful brutality, or into experimental and extreme outsider punk rock, needs to own every bit of Bastard they can get their hands on. It’s hard to imagine a punk rock band who hasn’t been influenced by MITB. In fact the crustcore back pack crowd that you most often equate with legendary epic metal lords Neurosis, you’ll find are almost ALL sporting the MITB skull somewhere on their persons, back patch, button, tattoo, it’s probably more ubiquitous in this generation than the Black Flag bars or the Einsturzende Neubauten figure. And for good reason. MITB were not only heavy, they were f*cking weird, not metal, not punk rock, not noise, but all of those things. And not only did MITB leave an amazing musical legacy, the various members all continued on, taking various bits and pieces, vestiges of what once was Man Is The Bastard, and incorporating them into a whole new world of noise and sound.
Thus we have No Skull Left Unturned. A triple cd collection of mostly new recordings from all the various Man Is The Bastard offshoots (only the Sleestak tracks are previously released). An eclectic bunch for sure. From drone to noise, to ambient to post rock and every possible hybrid in between. Some groups we already know and love, some we’re only just discovering, others we’re re-discovering and digging all over again. Even if you’re new to the world of Man Is The Bastard, this is a killer comp, that will definitely appeal to folks into noise, drone, punk rock, metal, but for MITB fans, this is the motherlode! About the coolest thing short of a reunion or a brand new MITB record.
Before we talk about the bands, let’s discuss the packaging. HOLY SHTT. We’ve seen amazing packaging, but this is so deluxe, and so gorgeously and meticulously hand assembled, true to the D.I.Y spirit for sure, but so over the top. It would be worth it for the packaging alone. Let’s start from the outside and work our way inwards.
An oversized grey envelope, sealed with a metallic silver wax seal, bearing the imprint of the MITB skull, affixed to one side of the envelope is a library card pocket, inside, a card with the names of each band typewritten. Flip it over, the MITB skull is printed in black metallic ink, and a clear transparency is affixed over the top. Inside, there are FOUR zines, each with a hand printed silkscreened hard cardstock cover, printed in oranges and blacks. Inside the first, Sounds, are the three cds, a track listing, liner notes, photos and track info for each band on the comp, in the back are two pages of stickers, one with stickers for the comp and all the various bands, one a whole page of MITB skull stickers, along side the cds, are an embroidered patch and a pin, both bearing the same skull image. The set is numbered on the inside of the cover. Limited of course. The second zine, also housed in a silkscreened card stock cover, Discography, is just that, a complete discography of Man Is The Bastard and MITB related bands, including tons of reviews from various zines and magazines, as well as a full color poster featuring the covers of every single MITB and related release. Zine number three, Interviews, is ultra thick, packed with tons of interviews with all the various members of MITB, discussing everything from music to politics, touring, art, reviews, Japanese fans, drugs and loads more. Also included in this zine is a hand screened MITB bookmark, no doubt to use as you work your way through all of this text. And finally, zine 4, Images, is even thicker than the Interviews zine, with tons of images, photos, posters, interviews as well as most, if not all the liner notes and inserts from all the various MITB releases. All 4 zines tied together with a piece of twine and sealed in that envelope.
Phew! And we haven’t even gotten to the music yet. Which is just as intense and impressive as the packaging:
Let’s start with Amps for Christ who are probably the most well known of the bunch, at least around here. Henry Barnes was the noisemaker for Man Is The Bastard, with his homemade amps (Amps For Christ!), lo-fi duct-tape electronics, screwdrivers and bastardized circuit boards, he added a weird caveman lo-tech sheen to MITB’s churning bass heavy power violence, but post-Bastard, Barnes took his Amps and created a strange world of jangle gypsy folk, lilting strum and soaring joyful bagpipe like buzz. A glorious field of fuzzy sonic flowers and sparkling sunshine, all woven into bouncy jigs, doleful drones, simple strum and dreamy childlike melodies, but peppered with strange spoken word, machinelike robotic, murky loping krautrock, and raga like buzz. The tracks here run the gamut, featuring the usual Amps guests contributing dreamlike female vocals, keening violas, and extra strum and pluck, all woven into a constantly confusional world of bent circuits, blown out guitar buzz, summery afternoon folk flutter, and ominous dirgey strums.
Then there’s Unicorn, who have been a big favorite around these parts, with their washed out minimal ambience, dark drones and atmospheric drift. The Unicorn tracks here are much more varied, the first a strange electro soundscape of crunchy beats and distorted vocals, feedback squiggles and damaged synths, the second more of the Unicorn we’re used to, barely there drift and shimmer, a faraway pulse, then the third a murky midnight forest jam, recorded from beneath the earth, everything muffled and muddy, smeared rhythms, and mysterious insect sounds, like No Neck doing Chain Reaction.
Probably the most prolific and most direct of the MITB offshoots is Bastard Noise, whose output has been nearly impossible to keep up with, and who embraced the noise side of Man Is The Bastard (hence the new monicker) ditching most of the bass and rhythm in favor of a much more static and generally harsh sound. That said, their blend of caveman electronics and black ambience is quite compelling, from huge ambient sprawls of softly shifting black whir, to freaked out walls of pure fierce sound, a thick swirl of soft white noise and manufactured alien soundscapes, harsh and brutal, noisy and intense, but also weirdly inviting and impossibly listenable. Bastard Noise teamed up with Japanese junk-noise unit K2, for long stretches of chaotic, kitchen sink, electronic noise freakouts: malfunctioning electronics, damaged amplifiers, squalls of loops and stuttering glitch and buzz and grinding crunch.
Antennacle are a new name to us, not sure which Bastard is involved, but they contribution to this collection is one epic 20+ minute soundscape, ominous expanses of insectlike buzz, spare percussive rattle, low end hum, blessed out shimmer, brief stretches of glimmering outer space FX, chunks of feedback, occasionally assembled into strange alien rhythms, a constantly shifting soundworld dipping into territories as far reaching as Dead C murk, Keening Sunroof!-like ur-drone, No Neck style folky clatter and Wolf Eyes-ian electronic landscapes.
Hierophant is another new name to us in the field of post Bastard offshoots, this one another American / Japanese team up, all electronics and field recordings, woven into a jagged field of low end thrum and hissing high end buzz, abstract percussion, and clouds of Merzbowian rrroooar, swirls of spaced out FX, a discordant din, the sound of a noise rock band crashing headfirst into a junkyard gamelan. Long stretches of what sound like field recordings of some alien swamp, all indescribably chirps and croaks, suspended in a muddy viscous black bog, over which thick sheets of coruscating high end feedback drift like storm clouds.
But probably the most exciting stuff here are three previously released tracks from Man Is The Bastard noiserock side project Sleestak. It exciting to hear what a more mellow MITB might have sounded like, an ominous low slung brutality, bass heavy dirges, moody malevolence, more a sort of beautiful brutal post rock. A loping bass line wanders through a field of hiss and hum and buzz, spacious and spare, almost like a meaner more malevolent Low or Bohren. Slowcore peppered with bursts of twisted noise freakouts, and distant bits of shortwave squiggle, a very Slint-like vibe, with the guitar locking into super hypnotic loops, over lurching downtuned bass, drifting detuned melodic fragments, if someone didn’t know better, they could definitely mistake this stuff for some super obscure Touch And Go or AmRep noiserock band. Killer stuff. Previously released, but we’d never heard these tracks before, and will absolutely be hunting down everything we can find. In fact, this whole comp will have most of you digging for discs by all these bands. And our waning love of Bastard Noise has most definitely blossomed again after digging into these tracks. Absolutely and totally recommended. And of course the best part of a comp like this is that it got us all excited about Man Is The Bastard again, and that shtt sounds as good as ever.
Man Is The Bastard! Crossed Out! Infest! Spazz! No Comment! Capitalist Casualties! All hail WEST COAST POWERVIOLENCE!! And the glorious sounds borne from their legacy… ‘ -Aquarius

—————————————————————————————

When BASTARD NOISE came through town last month, they had run out of opies of an insane 3 CD set called “No Skull Left Unturned”, which is basically a celebration of Bastard / MITB related projects. I ended up getting a copy from one of the labels that put it out, and am completly blown away by the project.

The set starts out with a beautiful ambient Bastard Noise piece, with vocals coming in towards the end over-top, loud and crystal clear. The collabortion tracks are detailed pieces of work, similar to some of my favorite Wiese solo releases, loud but crisp with thngs changing constantly, very engaging (much like most of the collected tracks on Wiese’s “Soft Punk” record. The Unicron tracks are mostly queit and simultaneously minimalist and detailed in their crafting.

The Amps for Christ songs offer half an hour of songs which make for a great sampling of what they do on all of their different releases. The sometimes not so much and sometimes complete combination of noise, oscillation and folk music, some songs loud and ear-piercing, others soft and delicate. …Housed in an oversized screened and transparacny printed envelopes which were wax-sealed and stamped with the Bastard skull logo, this is a three CD set featuring work from Bastard Noise, Amps for Christ, Unicorn, Hierophant, Antennacle and Sleestak.

Also included are four zine-like pamphlets, each with screened / letterpressed covers, one that house the CDs and has info about the recordings on them, another that is all imagery from these bands releases, show fliers, ect another which has a ton of interviews from over the past 15 years and a third which serves as a visual discography list. Also included is a ton of stickers, a couple for most projects and then 16 Bastard skull ones, a pin and an embroidered Bastard skull circlular patch! Oh, and a bookmark! So much time and effort and love went into this project’s creation, it’s completly impressive and couldn’t bedone any better, just incredible and a total must-have for people who appreaciate what these various individuals have been doing over the years. - James Fella/Clap and Cough -

—————————————————————————————

Holy shit. What a jaw-dropping, amazing piece of work this is. Every band in the Man Is The Bastard family tree is represented here.

There’s new tracks from the gods Bastard Noise, the BN collaboration with the cut-up sound collage insanity of K2, electronic freak-out from Unicorn and the Wood/ Nakagawa collab Hierophant. Also some new shite from Henry Barnes’ folkcore Amps For Christ, space-drone magic from Antennacle and a few previously released tracks from WT Nelsons’ noiserock outfit Sleestak.

Included in the package are a total of three CDs, four zines filled with pics, a discography and interviews, a fold-out colour poster of every MITB / BN related release, stickers, a button, a bookmark and a fucking embroidered patch! All of it comes neatly packaged in an embossed envelope with a wax skull seal. The thing was so beautiful I hated cracking it open…but I did. This is a true work of art made by the fans for the fans. Strictly limited to 500 sets, I highly recommend you grab one of these things and fast. - Plague Haus -

————————————————————————————–

Al fin llegó. Había una enorme pero justificada expectación. Tras una tensa e interminable espera de más de dos semanas ya tengo entre mis manos el esperadísimo último lanzamiento de Bastard Noise y sus grupos hermanos. Como se puede ver en las fotos, no se trata de un disco convencional. Concebido, confeccionado y publicado conjuntamente por Hear More! Records y 200mg Records, “N.S.L.U.” es una de las ediciones más ambiciosas y cuidadas que he visto nunca y, desde luego, un testimonio único del universo ideológico-musical de Wood, Nelson y compañía. Un completísimo paquete “hecho por y para fanáticos del Cráneo”. De eso no hay duda: efectivamente, una vez abres el embalaje lo primero que observas es el cuidado y la dedicación con la que se ha llevado a cabo esta mastodóntica labor de recopilación (cuya conclusión al parecer ha costado más de 4 años). Una labor ejemplar realizada, como bien dice el libreto, por auténticos freaks de Man Is The Bastard, Bastard Noise y otras bandas estrechamente ligadas.

El contenido es espectacular: empaquetado en un sobre de papel gris precintado con un sello de cera (con el símbolo del cráneo) y envuelto en una bolsa de plástico transparente. Dentro, un paquete de cuatro libretos. El primero de ellos (¡88 págs.!) repleto de imágenes, fotos de conciertos, flyers, carteles y mucho más. El segundo con 64 páginas de entrevistas a Wood, Nelson y otros muchos. El tercero dedicado a registrar la discografía completa de las bandas participantes, así como del resto de encarnaciones que las precedieron de una u otra forma (los seminales Neanderthal, Pissed Happy Children, Charred Remains, etc.) y un poster desplegable en color con todas las portadas. Finalmente, el último libreto incluye tres cd’s con material completamente nuevo de Bastard Noise, Amps For Christ, Unicorn, BN/K2, The Hierophant, Antennacle y material antiguo de Sleestak, con su detallada información correspondiente. Por si esto no fuera suficiente, viene acompañado de dos plantillas repletas de pegatinas, un par de marcadores para libros, un parche bordado y una simpática chapita. Como dije antes, impresionante. Por lo pronto, aún sigo hojeando los libretos, de modo que cuando haya escuchado convenientemente los tres cd’s hablaré un poco de su contenido (lo que seguramente significará otra buena parrafada :). Man Is The Bastard fueron una de mis bandas preferidas de todos los tiempos y parece que a día de hoy Bastard Noise poco a poco también están ocupando ese puesto privilegiado entre mis grupos predilectos. Con semejante ética de trabajo y piezas de coleccionista como ésta es difícil no maravillarse. Sólo queda dar las gracias y disfrutarlo. - Engrudo -

• a list of items
• your shipping address
• how you would like to pay for your order
• if you want insurance

I will return your email with a total and payment details.  Simple!

I accept Paypal, money orders, and well-concealed cash (at your risk, gambler!)

Wholesale/Distro/Trades
Contact me if you are interested in wholesale pricing - minimum order is five copies.
Trade offers are welcome, but I reserve the right to be picky.

Noise electronics: squeals, dissonant howls.

Bass riffs: crushing, repetitive, glacial.

Drums: pounded within mere inches of their lives.

Vocals: reverb/delay-drenched; screaming, roaring.

Atmosphere: palpable menace, palpable loathing. Terror.

Vennt.

The electronic squeals squalls howls float above under through everything. Weave through the structure. Insinuate themselves into the fabric of the music. Seep into the depths and pull themselves from the abyss to shiver into the upper reaches. A frame for the structure.

The bass churns plods: riff and riff and riff. There are surprising subtleties which lie hidden within the general cacophony, belied by the expected simplicity of the riffs. Riffs which pummel with their constancy unswerving inevitability. Almost monotonal in their repetition. Until drawn forward by the surrounding elements; brought forward seething frothing heaving.

The drums are beaten hammered destroyed. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Vennt perform at the first Obey Convention. And I watched—almost exclusively—the drummer. He assaults the kit with a fury I’d not seen before and I’ve not seen since. A fury which is the perfect complement to the rest of the sound swirling around them.

Drums and bass maintain an almost impossible unity throughout the disc. A unity which provides a foundation of absolute heaviness. So heavy that the work involved in dragging the music forward is slowed to a feverish crawl. A feverish incessant juggernaut of a crawl.

Remember Abruptum? How the vocals sounded like someone reacting to knife-wounds and salt? (For good reason, apparently. But that’s a story for another day.) Anguish pain horror. Right? The end result of Vennt’s vocals is comparable. Reflecting hateful energy, too, of course. The reverb and delay only serve to increase the effect of the vocals. Drawn from some subterranean space, pulled up livid raw bloody.

The atmosphere: shiver-inducing in its calculated surging relentless assault. Everything—every instrument, every sound—woven into a shroud: everpresent suffocating.

Vennt achieves, with this disc, a sort of apotheosis of this distinct melding of underground music genres; they have filtered the genres for the best parts—the most expressive, the strongest, the most intense, the most harrowing—and homogenised them into a clear direct statement.

Vennt captures the spirit of doom despair anguish fear. Captures it cages it throws the listener into the cage with it into that darkest of prisons and locks the door.

Favourite song: “Visions of Smoke”

Headphones Addendum (see note included in my review of Be Bad’s Vision Correction):

A sense of foreboding looms; a thunderstorm swollen with terrifying intent. Howling electronics twist around the thunderous bass and drums. Vocals attempt the insuperable maelstrom, struggle against the structure: tearing rending shredding.

Incessantly pouring forth. Seething vitriolic surges. Roiling masses of sound. Heart-stopping menace. A torrent of filthy foul loathing.

Unholy. Vicious. Unslaked. Unsated. Hunting. Prowling.

Hungry.

Vennt is inundation. JUNNNKTANK

The vocalist, in throat shredding agony, vomits forth scathing and corrosive tales of alienation, paranoia and dislocation that are filled with bile and contempt yet are strangely cathartic. Throbbing, scabrous bass, thick as hangman’s rope, twitches menacingly as it lurches forward, closing in on its victim. The drums and industrial noise batter the listener into submission.

Like early no wave-industrial-noise merchants, Swans, Vennt’s beautifully grotesque music produces an uncomfortable dichotomy in the listener: mixed feelings of fascination and revulsion. Vennt has effectively internalized the indifference, loneliness and ugliness of the modern world, synthesized it and thrown it back at the listener; in the process, creating the auditory equivalent of watching mondo death films on repeat or the shock of finding a bloated, maggot encrusted corpse hanging in the basement. Here’s another scenario: imagine jumping off a 25 story building and hurtling towards the ground at 75 miles per hour. You get the picture? This is the kind of effect Vennt’s numbingly misanthropic, white knuckle music generates. Pitch black, a view from the gallows. The listener, grabbed viciously by the head, is forced to face the horrors of a lonely, godless world.
Nova Scotia’s grunge era is officially dead. The charred and blackened underbelly of the picturesque province is exposed for all to see-warts n’ all.

In essence, Vennt’s outsider music is a dislocating descent into hell. The music is as nihilistic and stark as its cover picture of Unit 731, the Japanese camp used to conduct lethal human experimentation during the Second World War. Along with Hail of Bullet’s new 4-song promo disc and Clockcleaner’s Babylon Rules, this is the most compelling release I have heard in a long time. Powerful music, indeed. (MG) Rating: 4.5/5″ Ale Knight Gazzette

—————————————————————————————

2008 is the year of metal, and Vennt offer an early premonition with their debut, untitled EP of late 2007. The band is made of Sandy Saunders of noise project Torso (reviewed not long ago for his split with Unicorn), Jordan Hines, and Darcy Spidle (Divorce Records). Each of the four tracks on the disc runs just over five minutes, an a rather orthodox doom dogma is performed throughout: unlike the melted patina of psychedelic signature and post-production found on the recent Cadaver In Drag, the bass/drums combo of Hines/Spidle throb with only the slightest effect of delay, and with merited hardcore discipline. Saunders, here providing Goblinesque vocals alternating high and low, most often in Locustrian fits adept to the sludgy rhythm, takes further lead by introducing a segmented version of his power electronics (maximalized, yet diminished in volume to serve the team): hissing, squealing, chirping, grinding – effects which serve both in duet and as rich ambience for the intense brood which fills the claustrophobic space of this session. Highlights are found throughout, but most consistently on first and last tracks, offering regular blows exchanged by electronics and vocals on “Uneven Ground”, and on the latter “Visions of Smoke”, some innovative bass figures which disappear the track out of the dungeon and into the hazy, ambiguous field of Frosted malaise. Pro-pressed CD with heavy bronze sleeve and paste-on art; a co-release with Housepig and Divorce Records. - Animal Psi -

…never lying about sex in the oval office… - EXZOOMER/The Cogency Editorial

Straight outta Ottumwa, Iowa! Billy Crystal Meth bring 74 minutes of crushing, sample-laden, instrumental doom. Straightforward and levelling, in the vein of Sloth and Noothgrush. For fans of all things heavy and stupid. CD, limited to 500, with artwork by Andrew Walter and Food Fortunata of Sockeye fame. Co-released with Mortville Records. $7 ppd / $9 world.

Select Country

United States $7.00 International $9.00