Spasm - Smear (1997)

The end of the month is coming up once again, so let's close it with a bang!

Bringing the bang for your buck is Spasm, a group consisting of Mark Spybey (Dead Voices On Air, ex-Zoviet France), Eric Pounder (Pounder, ex-Lab Report), Curse Mackey (Pigface, ex-Evil Mothers) and Invisible Records-owner Martin Atkins (Pigface, ex-The Killing Joke).

This collective goes for an hourlong attack with improvised noise rock. The tracks are constructed around Martin Atkins's somewhat unorthodox drumming, with a barrage of odd vocalisations provided by Mark Spybey. The main building blocks are the fragments of sound taken from the recording session; everything from guitar drones, blurred howls and feedback to the oddly timed speech sample.

I bet the drugs which were consumed before the recording session kicked in somewhere around the fifth track, as Ignorance is bliss marks the beginning of a psychedelic fuzzfest for the rest of the disc.

Although the improvisation is a key element of the band, it never spirals totally out of control and I think everything holds together really well. Although this big psychedelic mess can be a bit overwhelming at times, I still have to admit enjoying every second of the organised chaos. Distorted space rock ritual for the industrial age? Fuck if I know. It's atmospheric, "out there" and loud. What else do you possibly need in life?

Hope you enjoy!

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(95+45MB/320CBR)

Ashes - Ashland (1994)

As anything related to Eraldo Bernocchi seems to be highly successful with the readers, perhaps the time has come to share some of his lesser known and rare material.

Eraldo, performing under the pseudonym of Surrealistick Master, started Ashes in the beginning of 1990 as an alternative outlet for material that didn't fit under the moniker of Sigillum S. While this first album was Eraldo performing solo, except for some assistance by Nicola Bernocchi on clarinet and saxophone, on later albums he started collaborating with Bill Laswell, Raiz and a varying cast of other musicians.

The music itself is very relaxed and laid back. As much as I don't want to use the term New Age music, I'm almost willing to bet a small amount of money that this is Eraldo's take on it. Playing everything from guitars, keyboards and piano to programming the beats and organizing the sounds, the album features a wide array of soundscapes, ranging from eastern influences all the way to some tribal drumming.

Released in 1994 under the banner of Verba Corrige, the joint label of Eraldo and Pettulia Mattioli, the disc features nine tracks of instrumental ambient. This is recommended to anybody into early 90's experimental music, and especially for those of you even remotely interested in the works of Eraldo Bernocchi.

It's definetly not the party album for the weekend, instead it's a meditative and almost hypnotic disc for those long nights spent alone. Hope you enjoy!

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(95+06MB/320CBR)

James Plotkin - The joy of disease (1996)

The annual Midsummer's festival is up during the weekend. The Finnish people have a funny way of leaving their urban environment behind once a year, because Juhannus "can only be celebrated and experienced correctly at the countryside". Popular activities include lighting bonfires and consuming dubious amounts of alcohol. When you combine The Land of the Thousand Lakes with heavy drinking you end up with another highly popular activity: people drowning in those said lakes.

"So what's that got to do with anything?" I call bullshit on this highly popular holiday. I am staying at home. For once, Helsinki and it's surroundings are almost deserted. Time to dedicate my time to those good things in life.

If you've sampled any of the previous Plotkin-related releases I've shared, you've perhaps become somewhat acquainted with his guitar playing and sound deconstruction. Combining forces with Plotkin are Franz Treichler of The Young Gods and Mick Harris, providing additional samples and "atmospheres", with Ruth Collins contributing her ethereal voice in sung and spoken form.

It's hard to file this album under one particular genre, as it features such a broad spectrum of influences and different soundscapes.

Starting with the cold mechanized beats and heavy riffs of Casual murder, transforming into an almost cheerful vibe halfway through the track, which somehow reminds me of The love of life-era Swans, and ending with the looped guitar strumming and the menacing calmness of Disease as a child. This album has it all. Scattered throughout the nine songs is everything from trippy guitar loops, feedback manipulations, subtle drones and looped beats to dark ambience in the vein of Lull.

It all comes down to a form of escapism, really. I like to imagine myself and a few friends on a silent beach with the album playing in the background. Zoning out to this psychedelic and colorful album is a much better alternative than taking that final plunge into a dirty pond.

Hope you enjoy!

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(95+39MB/320CBR)

SIMM - Welcome (1998)

When I posted Tapping the Conversation, I found myself wondering what other releases could be filed under "forgotten and overlooked". I began a short, but rather intensive, staring contest with my record collection. Through all the blur, my eyes slowly began to affix on SIMM. Yes indeed! The world needs more Eraldo Bernocchi.

Sadly the case with SIMM, like with many good and promising projects, turned out to be yet another short-lived experiment, only releasing one 12"EP, this full length and a handful of compilation tracks. Both the EP and Welcome were released by Mick Harris' now-defunct Possible Recs.

While the first press was released back in 1996, this reissue came out two years later and featured two additional tracks, namely Him and Backstage sonic, created and recorded in February 1997.

"OK! Enough with the history lesson, how are the sounds?" Eraldo is up for the challenge, trust me. Combining dark and brooding ambient atmospheres, looped beats, his signature guitar manipulations and deep bass into a nicely flowing stream of ambient dub.

It's actually hard for me to pick out standout tracks, as the whole album flows very smoothly from start to finish. If I had to pick a personal favourite, I'd go with the second track, Some silences. Lovely basswork, the restrained beat and the synthbleeps emerging halway through the track. Mesmerizing stuff.

SIMM is an almost hypnotic approach to dark soundscapes and groovy beats. Very calm and laid back, but still packing some serious sonic punch, SIMM and Welcome deserve way more recognition, indeed. Highly recommended, enjoy!

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(95+47MB/320CBR)

"I'm back in the U.S.S.R .. wait, cancel that .. I'm coming back to Birmingham!"

Custard Factory calling. Be seeing you.

The Bug - Tapping the Conversation (1997)

Audio surveillance, invasion of privacy, paranoia and guilt.

They are all themes explored in Francis Ford Coppola's movie The Conversation from 1974. The troubled main character Harry Caul, portrayed by Gene Hackman, is an audio surveillance expert capable of bugging any conversation between a group of people. For a price, of course. Not to give away too much of the plot, especially for those who haven't seen the movie and plan on doing so, let's just say that one seemingly small and irrational piece of conversation will change the lives of Harry and the people involved.

Let's skip forward in time, twenty-three years to be exact. It's 1997, and this is where The Bug, at this time a co-op between Kevin Martin and Andre Gurov, better known as DJ Vadim, comes in. When you combine these highly productive musicians with the additional help of Dave Cochrane on bass, Simon Hopkins on guitar and Alex Buess on bass clarinet, you get Tapping the Conversation.

This dub-hop rendition of the movie is truely a dive into the deep end. Cochrane's basslines combined with Vadim's beats are the foundation on which the audials and visuals of the movie are reinterpreted on. While the sparse beats advance rather slowly, the textures are constantly moving with K-Mart squeezing tones from his synthesizers, some distorted guitars or the laid-back howls of the bass clarinet.

Although there is a heavy emphasis in the booklet that "absolutely no sonic or visual samples" are taken from the movie, watching the film in advance will help you enjoy the album to the fullest, as the track names are tied to scenes appearing in the movie.

Luckily for us The Bug goes beyond just reheating the suspense and feeling of the original motion picture. Instead, presenting us with their modern take on the menacing and paranoid vibe, this is infectiously catchy cinema for the mind. Enjoy!

"The issues of privacy and individuality, and issues of spying and listening, are as relevant now as they've ever been."

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(95+32MB/320CBR)

Tactile - Inscape (1996)

Although I've been busy as a bee, I managed to make some room in my busy schedule for another post.

Tactile is an experimental collective, which at the time of Inscape's release, consisted of Sentrax-label boss John Everall, Teresa Mills, of whom I know pretty much nothing about, except for some album art credited to her name on a few releases I happen to own (The Trace Decay-disc and Scorn's White irises blind just to name a few), and Dael Walker, of whom I honestly know nothing about either, except for these three links to his current ongoings which I found while skimming through Google results in my Sherlock Holmes-mode.

The music itself has a simple but working recipe to it. Everything, from beginning to the end, is comprised of fluttering drones and looped sounds. Although the album is totally void of beats and vocalisations, the flowing textures of sound and the throbbing synths drive the album forward. Inscape is constantly moving with small fragments of manipulated static and bleeping noises. The sounds wash back and forth for a moment, only to fade out into silence the next.

Judging by the booklet, the album is intended as an homage to "the goat-footed balloon man", and as a shout-out to early experimental greats including Coil, Drew McDowall and Lustmord. Even my fellow countryman Mika Vainio gets credited for inspiration.

Although the approach is rather simple, the primitive atmosphere still manages to keep me in it's grasp through the six tracks of the disc easily. For the next fifty minutes, take a ride into the cold and barren emotional landscapes of Tactile.

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(95+08MB/320CBR)

Tech Level 2 - Hymn/Hard times (2000), Tempest/Lexicon (2001), Teknological/Master (2002)

Contrary to my earlier "one album at a time"-posts, I'm deliberately posting this batch of 12" EP's, kindly contributed by a reader of the blog, in one happy threesome, so that you can download and hear the progression between EP's for yourself.

Tech Level 2 is yet another project by Justin Broadrick, with the focus being on drum and bass. Having only heard Chemical before, a track featured on the Genetically unmodified- and Mind the gap Vol. 28-compilations, I was anxiously awaiting these tunes.

As I listened through these digitized pieces of wax chronologically, I was pleasantly surprised with Broadrick's sound- and beat-wise progression. While the first two EP's are nice pieces of solid drum and bass sounds, they sadly were not much more than that. Admittedly I had high expectations, and perhaps I set my "standards" a bit too high, as I had hoped for a bit more of a flogging sound.

If the previous ones were a bit of a letdown for me, most of my doubts were then cast aside as Teknological came on. The track builds up rather slowly, a calm before the storm, which then finally breaks out somewhere around two minutes into the track. Now, this is something I was looking forward to.

The furious Master isn't really going to give you any more room to breathe either. An assault on every front, armed with some howling bass and truely raging beats, this one stood out as my personal favourite of the bunch.

While not presenting us with anything truely groundbreaking, I like what Tech Level 2 had to offer. It's an honorary attempt at drum and bass by a bloke who is really into what he does, willing to experiment beyond those childish genre limitations of what is accepted and what is not. But like I stated above, my expectations were admittedly a bit too high this time around, and my hopes for another scorcher in the vein of Krackhead were a bit over the top.

While the first two EP's are lacking some crucial punch in a few right places, in my opinion Tech Level 2 still ends up on the positive side of things with Teknological/Master. Check it out and hear for yourselves. Enjoy!

Download the 'Hymn/Hard times' (Dub) 12"EP
Download the 'Tempest/Lexicon' 12"EP
Download the 'Teknological/Master' 12"EP
(Hymn/Hard times (Dub): 18MB/192CBR)
(Tempest/Lexicon: 15MB/192CBR)
(Teknological/Master: 18MB/192CBR)

Equations Of Eternity - Vevè (1998)

Harris, Laswell and Bernocchi return for another collaborative effort under their Equations Of Eternity-moniker. Vevè picks up where their self titled left off, spicing things up with even more magick references than on their previous album. Let's sneak a peek behind the veil of secrets, shall we?

Many building blocks of the previous album are left intact. If it works, why mess with it? Laswell simply let's his bass do the talking. The throbbing lines of low-pitched goodness flow onward like a thick stream of glue, gently binding all elements together.

The beat constructions are signature Harris. Like the whole album, they're slowly evolving, and in absolutely no rush to get anywhere fast. Everything is nicely topped off with Bernocchi layering his gloomy soundscapes around the listener. The programmed electronics, manipulated guitar tones and ritual chants really bring the tracks to life. Slowly unfolding and subtle audial movements, constantly floating in and out on the listener. Again and again.

Reading about the track titles and studying their themes will flesh out the tracks even more, and maybe even open up new worlds for the interested and uninitiated. Going through nine tracks of smoothly flowing soundscapes in 56 minutes, everybody is allowed along for the trip. The sounds are certainly worth a listen, even if you don't care for the occult references and themes within.

"But the aim is to go behind the word to find the meaning, and to go beyond the sound to find the wisdom."

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(95+27MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - In all languages (2001)

Ok. I promise. This will be the last Godflesh-related post for a while. It's time for the two-CD retrospective, aptly titled In all languages.

The first disc, titled Flesh of god, serves as a best of-compilation, trying to capture Godflesh's varied and versatile career into fifteen songs, and doing a damn good job at that. The tracks are laid out chronologically. Beginning with Avalanche master song from their self titled EP, and laying down various favourites from along the way, up until Us & them. The Slavestate and Pure-era material are remastered versions.

The second disc, Beyond the flesh, is a collection of rarities and compilation tracks. Starting off with the emperor beast itself, Love is a dog from hell. Eight minutes of gnarly industrial metal filled with heavy riffs and crushing bass in synchronization with Machines. If you never got ahold of the Pathological compilation where this song was originally featured, now is the time to amend your ways.

Next up is Crush my soul (Ultramixedit), an edited and shortened version of the 'Ultramix' appearing on the Merciless EP. It was also treated to a remastering job, including Slavestate (Radiostate) and Xnoybis (Clubdubedit), the latter being another edited and shortened version taken from the Crush my soul/Xnoybis-disc.

On a personal note, I love the sound on the Peel session-recordings, and luckily two of them made their way onto the disc too, namely Tiny tears and Pulp. Raw and undisciplined!

The compilation is rounded up with two 'unreleased tracks', Witchhunt (Tyrant remix) and Us & them (Defensive remix). They are remixes from the scheduled Us & them in dub, which then got cancelled at some point, and sadly this release never saw the light of day.

In my opinion this is an extremely good compilation. The first disc features a bit of everything, and serves as an extremly good introduction to anybody who is new to Godflesh. The second disc offers little new to the 'Flesh aficionados, give or take the few previously unavailable tracks, but it's still a good view into the more experimental side with various remixes and compilation appearances.

Trust me on this one: It's worth it for Love is a dog from hell alone. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Download Flesh of god part 1
Download Flesh of god part 2
Download Beyond the flesh part 1
Download Beyond the flesh part 2
(CD1 Flesh of god: 95+70MB/320CBR)
(CD2 Beyond the flesh: 95+77MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Messiah (2000)

All roads must come to an end, and even my stream of Godflesh EP's is starting to run dry.

There's this certain missing gem though, namely Messiah.

The material featured on the disc is some of the gloomiest stuff ever presented by the band. The source material was recorded and mixed between 1994-1995, and put out on Justin's own Avalanche Inc. on CDr, in a limited run of 1000 copies. In 2003 Relapse records reissued Messiah with new artwork on CD.

The disc features eight songs, four tracks and their dub counterparts, with a running time of 50 minutes. The first four tracks present us with a broad spectrum of music and emotion.

Beginning with the desolate and hopeless atmosphere of Messiah, which in my opinion features some of the best vocal performances in a Godflesh song ever. Going through the beatfueled Wilderness of mirrors, the bass-heavy Sungod and ending up with the slowly creeping and erupting rage of Scapegoat.

Up next are the dub counterparts of the aforementioned songs. Justin used recognizable chunks of the original songs, threw in some dense and fat beats and reworked them into these massive sensory assaults. Blissful!

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(95+18MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Love and hate in dub (1997)

Love and hate in dub. For some it's a curseword, a time when Broadrick's influences and other projects finally mixed into Godflesh. For others it was an eye-opener into more experimental and sample-based music. I witnessed a few, let's say rather close-minded, metalheads taking a surprising turn in audial interests after taking a few listens to this.

In all simplicity, Love and hate in dub is the band remixing their own Songs of love and hate, leaving out Amoral and Hunter. Like with any good dub, the emphasis lies heavily on the bass and beats. And trust me, there's plenty of those elements to share.

While Justin's guitars are mostly stripped away or buried in the mix, Benny's bass is pushed to the front of the mix, distorted and bellowing. Alongside this bass-heavy mayhem there's a wide array of beats thrown in. There's thunderous hip-hop beats, raging jungle- and breakbeats, cut-up and rearranged washes of white noise .. and most surprisingly, all of this seems to work out in the end.

A very diverse record, and one of the strongest remix albums to ever hit the market. The constant battle of the raging beats against the warm drones floating in the background is truely enthralling. Reflecting upon it today, I think the album has stood the test of time with flying colours. It's still that raging monster today, just like it was back then.

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(95+57MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Crush my soul (1995)

The first press of this promotional EP was released in 1994 by Columbia, before Selfless hit the shelves. One year later, Earache put out this alternate version of Crush my soul with an additional track, Xnoybis (Psychofuckdub).

The disc starts off with the Selfless album version of Crush my soul. Up next is Crush my soul (Ultramix), a 15-minute remix which incorporates electronic beats and various effects. Although the mix is interesting, in my opinion the track is a bit too drawn out and lacks focus. Perhaps a shorter version would have been more fitting? Although the track names differ, the Ultramix is the same as the remix on the '94 promo.

Everything ends with Xnoybis (Ultrafuckdub). Another long remix. 17 and then some minutes in length, this is the same track as featured on the Xnoybis promo CD.

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(82MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Xnoybis (1994)

Xnoybis overdose, anyone?

To play on the, some would say radiofriendly, atmosphere of the catchy and hook-filled Xnoybis, this four-track promotional disc was sent out to different radio stations.

For a quick rundown, it's just four different versions of Xnoybis. The first, fittingly titled Xnoybis (Edit), is an edited version of the original track. The second track, Xnoybis (Clubdub), is an extended remix with a rather mellow atmosphere. The third, titled Xnoybis (Psychofuckdub), also found on the Crush my soul EP, is a rather drawn out atmospheric remix. 17 minutes of an "ambient droning guitars"-affair. The disc ends with the Selfless album version.

Chill-out tunes by Godflesh. We've seen it all now, haven't we?

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(78MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Merciless (1994)

Merciless is second in line for the EP-series. The disc features four tracks with a running time of 28 minutes.

It all begins with the title track, which is actually an old Fall Of Because-tune. It's a suffocatingly slow piece with crushing riffs and heavy bass. Although it's rather simple in execution, it's truly merciless in atmosphere.

Up next are two Biomechanical remixes, the moniker under which Justin remixed Pantera. Both Blind and Unworthy lean more towards the industrial side of things, featuring some looped beats, lot's of sound effects and, especially on Unworthy, a rather uneasy atmosphere.

The disc ends with Flowers, a droning deconstruction of Don't bring me flowers from Pure. Robert Hampson of Loop is credited for guitar appearances on the third and fourth track. Raw and clear in sound, this comes highly recommended!

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(63MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Cold world (1991)

As promised, I'll be doing a series of Godflesh posts, cranking out all those overlooked EP's and the In all languages-collection.

We'll get the show running with Cold world. The EP contains pre-Pure-era material, which would have had no problem fitting on the full length quality-wise.

Featuring four tracks, the title track Cold world and Nihil, in addition with two Nihil-remixes. Both unremixed tracks are golden in my books and essential Godflesh material. Although I'm all for remixes and deconstruction of sounds, these two just sound very much alike and offer little variation for the listener. I'm not saying that they're bad remixes. For my tastes there are just too many similar elements in both, and sadly they end up sounding a bit stale.

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(50MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Hymns (2001)

Hymns, the final Godflesh studio album, is yet another turn in execution and style. With a labelswitch from Earache to Music For Nations, and the return of Ted Parsons (ex-Swans, ex-Prong) on drums, everybody was understandably on their toes, anxiously awaiting the album release.

On Hymns the band are moving away from the more electronic sound of a few previous records, although not discarding them altogether (there's still a few loops thrown in for good measure), and heading back to the more guitar driven sound of their earlier albums. The songs are pretty straightforward in execution, riff-heavy guitars, grinding bass and Ted's unexpected and precise, at times metronome-like, drum patterns.

The production is immaculate, and perhaps too clean for some lovers of audiofilth, as they were coined the somewhat unnecessary nickname: "KornFlesh". The record is indeed groovy and grinding on all fronts, no doubt about that. Perhaps the more accessible songs, perhaps the spotless production, made Team Graybeard and the old industrial grumpies moan nonsense about "selling out" and "discarding their past".

Each record Godflesh put out was different, and I think Hymns was in no way different on that aspect. Even closing up the gap between Jesu and Godflesh, the last track even makes a clear transition within the song, from angry Godflesh to a more mellow Jesuesque sound. When you think about it now, approximately nine years later, you realize that both projects were not that far apart in sound either, especially on later Godflesh material. It was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.

As a conclusion, Hymns is a worthy swan song and goodbye from one of the greatest industrial metal acts of our time. Enjoy!

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(95+65MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Us and them (1999)

Godflesh return once again, this time as a two-piece with Ben and Justin at the helm. Ditching the live drums once again, they cleared the path for the return of Machines and setting the stage for Godflesh's most experimental release to date.

Initially it was this experimentation that had the listeners divided into a few camps again. While some were cringing and snarling the "the album has no soul"-mantra, others were really into the incorporation of drum and bass lines and hip hop rhythms. "Sometimes you get some, sometimes you lose some".

Sadly the exploration and experimentation was mostly just a scratch on the surface, leaving me craving for a more thorough implementation of their new sonic tools. Not to say that the result is hollow, it isn't. I just know, or I sincerely hope that I know, that these guys had way more to show than what they offered here.

Although the "bodysplitting breaks" Justin promised didn't find their way onto the disc, the end product is, still to this day, a surprisingly diverse and heavy album. Especially the last two tracks, The internal and especially Live to lose, which dates back to as early as '95, but was never released before, are clearly the beginning of the audial transformation what will be later known as Jesu.

As a conclusion, now that over ten years have passed since the release of this disc, one could state that the days of 20-minute feedback-laden outros are long gone, but luckily the band still managed to push some new ground and explore new ideas. To top everything off in cinnamon sugar and happy thoughts, I have to admit that I've developed a certain fondness of this album. It has certainly grown on me over time, and I'm happy to admit that I'm liking it (much more than in those olden days, anyway). A guy is allowed to change his mind and grow, right?

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(95+47MB/320CBR)

Equations Of Eternity - Equations Of Eternity (1996)

Mick Harris, Bill Laswell and Eraldo Bernocchi. Three prolific musicians. Three different countries. Two continents.

Judging by the liner notes, the material for this album was created by each participant, own their own, in their own studios, and finally arranged, mixed down and produced by Bernocchi. Luckily for us, the international mail system was still working to some degree during the late 90's, thus making this collabration possible.

Harris provides some noisy samples and his instantly recognizable spare beats, although for this record he has spiced them up with a touch of tribal feel, sounding almost ritualistic at times.

Laswell provides the driving force of the album. His signature bass sound, thick and groovy, has been mixed decisively into the foreground for the listener to catch on to. It's almost like a steady flow of thick tar oozing from your speakers.

Bernocchi, with whose work I wasn't too familiar during the time of the release, except for a few compilation casette appearances with his group Sigillum S, is the puppetmaster of this show, pulling the strings, providing programmed electronics and manipulated guitar sounds to accompany Mick's beatwork.

Throw in a healthy dose of mysticism, specifically Haitian vodou-references, some distorted chants and a Crowley-quote to boot, and you get this dark, beat-heavy monster of a ritual record. Originally released by Wordsound in 1996, the disc features nine tracks with a running time of 55 minutes.

Enough with words, it's time for you to get lost in this thick concoction of dubby drone. Enjoy!

"Things connect in the end, somehow, mysteriously".

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(95+23MB/320CBR)

Trace Decay - Dispersion (1999)

Trace Decay was a one-off project between Mick Harris and John Everall, the label boss of Sentrax records.

Combining ideas and influences of both Harris and Everall, the result is a moody combination of acoustic drumming and electronic sounds.

The recipe includes rather slow and hypnotic drum loops played by Harris, deep and groovy basslines, different kinds of looped background rhythms, washes of white noise, crackling static and some found sounds (for example marine band radio signals).

The overall feel is a warm session between two friends, both artists being able to bring their view into the mix while jamming on with the flow. To be enjoyed with dimmed lights and headphones, just so you can soak in all those background movements.

For the next hour and three minutes, let these seven tracks of excellent material help you to kick back, relax, empty your mind and fill your ears with sound. Enjoy!

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(95+44MB/320CBR)

Green Army Fraction - Conservative and full of hate (2004)

"Vi kommer dansande" or "we come dancing" .. Despite the rather funny name of the opening track, and although Green Army Fraction is not known to fuck around, that still sounds like something I'd pay some good money to see.

Once again we are offered a treat. Green Army Fraction present us structured, heavy and raw power electronics in the good ol' Scandinavian way. The samples, the buzzing synths and effect-drenched vocalisations, it's all there. Although the shouts are mostly distorted beyond recognition, the hate is still clearly present. Topped off with a crisp production, this baby is too good to pass up.

A personal standout track is the fifth, A.C.A.B.. It starts off calmly with Amazing grace being played on bagpipes, taking a sudden turn into facepeeling electronics with "all cops are bastards" being chanted in the background. Terror for the whole family!

Originally released on L. White Records as a CDr in special packaging, in a limited edition of 300 copies. I'm not sure if the label still has the item in stock, but the Discogs marketplace has a few copies on sale.

Angry, controversial and to the point, Green Army Fraction is indeed full of hate.

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(95+24MB/320CBR)

Pitch Shifter - The remix war (1994)

A few asked for it, and as I previously promised, so here's The Remix War, remixing select songs from Desensitized.

Although the Therapy?, Gunshot and Biohazard remixes are a bit "hit and miss" in feel and execution, Pitch Shifter on the other hand manage to remix their own songs, if not into gold, but something pretty damn close.

This is not a record that will be sorely missed by the world of sounds, if it would disappear overnight, but more of a curious experimentation aimed at the more diehard Pitch Shifter collectors and completionists. It's good for a listen once in a while, but nothing to lose your sleep over.

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(68MB/320CBR)

Lull - Collected (2003)

Compiled by Mick Harris himself, this is a compilation of rare or unreleased Lull material. If you've sampled any of the earlier albums, you know that for an hour and ten minutes, you're supposed to dim the lights and soak it all in.

The disc features material from the 1990's, collecting various compilation appearances, from '91 up to '97, on one disc. The sixth track, Escape, was intended for The Cheese Records compilation, but likely never happened, as the track is listed as unreleased in the booklet.

This collection chooses not to plunder the albums, instead plucking a wide-flung collection of compilation tracks and unreleased material, juxtaposing various shades of dark mood and creating a time-spanning overview of the project whole.

Leave the cosy computer-controlled, carpented environment and enter a place hewn from the blackest rock and most malign shadow.

I couldn't have said it any better myself. Enjoy!

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(95+56MB/320CBR)

PS: If anybody is in possession of the limited special edition, and would like to share the accompanying They're coming out of the walls CDr, don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks in advance!

Trifid Project - Trifid Project (2001)

Perhaps it's time to share some summer vibes, with the weather outside being so nice and today being the first of June. James Plotkin teams up with a few french fellows, namely Matthieu Maire of Celluloïd Mata, Sheila Mata and Marie & Yves Daubert.

The result is a catchy 22-minute disc of fluffy avantgarde electronica. Floating ambient soundscapes, crunchy beats, bleeps and bloops, unprocessed guitar strumming and female vocalisations.

Although I'm no expert on this kind of electronic experimentation, and I originally grabbed the release solely because of Plotkin, I found myself listening to this repeatedly. Especially the "spending the day at the beach, feeling the sand between your toes"-vibe had me smiling. Il fait du soleil. Ethereal, atmospheric and uplifting stuff.

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(49MB/320CBR)