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experimental

Boyd Rice and friends * Wolf Pact (cd 2001 neroz)

Yes I know this cd is ages old. Several times I had been thinking whether or not to buy it and after all these years I did. The “friends” are of course Douglas Pearce and Albin Julius making a controversial trio. It seems to have been mainly Pearce who had a lot of influence on the music. There are many Death In June like songs on this cd, neofolkish and a bit industrial. Here and there are Der Blutharschish elements and there is only one real Boyd Rice track. 13 Short tracks making only 45 minutes, but most tracks are very enjoyable. And as you can see on the cover, a strange trio with a strange kind of humour. This also shows in the music.

Antony and The Johnsons * s/t (cd 2000 durtro)

I got to hear this album by accident, since it was a filler-up on a tape that I received. Apparently a cd released by mr David Tibet and distributed by World Serpent, which combination may give you an idea of the musical style. No, not neo-folk, but strange troubadour-like musical experiments with a high silliness factor. The only comparison that I can think off is Tiny Tim, but I am not really familiar with this kind of music, nor do I like it very much.

A Murder Of Angels * While You Sleep (cd 1999 middle pillar)

In a pretty strange digipack comes the (I think) first cd of A Murder Of Angels. This is an American act consisting off Bryin Dall (Loretta’s Doll, 4th Sign Of The Apocalypse, Thee Majesty) and Derek Rush (of December and Dream Into Dust). Together they’ve been making music under the monicker Of Unknown Origin. A Murder Of Angels is dark ambient, but very ambient and not really in the CMI vein. There are a lot of samples and strange sounds, so maybe ‘soundscapes’ would be a better description of the music. The problem with this kind of releases is that they are too monotous for my taste. It’s pretty good, but not enough happens to keep my attention. The same goes for A Murder Of Angels. Actually this kind of music only does well as background music to me. People who like the sound of bands like Genitor Lvminis, I Burn, Alio Die or Ora should give this cd a try as well.

15 Delights Of Dionysus * The Nightmare Muzeum (cdr 2002 the fossil dungeon)

15 Delights is one of the many musical incarnations of the Riddick twins who are best known for The Soil Bleeds Black and who also run The Fossil Dungeon. This last is a young label that started with a compilation with the same name on Dark Vinyl and which included material from bands on the deleted Dark Age Productions label from the USA. The Fossil Dungeon has released a few cdr’s are recently two ‘normal’ cds. This one is another black cdr. It comes in a wonderfull half-transparrent silver ‘bag’ of larger size than a normal cd-case. The twins are supported by a Mike Bull for this project.
In the past, 15 Delights could be heard from the “Baited Breath” compilation 2mc (1999 Live Bait Recording Foundation) and the “On The Brink Of Infinity” compilation cd (1999 chthonic streams) and they released 4 (split) cdrs that I never heard. “The Nightmare Muzeum” contains industrial sounds and not only soundscapes. “Minimalistic” is the word for the whole cd. The industrial tracks are very soft and fairly orchestral and the other tracks are really strange soundscapes. The industrial tracks are nice, the soundscapes a bit too minimalistic for my ears.
It seems -by the way- that the Discovery Channel uses music from this cd in an alien abduction documentary.

Waldteufel * Heimliches Deutschland (cd 2001 ultra!)

Waldteufel has existed for several years, but after some nice and less nice compilation contributions and a not-too-smashing 7″ this is the first full-length of mr Wolff. “Heimliches Deutschland” (which can both mean “secret Germany” and “home sweet Germany”) contains a combination of folky music and strange experiments with Markus Wolff’s vocals and Annabel Lee’s violin. I can’t really think off any musical project to compare this with to give you an idea. Sometimes the result is wonderfull, sometimes not. Overall I think this is a nice cd with mostly nice songs, but also with not too great tracks.

v/a * Codreanu – Eine Erinnerung An Den Kampf (cd 2001 oktagön/neue europäische kultur)

After many problems and long delays finally the compilation dedicated to Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (1899-1938) and the Iron Guard is available. The first edition has 100 copies and comes in an A5 52 page booklet and further with two small books, two posters and a load of cards.
You will find a lot of texts about Codreanu and the Iron Guard of course (the Guard of today also contributed to this release). The articles are from Martin Schwarz, Kadmon, Josef Klump, Michael Moynihan among others and in English and German.
There are two cds with Von Thronstahl, Entr’aide Nationale feat. Karceral Flesh, Belborn, Tribe of Circle, Warcom, Dawn & Dusk Entwined, Ain Soph, Scivias, Blood Axis (old track!), The Days Of The Trumpet Call, Londinium Spqr, Book & Sword, Changes/Soul of Steel, Egoades/Natural Faith Project, Socrates Wounded, Marienburg Jugend, Invisible Empire, Foresta Di Ferro, Argine, Wutanes Heer, Sotto Fascia Semplice and my personal favourites Darkwood, Novo Homo, Dernière Volonté, Spiritual Front and Republik Awake. As you can see both industrial and neo-folk and some other music and well-known and less-known projects. Most tracks are (or at least were) exclusive.
Definately the compilation highlight of recent times! Be sure to get a copy of the second version which is limited to 400 copies.

4th Sign Of The Apocalypse * Lost Hour World (cd 1998 the order of the suffering clown)

I knew 4th Sign from several wonderfull contributions to compilation cds. It was not before Black Magazine 21 that I knew that this strange American band actually already released a couple of cds. A two page advertisement of Suffering Clown spoke about a “Frolic Of The Demons” cd, a “Box Full Of Demons” box and this “Lost Hour World” cd. I haven’t been able to find the other titles. The webpages of the Suffering Clown don’t give much of a clue and they don’t answer emails. The distributor of this label is World Serpent and they only have “Lost Hour World” which eventually remained the only title that I could track down. Since it is still available, I decided to review this cd afterall.
If you know the tracks of 4th Sign on a growing number of compilations, you won’t be surprised when I say that this is a pretty weird cd. 9 Long tracks making a cd of over 70 minutes with strange experiments and soundscapes, or in the words of Suffering Clown: “dark and humorous sentiments share equal time in eclectic visions coupled with unconventional electronics. Travelling through the subconscious via illbient loops, bizarre soundbites and an experimental tapestry of sound.” I couldn’t think of a better description!
If you are not afraid of strange stuff, try to get your hands on this cd.

Allerseelen * Neuschwabenland (cd 2000 aorta)

I have never been a big fan of Allerseelen and never really thought about buying Neuschwabenland, but since I now have it on tape, I can just review it anyway.
As expected the music is quite alright, but the tracks remain the same too long and I start to skip through the tracks after having heard the first minute. I also had that with earlier albums and unfortunately this didn’t change with the newest. Still the music is nice, strange industrial, slightly orchestral, a bit mysterious, pulsating rhythms, nice ideas, but unfortunaly not enough to make really interesting tracks. Maybe with the tracks half the length and twice as many, I would like an Allerseelen cd.