It seems that this new, British project has rapidly found its way to Tesco. Discogs lists no less than seven self-released digital singles in 2024. I could have been introduced to the project by the De/Tainment release in the same year.
The album opens with a nice ‘ambient noise’ soundscape type track. Also the second track can be described that way, but it is harsher. After another ‘noisescape’ we go to more of a death industrial approach and later more ‘noise proper’. It never gets really extreme or chaotic.
Certainly an interesting album. I think I better listen to earlier material too.
A while ago I was compiling a Spotify playlist with “Noise(y) grind“. Searching for fitting music, I ran into a track by Phyllomedusa which fitted the bill exactly. Idiotically fast grindcore with a lot of feedback. I decided to see if this project had more material available and found dozens upon dozens of albums released in 2024 alone. It is not all rapidly made goregrind tracls of a few seconds either. Some of the releases are album length, some are minis or ‘singles’. The music varies from goregrind to extratone to a more funeral doom sound, both usually mixed with electronics (samples, drumming), some albums have (not too interesting) soundscapes too and some more rock oriented tracks.
Needless to say that ever since that time, every time I start Spotify, I get a notification for yet another Phyllomedusa release. 58 In 2025 so far. I guess our “Big Frog” is using the royalties system to make a point (or an income). What is even more, Discogs has him listed as playing in 15 different projects and bands. Most appear to be no longer active though.
Anyway, as other releases, “Leap Into Euphoric Violence”, goes from completely chaotic, lightning fast goregrind to weird electronica. There is no doom or rock on the present album, but there is plenty of that on other releases. Phyllomedusa requires a brutal sense of humour I guess, but if you are not afraid of noise or extreme grindcore, it could be fun to try this project some time. Some of the music is quite fun in my opinion, but it is hard to keep up to filter out the most interesting tracks.
Thank you Spotify. I seldom play the playlists that are made ‘especially for me’, but yesterday I did. I got a bit of an ill-fitting track which was great nonetheless: “Osmium 0”. Some sort of ritual industrial track.
I looked up the rest of the album and learned that after a few separate tracks, the debut full length was released only a few days ago of a four piece project with an interesting line-up.
First we have Hildur Guðnadóttir, an Icelandic cellist who has worked with projects such as Throbbing Gristle and Sun O))). Then we have James Ginzburg who has more projects, one of them being Emptyset. Rully Shabara Herman is a to me unknown Indian vocalist and musician. Then we have the also unknown to me English composer Sam Slater who appears to work in experimental (classical) music more often.
The debut is (as things go nowadays) of 12″ length (38 minutes). The tracks are somewhat alike. There is a bass guitar type rhythm (is that the cello?), vocals that remind both Wardruna and Meta Meat and a background hum. Some of the tracks sound somewhat ritual industrial like, while others are more ambient. Here and there is drumming. The result is a nicely dark, somewhat surreal experimental music. Interesting!
The second release of this Dutch noise project is again released by Dunkelheit. A 35 minute album that is available as Bandcamp release and on cd.
The opening track is an old school noise track with a throbbing rhythm and distorted vocals. Then follows a bit more of a ‘noisescape’. This roughly describes the direction of the entrie album, from ‘ambient noise’ to a more aggressive approach to noise. Some material has too many high frequencies for my ears, but in short, I think I can recommend this album to people who enjoy the ‘Whitehouse type of noise’ (just to come up with a description).
Shortly after a mini album follows a full length on a Portuguese label that is new to me.
“Transient” opens with the recognisable sound of Ausströmen. Pounding noise with the typical vocals. There is less variety in sound between the different tracks this time, only in the pre-last track there is another vocoder and there is one more ambient track. No worries though, because Ausströmen has a great style of not too extreme noise and “Transient” is another great album.
There are 200 copies of a cd version for those who want a physical release.
When I hear about a ‘new’ GO, it is so often a “De/Tainment” rerelease, that I forget to check if they actually release new music. That they do! In 2023 there was a split release with Prurient called “Carte Blanche”. In the same year there was a double lp called “Death Zones” and here is the follow up which also comes on vinyl (and then there was “All Is Suffering” collecting previously released 7″s). Yep, I have to pay more attention.
All new material is in the new GO style. A more (death) industrial approach to noise, heavy, throbbing, with the typical GO vocals and a lot of samples. Here and there a track has a high frequency, but nowhere does GO use the chaotic approach of some of their early material. Did they keep their aggression.
This actually is my kind of noise. I really have to be more attentive when it comes to GO it seems. Their material is available in digital form or luxury vinyl releases for collectors, but also on cd.
A new album of Dødsmaskin popped up in my Spotify feed. It is so new, that it is not yet listed on Discogs. Also I cannot find any information about the label “Death Machine Industries”. it seems that this is a self-released Bandcamp release of the band. There are plans for a limited physical release.
As you probably know by now Dødsmaskin has a varied sound. “Isolat” opens with a few ambient tones, but soon goes over in a more pomp and atmospheric sound. The duo did not do away with their industrial sound though and there are also some noisy parts to the album. Perhaps new are obviously guitar based elements (both in atmospheric and in more industrial parts). The most notable element this time are perhaps the atmosphere parts that give way to more drum-type industrial. Also there are two excellent noise tracks.
Perhaps too much a mix of different approaches for my liking, but certainly not your average industrial album.
Even though I reviewed an album of Colossloth before, the name of the project (and perhaps the logo) always makes me think of some experimental doom metal band, probably from Tartarus Records. That is not the case though. Colossloth is a full out noise project with mostly releases on Cold Spring.
Well, the “noise” description is perhaps more fitting for the previous album, this time only in the first track. Other tracks are more ‘soundscapish’ and there is even a weird technoish track. After a while all tracks develop into something noisy though.
Let us say that the upcoming album (28 February) is more experimental. Sometimes soundscape, sometimes ‘rocky’, sometimes techno, but it always ends in a pile of noise.
For the upcoming release (28 February) Satøri went for a more rhythmical approach. Heavy industrial noise with darker vocals than before. There are also more quiet technoish experiments sometimes, but only to give your ears a little rest up until the next outburst of noise.
Every now and then you still get the wall of sound type of noise, but overall the more industrial approach of the new album is ‘easier’ to listen than the usual material of this project.
The Dutch label Tartarus Records has a varied roster. I found them when I was looking for experimental doom metal. At some point I also started to look for noisy doom metal and I again came to Tartarus because of the second album of AATR (2021). And now there is AATR III.
“The two-man formation” makes a heavy wall of noise, but it seems to be (mostly?) guitar based, with heavy blasts and screamed vocals. Not exactly easy listening, but that can be said about noise music in general.
An interesting project in you enjoy a somewhat industrial approach to noise and do not mind it being metal in basis.
