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Aska – Út Við Sundin Grá (2021)

  • angstpop

Galakthorrö found another angstpop project, this time from Iceland. It is not really a new project either. Since 2014 Aska has been releasing material.

“Út Við Sundin Grá” contains slow angstpop, perhaps reminding more of early November Növelet than later material of this Arafna project. Here and there I hear a bit of Maska Genetik as well, Herz Jühning perhaps even?

The album is not a materpiece to my ears, but it is a nice album. It is slower and less ‘disco’ than several other recent Galakthorrö releases, which is good.

Available on cd and mc and vinyl (if you are quick of course).

Links: Aska, Galakthorrö

v/a – The First Cut (2cd 2021)

  • noise

So 999 cuts is not a new a label as I thought it was. As a matter of fact, “the first cut” is actually “cut 04” after three earlier cds in 2018 and 2019.

The man behind the label has the Israelian noise outfit Kadaver, which was new to me. It was the contribution of Am Not that brought this release within my radar.

The cds have known and lesser known projects. There are Unrest projects such as S.T.A.B. Electronics, Uncodified, Shift and Detrimental Effect (who is no longer active). Other known names such as En Nihil, Contagious Orgasm, Linekraft and The Vomit Arsonist.

There are also names that are new to me, Yellowsubmachinegun, Caligula031, Rotat and more.

The biggest surprise it the opening artist: In Slaughter Natives. I wondered why ISN would be featured on a noise compilation. Well, he contributed a noise track! Pretty rough, industrial noise. Quite unexpected.

Most tracks on this compilation are pretty extreme and chaotic types of noise. The kind of noise that I do not really like. There are also a few more (death) industrial approaches which I prefer. Am Not came with a very rough track that I do like.

All in all a compilation for people who like the harder kinds of noise. Bonus points: all tracks are exclusive.

2021 999 cuts

v/a – Besides You In Strength (2021)

  • noise

When Thomas Garrison was diagnosed cancer facing an expensive near future, a whole group of fellow noise artists teamed up to create this 28 track compilation go gather financial support.

Released by Chthonic Streams through Bandcamp, I found a variety of known and new (to me) projects. Sistrenatus, Gnawed, Theologian, Gruntsplatter, Murderous Vision, but also names such as Lkerr, Vitriol Gauge, Thoabath and Straight Panic.

Most tracks are not as extreme as Control can get, but you will hear a lot of ‘wall of noise’ type of noise. Also more ambient approaches and industrial tunes.

The contributions are usually fine to good with a few tracks are are less of my liking. All in all not a bad compilation. Let us hope it will also help Garrison in some way.

Link: Chthonic Streams

She Spread Sorrow – Huntress (2021)

I have known this Italian one woman project for a while, but I apparently never came to review anything of hers until now. This latest album will be available through Cold Spring like the earlier four releases.

Alice Kundalini (as goes the artist name) can get pretty loud every now and then “Huntress” is mostly an ambient album. 6 Tracks, 40 minutes of mostly industrial sounding ambient soundscapes with Alice’s whispered voice.

The music is alright, but not entirely my cup of tea. Perhaps this is why “She Spread Sorrow” never made it onto Gangleri.nl.

When you like soundscapish industrial ambient, have a listen to this (and previous) album(s).

Out 1 October.

Links: She Spread Sorrow, Cold Spring

O Saala Sakraal – Heven (2021)

The Dutch collaborative project O Saala Sakraal released a mini album a few years after their debut album “Etmaal“.

Three tracks and 21 minutes that remind of the previous album, but “Heven” is more ritual ambient / industrial perhaps. The music is pretty dark, has vocals reciting poems, more ritual elements such as drumming and singing bowls. Last but not least, in the third track the vocals are by Michael Idehall.

Very ice again.

Link: Cyclic Law

Michael Idehall – Crowned Fool (2020)

Initially released on Idehall’s Patreon, non members can now also obtain “Crowned Fool” through Bandcamp.

The album is in de style of the last reviewed releases. Not the soundscape style, not the ‘pomp’ sound of “Deep Code“, but ritualistic industrial, fairly dark, sometimes a little dirty, sometimes more ambient and (of course) with Idehall’s vocals.

10 Tracks and album length, so “Crowned Fool” is yet another recommended release of Michael Idehall.

Link: Michael Idehall

Tanz Ohne Musik – Babes Of The Abyss (2021)

  • angstpop

A couple of years ago Tanz Ohne Musik released a 7″ through Galakthorrö. “Babes Of The Abyss” is a self released CDR. Apparently the Galakthorrö presence did open doors for new releases or there was another reason for the couple to release this themselves. When I heard of this album, the 33 copies were long gone, but you can still get the Bandcamp version.

“Babes Of The Abyss” opens with fairly soft industrial, somewhat leaning to the angstpop sound of earlier releases, but not that much. With the title track TOM returns more to the Galakthorrö sound, while some tracks bring reminiscences of the early minimal wave days.

Then towards the end we get a song-based track which is somewhat poppy (and gothic?). Would this be a reference to a changing style?

The album ends with another version of the second track “Laylah”.

“Babes Of The Abyss” is a nice album.

Michael Idehall – Blood Poison (2021)

Unbelievable. Idehall is so productive that he even recorded an album while hospitalised with blood problems. What is more. By the time I found the time to review “Blood Poison” four new releases have been added to his Bandcamp!

“Blood Poison” opens with a soundscapish, slightly ritualistic piece of ambient. Also the second track is more of the ritual ambient style of Idehall. Also the more ‘typical’ sound can be found on “Blood Poison”, let us call it “angstpoppy”, rhythmic, repetitive and with Idehall’s typical vocals. Also a few noisy tones here and there. Especially the title track is very nice.

The style of “Blood Poison” is more that of recent (non ambient) releases than of the early material, but once again, it sounds excellent.

Links: Michael Idehall

A Place To Bury Strangers – Hologram (2021)

I discovered this Brooklyn band when their 2012 album “Worship” was released. ‘Shoegaze overload’. The music was noisy, chaotic, at times energetic and great. I listened to their back catalogue and APTBS became one of my favourite ‘pop’ bands (perhaps even the).

As with (1980’ies) shoegaze, the music has a ‘wavey’ touch, drumcomputers, feedback, screeching guitars. There are loud and softer tracks. I prefer the wilder tracks, but most of the softer tracks are great too.

With more recent albums the softer tracks appeared to have gotten the upper hand. The wild tracks are still great, the other tracks became less of my interest. So I made a playlist with tracks that I want to listen to more often and I play that list more often than I do the albums. With every new album, there were fewer tracks that I put in the playlist.

Then the opening track of “Hologram”, called “End Of The Night” was made available and again it is a fairly soft track. Nice though. A bit ‘surf noise’ of The Vandelles type. When the mini album came out, the second track “I Might Have” positively surprised me. Lots of feedback, lots of noise and some energy. But it again is the only track that went to my APTBS playlist. Not that the other tracks are bad, but they are simply not in the APTBS style that I prefer.

2021 Dedstrange

Det Kätterska Förbund – Lidaverken Del I: Att I Vådeld Förgås (2021)

Det Kätterska Förbund are Trepaneringsritualen and Nordvargr. Of course this is not the first time these two work together. They have cooperated on each others albums and have released two split albums, one with their ‘common names‘ (a remix album) and one as ᚾᛟᚢ ᛁᛁ // ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ.

“Lidaverken” has been five years in the making. The first two tracks lean more towards the sound of TxRxP than the somewhat more pomp sound of later Nordvargr, but it is not as muffled as TxRxP can get.

The third track “Att i Vådeld Förgås” is perhaps a bit more typically noisy as we are used to from these gentlemen, but the tracks that follow remind a lot more of Nordvargr.

The Bandcamp version of this album is already available. A cd and two vinyl versions can be preordered from Cold Spring. It is a descent album of which a “del 2” is forthcoming.

Links: Trepaneringsritualen, Nordvargr, Cold Spring