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Am Not

Xal – Spirit Breaking (2024)

Tamon “Am Not” Miyakita has a new project. According to Cloister Recordings created together with (the unknown to me artist) Mollusk King: “this tape explores tendency cinematic/dystopian-electronic/ rhythmic industrial to convey the harowing experiences and processes described in the text”.

The opening track is a rumbling piece of noise that shows the hand of Tamon. Then follows a more atmospheric (yet still industrial) track. What comes after indeed reminds a bit of Propergol at times. The tracks are more of a ‘noisescape’ type with samples giving that ‘cinematic feel’. Even though some sounds are known from Am Not, the overall sound and atmosphere here is different. Not as extreme, yet still dark. There is also a reference to the “Auto” 7″ with a track called “Bioluminesence II”.

“Spirit Breaking” is a nice ‘ambient noise’ release.

Link: Cloister Recordings

Am Not – Cold + Disloyal (2022)

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It has been five years since the last cd of Am Not. The meantime has seen some tapes and vinyl. Now suddenly there is a double cd. It is not entirely clear to me what the history of this release is. The album can be listened to on the Bandcamp of a label called “Kampf Unrest” which has the logo of the (defunct?) Unrest Productions label that also released “Unpunished : Appendix” (2018). Bandcamp does not offer buying a physical copy. These physical copies appear to have to come from Tesco, but are not yet available.

Bandcamp says that there are: “10 new songs about dispossession”. According to the Tesco website, there are: “11 new songs about dispossession”. Perhaps the Bandcamp release is one of the cds and there is one long track on the other?

For now, based on the Bandcamp release, I can say that “Cold + Disloyal” has the ‘harsh noise’ style of Am Not. Walls of noise, industrial blasts, metal clanging, extreme vocals. There are not the more dark and structured tracks of the brilliant “Unpunished” (2015). Towards the end there is an ambient track and the Bandcamp album closes with an ‘organ track’.

Update 16/12. The digipack is a nice threefold double cd. The extra cd has an alright 23 minute noisy soundscape.

Am Not remains one of the more interesting ‘new’ noise acts. I am curious what the 11th track will bring.

Links: Am Not, Tesco

Am Not – Auto (7″ 2021)

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Am Not comes with a luxuriously packed 7″. The 7″ itself is plain white, but the 100 copies come with a printed acrylic glass plate each with a unique colour. Mine is a bit brownish red. The print on the plate is information and apparently lyrics.

There are two tracks, “Autopia Now”, which, I suppose, gave the title to the release. It is a recognisable Am Not track with a pulsating wall-of-noise type with vocals. The vocals are not as heavily deformed as Tamon sometimes uses.

On the other side there is the track “Bioluminesence” which is a bit more ‘tranquil’ with more heavily edited vocals and a lot less noise.

Am Not keeps the standards high and “Auto” is again an excellent noise release.

Links: Am Not, Raubbau

Rope Society / Am Not – Диархия (7″ 2021)

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Novichok is a new label from Australia that starts off with three 7″s. Here we have one of them.

“Diarchy” contains two projects known to me. Of the first I have a split with another Australian noise project Ebola Disco. Am Not, of course, is probably the best ‘new’ noise project and the reason I wanted to get this 7″ in the first place.

Rope Society presents a rumbling noise track that is not very extreme, but with very distorted vocals. A good track, better than what I remember of the earlier mentioned split.

Am Not has a pretty harsh track, even for his own doing. A wall of industrial noise with vocals so distorted that they are hardly recognisable as vocals. This is something that Am Not has done more often of course. This track is pretty good.

Links: Am Not, Novichok Records

Am Not – Extraterritoriality (mc 2020)

Thanks to Noise Receptor I heard about this release before the 102 copies were gone.

“Extraterritoriality” is a six track tape. It opens with the brutal “Cleansing Violence”, a great track. Then follow two more tranquil tracks with lyrics or lengthy samples. Recognisable lyrics and samples? The recognisability is certain with “Homecoming” which seems to be an alternative version to “Come Home”.

The latter mentioned title is the first on side B called “Entry” and is a not too extreme, but a somewhat industrial track. Next up the aggression rises again. Distorted sounds, a pounding rhythm, shouting samples and after a while aggressive vocals. “Red Emperor, White Forces” is a magnificent Am Not track. The closing track is again more ‘noisescapes’ with a lengthy sample.

It looks like it that Noise Receptor has a better eye and ear to find the thematics of Am Not’s music, so I suggest reading that review too.

Links: Am Not, Unrest Productions

Am Not – Incursions (mc 2018)

Discogs.com

The excellent Am Not released a tape on Zaetraom, lining him with other excellent noise projects such as Anenzephalia and Ke/Hil.

On “Incursions” Tamon Miyakita goes from his magnificent death industrial and dark wall-of-noise style with brutal vocals to more tranquil tunes, somewhat ambient or even soundscape-like perhaps even.

Also there are guest musicians. Hermann Kopp in the second track (vocals, not violin), S.T.A.B. Electronics (whom I discovered because the project share labels) and two ladies, one of whom also cooperated on “The Developing World“.

“Incursions” opens brilliantly and brutally. Also “What Are You Waiting For” is a great track. The cooperation with S.T.A.B. Electronics worked out well and (as can be expected) the track is pretty harsh. I am less convinced by the more tranquil tracks, even though I do like the industrial, but not very noisy, “Cruth Do Bhaile”.

Previously I reviewed the “appendix” which also has a more tranquil track that I like less than the other tracks. What occurs to me playing “Incursions” is that the noise on these last two releases is more of the harsh type and less of the structured kind of the two brilliant full-lengths. Even though I do like the more extreme tracks of Am Not, I like the structured tracks a lot better than the more tranquil tracks that seem to have replaced them.

Let us see in what direction Am Not develops.

Link: Am Not

Am Not – Unpunished: Appendix (10″ 2018)

Discogs.com

The appendix to the excellent “Unpunished” album comes as a beautiful 10″. It has cards with the lyrics and an A5 booklet with an interview between the label and the project.

The appendix contains four tracks. They are more of the wall-of-sound type than some of the tracks on the cd, but excellently moody and layered like we are used to from this great project. 

The 10″ opens with a monologue from “The Singing Detective” slowly going over in a death industrial type of low frequency noise blasts. The vocals are screamed and hardly understandable. 
The vocals are even more muffled on “Dark Star Kinshasa” which is really a wall of noise. 
Over on side B follows the only obvious link to the “Unpunished” album (track-wise) with “Extremophilia II”. Where this is a short track on the cd, we now get a longer, pounding track with screamed vocals.
Closing with the instrumental “State Funeral”, which is relatively tranquil and a not too interesting track, we close this way too short album. But not to worry, by the time this piece of vinyl arrived, I had heard of a cassette released by Zaetraom, so I guess I better be quick. There was a tape version of “Appendix” limited to 24 copies, so how many copies will there be of “Incursions”? 

Three magnificent tracks. Am Not remains perhaps the best new noise project of late.

Links: Am Not, Tesco

Am Not – First Morbid Vibrations (2012/2017)

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I got to know Am Not when he released the great second album “Unpunished” (2015). A while ago another good album was released (“The Developing World” 2017). Then I learn that Am Not’s debut tape from 2012 has been rereleased on cd.

I had already heard this 34 minute debut, so I knew it is not as good as the later albums. An artist can develop, right? “First Morbid Vibrations” opens with a great, dark, noise track. Then follows a more ambient track and the third tracks starts off quite quietly too, but we soon go over in complete noise mayhem, a pretty damn dark piece of wall-of-sound style noise. Track 4 is again more ambient and the fifth a somewhat strange kind of fairly extreme noise, but not very chaotic of sound. The closing track is one of these extreme, high-pitched, unstructured noise, the not-my-kind type of noise, tracks, that is to say, I have heard much worse noise. Perhaps I will get used to this track.

It is safe to say that the album starts well, but develops in a negative way, but certainly without getting bad. The larger part is still pretty good. Not as good as the meticulously created later albums and I miss the vocals, but this is a descent document of a time past,
People who are curious about the debut of Am Not can now get a copy on cd.

Links: Am Not, Unrest Productions

Am Not ‎* The Developing World (cd 2017)

In 2015 Unrest Productions release the superb Am Not album “Unpunished”. There appeared to be an earlier album (“First Morbid Vibrations” 2012 Unrest) which is descent, but not as good as “Unpunished”. Now Tesco picked up Am Not to release the third full-length.

I do not remember how I learned of this project, but with the previous and the latest album, this project rapidly rises to being one of my favorite projects. Tamon Miyakita combines elements that I enjoy in music. It is dark, structured, emotional, but most of all, he seems to have something to say. Just music for the sake of music (or anti-music in the case of noise) can be entertaining, but I like it a lot when the artist seems to be concerned with more than just music. Am Not actually has lyrics, lengthy ones too sometimes. Not just the shouted one-liners of many similar artists, but lyrics that make me wonder what the artist means with them. A track opening with a sample of a man telling about him torturing black people, ending with “Leopold reigns today” (on the previous album), a stance against racism, as Leopold was a Belgian king who had a terrible regime in the then-colony Congo?
The new album seems to have more “1984” type lyrics, complaining about the almighty bureaucratic system that is more powerful than politics and a “child” that is summoned to “come home” with what appears to be a dangerous regime.

I do not mind that the lyrics are not ‘clear’ or even if there appears to be something there that I agree with or not, but this underused element of extreme electronic music definitely adds something for me.

The music then. Just as the previous album the music is pretty dense and noisy. The vocals are more often heavily distorted compared the previous album. Some tracks are more power electronics in sound, others somewhat less extreme, but “The Developing World” is certainly no easy-listening. It is abrasively dark though and, I said it before, I have a thing with extreme music with vocals. The new Am Not is, once again, pretty damn good!

Links: Am Not, Tesco

Am Not * Unpunished (cd 2015)

I was looking much forward to hearing this cd, but it took a while before I could. “Unpunished” was certainly worth the wait!

The album opens with the brilliant title track. A dark rumbling piece of death industrial with calm, clear, spoken vocals with a not-so-calm message. Then Am Not continues with different styles of death industrial and noise, all pretty damn dark. From Operation Cleansweep-like dark noise with distorted vocals to chaotic power electronics with no vocals. Somehow I have something with dark noise with vocals and that is a description for most tracks on “Unpunished”. All well-excuted and moody, so here we certainly have another great noise album.

The first ‘real album’ of the British Am Not is one for lovers of the mentioned Cleansweep or Ex.Order, industrial noise projects like Trepaneringsritualen and ‘vocal noise’ projects such as IRM and some tracks of the latest Iron Fist Of The Sun.

Recommended!

Links: Am Not, Unrest Productions