Another Song About Dicks

This tape came out back near the end of 2016, when Sedem Minut Strachu really started propelling into their solid status as one of the best noisecore bands doing their thing. I was really happy to find it out in the wild this past April while I was on tour. At the very excellent Torn Light Records in Kentucky. Trashfuck Records is responsible for putting this tape out, not sure how many were made.

Sedem Minut Strachu as you all should be aware have been pretty much dominating noisecore over the course of several years. Consistently putting out true, ugly, proper noisecore from tape to record to tape again. And of course constantly releasing splits with many amazing and fascinating bands from all over the world. Their side here is a 163 track effort, so there's plenty of short bursts and stops on this one. Jan is really blasting hard. It sounds like one of their practice room recordings, so the bass isn't that blown out and more in the background. Not as much ping in the snare as I normally like either, it actually sounds like a real snare drum here. Pretty awesome stuff, as usual.

Bullshit Market is a long going, genre bending band from Detroit. Patrick, one half of BsM, also runs Trashfuck Records. This is some seriously whacked out noisecore fuckery. Super fast and tight blasting, harsh noise in the vein of Nikudorei, and some left in band member banter with very tight cut up/editing. The vocals too, I love how they sound on here! Not so much screaming, more like loud moaning and grunting, but with some SUPER heavy delay or echo on them in a way I don't hear very often. There's also an amazing part in the middle where there's a reverse playback of the band chatting, and then this reversed cymbal decay just starts rising up, until there's a sharp stop into harsh fucking noise blasting. This side is just great, I really really like this a lot. 

We got a proper, old school style, whole folded sheet of paper for the cassette art. Including an iamge of the poster from when Sedem Minut Strachu and Bullshit Market played together on the American 7MS tour. The tape dub sounds superb and crispy too.

This tape is long since sold out. But if you manage to luckily find it in the wild like I did you definitely should buy it. Both sides are winners!

  ~VII

Frost Cracking Trees

The latest batch of releases from Prime Ruin offered a lot to the listener in the ways of expansive and shapeshifting audio adventures. They're a label I can always trust to have quality output, and support for a wide variety, but still cohesive mixture of experimental artists. One of the newest tapes from the label was the excellent new Kjostad release, entitled "Frost Cracking Trees". Limited to 60 copies on yellow tapes.

A sibling project to Stefan Aunes long going Breaking The Will moniker (both having releases on his label New Forces), Kjostad has been having a rather exciting and active past year. Releasing the split LP with Ligature, called "Overgrown", and with several more cassette releases on the way. Brilliantly recorded natural/organic textures and loops, tape manipulation, and a calculated rise in aggression and tension. A convergence of the natural and the industrial, but with neither side trying to overpower the other. "Frost Cracking Trees" is yet another incredibly detailed and layered offering, but with a much more rapid pace and destructive sound. Bright, fluttery bird calls are quickly met with the tight whip crack sounding loop of some scrap metal. Sharp bursts of finely tuned, crushing low end spastically cut into the mix in a cut-up style. The whole track builds into an enormous amount of sound and industrial rhythms. It's very impressive how Stefan is able to manipulate these field recordings into something so loud, but still keep the integrity of the organic sources. The pacing and movements of the loops also keep everything engaging.

The journey continues on side 2 with more bird sounds and the subtle crunching of feet on a foresty turf. The pulsing, crackly distortion yet again swells up in a timely manner. The wormy and gritty sound of the compressed sound sources really get under my skin sometimes, in a good way. There's lots of scratchy textures on here. It sounds like the actual scraping against tree bark and digging into the earth. Not as rapid paced as the A-side track, but the claustrophobic atmosphere is tremendous.

I adore all of the art on this tape. It's one of my favorite collages on a Prime Ruin release, it encapsulates what the recordings sound like perfectly. As usual the tapes sound pro as fuck.

Not sure how many of these are left, but if this sounds good to you at all I recommend spending your money on it.

~VII

A Stream Of Random Events

A new post; a new return; a new set of starkly designed sheets as a background. There have been so many releases I need to talk about that have come out this year, and trying to catch up and get to them all would be too much of an ambitious undertaking for me at this point. But I figure I should highlight some of the real standouts of 2016 as much as I can. It's always these odd-numbered years that generally have good music being pumped out in the truckloads. Ironically, these sad, confusing times have only gotten much worse as of late, and for me I'm taking more and more solace in my days of collected angry music.
One of the best tapes of the year came out this summer under the trustworthy production of the Smash Music and Follow Me Into The Laser Eye labels. The epic 4-way split with Limbs Pin, Penis Geyser, OPS-PSF and Parasite Social. Limited to 100 copies.

The A-side kicks off with the spastic majesty of OPS-PSF. A cult noisecore band from Japan that a lot more people should know about, especially since their recent resurgence of activity. Definitely a must listen band for anyone into unhinged/cut-up noisecore. "104 Storys of Fake Adventure" is a mind-shifting, relentless collage of sounds. Some sort of movie trailer sample introduces the track, with only a few seconds of jarring, guitar and drum stabs coming in from time to time. As the piece goes on into about the 2 minute mark, it's blast off time, and OPS-PSF create a beautiful, chaotic explosion. Muddy, distorted, z-tuned guitars, clean jazz chords, stick clicks, cymbal hits, a kick drum or two; scronks, squeals, screams, all going by at the speed of light. Magnificent!!!! Limbs Bin proceeds immediately after with one of the harshest recordings the project has ever done. The usual drum machine bursts are almost completely buried under searing distortion walls and some of the hottest microphone distortion I've heard of tape all year. Everything here from the vocals to the instrumentation is manipulated and drenched in so much sonic sewage. At the same time, the textural pops and crackles that spew from all the distortion and the mastering make this track as captivating to hear as it is painful on the ear drums. Wonderful!!

The B-side opens with Parasite Social, a new band to my ears, and honestly their contribution is the least exciting part of this tape for me. Pretty standard and by the books grind/noisecore, almost bordering on gorenoise from the gutteral vocals and bass heavy, riffless guitars. The short bursts of songs come and go in a pretty linear, suitable way. It's not terrible by any means, but it lacks the distinguishable characteristics that all of the other three bands possess. Which leads us right into Penis Geyser, truly one of the USA's strongest examples of genuine noisecore garbage. And I say that with all of the best intentions. It sounds like it was recorded on a broken cassette walkman in a basement with one hanging lightbulb dangling from the a mold covered ceiling, and I love it. The tension and unpredictability of a Penis Geyser performance shines through here. You're never really sure what kind of attack you're going to get, or how long until the drums finally decide to come back and lead the band into "go time", or for how long that will even last. But I desperatly wait in anticipation for the next blast. Free music of some of the highest caliber and dedication.

The stark collage work of Alex York that covers the Jcard is interesting. I feel like I have to look very deep into it to see the real picture. It's a very wonderful presentation, I love that trademark Smash Music spine design. The tape is also dubbed very very well, everything sounds as loud and intense as it should.

I say this is definitely one of the mandatory harsh noise/noisecore releases of the year. Spend your money wisely and buy this HERE and HERE!

~VII

Facade

Another new tape from Prime Ruin, and one of my favorite new power electronics tapes at the moment. The latest EP from Lace, a duo comprised of noise makers Weston Czerkies and Valentine Sinclair. A tape simply known as, "Facade". C24 tapes in white shells, limited to 60 copies. 

"Facade", a two song offering, uses it's mere 20+ minute run time with an expert level of efficiency. The dominant A-side title track weaves and segways between a multitude of textures and styles. Opening with the stuttering and distorted samples of human chatter, echoed and quickly layered into a wall of delayed distortion and ambient feedback. Eventually more junk metal sounds and the unmistakable rumble of a spring reverb show up. The lo-fi recording is wonderful, totally complimenting the influence of sounds from the early Broken Flag PE groups and 80's extreme industrial. When the flanged vocals kick in, the track instantly turns twice as menacing, and "Facade" turns into a mean and glaring power electronics track. Rumbles of distortion, squealing microphone feedback peaking everywhere, and abused metal crashes. I'm a sucker for that echoed, waved and flanged vocal effect, and the delivery here is excellent. Patient, controlled, only rising in inflection and volume when they needs to. Groups like Ramleh come to mind for sure. The walls of sound eventually decay and leave only the indecipherable vocal samples that started it up. It's a fantastic track, I've played it twice while writing this. 

The B-side, "Visual Anonymity" , is an instrumental and a great compliment to it's other half. A much more ambient and chilling track, beginning with slow moaning chants, and murky, dark textures. Mic'd up scrapes and dragging sounds claw their way into the mix, and eventually a wall of cold, metal screeches and synth chords has been built up and has you. The different dynamics here are effective, and don't stray too far away from the brutal A-side. Would I have preferred more vocals? Perhaps, but this song is wonderful regardless. 

Very tidy layout and printing on the thick 3-panel Jcard. Prime Ruin does a superb job as always. 

If you're quick, you can still pick up a copy of this tape at PRIME RUIN. Highly recommended!

~VII