Tag Swans
A desolate scene decorates the cover of Uniform’s new album American Standard. In it, a power plant or some kind of processing site is blasting smoke into the air, and the yellow hue of the semi-dark scene suggests heavy pollution…. Continue Reading →
Are you ready for some “hideous rituals of blood and fire”, some music said to appeal to fans of bands such as Godflesh, Einstürzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle, Ramleh, Abruptum, Lustmord, Swans and more? Are you sure? The reason I’m double… Continue Reading →
For many years now, multi-instrumentalist Dana Schechter, the main woman behind Insect Ark, has been making music “built from the churning of raw insides”. Assisted by varying collaborators, she has released four full-length albums under that moniker the latest of… Continue Reading →
On paper, Chicagoan avantgarde sludge/post metal quartet Yakuza, (who lest we forget are not some johnny come lately outfit having been around for several iterations of the noise scene they were at the fulcrum of creating way back in 1999)… Continue Reading →
While the pipe organ has long been Anna von Hausswolff’s choice of weapon, she is best known for her warbling, dulcet toned singing voice – a prominent feature on all of her albums, alongside a full band featuring piano and… Continue Reading →
In what could only be described as any self-respecting fan of so called ‘Noise Rock/Metal’, this judicious melding of minds between Chris Spencer (Unsane), Jim Coleman’s sampling mayhem (Cop Shoot Cop), Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop/Swans) and sticky, pounding bass… Continue Reading →
Whether it’s me or the music, or a combination of both, I can’t really say, but Insect Ark’s compositions always remind me of certain literature. With Marrow Hymns (2018) I had to think of the writing of the Bronte Sisters… Continue Reading →
“I know that name I thought” when this album came up for review. Sure enough a bit of digging came up with the name Henry Hyde Bronsdon which was the nom de plume of vocalist / guitarist Duncan was using… Continue Reading →
I think I should begin by telling you that I like Crippled Black Phoenix’ cover EP Horrific Honorifics immensely. It is great. One could write a novel about it. In fact, it might be a novel, or a biography, in… Continue Reading →
Bonded by a sense of guilt, rooted in their respective Catholic upbringings, a creative collaboration between American artist and performer Jarboe and Italian occult duo Father Murphy seems only natural. Approaching the EP, both Jarboe and Father Murphy each wrote… Continue Reading →
Every now and then, a record comes out of the blue that takes you totally by surprise – and Klimt 1918’s first album in eight years is very much one of those releases. The initial signs were not hugely promising… Continue Reading →
Sinistro by name, sinistro by nature. “Semente” (Seed) is the Portuguese band’s third album, and it is as if an artist were painting black canvases. Leaden-heavy in a post metal way, disturbing yet with soft background patterns and a female… Continue Reading →