Monday, August 22, 2011

Tasnim - "The Holy Land" [1998]

Artist: Tasnim
Title: The Holy Land
Genre: Melodic Death Metal / Punk
Country: Libya
Release date: 1998

Track List:
  1. The Holy Land
  2. Shame And Regret
  3. The Bitter Nature Of Hypocrisy
  4. The Birth Of Evil
We all know about the dramatic events that are going on right now in Libya, and that's why I decided to post some Libyan music here. Tasnim is probably the only more or less known metal band in Libya (however, there are two more bands listed in Encyclopaedia Metallum, but it seems like their releases are impossible to find anywhere).
Tasnim was started by two Benghazi citizens in 1998, and by the year 2000 they (already a 4-piece band) became the most influential metal band in Libya. Unfortunately (but unsurprisingly), the quality of recording on their demo is quite poor, but it varies from track to track. Some tracks (like "Bitter Nature Of Hypocrisy") are just awful, some are decent. Overal, not bad for a band from a country with almost non-existent metal scene, but some of their songs sound really much more like raw punk than metal.
According to their biography, "the subject matter of their lyrics sounds aggressively political most of the time, but they stated that they have their own open tolerant mind". Well, they're political band, but on which side they're now? Who knows... but taken in account they're from Benghazi, they're probably supporting the rebels. As for me, i once was very impressed by Qaddafi's "Green Book", but now I just don't know what to think about him...

Friday, August 19, 2011

Probably the first Russian industrial music video


First time I saw this clip in 1999 (or maybe 2000), on one of our mainstream music channels. Back then, I knew nothing about industrial music and of course I couldn't realise that I just watched a music video by the very first Russian EBM band. But now I understand that they were one of the most interesting musical projects in mid-90s Russia...

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

e.g. Oblique Graph - "Extended Play" [1982]

Artist: e.g. Oblique Graph (pre-Muslimgauze)
Title: Extended Play
Genre: Ambient / Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1982

Track List:
  1. Fall Into Glass
  2. Merge
  3. Murders Linked To Gaullist Clique
Finally, the very first and the rarest cassette release by Bryn Jones - "Extented Play". After listening to this, I was amazed how effective minimalism in music can be. For instance, "Murders Linked To Gaullist Clique" is a very minimalistic track where silence is more important than the music itself - and it doesn't get boring, unlike the majority of generic dark ambient releases. "Merge" is slightly more noisy, and it contains some voice samples in Russian (probably from some audio tutorial tape). "Fall Into Glass" is a short track featuring a nice synth melody (yes, it was the rare case when Bryn Jones used synths). Overall, it's very interesting piece of early 80s underground ambient/industrial music, and a good start for an enormous (>200 albums) discography - even though it doesn't much resemble any stuff released under the name "Muslimgauze". There's also another version of this cassette, with 3rd "Extreme Faction (re-mix)", but looks like it's extremely hard to find anywhere...

e.g. Oblique Graph - "Triptych" [1983]

Artist: e.g. Oblique Graph (pre-Muslimgauze)
Title: Triptych
Genre: Ambient / Percussion Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1983

Track List:
  1. Black Cloth Behind De Gaulle's Wax Head
  2. Triptych
  3. Study Of The Red Pope (Innocent X)
  4. Castro Regime
Here's another rare EP from Bryn Jones, released in early 1980s under the name "e.q. Oblique Graph". It's much more repetitive and less listenable than "Piano Room" or "Extented Play"... but then again, early industrial music wasn't supposed to be easy to listen. I wouldn't recommend this release to anyone not familiar with Bryn Jones' musical legacy, but it still has a lot of historical importance.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Screen Of Sorrow - "Violence" [2007]

Artist: Screen Of Sorrow
Title: Violence
Genre: Noise
Country: Russia
Release date: 2007

Track List:
  1. Narrow Death Corridor
  2. My Brains On The Wall
  3. Love Is Eating My Heart
  4. Thoughts In Brain (When You Fall From Skyscraper)
  5. Ears On Trees
  6. Raindrop/Mindgate
  7. Valley Of Pain
I've almost no info about this project, but this release is quite good (of course you should mind that it's a harsh noise album ;)), and it's available for free under the terms of CC-BY 3.0. Enjoy!

Paracore - "Sickcore" [2006]

Artist: Paracore
Title: Sickcore
Genre: Dark Ambient / Noise
Country: Russia
Release date: 2006

Track List:
  1. Antimatter
  2. Sickcore
  3. Funeral Of The Sun
  4. Frozen Throne
  5. Zone 7
  6. Wintermute
  7. White Nowhere
One more dark ambient project from Moscow, led by single person. Just like in case with System Morgue, Paracore has some more releases beside this one, but right now I can't find any of them. Unfortunately, the project seems to be dead now, as there wasn't any news since 2009.

System Morgue - "Necrostud" [2007]

Artist: System Morgue
Title: Necrostud
Genre: Dark Ambient / Noise
Country: Russia
Release date: 2007

Track List:
  1. 2C-B
  2. Ketamine Overseer
  3. 29A Decay
  4. Necrostud
  5. Neurotic Reinfectation
  6. Reactor #4
  7. Wormdog
  8. ZTX Grave
It's a debut release by System Morgue, an one-man noise/PE/ambient project from Moscow. First I heard this album right after it was released, when Peter (the man behind the project) posted it on his blog. Shortly after that, Peter was hospitalized for a long period of time, so the project was put on hold. As of today, System Morgue have released several other albums, but I haven't heard any of them yet. System Morgue also participated in the compilation Heliophagia #6 with his track "Reactor #4 / Fenrir Awakening".

O Yuki Conjugate - "Sunchemical" [1995]

Artist: O Yuki Conjugate
Title: Sunchemical
Genre: Ambient / Tribal Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1995

Track List:
  1. Sulphur (S)
  2. Niobium (Nb)
  3. Californium (Ca)
  4. Carbon (C)
  5. Polonium (Po)
  6. Bismuth (Bi)
Well, I've posted some albums by Muslimgauze, and here's another tribal ambient project from the UK. Just like Muslimgauze, they have released several albums on Staalplaat/Soleilmoon 15-20 years ago, but their discography isn't that big... moreover, their albums are often hard to find and released in limited editions. Here's the only their release I have - "Sunchemical". Hope it's be OK to put this link here:

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Muslimgauze - "Return Of Black September" [1996]

Artist: Muslimgauze
Title: Return of Black September
Genre: Ambient / Percussion Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1996

Track List:
  1. Return Of Black September
  2. Libya
  3. Thugghee
  4. Remix Of Thugghee (actually a remix of Return Of Black September)
  5. Remix Of Opiate And Mullah
Though there are 5 tracks on this release, they all are mixed in one long track. Overall a very good release, well representing the sound of mid-90s Muslimgauze. I wouldn't post any more stuff by him, as it's quite easy to find on other blogs - but if you're new to his music, then I'd recommend "Return Of Black September" for a beginning.

Muslimgauze - "Abu Nidal" [1987]

Artist: Muslimgauze
Title: Abu Nidal
Genre: Ambient / Percussion Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1987

Track List:
  1. Gulfwar pt.1
  2. Gulfwar pt.2
  3. Gulfwar pt.3
  4. Abu Nidal
  5. Green Is The Colour Of The Prophet
  6. Fatwa (Religious Decree Giving Recourse To Terrorism)
In my opinion, it's one of the best early releases by Muslimgauze. Just like all his other albums (which number is exceeding 200...), this one is highly inspired by Middle Eastern politics. According to the release notes, "Abu Nidal" is dedicated to the Palestine Liberation Organization, and released on a label called Muammar Murmur Music (brilliant name!..) Such a pity that Bryn Jones never lived to 9/11 - I'm wondering what kind of music he could have written after it (and after the consequent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya...)

Muslimgauze - "Hammer & Sickle" [1983]

Artist: Muslimgauze
Title: Hammer & Sickle
Genre: Ambient / Percussion Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1983

Track List:
  1. Hammer & Sickle
  2. Fear Of Gadaffi
  3. Nettle Cloth
  4. Baize Tents
This is one of the first albums released by Bryn Jones under the name "Muslimgauze". Musically this mini album isn't much different from the stuff released under the name "e.q. Oblique Graph" - the minimalistic approach to music is the same, as well as dark atmosphere. It's dedicated to the military conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan - so, despite being released almost 30 years ago, it's still actual. And one more interesting fact - the cover of this album is entirely black (Malevich's Black Square?..)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

e.g. Oblique Graph - "Inhalt" / "Piano Room" [1982-1983]

Artist: e.g. Oblique Graph (pre-Muslimgauze)
Title: Inhalt / Piano Room
Genre: Ambient / Percussion Industrial
Country: UK
Release date: 1982-1983

Track List:
  1. Scar
  2. Affirm/Deny
  3. Choir-Screen
  4. Human Rights
  5. After Commentary
  6. Off Chance
  7. The Piano Room
  8. Islamic Koran In Camera Dome
  9. Rapid White Flag On Snapshot Blur
Beside Mechanic Fist, there's at least one industrial music project heavily influenced by Middle Eastern culture and folk music. You all know its name: Muslimgauze. But not everyone knows that Bryn Jones had released several tapes under the moniker "e.g. Oblique Graph" before starting Muslimgauze. The music on these tapes is "darker" and more minimalistic than the most releases by Muslimgauze, and it carries a really unique atmosphere. "Inhalt" and "Piano Room" are arguably one of most interesting releases by early-80's industrial bands (BTW, I don't really like early industrial scene in general... krautrock and RIO are much better :3). I'm still searching for the very first release by e.g. Oblique Graph, called "Extended Play" - especially the version which contains the track "Extreme Faction". So far I haven't found it anywhere...

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Mechanic Fist - "Electroconvulsive Therapy" [2010]

Artist: Mechanic Fist
Title: Electroconvulsive Therapy
Genre: Industrial Rock / EBM / Dark Electro with oriental folk overtones
Country: Azerbaijan
Release date: 2010

Track List:
  1. Ice-Cold Hell
  2. Armageddon
  3. Invisible Bonds
  4. S.A.W.
  5. Industrial Revolution
  6. Unplug
  7. The Last Sunset
  8. The Choice
...and after I posted Farid Aslanov's last release, I thought I should also post the full-length demo of his other project, Mechanic Fist. When I talked to him a few months ago, he was against posting these songs, regarding them as low-quality material and promising to release a lot of better stuff in the future. But as of today, Farid is busy on his solo project, so I don't think we can expect any new releases from MF in the near future, and I'm posting this old demo instead. Actually, it isn't that bad... moreover, it isn't bad at all (for a demo made in a country where the industrial/gothic scene is almost completely absent). Some vocal work could be better, though, but overall it's very promising stuff. Check out the track "Last Sunset", it's a melodic ballad-type song which really stands out of the whole demo. Other good tracks include "Ice-Cold Hell", "Armageddon" and "Industrial Revolution". Don't know if you'd like the elements of Middle Eastern folk music on this demo, but for me it's what makes MF's music unique -they're probably the first Middle Eastern industrial/EBM band, and not just a clone of some famous Western project... Good start.