Friday, July 12, 2013

Gorduw - "Dialectics Tar Diokihtis" [2001]

Artist: Gorduw
Title: (Vosmaya Chastt Istorii Feitnathorotha) Dialectics Tar Diokihtis
Label: Folvork Prods.
Genre: Industrial / Black Ambient / Noise / Power Electronics
Country: Russia
Release date: 2001

Track List:
  1. …Torna Endorhii
  2. Stevaden Torna Edaktee Wchern Aiyansar
  3. Sha-maan Codes Tar Gultu Hadge 2
  4. Tu 'aavard Tar Armo-piercing Teenkiiav
  5. Paranormal Kamla Gorduw
  6. Enddor
  7. Harg Stinnikkyt Tar Rationalism
  8. Pantu Merg Tiginei Vurduhai
  9. Malar Ree Eco-tii Torna Kaytan…
  10. Wahhou, Kumkelga Sti Tar Meeyo
  11. Kumkelga Umi Nagg-tii Liznin Ertoku

All Music & Lyrics By dr.Feitnathoroth.
Recorded & Mixed At Bledniy Drozd Studio In October - December 2000.
Produced By dr.Feitnathoroth.
Alhora: Some Vocal Samples.
Cover & All Art By dr.Feitnathoroth/Diversion Industry.
(P)&(C)2001 Folvork’prod. Kfeytzez 041 - 042.


Maybe this album was posted elsewhere before, but a quick search in google yields only dead links, so I'll post the only mp3 rip of this album I have (128kbps only) which I obtained in 2006 (if I remember correctly). Out of all Gorduw albums I've heard so far it's definitely my favourite one. It starts with a lengthy harsh noise intro (…Torna Endorhii) and continues with repetitive electronic (industrial/dub/ambient) soundspaces. I'm not saying "repetitive" as if it's something bad, because it only helps Gorduw's music to create a very dark and hypnotic atmosphere. "Dialectics Tar Diokihtis" is a quite lengthy release, but personally I can easily sit down through its while playing time (while I can't say the same about many dark ambient albums, even very renowned ones...)

The album is entirely instrumental, but there's a lot of voice samples which are mostly unintelligible (except for "4... 3... 2... 1..." samples of female voice, probably by Alhora). According to the release notes, all the music was wriiten by dr. Feitnathoroth during his shamanic practices which involved being intoxicated on Amanita Muscaria ("Gultu" in Folvork language) and other hallucinogenic mushrooms. Just like in case with all the other Gorduw releases, all the track names are in made-up "Folvork" language.

The whole Folvork Prods. label ceased its existence circa ~2006 (according to the rumours - due to the imprisonment of dr. Feitnathoroth), but since 2011, other undersround labels started to release new albums of Gorduw. I haven't heard any of them yet, but something tells me I shouldn't expect much from them. As for "Dialectics Tar Diokihtis", it's an excellent album in my opinion, despite its simplicity - that's an example of a really dark and impressive industrial/electronic album with raw DIY production. If only the creator of music wasn't trying to be so badly kvlt (which, unfortunately, is the case not only with Gorduw, but with a lot of black metal and PE projects)...

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Winter Soul - "Reactor" [2007]

Artist: Winter Soul
Title: Reactor
Genre: Dark Electro
Country: South Africa
Year: 2007

Track List:
  1. Reactor
  2. Black Widow
  3. Stargazer
  4. Legacy Of Violence
  5. KGB
  6. Ritual Abuse
  7. Ghosts Of Time
  8. Battery
  9. The Bokor
The industrial scene in South Africa is unsurprisingly small, but it does exist, and Winter Soul are probably its best representatives. "Reactor" is just a decent dark electro album, nothing groundbreaking here, but it's worth attention as a very good release from a region that's not rich in industrial music.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Oblivion Machine - "Starfield" [2012]

Artist: Oblivion Machine
Title: Starfield
Genre: Industrial Death Metal
Country: Russia
Year: 2012

Track List:
  1. Starfield
  2. Тёмные времена
  3. Призраки
  4. Suite for Alice
  5. Луна в Cкорпионе (acoustic)
  6. Surfacing (rmx)
The newest album from this relatively well-known (in the underground circles, of course) Russian industrial metal band. Of course "it isn't Fear Factory" (c), and the release in general is so-so by the world standards, but for our local scene it isn't bad at all, and if you're into futuristic metal and have nothing against female vocals in such kind of music, you'll probably like "Starfield". While it's mostly melodic death/industrial metal, there's also a lot of acoustic parts (especially in the second half of the album), and the closing track is entirely electronic. The cover art is beautiful, but I think it'd be for suitable for a progressive metal or a purely melodic death metal album.



Red Harvest - "There's Beauty In The Purity Of Sadness" [1994]

Artist: Red Harvest
Title: There's Beauty In The Purity Of Sadness
Genre: Industrial Metal / Gothic Rock
Country: Norway
Year: 1994

Track List:
  1. Wounds
  2. Naked
  3. Resist
  4. Mindblazt
  5. Mastodome
  6. Shivers
  7. [-]
  8. Mother Of All
  9. α.β.γ.l.e.a.k
  10. Sadness
  11. The Art Of Radiation
If you're reading my blog, then there are good chances that you know about this band (one of the best in industrial metal, in my opinion), and have listened to at least some of their albums from the 2000's. However, this album (2nd full-length one in their discography) is significantly different from all their other releases. It's nowhere near as heavy as their later works, it's rather a mix of depressive rock and Ministry-like early industrial metal. The atmosphere is great, a perfect combination of industrial/dystopian/post-apocalyptic aesthetics and the melancholy of gothic/depressive rock. The two closing tracks are especially remarkable.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Cyberya - "Mindcontrol" [2001]

Artist: Cyberya
Title: Mindcontrol
Genre: Industrial Power Metal
Country: Germany
Year: 2001

Track List:
  1. Ministry of T.E.C.H.
  2. One Hundred Ways
  3. Since I Loved You
  4. Digital Heroes
  5. Invisible
  6. Addicted to Warfare
  7. 2000 Years
  8. Mindcontrol
  9. Born
  10. Rumours
  11. Bloodbrothers
This album is a rare example of industrial electronics and power metal mixed together in a really good way. Don't expect to hear something like Amaranthe - Cyberya is both a truly power metal band and an industrial metal band with sci-fi/dystopian image and aesthetics. As you probably already know, I highly value power metal that's influenced by science fiction (especially "hard" sci-fi) and not the usual fantasy stuff about knights and dragons - but it's very, very hard to find. Pulsar, Scanner, Cannon... maybe Gamma Ray at times, and what else? Anyway, if you share my taste, then "Mindcontrol" probably won't leave you disappointed (at least tracks like "Ministry of Tech" and "Digital Heroes" are great). Too bad it's their only album and they aren't going to release anythis else like that, nor there are any similar bands around (well, maybe Xe-None somewhat resemble them, but not too much...)

Depressive Age - "Electric Scum" [1996]

Artist: Depressive Age
Title: Electric Scum
Genre: Technical Thrash Metal
Country: Germany
Year: 1996

Track List:
  1. Electric Scum
  2. Cairo Crabat
  3. Remember
  4. Teenage Temples
  5. Small Town Boy (Bronski Beat cover)
  6. Featherflute
  7. Toyland Hills
  8. Companero Song
  9. New Machine Wisdom
  10. Polar Athletic Son
  11. Weird Boy
  12. Sports Yells
Depressive Age started in 1988 in Berlin under the name "Blackout". Since the release of their 3rd full-length album ("Symbols for the Blue Times") in 1994, their sound became more experimental and "industrial-esque", moving farther away from the standard 80's thrash metal sound. It's most evident on "Electric Scum", which features science fiction-influenced progressive rock/metal with industrial elements and the thrash metal "nucleus" (if I may say so). Some of the tracks on "Electric Scum" are really catchy, for example "Remember" or "Cairo Crabat". Despite that, Depressive Age (later just D-Age) never became a well-known band and cease their musical activities around 2001. Anyway, their legacy (especially later stuff like "Electric Scum") definitely doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Reido - "-11" [2011]

Artist: Reido
Title: -11
Genre: Industrial Sludge/Doom Metal
Country: Belarus
Year: 2011

Track List:
  1. Violence & Destruction
  2. Degeneration Cycle
  3. Arhat
  4. I Saw His Mask Fall
  5. The Six-Day War
  6. Human Dysfunction
  7. Flows & Eruptions
bonus: "Detect Memory" (2006 unreleased track)

The second album by Reido, released on 11.11.11 @ 11.11 MSK.According to its description by Faceless: "This work consists no doom death (unlike the 1st album) but groovy sludge doom with some math metal rhythms". Just like the debut album, this work may seem to be not very accessible even for some diehard fans of doom metal, but it doesn't make this album less remarkable. Don't know what the band is doing now, perhaps I should get in contact with Faceless once again (if memory serves, he had plans of emigrating to Northern Europe ~2 years ago).

Reido - "F:\all" [2006]

Artist: Reido
Title: F:\all
Genre: Industrial Sludge/Doom Metal
Country: Belarus
Year: 2006

Track List:
  1. Zero Level Activity
  2. Frozen Terror
  3. I Am the Absolute Truth
  4. Exhausted
  5. Logical Collapse
Following the discography of Pagan Lorn, here's some even more avant-garde doom metal stuff from Reido, a band of my old friend Alexander "Faceless" Kachar. First I met him 10 years on a Belarusian metal forum of the "M" magazine (now it's defunct, but it was the first forum dedicated to underground music I've stumbled upon), where I helped him to confront a lot of various idiots. He already was playing in Reido back then, but initially they were a quartet playing a different (much lighter) kind of music.

By 2006, Reido became a duo (Faceless - guitars, vocals, programming; A.Matveev - bass) and have released their debut album "F:\all". On many websites it was labelled as "funeral doom", but I think their music is much more complex, greatly influenced by sludge, progressive metal, and djent. It's worth mentioning that Faceless if a big fan of bands like Meshuggah or Ion Dissonance, as well as doom metal and stoner rock of all kinds (from Black Sabbath to Candlemass, Electric Wizard, Krux, and Isole). After the release of "F:\all", I helped with making an interview with Faceless for Solitude Prods. website, for which I was awarded a free "F:\all" CD.

Fortunately, Belarus already had a sizable community of doom metal fans by then (thanks to one of my other acquaintances from that forum), so Reido's efforts were appreciated. Of course it's definitely not music for everyday listening, but if you're looking for some really avant-garde doom metal inspired by industrial/post-apocalyptics imagery/aesthetics, check out this album. P.S. Faceless is also into Japanese culture (and no, "Japanese culture" doesn't equal "anime" or "J-rock"), which is evident from his band's name (it has several meanings in Japanese, with "degree zero" preferred by Faceless himself).

Friday, July 5, 2013

Pagan Lorn - "Nihillenium" [1998]

Artist: Pagan Lorn
Title: Nihillenium
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Country: Luxembourg
Year: 1998

Track List:
  1. Outrage
  2. Silence For A Day
  3. Prone
  4. Freezing Lust
  5. Collapsed
  6. You Vs. You
  7. Impose
  8. Gone
  9. ...And Forgotten
  10. Unborn (hidden track)
The second and the last album by Pagan Lorn, which is a masterpiece (or at least close to it) in my opinion. It's much heavier than "Black Wedding", and features more complex song structures. I'd call it "avant-garde doom/death metal". Even though it has a lot of death metal elements, the roots of "Nihillenium" stem from classical doom metal; it applies both to music and the atmosphere on this album. My favourite track (both musically and lyrically) is "Freezing Lust". "...And Forgotten" is also worth mentioning, although it's more of a melancholic ballad, and definitely much less heavy than any other track on this album. In general, "Nihillenium" is strongly recommended to those who's into really powerful, gloomy, cold doom metal with an avant-garde tinge. Such a shame that it's so unknown...

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Pagan Lorn - "Black Wedding" [1996]

Artist: Pagan Lorn
Title: Black Wedding
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Country: Luxembourg
Year: 1996

Track List:
  1. Absent Minded
  2. Unleash
  3. Artless Treatment
  4. The Eternal
  5. Confidence in the Executioner (Share Nothing)
  6. Production
  7. Epitome
Pagan Lorn were a doom metal sextet from Luxembourg, active during 1994-2000. Despite being a well-known band in their home country (which is unsurprising, as there are very few metal bands in Luxembourg), they never made it to the international level. It's a pity, since they're one of the best 90's doom/deah metal bands I know of. "Black Wedding" is their debut LP, which is better produced than their first demo, but not as impressive as their subsequent release, "Nihillenium". Despite being somewhat boring and repetitive at times, "Black Wedding" is very good, and creates precisely the atmosphere that I would expect from a solid death/doom metal release. My personal favourite is "Confidence in the Executioner". And just in case: all the music of Pagan lorn is freely available off their official website, including this album.

Naakhum - "Backward in the Times: Part II" [2012]

Artist: Naakhum
Title: Backward in the Times: Part II
Genre: Atmospheric Black/Pagan Metal, Tribal Industrial/Ambient
Country:Spain (Catalonia)
Year: 2012

Track List:
  1. Starčevo Fanfare
  2. Винчанска Култура (Vinča)
  3. Vímanas
  4. Ancient Astronauts
  5. Spiral of Time
  6. Tassili n'Ajjer
  7. Cranial Deformation
  8. Cattle Mutilation
  9. Genetic Harvest
  10. Nimrod
  11. Code of Hammurabi
  12. The Ezekiel's Sightings
  13. Ðavolja Varoš (Goran Bregovic's Bubamara)
  14. Zep Tepi
  15. Tiahuanaco
  16. Stone of the Five Eras
  17. Surya Mantra
  18. Thermopylae (Θερμοπυλών)
  19. Molon Labe (Μολὼν λαβέ)
  20. Montserrat (A l'Antiguitat)
  21. Terrenys Verges
A quite lengthy release from Naakhum, which is currently his latest album. Even though the quality of production is still far from perfect, it has improved significantly since the release of "2012: Dawn of Fate Frequency" and the 1st part of "Backward in the Times", and of course, Naakhum deserves to be respected for being able to create rich and insteresting music while his technical abilities apparently are limited. The lyrical themes remain the same: mysterious facts and incidents, ancient civilizations and pagan myths. One can argue that Naakhum is just a clone of Senmuth (both musically and conceptually), but even it's close to truth, there aren't many projects like this, that really stand out from thousands of generic metal bands.

Monday, July 1, 2013

GGFH - "Disease" [1993]

Artist: GGFH
Title: Disease
Genre: Industrial
Country: USA
Year: 1993

Track List:
  1. Flesh
  2. Room 213
  3. Hands
  4. DMDR
  5. Disease
  6. Real
  7. Dark Powers
  8. Plasterchrist
It's always very hard to review the albums that have reached a cult status (even among the limited audience), but I'll try. GGFH (Global Genocide Forget Heaven) was formed in Oakland (CA) as early as in 1986. It started as an one-man project (during 1992-1993 - a duo) which released 3 albums during 1992-1994, and one more LP in 2005. "Disease" is the second and the best work of GGFH, featuring such amazing tracks as "Room 213", "DMDR", "Real", and "Plasterchrist". Despite being an electronic/noise project, GGFH always was associated with the metal scene, touring with such bands as Fear Factory and My Dying Bride. Even though the misanthropic and nihilistic views espoused by GGFH indeed remind me of "true" black metal scene, the "shock tactics" and lyrical themes of GGFH actually aren't that far from early industrial projects like Throbbing Gristle, and "monolithic industrial" such as Dead World. Musically, it's very dark (yet catchy and melodic at times) electronic stuff with recitative-like vocals. Unlike the subsequent GGFH albums like "Serrated Smile", "Disease" isn't very "noisy", but it doesn't make it more accessible for the average listener. The closing track, "Plasterchrist" stands out as the most minimalistic yet melodic one on the album: repetitive voice samples over a simplistic keyboard melody, creating a very hypnotic atmosphere... As far as I know,  the speech in the beginning of the track is a funeral oration in old Hungarian language:

"Látjátok feleim szümtükkel, mik vogymuk.
Is a pur és homu vogymuk.
Es mend paradisumben mundá néki élnie.
Heon tilutoá őt egy fa gyimilsétől. Gye mundoá
neki meret nüm eneyc. Is a kis napon emdül az gyimilstől halálnek halálával holsz. Hallá holtát, terümtevé istentül gye feledévé.
Engede ürdüng intetüinek es evék az tilvutt gyimilstül.
És az gyimilsben halálut evék..."