Our dear friend Raffaele Pezzella is not only a label empresario of note, whose works are featured here frequently due to the incredibly high quality – he is also an amazing composer. Interdimensional is bleak and heavy, with heavy drones throughout. If you like artists like Lustmord, this will appeal to you.
“A massive, oppressively brutal wall of sound.” That was the first impression that popped into my head after listening to Arvo Zylo’s project, Blood Rhythm’s latest release, New Illusions. Think of ritualistic noise with some sense of structure, like Z’ev meeting Merzbow’s more restrained and focused works. This is bleak, claustrophobic, ugly, and fitting with the zeitgeist of our current time. A heavy listen, made much better and more engrossing with headphones.
Today is a terrible day, as we’re reeling over the loss of Cabaret Voltaire multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Richard H. Kirk. He was 65 years old. The Cabs were one of the most influential bands of their era, whose work would have serve as inspiration to genres such as Industrial, post-punk, EBM, avant-funk, electro, acid house and techno. The album we share today was the first one by Cabaret Voltaire, with Richard doing the album solo, in 26 years. It’s as bleak as the old material, though better recorded, and it sounds like a culmination of those early, gritty experimental recordings, that funky drum machine…
Controlled Bleeding were one of the few bands who could glide from genre to genre easily. They were comfortable working with EBM, harsh noise and experimental music, and would even appeal to some elements in the goth-rock crowd, but this particular album stood out as their magnum opus for me. Paul Lemos, the one constant member of the band, sculpted beautifully minimalistic guitar playing which sounded almost like avant-progressive rock, while the late Joe Papa (of eternal memory) would let his vocals soar, especially on the track Red Stigmata. My favorite album by a criminally underrated band. For a more…
If you haven’t heard the name Max Brody before, you probably know a lot of the bands he’s worked with: Ministry, the Test Apes, the Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, the Big Boys, Lubricated Goat and so many others. He was a powerhouse drummer in the Austin Industrial music scene, but has since moved to the state of Washington in the Pacific Northwest, where he has been working on projects such as a rock documentary/travel blog which is, sadly, no more. Of particular interest is the project Fried Smiling which includes my old friend, business partner and a fine video director,…
In 1984, I was introduced by the luck of having a few weird friends in high school to the world of Industrial Music. This album was the first of many I would end up buying, not only from Throbbing Gristle, but the whole roster of freaks Industrial Records was putting out, like Cabaret Voltaire, Monte Cazzaza, S.P.K. and The Leather Nun. As today is Bandcamp Friday, I point to those who want to get to understand the genesis (pun intended) of Industrial music to purchase and listen to this survey. It is anti-music, but with a warm touch to it.