Orphx – Fragmentation (1996)

Country: Canada

 

Tracklist

 1. Word And Symbol 03:22
2. Layers Of Dura 04:19
3. Ekstasis 06:10
4. Auto-Erotic 04:11
5. Sepsis 06:14
6. Tanha 08:14
7. Pathogenesis 06:40
8. Words Once Spoken 09:22
9. Electroencephalographic Measurements 04:04
10. Samsara 04:29
11. Cellular Resonance 08:48
12. Within 07:05

 

 Orphx is an industrial/techno project from Canada.

Formed in 1993 in Hamilton, Ontario by Rich Oddie, Christina Sealey and Aron West

 and inspired by early industrial music and the extreme fringes of metal.
In late 1995 West departed to focus on his noise project Tropism,

while Oddie and Sealey began to push Orphx in a more rhythmic direction.
Orphx have been developing their hypnotic rhythms and experimental noise using modular and analog synthesizers,

software, location recordings and feedback circuits, utilizing darker pieces of techno and electro

and combine these elements with the experimental aesthetics and themes of early industrial music.
Oddie and Sealey have performed throughout Europe and North America at celebrated venues like Berghain and Tresor 

as well as notable electronic music festivals such as Movement and Mutek.
Their live appearances are renowned for delivering improvised performances

that combine software with modular synthesizer and other hardware.
"Fragmentation" was originally released on Malignant Records label

and was made using the same basic tools as in their early cassettes: contact microphones, scrap metal, 

effects pedals, feedback circuits, a drum machine, a couple of synths,

and location recordings and found sounds manipulated by Sealey on reel to reel machines and an 8-bit sampler.
While early Orphx recordings were primarily improvised direct to tape, this album places much greater emphasis

on carefully constructed layers of sound, shaping their improvisational energy into powerful compositions

that combines death industrial atmospheres and brutal power electronics with relentless, hypnotic percussion.
"Fragmentation" was reissued by Hospital Productions in 2020 including the original album

and over an hour of additional rarities and previously unreleased recordings.

 The Memory links also contains these as bonus.

 
Memory

Subklinik ‎– Feasting On Souls (1996)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Feasting On Souls 08:17
2. Journey Through The Halls Of Darkness 13:44
3. Beyond The Existence Of Time And Space 08:08
4. Pt.III 10:35
5. Pleasant Stench 10:03
6. Corpsegrind 07:47
7. Hardening Of The Arteries 06:56
8. Mortuor Lesson 03:10
9. Tormenter 08:03

Subklinik is another project of Chad Davis (Mortuor, Anu, Draath, Hour Of Thirteen, Obscurae, Old Ghoul etc.)

that was formed in 1995 and is one of the longest running Death Industrial / Black Ambient projects

still active in the USA and celebrating its 30 years of existence.
Here Subklinik offers nightmarish necro-soundscapes from the darkest depths of the mind.
Released on Slaughter Productions as a double cassette and packaged in a VHS box with surgical scissors and cotton.

 
Memory

Umbra – Unclean Spirit (1999)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. The Valley Of Dry Bones 06:25
2. Poison Control 08:11
3. Lecher 05:23
4. From The Well 04:24
5. Tangleld Gullet 07:01
6. Washed Up On The Banks 07:52
7. Stacking The Dead 06:12
8. The Conscious Dead (Sallow Mix) 07:09
9. Spiders Under The Skin 02:11
10. Hacking The Root 06:26
11. Husk (Remix - Recontextualization By Azoikum) 03:38

Umbra was a collaborative effort between Scott Candey of Gruntsplatter

 and Stephen Petrus of Murderous Vision (In Death's Throes).
The idea for doing a collaborative project arose in late 1998.
Despite the long distance between them, one being in California and the other in Ohio,

by early 1999 they had completed enough material for a full length release

as well as contributing a track to the "Baited Breath" double cassette compilation.
In early April 1999 Stephen visited San Francisco

and together with Scott they were able to play what would be their one and only show.
This performance was recorded and released as a very limited edition CDR titled, "Perish: A Live Document".
The full length album, "Unclean Spirit", was released by The Rectrix Records as their debut offering.
It shows a varied approach while remaining within the sphere of dark experimental.
Moving from dark ambient to more abusive, grating textures,

"Unclean Spirit" also wove in rhythmic elements that shifted from meditative ritualism to tantruming machinery.
Rooted in a dirty lo-fi aesthetic it emerged as a project unique unto itself.
In addition to nine brand new tracks "Unclean Spirit" also features a track, using the album material as soundsource, reinterpreted by Azoikum and a more ambient mix of "The Conscious Dead",

which appeared on the "Baited Breath" compilation.

 
Memory

Mortuor – Mortuor (MCD 1999)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Pain 01:50
2. Mortified 04:31
3. Death Endeth All For Every Man 06:30
4. Tormentor 06:41
5. Exhumed By Fire 04:40
6. Rot 03:38

Short lived project of Chad Davis (Subklinik, Anu, Draath, Hour Of Thirteen, Obscurae, Old Ghoul etc.).
The first offering of the band was the Mini CDR entitled "Mortuor",

that was released in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies with a double paper cover.
Two more releases saw the light of day that moved more into Power Electronics/Death Industrial territories,
the Mini CDR "Nekro Schizo" in 2006 and the debut full length album "I'm Waiting For You…" in 2009.

 
Memory

Law – Wading Knee-Deep In Your Blood (1999)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Negation Of Desire 11:29
2. Sacrificial Key 05:39
3. 7.62 x 39 07:12
4. Negative Silence 09:37
5. Swift And Severe Retribution 03:58
6. Procedure 09:54
7. Flows Through Me 06:44
8. Solitary Determination 12:12

Law was an dark ambient/industrial/power electronics act based in Elkhart, IN, United States,

created by Mitchell Altum, founder of the Triumvirate label, with the help of Marissa Lafferty.

The project was active between 1994 to 2004, with releases on Ant-Zen, Old Europa Cafe, Triumvirate and Nuit et Brouillard.
Mitchell Altum was also involved with the project Citadel.
"Wading Knee-Deep In Your Blood" was originally released by Old Europa Cafe as a limited edition clear red vinyl

in 350 hand-numbered copies and later in 2002 was reissued on CD with two bonus tracks.

 
Memory

Drape Excrement – Born Dead (1995)

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Sirayat 01:37
2. Leitbild 04:25
3. Dangerous Gases 03:56
4. Out Of Control 04:14
5. I Want You 02:19
6. Yaum Ed Din 03:48
7. The Lost Age 04:51
8. Sinnlose Opfer 02:27
9. Jammer Und Geheul 04:12
10. Good Grief 04:48
11. I Give My Soul 04:10

German industrial/noise project created by Markus Kropfreiter 

(also known as a part of Söldnergeist and Metaplakia projects) that runs the Art Konkret label.
"Born Dead" offers dark death-industrial combined with deep bass droning
and atmospheric crackling sounds creating a menacing atmosphere.
Released by Art Konkret as a limited edition vinyl of 525 copies.

 
Memory

Kenotaph – Promise (1998)

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Underwater 06:10
2. Gelüsttodnötigung 05:58
3. Broken Horizon 09:26
4. Tauch 04:06
5. Bullet Junkie 03:29
6. Water Chant 07:34
7. Salz 06:17
8. Hörst Du Die Hörner? 06:24
9. Promise 17:03

Kenotaph was a sideproject of Skalp, featuring Stefan Roigk with the help of Eric Metz.
"Promise" originally released on cassette in 1997

and reissued in 1998 by Functional Organisation on cd with bonus material.
Distorted noise loops, low frequency waves with grinding metal bells, chimes and dark sounds.

Memory

Le Syndicat – 1985 - 1995 - Ten Years Of Excess (1995)

Country: France

Tracklist

Disc 1

Delikatëssen
1. Masse Dépréciatrice 13:19
2. Farce De Morse 09:31
3. Machefer Recharge 10:06
4. Terrificante Matter 07:41
5. Chanson Bruitiste 02:13
Relapse
6. Quadripartite 21:53
7. Dentiste-Surprise 04:24

Disc 2

Vorgine
1. Exorde 06:44
2. L'Horloge De St-Luce 06:25
3. Jouvenceau 00:46
4. Maelström Fornicator 06:16
5. Le Corps De Jehan 05:53
6. Deux 02:55
7. Vorgine 08:36
Relapse (Continued)
8. Roméo Ou Juliette 19:20
9. Dissection-Fantaisie 05:33

Le Syndicat is a collective entity and a former cassette label that began activities in 1982.

It is one of the leading bands in the industrial movement in France

and was created by Jean-Marie Onni (aka Ruelgo) and Zyklon B.
The project later collaborated with visual artists Zorïn and Mïrka Lugosi,

produced a lot of audio concrete cassettes and participated to a lot of "mail art" international compilations.
As a label Le Syndicat released cassettes for artists such as Merzbow, Parazite, Pacific 231, Controlled Bleeding,

Blackhouse and Dog As Master while they also had contacts,

notably with exchange of sounds and compositions by correspondence, with Japanese noise bands like The Hanatarashi.
After the departure of Zorïn and the arrival of Veidt Mjolnir, their  music is experiencing a significant change,

leaving the fields of improvisation and moving from collages, tape loops,

film samples or sequences of classical music, to prominence electronic rhythmic noise beats.
During the second half of the 1990s , the group enters into sleep and reappeared in 2010 with a new album,

this time reconnecting  with bruitism, collage and extreme dynamic forms.
"1985 - 1995 - Ten Years Of Excess" is a double compilation CD released in 1995 by Staalplaat 

featuring the re-release of their cassette albums "Delikatëssen" (1985), "Relapse" (1987) and "Vorgine" (1986).

Memory

Fumio Kosakai (コサカイ フミオ) – Earth Calling (1987)

Country: Japan

Tracklist

1. Absent Water 05:09
2. Drive To Universe 18:09
3. Look To The Light 22:05

First solo release from legendary artist Fumio Kosakai

that is best known from Japanese noise acts like Incapacitants and Hijokaidan.

In 1987 and 1993, Kosakai self-released two very limited cassettes (about 30 copies each),

of sublime solo electronic minimalism,  "Earth Calling" and "The Warm Garden".

"Earth Calling" was a live recording of a solo performance carried out at the free jazz venue

"Goodman" in Ogikubo, Tokyo, which ran around 1985 - 1986.

For the performance Kosakai used a self-made transmitter, a mini-keyboard Yamaha synthesizer, 

cassette tapes with environmental sounds recorded and a delay-like effect.

For the two first tracks some sounds were overdubbed later on at his home,

while the third track was released as it was on the live performance.

On the track "Look To The Light" Kosakai tried to recreate the infinite repetition

that Terry Riley had performed on his album "A Rainbow In Curved Air".

Also the title of the cassette originates from the first track on the live album "Space Ritual" by Hawkwind.

Memory

Brighter Death Now – Necrose Evangelicum (1995)

Country: Sweden

Tracklist

1. Wilful 07:04
2. Soul In Flames 07:41
3. Impasse 09:46
4. Rain, Red Rain 08:56
5. Deathgrant 09:16
6. Necrose Evangelicum 06:01

Brighter Death Now is the personal project of Roger Karmanik (born in 1965 as Roger Karlsson) 

known also as the founder of the legendary Swedish record label Cold Meat Industry.
Karmanik started experimenting with sounds in the early 80s releasing tapes with various projects.
In 1988 he started Brighter Death Now performing pounding death industrial

and combining walls of white noise with churning repetitive sounds, dark atmospheres and obscure subject matter.
Karmanik has kept his music's thematic elements focused on such topics as death, obsession, sadism, and psychosis.
However, he never misses the opportunity to show the dark humorous side of his personality.
"Necrose Evangelicum" was released in 1995 on a limited edition CD of 4000 copies

and features Mortiis as guest on the homonymous track.

Memory

CTI – Core (A Conspiracy International Project) (1988)

Country: England

Tracklist

1. Feeder (With Coil) 08:41
2. Trapezoid (With John Duncan, Joe Potts) 05:14
3. Future Shock (With Monte Cazazza) 07:23
4. Unmasked (With Robert Wyatt) 04:15
5. Over Abyss (With Lustmord) 06:40
6. Guest + Host = Ghost (With Boyd Rice) 04:38
7. Core 07:33

CTI (Creative Technology Institute) was an alias used by the duo Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, 

more commonly known as Chris & Cosey and later as Carter Tutti.
"Core (A Conspiracy International Project)" was released in 1998 and each track on the album

was a joint project between Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and the persons/groups credited.
Featuring participation from Coil, John Duncan, Joe Potts, Monte Cazazza, Robert Wyatt, Lustmord and Boyd Rice.
Sounds were mailed or brought to Studio 47 where they were manipulated, processed,

composed and mixed with the full collaboration of those involved.
Includes an insert with artwork, notes and photos on contributing artists

while some copies include a second, illustrated, insert with information on Play It Again Sam releases.

Memory

Namanax – Audiotronic (1997)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. The Return Of The Deadly Mantis 13:52
2. Immune 14:08
3. Aquanax 18:19
4. Tomb Of The Seagull 16:26
5. The Giggling Winds 10:06

Namanax was the project of multi-instrumentalist Bill Yurkiewicz, co-founder of Relapse Records

 and musician performing in grindcore, metal, industrial and noise bands, who operated his studio in Pennsylvania.
With Namanax Yurkiewicz tried to produce loud noise through the layering of multiple sources of sound.
His first two albums, "Multi-Phase Electrodynamics" (Release, 1993)

and "Cascading Waves Of Electronic Turbulence" (Release, 1996) were recorded live

and were notable mainly for their intensity.
On his third release, "Audiotronic" (Release, 1997), Yurkiewicz was joined by guitarist/producer James Plotkin 

and Kipp Johnson on the synthesizers/samples.
The album contains five lengthy pieces inspired by soundtracks of monster movies.
"Audiotronic" increases the doses of guitar experimentation and the creation of dark textures

but also toning down the noise violence.
Their last album, "Monstrous" (Release, 1998), was basically a continuation of "Audiotronic" featuring four long tracks.
Namanax was also featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 film "Gummo" with the track "The Medicine Man".
At the same period Bill Yurkiewicz was also involved in a side-project with Kipp Johnson

 and the help of James Plotkin, named Solarus.

Memory

Cromagnon – Cromagnon (1969)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Caledonia 04:21
2. Ritual Feast Of The Libido 03:26
3. Organic Sundown 07:10
4. Fantasy 07:19
5. Crow Of The Black Tree 09:40
6. Genitalia 02:46
7. Toth, Scribe I 10:38
8. First World Of Bronze 02:47

Cromagnon was an American experimental band that was active during the late 1960s.
Led by multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriters Austin Grasmere and Brian Elliot,
the band released their one and only self-titled album

(later reissued as "Cave Rock" and also as "Orgasm") in 1969 on the ESP-Disk record label.
Cromagnon is said to have foreshadowed the rise of noise rock, no wave and industrial rock genres

that came into existence in the following decades.
Their album combined psychedelia, folk rock and noise with primitive instrumentation (including sticks and stones).
It was recorded at A-1 Sound Studio in the Upper West Side of New York City in 1969.
Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique, of which producer Brian Elliot was a fan, heavily influenced the album's sound.
During recording, band members brought in random people from the street and asked them to contribute to the album.
The result was a non-linear journey through the subconscious,

weaving together bizarre instrumentation and meter with a psychotic blending of musical styles.
Bagpipes, pounding percussion, blood-curdling yelps, tribal chanting, laughing, and billowing subterranean rumblings

create the otherworldly soundscape of an album that was ridiculously ahead of its time.

Memory

Mainliner – Mainliner Sonic (1997)

Country: Japan

Tracklist

1. Mainliner Sonic 06:55
2. Tsukisasaru 05:41
3. Last Day 05:35
4. Blue Pieces 06:39
5. Mainliner Sonic II 06:07

Mainliner are a psychedelic/acid/noise/rock band from Tokyo, Japan.
They were formed in 1995 by Kawabata Makoto, guitarist and founding member of the band Acid Mothers Temple,

and bassist Asahito Nanjo with the intention of creating a new form of psychedelic music.
From 1996 to 2001 they released several albums and live recordings
before the members went on hiatus to pursue other musical interests.
After almost a ten years, on December 20, 2011

Kawabata Makoto, Koji Shimura and newcomer Kawabe Taigen began recording new material.

The music from these sessions was released on May 13, 2013 on their album "Revelation Space"

under the moniker Kawabata Makoto's Mainliner.

 After the release of the album the band began a worldwide tour.

Memory

Today Is The Day – In The Eyes Of God (1999)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. In The Eyes Of God 03:11
2. Going To Hell 07:09
3. Spotting A Unicorn 01:20
4. Possession 01:03
5. The Color Of Psychic Power 02:05
6. Mayari 03:22
7. Soldier Of Fortune 01:50
8. Bionic Cock 01:54
9. Argali 02:13
10. Afterlife 01:46
11. Himself 01:40
12. Daddy 01:13
13. Who Is The Black Angel? 01:27
14. Martial Law 02:32
15. False Reality 02:37
16. The Russian Child Porn Ballet 01:36
17. The Cold Harshness Of Being Wrong Throughout Your Entire Life 01:43
18. Honor 02:18
19. Worn Out 00:57
20. There Is No End 08:44

Today Is The Day is an American noise rock/experimental metal originally formed in Nashville, Tennessee.
The band's diverse sound combines influences from areas such as noise music,

avant-garde metal, grindcore, and alternative rock among other genres.

Most of the band's recordings make extensive use of dissonance and sampling,

as well as unusual production techniques and psychedelic overtones.

Lyrical themes include depression, warfare, violence, altered states of consciousness, and mental disorders.
Today Is The Day was founded by Steve Austin in the early 1990s

and reigns as one of the most unique and influential bands of the past two decades.

The band's violent and anthemic style, which blends metal, noise, psychedelia, and rock,

has won worldwide acclaim ever since the debut album.
Eleven studio albums have been released on such labels as Southern Lord, Amphetamine Reptile, Relapse

and their lineup has included such musicians as Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher, who would later go on to form Mastodon.
Today Is The Day has toured the world with Motorhead, Helmet, The Melvins, Morbid Angel, 

Converge, Napalm Death, Neurosis, Eyehategod, Unsane, and many more.
Steve Austin has also made a name as a producer, creating albums for Lamb Of God, Converge, and many other bands.

Memory

Darrin Verhagen ‎– Soft Ash (1997)

Country: Australia

Tracklist

1. Soft Ash - Origins 05:56
2. The White Death: Part 1 (Meuse Valley, Belgium 1930) 05:12
3. MIC (Bhopal, India 1984) 07:05
4. The Plague Wind (London 1871) 08:04
5. Chernobyl (Former USSR April 26 1986) 04:54
6. The White Death: Part 2 (Meuse Valley, Belgium 1930) 06:23
7. Fragments (Monnongahela Rice Valley, USA October 25-31 1948) 10:51

Darrin Verhagen is an Australian composer known for his projects Shinjuku Thief,
Shinjuku Filth, E.P.A., and Professor Richmann.
He lectures in sound design, soundtrack and electronic music at RMIT university,

previously having run the Dorobo record label.
In 1997 he released his first solo album entitled "Soft Ash".
The movement through a range of compositional techniques is inspired by historical reports
of a series of lethal atmospheric inversions, ranging from the killer fogs of London in the 1880's
through to the incidents at Union Carbide and Chernobyl.
As the album unfolds, bleak electroacoustic themes become more surreal,
ending up with conceptually inaccurate atmospheric ambience and rhythmic minimalism.
Recorded at P3 facility and mastered by François Tétaz.

Memory

Lunus – Monolilith (Demo 1993)

Country: Italy

Tracklist

1. Il Sorgere Del Male 05:48
2. Cibo Per Piccole Larve 07:22
3. Monolilith 04:26
4. Sangue Per Gli Angeli 05:32
5. Tanzerloch 04:02

Lunus (aka Lvnvs) is the solo project of Devis "deviLs g." Granziera, with the help of Stefano Barban

  of the legendary international DSIP (aka Delta-Sleep-Inducing Peptide) trio with Siegmar Fricke & Miguel Ruiz.
Granziera is a well known Italian dark/industrial/noise underground musician 

who started his activities in the early 1990s and is more known for his notorious Italian act Teatro Satanico.
Here this cult Italian project offers great dark and rumbling industrial/noise with heavy beats 

from the deepest and hellish places reminding the early Teatro Satanico recordings.
"Monolilith" was released on a cassette format by the Italian label Old Europa Cafe.

Memory

MØHR – How To Make Darkness Visible (7'' EP 1993)

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Inter-Sense 08:10
2. Collected Light 08:53

Andreaz Vogel is an active musician, producer, video-artist, writer, painter and publisher since the mid-80s.
Beside his musical projects he was owner of the defunct "ZNS Tapes" 

and the almost active "Gewalt Am Objekt" label.

He's also writing for the German counterculture magazine "Auf Abwegen".
MØHR is one of his musical projects that started experiment with strange sounds and noises back in 1986, 

with the strict principle, not to use conventional instruments to create a special wall of sound.

Mainly tape-machines and effects are responsible for the dense sound, always under the musician's control.
"How To Make Darkness Visible" presents two tracks of droning, pulsating and vibrating low industrial/noise.
The ep was released in August 1993 in an edition of 200 copies, 

in a handmade leather-wax-sleeve through the German Drone Records.

Memory

Of Unknown Origin – Seven Ovens Of The Soul (1998)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. From The Womb 00:46
2. Meditation Ladder 05:09
3. Saturnine Night 09:53
4. Chemognosis 07:37
5. The Son Of The Red Dawn 05:35
6. Sphered In A Radiant Cloud 08:34
7. Urlo 05:04
8. Nemonik Entropy 07:45
9. And So On For Ever 01:08

Of Unknown Origin was a collaboration project between Bryin Dall and Derek Rush.
The two artists had already a well established history of collaborative efforts
like A Murder Of Angels, Dream Into Dust and Loretta's Doll.
Of Unknown Origin was yet another project birthed out of their collective interest in dark ambient/experimental sonics, containing segments of industrial/noise electronics.
The band released only one album on The Order Of The Suffering Clown label
and was distributed worldwide by World Serpent.

Memory

Tombstone – Under A Bloody Veil; Or, The Castle Of The Bleak Smiles (1999)

Country: Italy

Tracklist

1. Her Eyes In The Dark 03:17
2. Dying Of Grief 03:58
3. Through Mephitic Lands 09:36
4. The Black Wandering Knight 04:07
5. As They Walk In Sorrow 07:23
6. Across The Woods Of Legends 04:34
7. The Wan Statue 07:36
8. The Return Of The Monk 09:55
9. In The Forest Of The Omen 02:15
10. Haunting Bells At Midnight 02:34

Tombstone was a solo project from Cittadella, Padua, Italy, created by Emanuele Lago in 1993.
Lago has also participated in many projects like Alien Pathway 22, And The Posters, 
Crisantemo Nero, Immortal Agony, Kurai Keshiki and Lost Fairy Realm.
His music is a blend of experimental-post-industrial, noise and dark ambient 
with a gothic atmosphere inspired by old novels and tales. 
It could be called "gothic ambient", but it should not be mistaken 
for the typically keyboard-based works from other well known projects.
Terror and fear sonorities are created processing electrically natural noises and sounds, 
not taken from keyboards and neither following any musical composition theory nor using a sequencer.
The first tapes were industrial experiments rather obscure and perverse while the production of CDs 
were something original, both as background idea and inspiration and as sonorous atmosphere.
Most of the band's releases were issued by the Italian cassette label Psychotic Release that is run by Emanuele Lago 
and is specialized in industrial, ambient, ritual, and gothic music.
The label stopped operating in 1999 and restarted in 2012 to make CDRs and cassettes 
but only for Lago's and friends' projects.
Today the band is continuing under the name Black Mountains Chronicles.

Memory