Controlled Bleeding - “Carving Songs” 2xCD

Outer limits remixes 

A heavy-duty revisitation and reinterpretation of Bleeding’s “comeback” album of 2016, this expansive double-disc set opens with the new track, “TROD (Defiler’s Song)” — a wild and hardcore mesh of noisy thrash-edged rock (actually not far from the group’s old Skin Chamber project) with a more subtle electronic angle. It’s potent and downright frighteningly intense. The other tracks here, mostly remixes, alter the group’s diverse sounds into even more unique and unusual feels and sound-worlds.

Highlights of disc 1 include former Chain Reaction minimalists Monolake delayering/remixing “Carving Song” into their own austere rhythmic drum-loop style. “As Evening Implodes (Barnacles Remix)” brings a gentle and moody seaside strings vibe that serves as a pleasant interlude. The long-lost Renaldo & The Loaf take “As The Evening Fades” into a rich playground of exotica and, strangely,  animal sounds. JK Broadrick slices “Swarm” into a roomy, blackened, near-Godflesh slab, while the legendary Ramleh brings “As Evening Fades” into an opium den-soaked gauze of psychedelia. Rothko’s “Garage Dub” is a shoegazey wisp of ambient jazz, if that makes any sense, whereas ambient composer Tim Story remixes “Needle Evening” into a shimmery vapor-trip to finish off the disc.

Disc 2 begins with “Perks Pt 1 (Perv Mix)” — an amalgamation of grind/prog/metal/jazz that thunders along massively. Ron Anderson’s remix of “Carving Song” is a weirdly funky take, while Crowhurst’s remix of “A Loathing Supreme” is a terrifying free jazz/noise horror skronk. “Fusion Song (Le Syndicat Remix)” is a beautifully messy auto-crash of blistering electronic frequencies, lacerating post-dub beats, and overloaded effects (perhaps my favorite piece here) while Merzbow recalls Controlled Bleeding’s early years well with his abstract noise remix of “Perks Of Being A Perv”. 

Whereas many “remix albums” sound more like compilations (which they, by nature, are), Controlled Bleeding’s already vast musical terrain and the experimental tendencies of the remixers here make for a consistent and cohesive double-album that complements well the group’s uniquely visceral vision. This is not rock, nor jazz, or even industrial. Just call it Controlled Bleeding.

Artoffact Records

Controlled Bleeding - “Distress Signals I + II” 2xCD

Early violent noise remasters

A surprise deluxe reissue of the ultra-rare 1984 cassette originally issued on the legendary Broken Flag label, this debut album from NY based Controlled Bleeding includes an extra disc of previously unreleased material that was originally intended to be the Broken Flag release, but somehow the tapes got mixed up and, well, 30 years later we get both albums, remastered and together for the first time.

The initial disc is the Broken Flag album, here titled “Distress Signals I”. With track titles given from Broken Flag owner and Ramleh member Gary Mundy (and favoring his early affinity for Holocaust shock value), this, like the band’s vinyl debut “Knees & Bones” (also rereleased at the same time), is harsh and jagged power electronics / industrial noise. There are moments of reprieve, as with the use of Middle Eastern religious tapes in “The Spitting Cell” or “A Human Invention”, but it's all based around overloaded feedback and unintelligible primal screams. Brutal, uncompromising, and not for unadventurous listeners.

Cd2 is the recently unearthed “Distress Signals II”, a set of 11 never-released harsh noise tracks from the same era, and these follow the same pattern. This is destroyed music, full of primal violence and anything resembling structure or melody. Fans of Controlled Bleeding’s later forays into textural gothic soundtracks or industrial dance should think twice if they can handle this scarring assault on their eardrums. Me? I enjoy, but only in smaller doses. 

A great thing to have this rare material available again after so many years. Here’s my vote for Artoffact to release all the other obscure Controlled Bleeding albums and tapes that have sadly never been reissued, and some that are just plain unavailable. Great, legendary stuff for experimental and noise fans, for certain.

Artoffact Records

Controlled Bleeding site

Skullflower - "Strange Keys To Untune Gods' Firmament" 2xCD

Veteran UK noise act Skullflower are about as far from the mainstream as possible. Kudos to Neurot Recordings for bringing this savage yet mystical monolith of guitar-oriented noise to American ears (with no regard for commercial potential). Yes, this is truly a labor of love, though some listeners may be scarred by the end of this 2 hour mass of mostly formless and rhythm-free aural siege. Beginning with the fried feedback of "Shivering Aurora", the first disc moves abruptly into the drone/noise masterpiece "Starlit Mire", which refers to noted chaos magician and artist Austin Osman Spare, not Psychic TV, I'm sure. From there, it's back to the reckless "Enochian Tapestries" before the all-consuming invocation within "City Of Dis". "Basement Of An Impure Universe" is the sound of pain, pure and simple. Disc 2 is no less forgiving, opening with the grinding "Nibelungen" and continuing to the absolutely brutal catastrophe of "Blood Mirror Streams". While some bands coax different sounds out of their instruments, Skullflower strangle them, for lack of a better description. Theirs is the sound of all-consuming terror. Not for the faint-hearted, "Strange Keys.." is an overwhelming, overloaded, and ultimately purifying listening experience. (Neurot Recordings)

Skullflower site

Skullflower at Wordpress