Controlled Bleeding - “Body Samples” 2xCD

Early sounds from legendary avant group

Controlled Bleeding’s 1985 debut LP for Germany’s Dossier Records is here reissued into a definitive double-disc edition, thanks to the wonderful ArtOfFact/Storming The Base label. “Body Samples” was an early breaking of tradition for the experimental group. Prior to this LP, the band had become known more for brutal power noise and agonized feedback with albums like “Knees And Bones” and a series of limited cassette albums. “Body Samples” showed the group opening their sound up with more subtle ambient textures alongside their post-industrial electronics. 

Opening with the ambient-oriented “Chote/Wheels/Hair”, the band quickly dissolved minds with the brief harsh feedback piece “Lungs Half” before heading into different waters with the percussive Neubauten-inspired “Experiments With Fuck”. “Blood Sack” is another hard noise cut, before “Scourge Sack” throws some tape loop atmospheres into the mix. “II” is a brief mournful ambient piece that anticipates the band’s later interest in dark proto-classical atmospheres. “Wall Shine Seed” sounds like Middle Eastern music behind a wall of screams and feedback. “Bulges Fakes” closes the initial disc with an upbeat melodic guitar sketch.

The second disc here is 39 minutes of other tracks recorded around the same time period (1983-1985), and with a similar mix of textures and noise. The ominous “Rust Bag” was recorded for a Broken Flag compilation but was left unreleased. Other tracks were either unreleased or originally bonus tracks on the initial “Body Samples” CD release on the now-defunct Dossier label. 

The diverse textures of “Body Samples” were still raw and certainly harsh, but the forceful insistence and unrelenting nature of the group’s earliest releases was held back a bit in favor of different moods and more subtle textures. Hints of the band’s later forays into ambience and beat-driven songs can be found here alongside the jagged feedback and screams. “Body Samples” is a challenging recording, sure, but it’s a classic and unique listening experience, and one that takes some unpredictable turns and diversions into areas of relevance for any fan of experimental and early electronic music. Cheers to Paul Lemos and all involved in bringing this landmark recording back into consciousness.

Artoffact/Storming The Base

Controlled Bleeding site

Controlled Bleeding - “Knees And Bones” CD

Classic noise debut

This was the vinyl debut of the prolific noise/experimental group way back in 1985, and this latest reissue is the most comprehensive version yet. Emerging at time when the avant-garde, industrial and experimental music community was far-ranging and deeply set underground, this Long Island group crafted this set of ultra-harsh walls of screaming noise and feedback, as inspired by fellow subversives like Whitehouse and SWANS. The original LP, which comprises the extended opening tracks “Knees” and “Bones”, are shrill, gouging, and terrifying assaults of grinding electronic feedback and the incomprehensible agonized shouts of either Paul Lemos or Chris Moriarty (I can’t tell). There are moments where the noise settles a bit into a moody (yet still ultimately a primal and visceral) sound, but overall, this album is a raw and edgy collection of power electronics that doesn’t hold any semblance of structure, order, or melody. 

Bonus tracks are included here that only add to the noise and confusion. There’s a lengthy remix, called “Knees Power Mix”, another installment of the ongoing “Swallowing Scrap Metal” series of harsh feedback forays, and a remix of a wild and frantic track from CB’s out-jazz/scat side project, Breast Fed Yak.

Among a slew of other early releases (mostly on cassette), Controlled Bleeding’s earliest recorded output was a destructive primal scream that showed little evidence of their later trajectories into ambient, dance, or metal music that gained them a following in the late 80s and early 90s. This is about as harsh and noisy as you could ever hope to hear. Bravo! Here’s hoping Artoffact will consider other reissues of long-lost Controlled Bleeding recordings of this era.

ArtOfFact Records

CB website

Anenzephalia - "Kaltwelt" CD

Industrial death noise from Genocide Organ member

German death-industrial project Anenzephalia has been around for 20 years now, but this is my first exposure to them. Centered around Genocide Organ member Michael Keck, this is pure retro-noise, with obvious parallels to early industrial pioneers SPK and Whitehouse. 

Tracks like "Frostschrae" wed simple and fuzzy electronic noise nihilism with distorted vocals. It's a morose, oppressive atmosphere that permeates the whole of "Kaltwelt". "Bodies Of Gold" is another bleak, evil celebration of death, disfigurement, and possibly, murder. All the requisite distorted sounds, tape voices, overloaded electronics, and a simplistic semblance of rhythm are here to create a mood of unease and foreboding. Imagine an alternate soundtrack to "Nekromantik", and you wouldn't be too far off. For hardcore death industrial fetishists only, I'm afraid.

Tesco Org

Anenzephaliaspace

Der Blutharsch - "The Track Of The Hunted" CD

Albin Julius's 5th album as Der Blutharsch (originally released in 2000) is a solemn, militaristic, and dark album of looped classical samples and martial song structures. With inspirations from old European musics, and not without a modicum of controversy (some have labeled Julius's projects fascist due to his flirtation with Nazi and other suspect ideological imagery), Der Blutharsch's bold music shows a close kinship to bands like early Laibach or Death In June. 

What these 10 untitled tracks lack in subtlety or complexity, they make up for in single-mindedness. Each track is nearly mantric, with repetitive structures and a limited sound scope. "Track 7" lightens up a bit with some brass samples, as does the whimsical "Track 9", which is a scratchy recording taken from an early 20th century folk recording. It closes out with "Track 10" -- a bombastic (live?) cut with big drums and declarative chants. A solid work, not outstanding or unique, but certainly a treat for fans of the aforementioned DIJ or Laibach's early militant industrial sounds.

(WKN via Tesco)

Der Blutharsch site

Test Dept - "A Program For Progress" DVD

Subtitled "Video Work [82-84]", this classic 1984 film isn't a live document, but more a visual accompaniment for Test Dept's influential, legendary, and percussive industrial music. Initially in "Cold Witness", we see a man rooting around an abandoned post-apocalyptic factory. It's an almost fetishistic video of rusted-out metal machinery and factory pollution set to an assault of grinding noise that crescendos into a paranoid overload. The following video ("Shockwork") depicts Test Dept members in a proto-militaristic style, again with plenty of shots of industrial buildings, steel & iron, junkyards, and crushed cars. The following 6 tracks (including the frenetic "Compulsion" and "Total State Machine") fall in line with this type of scenario.

Test Dept never quite achieved the same level of notoriety as their German counterparts Einsturzende Neubauten. However, their early metal-percussion extremity did inspire a generation of post-industrial dance bands, particularly acts like Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Front Line Assembly. And though this whole scene may seem quaint and well played-out now, Test Dept were true innovators, and this  DVD is a must-see for true industrial music historians. (Cherry Red)

Test Dept site

aTelecine - "The Falcon And The Pod" album

Featuring well-known actress Sasha Grey (look her up if this name doesn't ring a bell), this avante-experimental noise group crafts twisted electro-horror and post-industrial sounds that you won't hear anytime soon in your gothy club. "A Secret Ratio" is like prime Throbbing Gristle or early Chris & Cosey, with otherworldly oscillators and submerged female voices. Other cuts are more ambient ("4AM"), but this whole release echoes the dark and decadently primitive electronica vibe of TG or early Cabaret Voltaire. Enjoyable. (Pendu Sound Recordings)

aTelespace

Con-Dom - "The Eighth Pillar - A Confession Of Faith" CD

Originally released in 1992 by a small French label, this 5-track album by English noise artist Mike Dando is 41 minutes of old-school industrial. This is raw and primitive noisemaking, of a similar vein as early Throbbing Gristle or SPK. "Seven Pillars Of Wisdom" opens with an ominous gray static, punctuated by declarative and reverbed shouts with cascades of ghostly drone. "Triumph" is more gray static with similar violent tendencies. "Confession Of Faith" pulses for almost 17 minutes with odd and seemingly random sounds, including a choir, what seems like engine noise, drones, TV & tape voices spliced in, and declarative vocals. "The Eighth Pillar" closes it out with a collage of distant bells, howling winds, and calliope sounds in the distance -- at once lovely yet haunting. A fine album with plenty of mystery and sinister darkness to wile away the late late hours to. (Tesco Germany)

Con-Domspace

>wirewall< - "Terminal Man" CDR

With what sounds to me like a cross between the old BBC Radiophonic Workshop electronic experiments of the 60's and harsher underground noise (think "Dr. Who" theme meets Merzbow at his most ear-draining), this mysterious project contains some of the more abrasive sound I've heard in some time. Contained in a deluxe DVD-sized case with obscure art, >wirewall<'s seemingly freeform electronic textures are jagged and difficult, with swollen shards of digital feedback alongside analogue synth burbles and gurgles. The initial track, "electrode", is packed with wicked bursts of static and squealing pulses. The rest of the album isn't exactly easy listening, either. "memristor" is lower key, but still a clot of alien electronica with disorienting machine whines, whirrs, and proto-computer gibberish. "Terminal Man" is recommended only for those who favor chaos and noise, so fans of tuneful sounds approach with caution here. (Cohort Records)

Aun/ Habsyll - "Split LP"

This split vinyl won't be something for everyone, but anyone with a taste for noise and dark, extended doom/drone atmospheres may find plenty to envelop themselves in. Side A is by Montreal's Aun (aka Martin Dumais and Julie Leblanc) Their opening cut, "Druids", is 13 minutes of foreboding atmospheres and plodding death rhythms. Imagine an instrumental machine-doom-metal, monolithic and single-minded, and you'd be in the ball park. Their second track, "Fall Out", is a more spacious attack of sinister machine rhythms and droning guitars with a rudimentary melody shining through. Decent work, but rather forgettable in the end, especially after hearing Side B.
French heavy doom/noise/drone act Habsyll are less subtle on their side, with their monster 23-minute "IV", which rivals acts like Sunn 0))) or Earth in sheer terms of width and girth. It's a slow, grinding, downtuned guitar crunch, with chaotic drums keeping things lively. The spastic, agonized vocalizations are feral and frightening, in such a good way, too. Picture, if you will, classic early SWANS meeting black metal, and Habsyll are threatening like that. Refreshingly intense and confusingly evil sounds to scare your neighbors and antagonize your roommates equally! (Public Guilt)

Aunspace

Habsyllspace

Paul Lemos - "Sludge" LP

This forgotten oldie from 1989 was released on Dossier Germany, on clear vinyl only, though certain cuts (albeit in different mixes, it seems) have appeared on other Controlled Bleeding releases of the era ("Trudge", "Scourging Ground", "Songs From The Ashes", etc.). In fact, Lemos' "Sludge" could easily stand as a mid-period Controlled Bleeding "best of", as it features a variety of styles and sounds, and includes the participation of both Joe Papa (vocals) and Chris Moriarty (sampling, probably drums). The percussive "Hog Rhythm" flows into the industrial-beat sounds of "Now Is The Time", which recalls both Laibach as well as Skinny Puppy a little - strident and noisy. "Swallowing Scrap Metal" is a brief (under 2-minute) snippet of brutal feedback scarring, recorded live in 1983. Side B features the neo-gothic mutant-opera of "Music For Tape And Voice", and the more subtle 15-minute proto-classical/ambient "In Dark Waters". Really a fine recording that runs the gamut between shredding noise, industrial beat sounds, and weirdo avante ambient. (Dossier Germany)

The Loved One - "...... Further Observations" CD

Recorded way back from 1979 to 1982, this selection of early electronic weird-alien pop is tweaky enough to appeal to fans of stuff like early Cabaret Voltaire or Fad Gadget. Ashamedly, I'd never heard this act, though they made appearances on the relatively influential compilation "Some Bizarre Album" and Third Mind Records' "Life At The Top" LP. Consisting of Dryden Hawkins and Zeb Yek, two fellows seemingly from London, The Loved One's music is balanced between accessable electronic pop and avante soundscapes. Some tracks, with vocals, would fit well alongside early work from the Legendary Pink Dots or Chrome, while the artier, strange-noise pieces assert an almost proto-industrial soundtrack direction. Combined, "Further Observations" has aged really well, despite the technological advances in recording and electronic gear. It sounds as relevant as any electronic music today, and these thick analogue rumblings are strangely compelling and quite listenable. "The Depressionists" is a morose and affected critique of po-faced artist types, showing that Hawkins and Yek had a fine sense of humor, too. A highly enjoyable recording, and one that definitely deserves more attention, even if it is 27 years later! (Metaphon)

Loved Onespace

Esplendor Geometrico - "8 Traks And Live" CD+DVD

Spain's greatest treasure, asset, and claim to fame in the whole 'industrial' genre has been, unquestionably, the pioneering Esplendor Geometrico. Since 1981, these boys have been producing some rather extreme meldings of hypnotic electronic beats with punishing sonic noise and ferocity. EG is rhythm - forceful, insistent, and aggressive. Imagine if Kraftwerk's robotic percolations met up in a back alley with Whitehouse or early Throbbing Gristle, and you'd be somewhere in the ballpark.

'8 Traks And Live' contains an audio disc of, yes, 8 tracks of machine beats and varying degrees of noise. No two songs sound alike, certainly a credit to the programming skills of Arturo Lanz and Saverio Evangelista. You could dance to this, likely, but EG's music cannot in any sense of the word be considered commercial. It's packed with depth, subtle rhythmic fluctuations, and some oppressive re/percussions.

The live DVD, recorded at the Decibelio Festival in Madrid in 2006, shows the duo's complex beat-driven madness (ranging from noise-oriented to almost jungle/drum & bass) in a public setting, and it works exceptionally well. Backing abstracted visuals by Luigi Perilli and Evangelista set the tone for a series of well-shot, multi-angle performances, some with the unprocessed, raw shoutings of the group. The camera-work maintains the excitement and energy of the show, and the group really breaks a sweat punishing those machines. A great set of heavy-duty tunes that prove without a doubt that Esplendor Geometrico are a force to be reckoned with, even 27 years into their careers. Now if only someone stateside would do these guys some justice and release a retrospective or collection on these shores. (Geometrik)

EG official website