SCAR 022: Reclusa/Degenerate Slug split c-60 50 copies


Reclusa is an abstract mix of doom, industrial, and ambient. A twisted, surreal take on Godflesh, Wormphlegm and Beherit.

Degenerate Slug is the new project from POISON TONGUE creator Paul Von Aphid. Influenced by Dissecting Table, Sleep Disorder, Swans, Abruptum, cheap wine, Goblin, Havohej and drugs.

Full color/black and white front and back covers plus insert in 6 x 9 re-closeable poly bag. Cassettes feature black and white sticker facings.



***Order via:***
Bandcamp:
(Includes immediate download of 9-track album)

Direct orders also at: novisiblescars(AT)gmail(DOT)com

***TRADE REQUESTS CONSIDERED***


"Reclusa is aberrant minimal sludge coalesced with a primitive Godflesh industrial flavor that’s as much a pallete wrecker as it is easy to ingest. “Penetrate” invokes an industrialized psychoti-delic ambience with a Skinny Puppy-like prodding drum machine backdrop that has that certain echoing stomp that’s distinctly mechanical and deliberate, while underneath flows fluorescent oozes of fucked up spoken words mashed up and melting along with hints of bassy synth and other basic electronic tid bits that’s fluid and sliming along like a nuclear fallout sewer. Every so often there’s also this great minimal synth/string overtone, some effect saturated vocal spews that are almost intelligible, and a documentary like sound caption of someone saying about “…an intelligent man that doesn’t believe in anything but himself…” “Life From Lifelessness” is more of an 80’s industrial foundation where the sounds/synth tones are very repetitive and basic, almost Kraftwerkish without the electro rhythms, but yet again there’s something more fluid and daunting slightly underneath that initial impression. The somewhat sludge/doom distortion of sounds like chords being drawn out and tortured serve as yet another piece of this interesting puzzle. You start out expecting this analog synth, horror soundtrack style then suddenly it tweaks and morphs into something slightly more aggressive and unique while doing two things: Leads you with blackened eyes down a rotting primrose path into a pit of horror that at first seemed like something familiar and almost “normal”, thus adding a bit of spice; takes simple and traditional industrial/electronic fundamentals and creates something that is exceedingly complex underneath as it unravels like a basilisk around your neck. The minimal use of vocals and vocal effects, lack of traditional melody or even attempts at creating any, and the way the tracks just unwind like some alien/cyborg version of 70’s-early 80’s horror film soundtracks being heard in a sedated and hallucinogenic state just completely wins me over. If you like the weirder side of kraut rock, Throbbing Gristle, and the analog electronic soundtracks to classic horror cinema you’d be well advised to check out Reclusa, especially on this release (other times Reclusa can be more metallic and vary with each release).

Degenerate Slug delivers an innervating dose of power electronics and almost danceable industrial. “Are You Receiving” which proudly boasts a thunderous mechanical percussion rhythm that makes you want to start smashing things and pounding your fist, but what there’s also this power electronics screeching whir over the top and unpredictable pauses in everything for the raspy vocal interrogation of “Are you Receiving?”. It’s still somewhat reminiscent of early industrial and electronic music with horror/supernatural themes, but definitely sounds modern and shows that depth and creativity still exist in the electronic realms raped by neo-goth/rave/club feces for the last 10-15 years. Degenerate Slug would be ideal for a Friday/Saturday night in a bar made to look like a giant meat locker complete with S&M imagery and weird videos. Stainless steel surfaces, meat hooks, fog, and a temperature kept below room temp for a nice chill. “Deranged” is the standout DS contribution on here, as it’s not only infectiously rhythmic but the vocals are spoken industrial style rants of a psychopath with a sense of humor, “La la …la la la… I’m deranged…”. It’s like a Hannibal Lector quote warped and looped into a pseudo-psychedelic anthem, it’ll have you addicted and high faster than crack, and laughing hysterically at the same time.
“I Smell the Stench of Your Menstrual Blood at My Fingers” speaks for itself, seriously sick and debauched stuff here. If anything DS has done on here is guaranteed to make you squirm from discomfort it’ll be this one and only due to that title phrase being repeated throughout the four-minutes of post-modern horror menagerie of electronic sounds. Seriously, whether you like industrial or not, this split ,as do most of NVS releases, truly redefines art in the audio sense and is one for those who can appreciate the horrific, trippy, unusual, and classic at the same time. It’s damn near impossible for me to turn this one off in favor of anything else once I put this on, and THAT’s a huge statement to make publicly, so let it be known…”Hi my name is Janet and I’m an NVS addict!!!!!" hellridemusicforums.com

"Split cassette from Reclusa and Degenerate Slug. Reclusa sounds fucking impossible- and I mean that in a good way. Doom influences the industrial/ambient noise mix here. Really excellent. And Degenerate Slug has a pretty obvious Dissecting Table influence, which is always a good thing. Another excellent cassette that you must have." www.hammersmashedsound.com/2011/11/huge-no-visible-scars-update.html

"Crude but compelling sounds emanate like clotted blood from both sides of this split cassette. On the Reclusa side, the five tracks come across like a twisted venture into surreal, devolved sounds influenced by the more clanking parts of early Godflesh and (really) early Beherit -- pounding machine beats, murky sonic textures, pained vocal bleating, and howling, reverb-heavy slo-mo tornado guitar create the perfect mix of lo-fi necro black metal mating with first-wave industrial grindcore. Between the Recluse's psychotic vocalizing and the gruesome sludge wafting around the spooky keyboards, this is pretty unhinged stuff very much on par with Beherit's initial stabs at audio demoncy, only with more precision. (Of course, given the messiness that is early Beherit, this is hardly a difficult feat.) On the flip side of the tape, the diseased sounds of Degenerate Slug aren't any nicer; the liner notes helpfully lists influences including Dissecting Table, Abruptum, and Swans, among other things, and these things, I am happy to report, are all entirely true. The Abruptum influence is particularly prominent, especially on the first track, "Are You Receiving," which sounds like a Swans track playing back at half-speed on a warped tape deck. The tracks that follow -- including one with the absolutely swell title "I Smell the Stench of Your Menstrual Blood At My Fingers" (which also happens to be the track most obviously influenced by Dissecting Table) -- are big on grinding, clanking percussion, debased sonic stinkiness, and other forms of vile ugliness. As tasteful as a bloated corpse in your driveway but far more entertaining, and limited to 50 copies."

"Happy New Year! Some say that in 2012 the world will end.
OK, no problem, we are used to “Armageddon” here. And to end properly this year and start equally properly the new year with “heaviness” and “nastiness”, well, I couldn’t but think to anything more sick and heavy than Reclusa, for me one of the most crushing bands around.
I discovered this one man band from USA via Crucial Blast Records that released the debut album The Anticonscience, simply killer.Another excellent underground label, NoVisibleScars, released another output by this awesome band, In The Throes Of Seclusion, the split with another killer maniac, Degenerate Slug.Mamma mia! “Reclusa is an abstract mix of doom, industrial, and ambient. A twisted, surreal take on Godflesh, Wormphlegm and Beherit. Degenerate Slug is the new project from POISON TONGUE creator Paul Von Aphid. Influenced by Dissecting Table, Sleep Disorder, Swans, Abruptum, cheap wine,Goblin, Havohej and drugs.”Both bands variably explore the gloomy territories of doom + sludge + black + industrial +electronics + noise + total darkness. As often with this cool label, this split release is in form of limited edition tape (50 items) in cool, unusual package with full color/black and white front and back covers plus insert in 6 x 9 re-closeable poly bag. The tape can be bought via the Bandcamp page of the label for a ridiculous amount of money and it comes with a top quality digital version, even in FLAC. This is a tape to have and these two bands are definitely new poles of incredibly sick and twisted heaviness for the coming year … Keep well, stay heavy and do support bands and labels and the underground! \\m//"
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SCAR 021:UR-Clandestine Meeting Park c-30(limited) c-60(single sided) 50 copies


***Limited 15 copies on c-30 clear yellow chrome tapes.***
Rest are single sided c-60 black chrome tapes.
Full color front and back covers plus insert in 6 x 9 re-closeable poly bag.

Ur is a three-piece, out of Italy, born in early 2005 as a collaboration between Federico Esposito, Mauro Sciaccaluga and Andrea Ferraris. Their music is mostly based on free improvisation and its sonorities can't easily be described without referring to the well-known and wildest experiments of Industrial music of the late '70s / early '80s , but also to the psychedelic kraut-rockers of the late ‘60s / early ‘70s. Drones, samples and layers of electro-acoustic noisescapes coming from objects, field recordings, analog and traditional instruments processed using a load of pedals and effects: the sound ends painting a solid, harsh and dramatic industrial lounge where archaic instincts and modern obsessions meet. To use the words of a sound engineer after one of their live sets: “…it all sounds like early Pink Floyd on acid...on muriatic acid”.

Sample:


***Order via:***
Bandcamp:
(Includes immediate download of 8-track album)

Direct orders also at: novisiblescars(AT)gmail(DOT)com

***TRADE REQUESTS CONSIDERED***


"Ur is an Italian trio and work together mostly through free improvisation. Side A begins with some singing bowl hits and some some distorted feedback and distorted guitar enters in a free form, a-rhythmic droning fashion. Pretty spooky industrial/doom aesthetic going on here. Its loud and noisey but not too aggressive, still quite ambient and languid. Things get a bit more rhythmic and in unison displaying some nice group work as a trio. Side A also concludes with singing bowls only as well. Side B features some layered static and industrial haze, this time with some muddled spoken word in the mix. The a-rhythmic quality is maintained, getting increasingly noisier and distorted."

"I have been familiar with Ur for awhile. I was attracted to their subtle dark drones and have been hoping to hear something new from them. This release is an excellent example of their work. Fans of Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Sunn0))), Klaus Schultz, and maybe Nurse with Wound will find something they love hear. Very dark and grim sounds throughout these two tracks. Distant drums and faraway scraping adds texture to some deep horrific drones. Vocals sound like a desperate mob. This is the soundtrack to a hopeless life. Pure emptiness and sorrow await you. Limited to 50 copies and it's a shame. This will go fast. I guess there is a even more limited version of 15 copies you can seek out if you are fast. " devdformats.blogspot.com/2011/11/ur-clandestine-meeting-park-cs.html

"Here is the latest effort from Italian ambient/noise heavyweights Ur. With a handful of releases now under their belts they are fully prepared to bring it and on Clandestine Meeting Park they do just that.
Ur come from a unique angle; they merge ritual ambient with industrial elements to form an interesting mix of styles and one that is not very much explored by other noise acts. This is a one-sided 60 minute tape and it kicks off with beautifully resonating Tibetan bells that slowly morph into a more death industrial approach. The industrial elements slowly leak in presenting distorted synth drones and clanging metallic percussive elements yet always leaving a lot of space. Finally chugging noise loops overcome, yet we are briefly lead back into some subtle ambience before the end of track one. The second track is a bit more cacophonous with seething ambient noise as the base. Textures fade in and out, minimalist rhythmic elements accompany. Finally things come together nicely representing a chugging death industrial loop very much reminding me of Brighter Death Now Clandestine Meeting Park is yet another solid addition to the Ur catalog and one that shows progression. There’s something that makes this recording just a touch tighter, more hard hitting, and more subtle in the details than their previous work."

"I’m not one for making blind swings in mid-air unless I’m three-sheets to the wind and even then not so much, but here I can with the assumption that many of you reading this have a diverse taste in audio (for shit’s sake if you like METAL, then you’re pretty open to many amazing and dense sounds), so please give this one some thought. UR gives you two EPIC electronic tracks that can only be described as a complete droid/hyperspace futuristic deconstruction of classic electronic from the 70’s. It’s so mechanical, sterile, stoic, and mockingly neo-classical that it almost makes me think of a very stripped down Brighter Death Now and In Slaughter Natives with none to very minimal vocal bits. The first endeavor, UR-I is a non-vocal psychedelic journey reminiscent of say Cosmic Jokers, Damenbart, Throbbing Gristle, and maybe a slight hint of some Faust and Cluster circa their monumental ambient drone psyche album “71” where they simply mimicked synthesizers with basic sound equipment and guitar feedback. Where many ambient, dark ambient artists continually go into dense and drifting fog, UR maintains a very percussive and, although clanking and plummeting at a strained pace, the overall effect if very militaristic and hypnotic. It’s almost like controlled chaos, which makes no sense until you experience it, and once you DO you’ll never turn back. Where the hell Bill finds the stuff he does, is his secret, but regardless of how it’s the end result of ear and consequently mind obliteration that really matters, so whether new or veteran to some of this stuff it’s a safe bet you’ll shit your pants over this stuff!!!!!" www.hellridemusicforums.com"
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(SOLD OUT)SCAR 020: Mania/Custodian Split Lp 150 copies


***NOW ON SALE***

Scar 020: Mania/Custodian Split Lp

Each artist contributes 4 new tracks! The MANIA
material is raw, ugly basement old school
industrial/noise with some choice junk metal
stylings thrown in for good measure. CUSTODIAN side
is just balls out. Harsh, loud, brutal and "hard"
noise! Double sided insert included.

Samples:


***Order via:***
Bandcamp:
(Includes immediate download of 8-track album)

Big Cartel:
Direct orders also at: novisiblescars(AT)gmail(DOT)com



"While it’s impossible to divide any musical genre along binary lines, the majority of harsh noise artists plant themselves firmly into one of two camps: those trying to push the boundaries of what harsh noise can sound like, and those who feel that harsh noise is fine the way it is. On the recent 12-inch split between Custodian and Mania, each artist crafts a solid argument for one of these two approaches.
Milwaukee’s Custodian represents the traditional side of the argument, grinding out churning layers of bass-heavy, rhythmic distortion that give way to ear-piercing swashes of feedback. It’s a simple formula, but Custodian’s Jon Engman balances these two elements perfectly on his side of the disc (entitled Traces), fixating on one for long stretches of time, but always filtering in the other at just the right moment. A subtle use of texture also presents itself throughout the four tracks as thick, wet walls of all-encompassing sound break down to reveal dry, borderline thin tones working underneath the surface.
Where Custodian looks to the past to find aesthetic inspiration, Texas-based Mania (a.k.a. Keith Brewer of Taint fame) looks in a different and entirely unknown direction. All of the elements of classic harsh noise are present on Heralds Of Agony: feedback, distortion, scrap metal abuse, screamed vocals, and weird synthesizers. How Brewer arranges and uses these elements, however, puts his side into a category all its own. The record sounds as if it’s falling apart, with bass-heavy drones capable of rattling Fort Knox colliding head-on with what sounds like an ungrounded amplifier left to its own devices. Both elements perfectly bury some truly horrifying vocals that only rarely burst through the rest of the mix.
Personal taste will almost inevitably push listeners into one mode of thought, finding new energy in old sounds or looking for the next, new fix to satiate their hunger. When considering a musical cannon, though, is it more important to create new branches or to add to the existing foliage? If nothing else, this record shows that there’s a place for both approaches. "
By Peter J. Woods September 20, 2011

Side A: Mania
"Oh, the things an emotionally disturbed mind can create through random white noise. I’ve always been a sucker for the true industrial/experimental where the buzzing of chainsaws, clanking of metal rods and chains, and the manipulation of feedback and various frequencies of sound can be crafted into a hallucinogenic state of insanity that’s as real as any sane mind would not want it to be. Much stuff found in this genre can be eardrum piercing, irritating, and uneasy to listen to, but Mania takes the shrill and the tremor inducing bass fuzz bombs, some field recordings and jumbled vocals and actually creates an experience out of it. It places it might make your ears ring, but their side of this LP is a cyborg/urban/dismal psychedelia that almost sounds as if you’re listening to the recordings of some alien race in their daily routine. It’s not really music, it’s a sci-fi audio sculpture that draws you in through curiosity, amazes you with atmosphere, amuses you and confuses the Hell out of anyone nearby catching a glimpse or two by ear of this deliberate madness. Artists like Mania take noise and power electronics to new heights of ingenuity, intensity and validity, so if you thought it was in fact ALL NOISE, I recommend Mania and Deathstench/Demonologists to rip your head off your shoulders and screw it back on correctly. The skills of mixing and layering sounds reminds me of the brilliance of Throbbing Gristle and Nurse With Wound, you still feel the manual working of tape reels,etc., but without that it would be polished “cut and paste” shit, all digital and clean, and lose texture and craft. If you want pretty, then you wouldn’t be reading this in the first place because this wouldn’t be a site/zine that’d appeal to you.

Side B: Custodian
Track one is somewhat of a high speed diesel train comings to a “screeching hault” while multiple explosions occur simultaneously in the background and you’re tied to the tracks. Not for the squeemish or sensitive, but beneath the high pitched stabs to your ears there is some incredible rhythms and textures in low-end frequency rumble. Ironically, I put this stuff on to think to, and it works really well as it’s hypnotic and has that same effect as low volume white noise for inducing sleep. All four Custodian tracks keep using the same components, but tweaking them differently so you get this “variation on a theme” effect where things appear similar on the surface but almost instantly unfold into unique experiences that are somehow connected, but not directly. The only thing that could improve upon this style and skill is to add a live bass underneath, maybe some weird jazzy horns, or something to live underneath it hidden and trying to get out that really creates something almost organic in a purely inorganic world."


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(SOLD OUT)SCAR O19: Flesh Coffin "Seeing Things" c-30 50 copies


FLESH COFFIN "SEEING THINGS" C-30
A harsh noise soundtrack derived by the ominous and bleak stillness of the shadows in the Norwegian winter woods.

-Hand numbered edition of 50 copies.
-Dubbed on white chrome and black cassettes with color sticker facings.
-7.25 x 7.25 artwork housed in 7'ep sleeve bag.


Sound samples also at:

$6.00(US) $9.00(ELSWHERE)


ORDER AT:

NVS WEBSTORES:
***Bandcamp features both a psychical copy and free download for one price***


Copies available from:


“Seeing Things” is a harsh noise entry by Flesh Coffin, and while this cassette doesn’t do much to deviate from a pretty typical harsh noise sound, “Seeing Things” has a nice dichotomy between cold, unrelenting harsh noise and lonely, isolationist ambient music going for it. While I feel like the juxtaposition of these two unlikely genres could have been exploited to a much greater extent on “Seeing Things”, the use overall is effective and creates a suitable contrast between the styles.
While the harsh noise of “Seeing Things” tends to get muddled in places, there are some sections of this album that are absolutely, uncompromisingly raw and blistering. Junk metal abuse combined with brutal feedback create an unrelenting and unforgiving harsh noise obliteration that strips raw any sort of musicality involved, which may play into the later juxtaposition of ambient music. Synthy tones lay hidden beneath the assault. The harsh sounds don’t do much in terms of variety with Part Three being the exception. That track takes on more of a higher frequency sound mixed with lower bass-y rumbles to create a pissed off, alienating effect.
Of course, the most poignant part of “Seeing Things” is the ambient parts. The first ambient section takes place at the beginning of the album. The sudden transition into the section seems a little cliché in its unexpectedness, but it works out well. The same goes for the lonely ambient work that ends this album satisfyingly."
While nothing new, harsh noise fans will definitely find something to delve into here.


"Flesh Coffin is none other than Andreas Brandal from Bergen, Norway and has also been a veteran of extreme music for over two decades and here he gives us a 4 part harsh noise interpretation of a Norwegian winter.
Part 1: This one starts off with a muddy pool of oozing sounds that almost appear to be like jarbled speech…it’s completely insane. The source sounds are more than likely field recordings, audio clips, and other thing that were natural at one time and are now literally melted and molded into this controlled chaos. There’s plenty of surprising amidst the repetitive atmosphere that keeps it abstract and unmusical, but completely brilliant and compelling. This guy really knows what he’s doing and crafts the noise into something beyond description and dissection, it even ends with a nice Tagerine Dream synth wash (?), it just flipped on me and it never felt uncomfortable.
Part 2: Here we have serious low-end rumbling audio violence, it’s like the audio equivalent of being caught in the black smoke after an massive explosion or fire. You can’t breathe, you can’t see, you have no idea of what the hell has just happened and the sound hover and swirl around you like they’re trying to suffocate you. Somewhere along the way, underneath the mix comes echoing and drawn out militaristic vocal bit and pieces that appear and disappear just as quickly. The way the tracks each unfold into these constantly morphing entities is simply jaw dropping.
Part 3: Part 3 starts out again in full assault with dense violent sonic fuzz, screeching, and these really warped vocal clips that sound like people crying out for help in a swarm of chaos. This track is pure power electronic slaughter and less experimental then the others, but a great way to give the listener some massive ear and brain trauma.
Part 4: The way the sounds are modulated and manipulated, they’re almost fluid like the violent winds of an arctic winter blizzard that suddenly clears into this stark and peaceful ambient synth that reminds me of more ambient Biosphere drones. You might want to get clearance form a mental health professional before and after experiencing Flesh Coffin as it’ll undoubtedly have some lasting effect on your psyche."


"This is all destruction. Flesh Coffin's "seeing things" sounds like the inside of a tornado. Broken metal lawn furniture, giant uprooted trees, millions of shards of glass all swirl around you. It's unrelenting and intense until you get a short break. Things feel like they have settled, like you could try to gather your belongings. Then it hits again. It's pretty tough. This c30 is an excellent example of No Visible Scars' output. It's harsh, unsettling, and focused. Packaged in their usual 7" sleeve with full color inserts."



"Excellent stuff. As grim and frostbitten as it gets."
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(SOLD OUT)SCAR O18: Death Factory "Chilling Impressions" c-30 50 copies


DEATH FACTORY "CHILLING IMPRESSIONS" C-30
Two 14 + min tracks dedicated to classic late 70's /early 80's grind house gore/horror/splatterfests. Industrial/atmospherics. This is a follow up to the double cassette box(Prophecy Of The Black Spider) released in 2009.

-Hand numbered edition of 50 copies.
-Dubbed on white and black chrome cassettes with color sticker facings.
-7.25 x 7.25 artwork housed in 7'ep sleeve bag with insert.

Sound samples also at:
http://soundcloud.com/novisiblescars
http://novisiblescars.bandcamp.com/

$6.00(US) $9.00(ELSWHERE)

ORDER AT:

NVS WEBSTORES:
http://novisiblescars.bandcamp.com/
http://novisiblescars.bigcartel.com/
***Bandcamp features both a psychical copy and free download for one price***




Copies available from:

"One of my absolute favorites, it perfectly blends epic industrial with grindhouse/horror films. Each side is a 15 minute drop out into psychosis, stalkers, serrated blades, blood splatter, cold dead eyes filled with hate staring at you over a back drop of analog sound effects, violent film clips, and stainless steel ambience that’s as much an ideal psychotic soundtrack as it is a psychedelic trip through a sadistic mind. Lately, I’ve been kicking back and revisiting my collection of the dark and wicked, starting with the glorious Navicon Torture Technologies, Sewer Goddess, fucked up black psyche, and the bleak and haunting drones of Yen Pox.
Side A: “Manifestation of Fear (Dedicated to Phantasm)” is a journey post industrial screech feedback and hum, there’s echoing metal clanking objects and basically that last intro paragraph is based on my sitting here tripping out on the weird and somehow soothing atmosphere of pure horror/sci-fi/psychosis that is Death Factory.
There’s no actual beats initially, then about halfway through, this bass tone stomp comes in and it fully develops gradually into this complex and disturbingly ugly is beautiful soundtrack to insanity. Throughout the track there’s this continual droning and frequency modulation that is hypnotic and cycles through to create a pulse of something disturbing lurking beneath the gray haze and among the decay. Make no mistake, this epic track is alive and thriving on the murderous tension that it desperately needs to release.
There’s also a ray gun effect here and there, and so much building and modulating frequencies over the course of the song that it literally consumes your mind as you experience it. It’s so simple and to many, dissonant, but to those of us who know what it is we can actually pick out melodies in the whirs and blurps and somehow the experience becomes this relaxing and mind expanding trip. This artist knows what he’s doing with sound!!!!!
Side B : “Feasting on Fear (dedicated to Anthropophagus”)
If your brain hasn’t been completed dissolved from side A, then you’re treated with this amazing analog horror film synth line and a few loops to add to the feel of 70’s Italian slashers, it’s like Tangerine Dream (Phaedra/Rubicon) stripped down. There’s lot of the feedback fuzz and screeches on the surface with this eerie echoing electronic loop that fades in and out and warps as it does so, but the thing that really stands out is the dimensionality in the composition, it’s seriously 3-D. The clanking and banging of objects in the background ring through as the mist of frequencies clear and cloud back over like you are almost zoning in to an image of someone or something beneath the layers. Toward the 11 minute mark the sonic fog thickens and the clanking becomes intensified, the whirs turn into echoing bomb blasts from a war in the distance, this pulsing hum brings you closer to that clanking and you feel as if you’ve arrived somewhere, a hidden bunker with rusted meat hooks and mildew and remains of victims you just heard being dismembered post-mortem…(clank)."



"Yet another great release from the No Visible Scars label. Somehow they manage to keep churning out some of the best death industrial that I’ve heard released lately and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. With Chilling Impressions Death Factory presents two long tracks, each one “dedicated” to a horror film. Chilling Impressions is just that, an aptly titled release and hopefully not the last from this excellent project. Once again, the tape is packaged with 7″ sized artwork for that something extra that NVS is becoming known for. If you are at all a fan of death industrial it is mandatory to check out some of the release from this label, and heed Death Factory as well because this is some quality stuff here. Feasting on Fear which takes up all of Side B is dedicated to the film Anthropophagus which I am unfamiliar with. If I knew better I would guess that some of the score is sampled here because Death Factory makes for a very original sound with this synthed-out creeper. The atmosphere calls to mind creepy 80s horror flicks with a touch more industrial thrown in. An original and interesting twist on the Slaughter Productions sound which makes so much sense. The track is long and takes it’s time to unfold as it’s masterfully composed with subtle restraint. The only downside here is that the tape I received seems to have been recorded incorrectly because there is not much signal at all in the left channel. A tragedy because this material needs to be experienced in all its glory. It is the downside of the tape medium though.Side A presents Manifestation of Fear which is dedicated to the film Phantasm, which I am actually familiar with. If I had to choose though, I would say that Manifestation of Fear is far creepier than the film and much more intense. The track contains an unrelenting death drone and begins with subtle metallic shifting and eventually becomes a monolithic rythmic machine pounding the shit out of my eardrums. The sound is most easily comparible to Megaptera or Negru Voda but perhaps with just a touch more harshness, yet just as bleak."


"Nightmare industrial meets John Carpenter soundtrack. So i guess, if I am getting this correctly, that the artist here decided to make two pieces dedicated to some awesome 70's horror films. Not so much soundtracks but almost audio love letters. Still working in the noise/industrial world but with a definite sense of the time these films were made. Truly capturing a real sense of dread. Excellent work. There is a mountain of talent packed into this c30. Very limited but I think there is a few copies left. Packaged in No Visible Scars usual 7" sleeve."


"Deep, pulsating, factory industrial sounds that come in massive waves on one side, then washes of scuttering, bulldozing analogue frequencies on the flip side, with some '70s keyboard atmospherics mixed in "
Malignant Records


"Industrial/power electronics with fine atmospherics. 29 minutes of creepy music providing the soundtrack toyour scary movie nightmares." Hammersmashed Sound
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(SOLD OUT)SCAR O16: Blessed Offal "Ep 2011" c-30 100 copies


Death/doom/grind ala Repulsion, Autopsy, old Incantation, Disciples Of Mockery, Rottrevore, Funebre, Dead Congregation and Necros Christos. Great production with a thick bass sound and over all cold/empty atmosphere.

SCAR 016: c-30/100 Copies. $7.00(US). $10(ELSEWHERE) Price is postpaid. ***ACCEPTING PAYPAL, MONEY ORDERS AND OR CASH. CONTACT FOR ORDERING INFO AND
AVAILABILITY*** novisiblescars@gmail.com

Blessed Offal package: 7.25 x 7.25 covers/insert housed in a 7'ep re-sealable bag. 1' logo pin. Mastered on pro manufactured and imprinted(chrome)black cassettes. Album repeats on both sides of the cassette.

***DO NOT PAYPAL ME TILL YOU MAKE CONTACT! I HAVE A SEPARATE EMAIL FOR PAYPAL WHICH WILL BE PROVIDED WHEN CONTACT IS MADE***


"What is my favorite dish? I really love lasagna, grilled meat and baked potatoes but men, if I have to pick the winner of my all time hit parade of epic meals, I have to go for fried offals. So, receiving a tape of a band called Blessed Offal touches my senses in a lot of very different ways. I don’t know if there’s a subtle meaning to their monicker, but this American trio managed to clash together two terms which have strong (and very different) meanings without making them sound ridicolous. Yeah, maybe thinking of a priest blessing a veal’s brain stew can sound a bit funny, but I think that the first word brings the esoteric aspect in, while the second one smashes it gore and disgusting pictures of purulent and decomposing pieces of flesh. And, well, I think that esoteric purulence is a good way to describe the music of Blessed Offal. They hail from Boston, but they are one of the farthest bands of local offering of hardcore. The music you’re gonna hear once you put this tape in your deck comes directly from the entrails of the Planet, the soft belly of the beast called Hell. I’m not a huge metal fan, but I totally love when it mixes with doom, creating that tomb stenching blend of extreme music that I can’t do anything but love. Blessed Offal is huge, is monumental, in a word : cyclopic. They are slow but unstoppable, you can say like lava going down the cliff of a vulcano, I’ll say like the tentacles of Chtulhu rising from his abyssal tomb. Riffing will strangle you slowly, reducing the amount of hoxygen going to your brain little by little, with its muddy and discomfortable way of crawling through the songs.
The classic influences on this band are pretty clear, you can drag them back to classics like Autopsy, Repulsion, Asphyx, early Amorphis but there’s also a bit of Cathedral’s Forest Of Equilibrium. Everything here stenches of early 90′s, with old school productions and a very cool taste in sound choice when it comes to solos. Fast facemelting notes will rip the tunes apart, making their way through the monolithic wall built by guitars, bass and drums. Vocal wise Blessed Offal sticks to a classic deep growl, which reeks of 91 like few other things. Reek. There’s a pretty good way to describe this tape. There’s almost an odorous feeling coming through these five songs. Like opening a tomb, or snorting a dacayed skull, or walking through a dying forest. I know these are pretty standard statements for a doom death band, but I think Bleesed Offal stands out with personality and GREAT taste in songwriting, creating a great mix of breathtaking slow tempos and groovy brainsplitting faster parts. There are awesome moments, like the soulless shrieks in the second half of An Unnatural Ending In Excrement or the solo during Ancient Realms Of Anti-Anthropocentrism or the amazing bass droning notes at the end of A Means To An End. When I listen to bands like this, the first feelings I can point out are death visions, pessimism, drowning and lack of reflexes, but with Blessed Offal I feel fatigue. Yeah, fatigue. I feel like a bunch of full iron balls are tied to my legs and arms, with a huge load on my back. Awesome. You like Coffins and Anatomia? You think that Dead by Autopsy is one of the best songs on Earth? You want to smash the face of the likes of Amon Amarth? Give Blessed Offal a listen and you can put again death in your Death Metal."


"Do you like your death metal grim and unforgiving? Then I think Blessed Offal might be the band for you. I have heard the name of this band muttered around the interwebs before but I never took the time out to actually listen to them until now. Holy shit, what was I thinking? These guys are dark, evil and punishing in their execution of death metal. Think Coffins meets Funebrarum to bastardize Incantation and you have the basis for Blessed Offal’s sound (in my opinion, of course).
I, for one am a huge fan of the new wave of old school death metal (or NWOOSDM) bands like Decrepitaph and the already stated Funebrarum so Blessed Offal fall upon wanting ears in my case. Relentless riffing, charging blast beat drumming and rough, guttural death growls make up the core of Blessed Offal’s sound. Throw in a few appropriate and very well executed solos and you have the band in an evil little nutshell.
On top of the band’s uncompromising brute force death metal fashion, a certain atmosphere hovers overhead instilling misanthropy and grimness. This is very present during the more dooming parts of tracks. These dooming sections bring to mind bands like Hooded Menace as well. The band has found a home in this bloggers cold heart and I hope that they will worm their way into yours as well."


"Old school death metal is back with a vengeance, and I personally couldn’t be happier about it. Someone’s got to stand up for the heavy shit, especially in the face of 2011′s djent invasion, deathcore’s stubborn insistence on existing, and tech death’s soulless fretboard gymnastics. Someone’s got to tune low, play mean, and offer up sacrifices to the twin altars of Onward to Golgotha and Mental Funeral. It may be a bit of a trend, but it’s the best ‘trend’ to come along in a good long while, so fuck it! Blessed Offal hail from Boston, MA, and have been kicking around since 2004. Conceived as Exsanguination, they changed their name a year or two after forming, and have since released a rehearsal demo and a self-titled EP, both reeking of putrefaction and decay. This backward-thinking quartet have clearly done their homework, and the result is as filthy and satisfying as anything that crawled out of the Florida swamps decades ago. A near-perfect cross between Hooded Menace’s creepy death/doom dirges and vintage Death, the formula they follow is indeed fatal to the flesh, and just unique enough to stand out. They’ve sure got all the right ingredients – knuckle-dragging tempos, a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, tasteful solos, sepulchral roars, thick, chunky slabs of death metal riffage, and a doomed outlook on the afterlife. Blessed are the sick."


"If you are feeling dramatic, you could say death metal has of late been dragged screaming through the mud (not in a metal way either) by the tech and slam metal that has replaced it in the minds of the general public. I’d say you should maybe relax a little, there are still plenty (PLENTY) of people out there that know if you can’t write a memorable song then you are pretty much sunk. Some of those people live in Boston. Some of THOSE people belong to Blessed Offal, who this month released their self-titled studio debut on Black Mass Records.
Like the best of the new-wave-old-school death metal bands, Blessed Offal pay homage to the greats without being terribly obvious about which greats in particular those are. Their tonality and melodic sense are pretty American, but the production reeks of that freshly-exhumed corpse sound trademarked by the Swedes. Tempos range from grind-fast to Disembowelment levels and everywhere in between, making this EP something like a 10 speed bike except no hipster would ever touch it. The seamless mix of styles plus a very compelling atmosphere of venom and bile reminds me of Dragged Into Sunlight’s Hatred For Mankind, reissued earlier this year on Prosthetic (an album so misanthropic it even hated genres). Of course throughout, Blessed Offal remain recognizably death metal.
A pretty singular sound coupled with excellent songwriting chops makes this a very good album by a promising band. Those worried for the future of death metal really have nothing to fear, plus let’s face it, there are much better reasons to be afraid nowadays. If you like headbanging and maybe riffs too, you should check out Blessed Offal’s bandcamp page, where you can download a free song or the entire EP for 5 Murkin dollars. If physical copies are more your thing, you should mosey on over to Black Mass Record’s website and order there."


"You have to admire labels that still release cassette tapes. I mean you see this here and there in Europe still, where some release on multiple formats including cassette, but cassette only releases in the US is unheard of. That is some pretty impressive dedication in my view. This label is run by Bill Connolly, who also ran a tape label back in the early to mid-90s. In fact, I ordered a couple comps he released and a cool demo tape he released by the band Moonburn back in like ‘93/94. I suppose for the most part this is an old mans game. I am not sure how many young metal fans even own a cd player, let alone something that will play cassettes haha! Being an old bastard, I not only have a large tape collection, but multiple sources to play them on. It brings me back to my tape trading days. Blessed Offal is a name I have heard around a bunch in recent years, but until now have not had the pleasure to experience. This band immediately makes me think of an old death/doom band I used to worship many moons ago that went by the name Disembowelment. Yet another influence for this band that I kneeled to the altar of is early Grave. It is a fine combination of immense death doom metal suffocation and hateful old school death metal in its finest form. The vocals are also in the Grave vein with some accompanying acidic higher accented vox. You also get some occasional great frenzied guitar soloing which works a lot better than you would think. What a great release and this is something I would suggest you under no circumstances pass up getting. This is for fans of Disembowelment, Grave, early Incantation and the like." – Dale
http://www.canadianassault.com/albumreviewsnewAtoD.html#blessed



"Now this is a killer little demo, or EP rather. Blessed Offal are a Boston-area band who play guttural, sledgehammer-heavy Death Metal that draws a lot of influence from old Entombed and Dismember albums. These guys play heavy as fuck, but they aren't afraid to put in a lot of dynamic, speeding up here, sloooowing down here. The riffs are solid, the playing is tight, and the recording job is first rate. A band to watch."
http://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=6899



"AMAZING CS EP from Massachusetts death/grind band Blessed Offal. None of the frills of some of the more recent death metal, this is straight ahead brutality, the way death metal is "meant" to be. The thick, pounding bass and percussion renders this one o the heaviest things I've heard this year; definitely the best death metal I've heard this year. Honestly, it's not even close. This is dark, cold and sometimes doom-y, and it gets my highest recommendation. I'm delighted to know these guys are playing in my vicinity this summer - I will definitely make it out to see them. Can't wait to hear more from this band."



"BLESSED OFFAL hails from Boston, USA and takes us, with this EP, into their darkened universe of heavy, and at places doomy, Death Metal. A juggernaut of an evil release with 5 tracks of relentless brutality. The Death Metal scene is on a rise, it's been quite some years since I've come across as many talented bands as I have the last six months - most of them excelling in good old brutal and dark Death Metal without too many modern treats and shenanigans. BLESSED OFFAL is also a purveyor in the oldschool vein, with their blend of grinding madness and doomy and eerie passages, with a dark and guttural growl from deep below, with both emotion, frustration and anger. We are getting thrown through the wall more than once, when the band changes pace from slow and almost droning to blasting and aggressive straight to your face Death Metal. The expression is intense all the way through the 5 tracks and it is hard to stop listening, when one first have entered the realm of BLESSED OFFAL. The band has some touches of the old Swedish Death Metal scene mixed with American Death Metal, though have made their own mark and distinctiveness. It is of course not original as such, it is Death Metal, though not many is or have been doing it as BLESSED OFFAL does it right now. When they go from intense and smashing moments to their atmospheric, heavy and dark as thunderclouds doomy passages, as they almost do in each song, the music and atmosphere become nothing less than jaw dropping. Just listen to the shifts in 'Seasons In Sepulchral Depths' and 'A Means To An End' and the majestic and ominous doom passage in 'Bottomless Grave', if such doesn't get you hooked on this band, nothing does, damn it's well made! Well the great melodic to raw guitar leads, the punishing drumming or the general good use of effective riffing and rumbling bass, could might also get a hook in you, when I think about it! The band has been going since 2004, first as EXSANGUINATION and later that year they changed name into BLESSED OFFAL and do only have one demo as the first, one as the latter and now this EP released, so be sure to pick it up before it is too late, as we can't be sure when we again will be hit with an attack from this monster of a band!"
Anders Peter Jørgensen(Voices From The Dark Side)


"Before I start the review I just want to get one thing out of the way… I don’t like the Name Blessed Offal. That’s probably what kept me from checking out this band the most. But I was told their stuff was right up my alley so I was willing to give it a shot. I am so glad I did because this album is killer. On my first listen it brought me back to high school, blasting Morbid Angel or Immolation on my shit box car’s stereo. From the opener “Bottomless Grave” you’re reminded of why Death Metal was awesome in the early 90′s and why it could be again. No slammy bullshit here. Just memorable songs, evil riffs, and blazing solos. It makes me want to crack open a beer and bang my head. I may have to actually leave my house to check out Blessed Offal live." Kevord(Obscenity Cult)


"If you’re gonna get your mouth ripped open by massive force until your jaw turns to dust while a titanic dick shoved down your throat chokes you until your skin sags and falls off the dick like a worthless used condom and then your asshole is the last bit to be flicked off of the pole, Blessed Offal is truly the band that’ll do it. I’m an oldschool death metal and doom death metal fanatic, but even this SOB has me shitting myself, it’s blistering, pummeling, raping, mutilating, and as filthy and hideous as the original bands but somehow rips you a different way this time around. Some stuff never gets stale, and crushing, brutal and vulgar is the unholy trinity for me. No time to bend over and grab your ankles here, the 12 minute brutal massacre of “Bottomless and Seasons” that serves as an appropriate opening for this album is a full blown “blitzkrieg” on all of your senses and will have you drawn and quartered, impaled, and decapitated before you realize your totally fucked. Brutal with classic control of rhythms, riffs, leads, solos, and an intense and brazenly evil atmosphere this thing reminds me of my first listening to Incantations “Onward to Golgotha”, it’s so evil and indescribably heavy, but the skill in song writing and the cohesion of the band makes this thing apocalyptically powerful!!!!! If that album still gives you the spins and the “Fight or Flight” mode kicks in, you HAVE to get this thing!!!!! Every death metal, warmonger metal head, and tyrannical lunatic must own this piece of audio violence, it’ll rape your ears and cum shit all over brain!!!! Everything here is classic, essential, and truly redefines brutal and slaughtering metal, you haven’t survived squat if you haven’t been mangled by Blessed Offal!!!!! I have a long list of amazing death metal right now in queue, including Dark Descent’s re-issue of the brutal Swedish band Uncanny and this one pulled me away from that one. It’s a cassette, but get it and look out for this bands upcoming release on Black Mass Records, some stuff just can’t be passed up.The vulgarity was totally called for here so no apologies there folks, it's as wicked as they come."
Janet Willis(Hellride Music)





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