SCAR 025: Abazagorath-Abazagorath ep 2012

After years of hiatus, Abazagorath has returned in full force. Brand new 5 track ep.






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info: novisiblesacrs@gmail.com



"Abazagorath were on of the forerunners of the US Black Metal scene and their latest EP does their legacy justice. This is a true work of absolute evil which is being released by No Visible Scars on the 27th Feb (Moved forward from early April due to things moving faster than anticipated).

This EP opens up with some wonderfully dark acoustic playing on the opening track Conjuring. It conjures up images of walking through graveyards on the blackest night. When the full band kicks in, it is a beast of an introductory track with a slow mournful solo towards the end which makes it seem like the after mentioned graveyard has come alive and the living are now dead.

When the EP kicks in proper it is a magnificent piece of black metal, which as I mentioned before, does their legacy proud. As this is their first release after a hiatus, I was expecting the material to be a little rusty, but I was surprised beyond measure, by how intense the music is. This sounds like a band who will take no prisoners.

With songs titles such as The Antigod and Storms of Destruction, you can tell where their lyrical inspiration comes from, and their sound isn’t far from the majestic soundscape which is Behemoth. This is very high praise as Behemoth are one of this reviewers favourite bands.

For people into Black Metal and are looking for some lesser known bands from the origins of the USBM scene, this is the band for them, I can’t recommend them highly enough. They are fantastic, their musicianship is top notch and they are brutal as anything. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about this album, which is rare. I absolutely loved it."


"I've quite taken to the more experimental and progressive breed of black metal grown so rapidly in the past decade, worshiping bands like Enslaved and Klabautamann to no end. Such groups have evolved a genre not known for its technical courage to new heights of creativity and melody, increasing black metal's relevance in the present day. That doesn't mean, however, that a storm of bestial intensity can no longer enthrall the senses in our stuffy, elitist age of innovation equaling quality. Sometimes you just want a consistent torrent of sucker punches to the face, and in that light, Abazagorath has delivered in spades with their self-titled EP.

It would be fair to say that Abazagorath possesses a one-track mind, and luckily for us, that track is a mighty fine one replete with brutal yet catchy finesse. No screwing around is committed here. After a brief, subtle intro, "The Antigod" kicks it up a notch, blasting and pounding its way to the top with some melodic relief provided by the slower sections in between. In fact, this isn't just a voyage made by straight speed and aggression; the band expertly mixes in mid-paced riffs and patterns, making this swarm a bit more memorable and the tracks more distinguishable. Nihilist, if that is his real name, gives an appropriately tortured performance behind the microphone, and his vocal lines complement these tracks well. Sorry, weaklings: no clean vocals or ballads here. Heartbreaking, isn't it?

It's all cloaked in a modern (but not too shiny) production, so Abazagorath isn't exactly a second wave time capsule, not that it needs to be. The highlights are many, even for an EP. "Storms of Destruction" crawls from creation with a haunting and crafty intro, evoking the morbid resurrection of an ancient, evil spirit. The bludgeoning growls thrown in about halfway through only further such a vision as the subtle acoustics elucidate it. "Lapse" is the shortest complete composition here, and it doesn't fail to make a stirring impression with its blazing rhythms. Out of the 23 sharp minutes offered here, I can't really fault one, even if I found "Immortals" to be the least toxic of the bunch; not bad, and it certainly congeals with its surroundings, but it's not quite as memorable as the others.

I won't comment on this EP's place in Abazagorath's discography, as I'm not familiar with the older work of the band, but I really can't see this release disappointing any fan of primal, no-BS black metal. At any rate, Abazagorath should be a clear indication of a band alive, well, and thriving after four years of silence. I might like my black metal stirred with psychedelia and weirdness, but who's to say I can't pour a smooth glass of well-executed, abrasive chaos every once in a while? It's simple, it's relatively straightforward, but it's also sick and easily replayable. What could be wrong with that? A full-length release of this caliber could make some serious waves. Sure to provide a necessary component to your secret cult meetings."


"Well here's a band I haven't heard a sound from in ages, although the reason is obviously my own. I have their full length from 1997, Tenebrarum Cadent Exsurgemus, but while I slept they continued on to produce a few more releases. This is their latest release but before I even get into it I must say this. (oh no he's editorializing again) Many in the present day metal music media are clueless to the greatness which was the early days of USBM. I mean most of the crayola scribbled notes by present day scribes in the media never make mention of the black metal acts of yore which came out of places like Texas, Florida, North Carolina or in this band's case, New Jersey in the nineties. By the late nineties the old European black metal guard was mellowing out. In the states you had a handful of really good bands who were playing music which equaled or exceeded what their overseas peers were doing. ABAZAGORATH's Tenebraum Cadent Exsurgemus debuted in 1997 and quickly became a landmark album for USBM.

So here we have their latest release, a simple self titled five song EP. That's as far as the simplicity goes because this surpasses their past release I have easily with intensity born from Europe but honed to perfection here in the states. ABAZAGORATH comes off sounding like a retro fitted version of EMPEROR with the battle hardened ambiance of cascading melodies meeting the pummeled survivors out around the blasted bomb craters in no man's land. Only bassist Nyarlathotep and drummer Warhead have returned from this band's past. Half of the old band is better than one but I must mention how the newest member with a guitar in his hand, Maelstrom, is incredible. The riffs this man has created are just as savage as the thing on this release's cover. The solo work he adds sounds sick and macabre like. This is raw, melodic black metal which ABAZAGORATH was always known for but there are no keyboards on here. That's definitely a change along with a harsher vocalist in Nihilist.

All in all this EP floored me literally because of it's monstrous sound quality. It starts off with a subtle entrance on the beginning moments of "Conjuring". Twenty five seconds into the instrumental the onslaught has begun. The thing has arrived and loosened upon all the unsuspecting. To me this EP sounds like a concept piece about an apparent demonic summoning gone wrong. Then again the question begs to be asked, is there a right outcome for a demonic summoning? I'll have to look that one up later. While the various cuts on here come forth like detonating artillery explosive ordinance it's the final cut, "Storms of Destruction", which is an absolute masterpiece. Be all of that as it may by the end of the cut I had to have more from this second coming of ABAZAGORATH. Unfortunately all I was left with was a hope that this would not be the last. This self titled EP has set the bar so high for this band that going back to their debut full length would be punishment."
RATING: 5/5


"One rad thing about (extreme) music is that it’s not bound to country borders and time. A good song is now a good song as it will be in 5, 10 or 20 years. A gnarly band is a gnarly band no matter what continent, country or state it comes from. So blistering, aggressive and harsh Black Metal can be written and played 2012 in New Jersey as well as 1993 in Norway. The proof: US Black Metal warriors ABAZAGORATH. They have been around for 16 (!) years now, and with their new, self titled EP they easily mark their territory in current USBM – a demonstration you don’t want to miss.

Leaving aside contemporary tendencies ABAZAGORATH concentrate on classic Black Metal for sure, clearly influenced by the Scandinavian hordes, excellently executed and refined with a thick, super heavy production. By doing this they remind me a lot of the mighty Dissection in their Storm of the Light’s Bane phase, although I know that the classification as Black Metal is, from a strictly musical point of view, questionable for that album.

Anyway, raging blasts, melodic, sinister riffs, superb vocals, varying, smart song-writing and an intense athmosphere add up to a trvly fucking amazing record. And due to the length of an EP it’s all boiled down to only supreme songs – all killer no filler never fit better than here.

ABAZAGORATH may have released a few weaker records in their career, but with this EP they proof that they (still) are a band to be reckoned with. Haters gonna hate."


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SCAR 023: M.Todd/L.Kerr-Beyond The Threshold pro Cdr 100 copies


A collaboration from M.Todd(Transcendent Device) and L.Kerr(Steel Hook Prostheses).

Dark ambient/death industrail ala YEN POX, older LUSTMORD, ARCHON SATANI etc.

Pro full color shrink wrapped Cdr



***Order via:***
Bandcamp:
http://novisiblescars.bandcamp.com/
(Includes immediate download of 8-track album)

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

***TRADE REQUESTS CONSIDERED***


"8 tracks of purely malevolent and murky darkness - minimal and claustrophobic tonal drifts emanating from the shadows of the crypt, akin to Archon Satani, early Lustmord, and Yen Pox. What's not to like?"
Malignant Records On-line catalog.

"One of my favorite truly underground labels, No Visible Scars, strikes again, this time with a short (35 minute) CDrof dark ambient and death industrial from M. Todd (Transcendent Device) and L. Kerr (Steel Hook Prostheses). Falling more toward the dark ambient end of the spectrum, these recordings reflect bleak feelings of hopelessness and will leave you feeling unfathomably lost. There's honestly not a whole lot of difference from one track to the next, in some or most cases, but that's part of the beauty of the album - it works mostly as an organic whole. The subtle variations communicate deeper details, so this album should be played when you cangive it your full attention. Loud, and alone"

"I recently summed up the current listening habits, so that in combination the likes and the developments of the last two or three years - and I was as straight Inade s Incarntation of the Solar Architects , ran clear what immense importance and weighting of the sound field of dark ambient for I now occupy. It is just in the genre out to be incredibly difficult to explain this fascination with an outsider - since one hand is the (in) music, which deeply touched the other hand basically completely abstract, in many casesalmost does not exist But it just draws its strength, a perfect visual example controls the quality label NoVisible Scars on this topic at, and it is this one also carries eponymous henceforth: Beyond the Threshold .Because, you practice in the paradigm shift, we see that purely factual in the recorded music is very little audible material: in the best Lustmord / LDRTFS -style is Beyond the Threshold in its entirety from subliminal, slow and cryptic roar, here from the and there small islands in sound shapeprotrude a built in voice and sound samples, where they've come in sizes called a lot more superficial than is the case here. So to all aspects and really very fine, heard only by concentrating on touching details, it therefore requires the best possible sensory reduction solely on hearing. Then unfolds the true depth of this work.Because that is exactly what this music alive - from a focus on the few and the sound negative space, or by what means we only perceive incredibly quiet or whatever might be not there. Each directs sound to be heard inside the ear into the deep fades slowly and leaves finally alone with the secondary imagination. Because even at room volume has everything that the two gentlemen Todd M. ( Transcendent Device ) and L. Kerr ( Steel Hook Prostheses ) create here, in his gloomy darkness constant distance, the sound itself is not really simple to approach possible - as is it is always a little fascinated by the incomprehensible and tries to understand what is actually there in the distance, which attracts as always. Such as covert listening at a wall where you can never be quite sure what is really happening on the other side, you fixed but always pushes them to delve more and more. This kind of music means pure contemplation, it takes place when a fresh layer of perception in himself and his preoccupation with his own sound reception, by their content as an ideological void, but in contrast, constantly produced basic emotional-associative stimulation by these same negative space for me an anxiety-like feeling with simultaneous fascination with that event. If, in Beyond the Threshold fade away quietly people screaming into the void, then irritates the rubbing of the imagination, if the tonal darkness gentle birdsong breaks the expectation, then generates the inspiration, the ideas carries far, far away, when the hearing in bizarre Field recordings can not decide whether to hear the flow of water or the slow breaking up of a human body, it holds only curious pause and dips further - then that's perfect for me, atmospheric work. Beyond the Threshold actually moved into the beyond, beyond the threshold - namely, into nothingness and infinity of its own imagination, in the universe behind the forehead of each individual. The fact that once the depression a person has been processed, is not so very important, but contributes to the fascination. Here, the protagonists need surprisingly few resources to develop to enormous effect, but to make the course, again represents a hopeless undertaking, because in fact these are only a few sounds, not more ..."
Translated from German.

"What can be said about a collaboration between two artists working within relatively abstract genres and deciding to make that collaboration abstract as well. The idea of two artists coming together from noise, from what I understand, genres and wanting to make something a bit less noisy, I can get that concept. I was a little worried about how this would end up sounding however because it does seem like this idea is one that I've been coming across quite a bit within the noise and dark ambient communities. The eight tracks that make up this album are composed of exactly what I was talking about above, dark ambient soundscapes. In my head, I guess I kind of assumed that this would be based more or less in the industrial side of things but instead each of these tracks evokes a more shapeless atmosphere that morphs and moves around throughout its length. A lot of the sounds used throughout each track lends them to be more abstract and anthropomorphic than a lot of other dark ambient artists I've heard, at times recalling bits of what makes Lustmord a king of the genre. I don't want to give the idea that this is totally devoid of industrial elements though, because there are moments on here where a "harsher" and more "gritty" edge can certainly be heard from within the ambiance. But to be fair, the whole thing does have a sense of coldness that I wouldn't have expected from either side of the sonic spectrum from where this thing is coming from. It's that sort of isolated factor that does make this record stick out among other rather bland dark ambient records. I think it's a decent record that would be a good addition to anyone in the market for some rather cold sounding ambient music. I do refrain you from listening to this record in the car or when you're in a more crowded environment as it can, and most likely will, fade into the background where you forget you even had it on. I'd say it's ambitious enough to be interesting but not as groundbreaking as I've heard it was, still worth checking out though."
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: 1, 5, 8

"As usual NVS serves up another gourmet platter of dark and abysmal sounds with this classic nightmarish Lustmord ambient release from the duo M.Todd (Transcendent Device) and L. Kerr (Steel Hook Prosthesis). Beyond the Threshold is a droning and rumbling beast of dismal concrete landscapes and an uneasy “quiet before the storm” sensation running throughout but the storm never comes. The first three tracks begin to unravel from an almost silent muffled hum and resonance to a gradual increase in volume as you begin to feel as if you’re wandering through the image on the cover. There’s a horror film soundtrack meets minimalism and sci-fi that builds up in track 4, you can actually hear sounds in the background that appear to be getting closer of what sounds like machines breathing. It reminds me of the scene from the Matrix with the garden of humans being grown, and from the way the electronic sounds are manipulated an image of something cyborg and diabolical is present in the near distance. Track 5 is this humming and almost melodic whirring drone collage until about halfway in sounds of birds and nature begin to slowly become audible and a subtle bass tone acts as a beat to give some thrust and rhythm to the somnial dronescapes.“6” fades in with a heavy bass tone drone that rattles the speakers like a subway train passing underneath and muffled audio clips of what sounds like a television news broadcast or radio broadcast. The way the physicality of the bass drone combines with the stifled audio, it feels like a dream or some half asleep insomniac experience. Although the 8 untitled tracks consist mainly of drone textures, it’s the way the 8 surreal atmospheres are crafted from proper manipulation and effects usage that make the entire album cohesive and trance inducing without falling into the monotonous, sterile, and boring. It’s creations like Beyond the Threshold that mix that sense of hypnotic droning and dreamlike states with so much subtle detail that you can literally drive yourself insane trying to get out of that labyrinth of sound because it’s so complex and fluid, it keeps changing dynamics and direction within itself that it’s hard to determine if it’s coming of going although it’s clearly moving. M. Todd and L. Kerr further prove that subtlety can be more enticing than the blatant and bold."

"This is a deep dark record. Super low drones that are so low that they are almost inaudible. If there was sound in space this is what it would sound like. This is could also be described as soundtrack for a cold lonely death. Without words or melody it perfectly describes all the sad, forgotten shallow graves and empty wells that offer sleep to the corpses of our unfortunate brothers and sisters. I don't have too much more to say about this one. It's great. The layout is appropriate in it's minimalism. I would have liked to see them do a little more with the presentation and a little less with the thanks list but it's fine. Look into this one."

"After one listen to this release I knew was in for an evening of flashbacks. This release is a joint effort created by M.Todd of TRANSCENDENT DEVICE and L.Kerr of STEEL HOOK PROSTHESES. Lovely names aren't they? I wonder if they're listed in the book? Anyways what we have here is purely background noise to give you the willies. More specifically these are the types of sounds that you hear when you're laying on the bottom of a lake or even the ocean floor waiting to die. I say that from personal experience (obviously I survived) because when you're lying in that murky darkness not breathing there is still activity going on inside your skull. I don't know the medical term but you can hear this ominous pulse that grows and fades. It's almost comforting. Other times the sounds on here are like the back ground sound effects to some 50's Sci Fi flick most likely when viewing an alien world. There's also voice recordings so low you can barely make out what they're saying. It's almost like listening to the neighbor's radio from the other apartment window across the way in a tenement house. Personally it's not what's being said which is important. It's just that there's a voice an actual human voice which stays away the loneliness. Beyond The Threshold is eight tracks (all untitled with only their corresponding numbers as separations to designate one from the other) all reflecting like after images from some past shadow realm. It's the Twilight Zone put to tape and should be enjoyed loudly when you're sober and alone. Personally after a while of this I need coffee. When you stare at the cover art you can't help but think maybe this was an attempt at video game music. At least it's not the sound of a carnival carousel."
RATING 3/5

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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)


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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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