Back catalogue: Industrial/Noise

Review: Originally conceived in 2019 during a tour with industrial hardcore purveyors Uniform, Japanese psychedelic noise-rock juggernauts Boris would invite their co-conspirators on stage to reimagine the trio's classic "Akuma no Uta" as part of their encore, with the resulting chemistry inspiring both acts to begin crafting a fully collaborative album. Many years of exchanging ideas from one home studio base to another has finally bore fruit in the form of the hideous yet glorious Bright New Disease. Combining almost every nuance of each group's genre-less machinations, the project swells and extends in every sonic direction from harsh walls of screeching noise to retrofitted Japanese D-beat hardcore, with time in between for aquatic, shoegazing serenity and mechanized industrial venom.

Review: Pharmakon's Maggot Mass, the latest release after a five-year pause, sees Margaret Chardiet pushing the boundaries of her sound. Departing from the original frameworks of her previous work, this album blends the raw power of noise and power electronics with industrial and punk elements. The album reflects Chardiet's deep-seated disillusionment with humanity's fractured connection to the environment, exploring the isolation that arises from this disconnect. Pharmakon challenges the conventional notions of worth and privilege, questioning humanity's hierarchical dominance over nature. The title track, Maggot Mass, draws a provocative comparison between humans and maggots, suggesting that maggots contribute more to the ecosystem by recycling death into new life. Chardiet's exploration of grief, loss and the concept of rebirth through decay is both unsettling and cathartic. Maggot Mass is a visceral, thought-provoking album that confronts the discomfort of our existence and the destructive impact of human life on the natural world.

Review: Luis Vasquez is the artist behind The Soft Moon and on his latest album we find him in his most confessional and self-reflective mood to date. An array of his inner most feelings are laid bare here for all to wallow in on this cathartic and soothing fifth full-length album. It brings all new emotion to post-punk industrial with two standout collaborations with fish narc and Alli Logout of Special Interest adding further greatness to this instant classic. It is now 12 years since Luis debuted his first album, but this might be his best work yet.