Review: The somewhat surprising return and attempt at redemption from the industrial metal shock-rocker Marilyn Manson has been a bold pill to swallow, with the once iconic provocateur seeking to avoid the many allegations and numerous controversies he has garnered over the last decade. Attending rehab and becoming fully sober over the past few years has seen dramatic weight loss, a notably more lowkey public demeanour and a newly signed record deal with Nuclear Blast (having been dropped by Loma Vista not long after 2020's We Are Chaos) turn a few heads, simultaneously cautious and curious as to the authenticity of this humble arc. With lawsuits recently thrown out, the court of public opinion appears to be the only form of due process that shall occur, leaving it to individual listeners to make up their mind as to the merit of the artist as a person. As to the art itself, One Assassination Under God: Chapter 1 is the 12th album to adorn the name Marilyn Manson, and it's his best since 2000's Holy Wood. Tapping Chelsea Wolfe collaborator/producer Tyler Bates to oversee the entire project has helped to create a generational bridge between how out of sync Manson himself had become with his own artistic strengths and audience desire, and Bates' insider knowledge as a younger fan first, collaborator second. Together they rediscover the core industrialist menace, gothic romanticism and hedonistic nihilism that kept listeners hooked after the initial shock of aesthetic would cease, but for the first time in decades, it feels earnest and earned rather than forced. Boasting Antichrist Superstar style buzzsaw synths and chug-heavy breakdowns on cuts such as 'Nod If You Understand', while the self-deprecating admission of using drugs to hide behind monstrous flaws on the gloomy balladry of 'As Sick As The Secrets Within' harks back to the most fragile moments of Mechanical Albums. Be it a cynical cashgrab or attempt to regain fan adoration, or the genuine musings of a tortured artist finally learning to face his own demons head on, there's simply no denying that this is Manson at his most potent, intimate and focused, begging the question of how different of a career trajectory and latter day output might we have had if the man had learned to look inward long before hitting the bottom.
This Dying Toad Become Forth With Coal For Colour Black Master (4:14)
One Eyed Metal (3:09)
Batztoutai - The Nightingales Song (3:14)
Intermission (0:06)
Junk Dahkini (9:52)
Anus Anvil Anxiety (14:36)
Moby Dick (6:41)
Jinrinkinmouzui (Wild Animals & Polyhedeal Garden - Another mix) (16:12)
Gothol Exodomy (25:26)
Batztoutai (1711 mix) (23:08)
Review: This extended triple vinyl edition of Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets revives Merzbow's groundbreaking second vinyl release from 1986 in an all-new and special package. Widely regarded as one of the Japanese master's finest albums, this is its first-ever reissue on vinyl and the first release featuring the original recordings. The 1986 RRRec edition was a remix by the label, whereas this version presents the original tracks but also it includes bonus material from the same era to offer a definitive and immersive look at Merzbow's early work. Noise and experimental music fans, do not sniff at this one.
Review: Kiyoshi Mizutani is a cult hero to noise fans. The Merzbow co-founder is celebrated by them for his unique approach to sound which finds him building immersive worlds that blend noise, field recordings and abstract textures. he Same Thing Makes Always Her Laugh is a brilliant experimental album recorded in 1989 and a perfect primer for those new to his work. It manipulates everyday sounds into something deeply atmospheric and evocative and while rooted in the avant-garde, it maintains an emotional depth that sets it apart. A truly boundary-pushing work of noise art.
Review: There's a delightfully celebratory feel about this debut volume of Cititrax Tracks, a new 12" series from Minimal Wave offshoot Cititrax. As beautifully presented as we've come to expect, Tracks Volume 1 boasts a quartet of dancefloor-ready smashers from a blend of new faces and label stalwarts. Amato (aka The Hacker) kicks things off with the glistening EBM funk of "Physique" - all restless synth refrains and pounding bottom end - before LIES affiliate Tsuzing go all dark, psychedelic and twisted on the thrillingly intense, acid-flecked "King of System". An-I go all DAF (with a touch of Front 242) on the fuzzy and dystopian stomper "Mutter", before Cititrax regulars Broken English Club delivers a storming chunk of industrial-tinged analogue funk ("Glass"). Bravo!
Review: It's been a delight to see Oliver Ho's Broken English Club project develop artistically over recent times, with some fine records for Jealous God and Veronica Vasicka's Cititrax label along the way. Suburban Hunting sees Ho deliver his debut Broken English Club album, featuring some 11 tracks of primitive electronics and cinematic pseudo techno cuts. Tunes like "Vacant", "Derelict", or "Scum" all share a loose techno framework, but the real aesthetic is much vaster than that, verging on remnants of post-punk, industrial and all that goodness and hybrid class that came out of the late 1980's. It's another fine addition to the sublime Cititrax discography, and we recommended it just as much as the previous numbers.
Review: M Parent's penchant for texture is laid bare on this searing and arresting new EP for Zement. It opens with 'Gravel Pit' which sounds like an audio diary from a car-wrecking plant. Twisted metal, fizzing battery acid, and crushed glass all feature over a distorted baseline and broken rhythm. Those same scuzzy sounds define the rest of the EP from the acid-laced 'Ideal Future' to the coruscated funk of 'Acid Thirst' via the caustic intensity of closer Climb These Walls'. An impressively unique offering that very much has its own singularly sound palette.
Review: Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti are busy reissuing remastered versions of their most classic albums. Pagan Tango originally came in 1991 and was described at the time by Melody Maker as "perfection." This is the first time the album has been available on vinyl since it was originally put out and it comes on limited red vinyl with a printed inner sleeve of archival photos making it a real collector's special. Tracks like 'Ecstasy' reference the trendy drug of the day, there is taut EBM on 'Take Control' and more sultry tunes on 'Face to Face'.
Review: But back in the early 1990s, it was feasible that neural implants could remain a lofty form of spycraft forever. Front Line Assembly's 'Tactical Neural Assembly' is built thematically on the excitement of that assumption; it's an album of blistering electro-industrial music, drawing heavily on the Mute-Factory-4AD tradition while appropriating contemporary acts like Nine Inch Nails - and with arguably even better mixing. Eight absolute units from 'Mindphaser' to 'Gun' raise sonic hell, and all cement the industrial as a formidable and well-defined genre.
Review: Belief Defect's Moe Espinosa and Luis Flores bonded over a love of early industrial music - and even now, some six years on from the pair's debut album, its influence is still very much in evidence. But that doesn't mean that this, their eight track sophomore effort, harks back to the days of Throbbing Gristle et al. Rather, the Berlin duo take their taste for the uncompromising and sonically shocking and twist it into new shapes, equally informed by experiments from the leftfield of electronica and sharpened up by acute sound design. 'Apprehension Engine' is technically ambient - it's certainly beatless - but the way it steadily frazzles and burns itself up is edgy and unsettling rather than being chill out material. 'The Witching' splices doom-laden, deep voices with lumphammer kick drums, while 'Celebrate Me!' is a gloriously half-Suicide, half-Autechre mix of cyborg aggression and throbbing sequencers. Not one to be listened to with the lights off we reckon... It'll be all fright on the night!
Review: Labyrinthe! stands as a singular achievement in Pierre Henry's illustrious career, showcasing his ability to craft music even when deprived of his usual sonic resources. The sounds for this piece were supplied by GRM collaborators, each bringing their own unique qualities and textures. Despite not being his own material, Henry's distinct voice and musical vision quickly come to the forefront. Through this intricate soundscape, Henry constructs a maze of audio, focusing intently on the development and manipulation of the sounds provided. His clarity of purpose and deliberate approach is evident throughout, as he shapes the contributions of others into something unmistakably his own. The piece is built upon the interplay of disparate elements, all meticulously woven together into a cohesive sonic journey. Henry described Labyrinthe! as a collaborative venture, a fusion of 58 sound fragments from seven different composers, forming a work that feels both expansive and tightly intertwined. His harmonic sensitivity ensures that the diverse sources never clash but instead create a complex, interlocking sound world. Labyrinthe! is a brilliant testament to Henry's mastery of electroacoustic composition and his remarkable ability to turn limitations into creative triumphs.
Review: The respected DIY hero Xin Lie's reputation has spread far from his native Bangdung in the Indonesian province of West Java - and this eight track debut album will no doubt add to his international repute even further. Electronica is one of the hardest genres in which to forge an original, distinctive path but Lie does it here effortlessly, from the juddering bass-driven half speed groover 'Parat' and the frenetic, polymetric rhythmic riddle that is 'Ngalengkah', to the tribal percussiveness meets mangled robotics of 'Papait Nu Amis', it never settles into accepted ways of doing things, constantly challenging you to keep up. "Perhaps it's best imagined as the soundtrack to a multi-sensory art installation," Lie suggests, "or a performance staged not in a gallery but in an unassuming house down your street." Fine. Or just a really compelling record, you could equally argue.
Review: Robert Rental is back on the mighty Dark Entries as the cult label reissues his Mental Detentions album as an expanded double pack. Rental is a Scottish pioneer of DIY electronic music who played a key role in shaping the UK's countercultural sound alongside collaborators like Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller. Though he released little solo music, his 1979 cassette Mental Detentions was a standout of the era that featured raw demos made with budget equipment like a Roland drum machine and Stylophone keyboard. Tracks like 'Stuck' offer a distorted take on the classic motorik sound, while 'Vox' delivers an 18-minute ambient journey in which it is easy to get lost. Rental's work captures the spirit of experimentation and innovation in the face of limited resources.
Review: Marie Davidson's latest single 'Y.A.A.M.' is a poignant critique of power dynamics in the music industry - favouring authenticity and passion in a world that thrives on branding and transactional relationships - out of which the Canadian artist finds fuel to fan the driving flames of existential industrial electro-techno. The track opens with a juddering, in-between-4x4-and-2-step electro beat, which lasts for over a minute before Davidson takes up the mic: "do you follow me?". What ensues is an imperfect list of music industry quibbles, which flow over the monstrously huge backing - "entrepreneurs, influencers, producers, managers / nothing for you and me" - in stark but gallows-comedic contrast to the plea to relocate our arses to the dancefloor. In Davidson's own words, the track was inspired by a haughty, lecturing email from a music industry insider: "I took the opportunity to write down how I felt about the words," she recalls, "and the overall tone of arrogance of what I had just been sent quickly, I found myself having a bit too much fun."
Review: Techno troubadour Yan Cook has a fine discography on some of the most respected labels out there. Now he heads to Ukraine's Cooked, a young but perfectly formed imprint, and kicks off his EP with 'Blades,' which is all melon twisted synths and driving techno kicks. 'Whistleblower' then slips into a deeply atmospheric groove with gurgling bass and watery effects and 'Grom' is all about the swing in the drums. Gritty textures and insistent claps add to the thrill of it all and 'Skyhigh' is a more frosty dub techno cut that leaves out breathless.
Review: Drone music has a unique quality that really pulls you in. Whether it's the haunting vocals of Pandit Pran Nath or the heavy tones of Sunn O))), it shifts your focus to a deep flow. Water Damage's debut LP Repeater perfectly embodies this. With their motto "Maximal Repetition Minimal Deviation," this Austin septet offers thick layers of sound that are mesmerising, mixing two drummers and two bass players for a powerful effect that keeps evolving. This album invites you to settle in and lose yourself in its depths, so relax and enjoy the ride.
Friday Afternoons, Op 7: A New Year Carol (part 2)
Challengers: Match Point
Compress/Repress
Review: When Italian film director Luca Guadagnino commissioned long-term collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to write and produce the soundtrack for Challengers, he had a clear idea in mind: music rooted in Berlin techno and 90s rave'. Reznor and Ross undoubtedly delivered, creating heavily electronic music that veers between guitar-laden nu-rave ('Yeah x10'), throbbing peak-time workouts (the Moroder-goes-to-Berghain flex of 'Challengers'), tech-tinged nu-disco ('The Signal', 'The Points That Matter'), pitched-black EBM-techno fusion ('Brutalizer') and acid-fired insanity ('Pull Over'). There are occasional nods to more classical movie soundtracks - see the choral versions of Benjamin Britten's 'New Year Prayer' - but for the most part it is a thrill-a-minute ride through deliciously heavy rhythms, basslines and electronics.
Review: This reissued gem offers meticulously crafted aural rituals that delve into sensual electronic music and human sexuality. Founded by Adi Newton in 1978 to merge art, science and sonology while embracing innovative, multidisciplinary approaches, The Anti Group served as a platform for exploring psycho-acoustic research and this 1994 album was recorded over three years. It is among their more accessible works - never more so than now when it debuts on vinyl after 30 years. As well as the original pieces, it comes with four bonus tracks including a film soundtrack and a remix.
Review: Clouzer returns to Distant Gaze for the label's third release with Call of the Abyss, a six-track EP featuring three originals and three remixes by Damon Jee, Zakmina, and Berlin's rising star, Zee Mon. At the EP's core is Clouzer's mesmerising title cut which blends extraterrestrial echoes and broken beats as it delves into uncharted depths. The haunting vocals of Valentin Henning drive the EP's second track and envelop listeners in blurred, delayed textures. 'Perpetual' pulses with rave energy, merging cosmic elements and dark disco basslines, while Zee Mon infuses it with darkwave vigour, Damon Jee delivers full-throttle dark disco in 'Stalactites,' and Zakmina crafts a sublime broken beat trip.
Review: This is something very special indeed for fans of both Nine Inch Nails and Coil, as unreleased remixes from the British avant-garde band of Trent Reznor's legendary band are finally released. Originally made almost 20 years ago, these tracks were featured on a bootleg called Uncoiled last year, but here see an official version thanks to the Cold Spring label. The centrepiece is Coil's version of "Closer" which featured on the opening credits of David Fincher's 1995 film Se7en, but each of the other tracks - which were supposedly tracked down by a NIN forum member - including their breakbeat revision of "Gave Up" and disturbing vocal treatment on "A Downward Spiral" are gems for fans of both acts alike.
Review: The overdetermination of many sources of inspiration fed the making of this new EP by Asymmetrical (Giovanni Inglese), whose regular top-ups for the label have earned him his very own catalogue number reservation, this one coming as no exception. Said inspirations include: the digit 7, elevated to the status of Jim Carrey's number 23; a sticker glimpsed in a bathroom in a north-west Rome nightclub; and a long gestation of studio sessions, committed to between 2018 and 2020. The result was a slurrying EBM release of the coldest affect, consisting largely of all-consuming licky bass, mussitating monologues ('Estetica Della Notte' tells the tale of assuming nocturnal form while under the domed hoardings of Rome's famous Pantheon) and subtly vampiric overtones ('Porno Incubo').
Review: Ben Frost's Aurora has inherited a rare, lucky crowning achievement: it's one of those "introductory" records - touted by new ambient music neophytes online - used to initiate rookies into the so-called true ordinances of real taste. Divesting ourselves of this knowledge for a hot second, we prefer to draw attention to the fact that Aurora has reached another milestone: its tenth anniversary. Frost, the renowned Iceland-based Australian composer, crafted a tense yet glacial record back in 2014: Aurora's implicit takeaway seems to be the that to explore a polar land isn't a far cry from the act of exploring another planet; little context is grafted onto the sheer, real cold sound of the record, though the references are tentative if obvious: 'Nolan' and 'No Sorrowing' allude to "epic" cinema imagism - the lost causes and "no, go on without me" moments native to the seat-edge nailbiter soundtracks of survival flicks - whilst the utter dystonia of 'Diphenyl oxalate' lends a chemical influence, recalling a harrowing, cliff-edge SOS scenario aided only by the dim glimmer of glowsticks and flares, brandished by hazmat-suited heroes, lost, stranded far from the research station. Frost now shares a limited edition red vinyl edition here, limited to just 300 copies and including alternative artwork as well as an exclusive download of his blistering 2014 live performance of the record, at Berlin's Berghain.
Review: DJ Stingray 313's 'INDUSTRY 4.0' is a contemporary dazzler from the enigmatic techno artist. Seemingly at once a lament of - and an embrace of - the modern manufacturing concepts that impact and even construct humanity's contemporary self-concept, this techniciously high-octane new EP wrenches our modern psyches by the collective ear and abrades it like an existential rasp. 'Large Language Model' pummels our sono-somas with jagged electrobass hellpits and the occasional robotic voice interjection - "machine learning" - while the second act, 'Multi Functional Robotics' and 'Sensor Data', moves even less predictably, exuding aneurysms of wonky mindmelt toplines turned assembly lines gone maliciously sentient turned rogue. The music plays back like a forbidden dossier of infohazards; terrifying AI trade secrets you weren't meant to see or hear.
Review: The Opal label continues to establish itself in the electro realm with a second searing new release. This one comes from Cruz and is a full throttle outing that opens with 'Marine's Odissey', a journeying cut with searching synths and coruscated low ends. 'Tecnologica' has an even more rugged mix of raw drums and kicks and bumping basslines that never allow you to settle. There is increased turbulence on 'Los Misterios' with its zippy low ends and squelchy bass all firing every synapse in your brain then 'Los Finales Annunciados' shuts down with knick-snapping snares and alien sounds bringing the whole thing to life.
Review: Liaisons Dangereuses self-titled debut album was not an immediate success on its' release in 1981, but its' influence would spread far and wide. Almost entirely made up of synthesized rhythms, chords and melodies - with the addition of stylish vocals from all three band members - it would help define the "electronic body music sound". It quickly became a big record in both Detroit and Chicago, inadvertently helping to inspire the nascent techno and house scenes. Listening again to this reissue, it's amazing how well the music as aged. While heavy on stylish posturing, it still sounds thrillingly futuristic and alien. It should be an essential purchase for anyone with even the smallest interest in the history and development of electronic music.
Review: After a fairly overwhelming 2013 of archival releases that was topped off with that excellent Patrick Cowley compilation, Dark Entries seemingly are maintaining that momentum this year with a clutch of new projects. The first is this reissue of the classic Signals From Pier Thirteen EP by Crash Course In Science, which is a name that should be instantly recognisable to fans of minimal wave thanks to "Flying Turns". The track featured on the Minimal Wave Tapes Vol. 1 compilation curated by Peanut Butter Wolf and Veronica Vasicka and has been reworked by Jamal Moss, J Rocc and Ricky Villalobos in recent years. "Flying Turns" of course features on this EP, and this Dark Entries issue is the first time Signals From Pier Thirteen has been reissued on vinyl since the early '80s and is a must for anyone who likes crude electronics and synthesised beats.
Review: BOOM! Our favourites, Cititrax, roll the third editions of Tracks out onto our shelves, and the results are unsurprisingly strong on this excellent various artists comp. It's a mixed bag of skills, as per usual, and the sounds are those of a new NYC, fuelled by a new sort of post-industrial sensibility. Amato Y Mariana open with the tight beats and groove of "Queires Bailar", followed closely by the ominous compositions of the EBM-flavoured "Montgat" from The Sixteen Steps. On the flip, His Dirty Secrets bleeps out some morphed acid on "Structures", and "Another Stranger" from Further Reductions churns out a slow, mild-mannered house experiment with its roots clearly planted in the coldest of waves. Sick.
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