In Production: B!134 Mark Solotroff "Archive04" CD

In Production: B!152 Masturbatory Dysfunction "Getting Caught" CD

Quitus: Shiver Into Existence: Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics

The Quietus recently published a nice feature + interview with Pieter related to the release of the Angular Recording Corporation released a compilation album entitled Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics:

http://thequietus.com/articles/04529-cold-wave-and-minimal-electronics-feature-pieter-wierd-joe-angular

Pharmakon Philadelphia Video

Jonathan Canady recently hosted Pharmakon in Philadelphia as part of his latest art opening. He also played a very rare The Urge Within set that night with David E. Williams. Here is a video of Miss Margaret Chardiet's intense performance. Chicago folks should start anticipating her return to our city...

Pharmakon - live @ Germ Books 06-26-2010 from Breathmint on Vimeo.

Existence Establishment on TDS OGF

From: Existence Establishment

TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck – Champagne and Biological Women 7″

1 July 2010 xdementia

TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck – Champagne and Biological Women 7″

Bloodlust!

Here is an absolutely depraved record from the annals of the Bloodlust! catalog. The artwork and titles really put things in the right mood for the sounds so upon spinning this little gem I’m all revved up for some totally sickened noise. As with my classic complaint about TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck, it’s too short! I just want more more more.

Side A builds slowly with “Covered in Shit” and works into a heavy rhythmic power electronics frenzy. All lasting probably 2 minutes in total. Immediately noticeable is the HUGE production here. All the details of this filth can be heard, all the way down to the most miniscule grains of grit. “Down in the Dirt” fades in with a low-end pulse that breaks into a metallic texture of alternating machinery. Once again, barely hitting the two minute mark but hitting hard enough that it won’t soon be forgotten.

Perhaps the most crunchtastic track here is the opener on side B “Still Erect (…and definitely not leaving)” that features a core of blown-out distortion as the main layer here with blasts of the slut’s token feedback layers on top. “Mark Solotroff Built My Hotrod” being an obvious reference to Bloodlust!’s label exec features a heavy glassy drone, and tons of feedback layers.

Of course these tracks can only be complete with the most sickened, over the top vocals to appear in power electronics. Pitched down, pitched up, distorted, and generally mangled to all hell it’s obvious that TwoDeadSluts OneGoodFuck has one goal: to create the most insanely noisy heavy blast of noise that is possible. My analysis: that they’ve come damn near close.

Composition:
Sounds:
Production Quality:
Concept:
Packaging:
Overall Rating:

Zero Tolerance on Locrian Territories

Here is a scan of a nice review written by Louis Pattison and published by our friends at Zero Tolerance

(click to enlarge)

Cracked on Locrian

Here is a recent review of the Locrian "Territories" LP from Austria's Cracked zine:

LOCRIAN – territories

Dystopias always had a big place especially within noisy and dark circles of heavy music. From Wolf Eyes to Sunn0))) the aural description of the downfall of society, the destruction of nature by mankind and the ongoing global suicide by humanity has been a source for all kinds of impressive and great music. Especially droning, noisy and heavy music. And it is also true that there is an intricate beauty in these sentiments. That the random rust, obliteration or damage on abandoned buildings or factories has its own fascinating aesthetic. (Check out http://www.opacity.us/ for further input.) So far it seems there is no need to conjure up foreign fantasy worlds with dragons or demons or devils to find powerful images of destruction. Actually, to me, all this fantasy shit is a sign of lacking creativity to me.

The new Locrian CD somehow got buried underneath the rubble that stacks beneath my stereo system and seems to grow by itself like the trash mountains outside an urban metropolis. It is thematically a fitting place, but completely unfitting as “territories” is probably the most mature and evolved release of Locrian I have heard up to now. A lot has been said and written about the kinds of nightmares and storylines the music of Locrian has kindled in the minds of reviewers, but with their first full band approach the music has turned one step bigger, two steps more complex and three steps higher on impact. André Foisy and Terence Hannum, who are still the main powerlines of Locrian, have recruited a small crew of likeminded musicians to blow up their visions into real nightmare size.

There are some names you might now if you are deep into the genres of doom, black metal and general darkness in music. And especially those parts where they mix with even further out ideas, such as urban noise, dark drones and ambient or the as of yet unnamed number of musicians interested in the humming and buzzing of deep bass sounds alone. To be specific: Andrew Scherer from Velnias on drums, Bruce Lamont from Yakuza on Saxophone, Black Judd from Nachtmystium on guitar and Mark Solotroff from Bloodyminded and Anatomy of Habit on more vocals and synthesizers. It is still astonishing how Locrian are one of the few bands employing a number of keyboards and even a saxophone and still sound dark, heavy and as doom as possible. Actually, it should be astonishing that this is still astonishing in the 21st century. Maybe it should be astonishing that we are still alive in the 21st century, but this is a different thought.

Locrian have always dwelled in slow paces, and they do so now within their self-defined, lose bandcontext as well. They dive into these long-winding powernoise drones with intricate shifts in frequencies that suddenly turn into a black metal track without ever losing the epic proportions (“Procession of ancestral Brutalism”). It is these moments that I think fit them best and work to the biggest impact in the new line-up. The pure explorations of bass versus feedback versus noise versus the sounds of urban decay are still interesting, darkly fascinating and able to induce all kinds of unruly thinking. Just how they mix a melancholic organ line with feedback and rumbling noise somewhere deep in “Ring Road” is a moment of radiating beauty. But finally it is those headbanging moments (even if it is very slow banging) that are new and powerful and therefore most remarkable.

Permanent on Rabid Rabbit

Here is a nice write-up of the Rabid Rabbit song (their take on "Gloomy Sunday") that I contributed vocals to, from the Permanent Records webstore:

Tape - Rabid Rabbit - Suicide Song

Available

Price: 4.99

One of the premier Chicago stoner/sludge metal bands returns after two solid vinyl 12"s with a cassingle, albeit a long one. Suicide Song is a super heavy, repetitive sludge jam with a very diverse group of guest musicians like Dave Rempis on baritone sax, Michael Zerang on percussion, Bruce Lamont on tenor and vocals, and Mark Solotroff on vocals. A virtual who's who of the Chicago metal and avant garde music scenes. The cast of egos does not get in the way at all. These folks worked together as a collective mind and created the best 11 plus minute "cassingle" we've ever heard. The flipside of the cassette sounds like the A-side played backwards; even that sounds pretty f'in cool. There's only 50 of these and they're all hand-numbered and featured the tar paper / red wax seal we've come to expect from RR releases. Recommended, indeed.

End of the EHG Weekend Pix

End of the night, the weekend, the world...


Isidro Reyes, Brian Patton, Mark Solotroff, Joey LaCaze, Mrs. Michelle Williams, Mike IX Williams, Ryan McKern, James Moy


Mark Solotroff, Joey LaCaze, EHG fan, Ron Holzner (Earthen Grave, My Cold Dead Hand, ex-Trouble)

Nice review of Plague Bringer/Eyehategod...

Here is a really nice write up of the Saturday show from: http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com/2010/06/skull-at-empty-bottle-for-eyehategod.html

Bands: Eyehategod, Nachtmystium, Plague Bringer, Strong Intention, and Weekend Nachos

Venue: The Empty Bottle, Chicago, Illinois

Date: June 19th, 2010

By: Skull

“Being quite used to shaking off my buzz and burning the midnight oil while trying to immediately purge memories from a night of live metal, I am somewhat not used to rehashing a couple of days removed. Considering my altered state last Saturday night at the Eyehategod show at The Empty Bottle, I ask for your patience, and maybe even a willingness to turn a blind eye to whatever mistakes or foggy recollections are haphazardly documented in this entry.

Arriving 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the first set, which is horrendously late for me, my lady Kelly and I popped into the adjacent “The Bite Café” for yet another go at their incredible green curry chicken dish. Yes, every single time I hit The Empty Bottle for a show, you will again hear me praise this culinary wonder.

Making our entrance to the club shortly thereafter, we snagged a drink (the first of many) and took a spot towards the back for the first set from up and coming hardcore enthusiasts Weekend Nachos. I was surprised that The Empty Bottle was already more than half full, and the crowd was collecting up close to the stage. WN kicked into a short set of high energy, sludge spattered hardcore with reckless abandon. It took a couple of numbers for me to warm up to them, but the crowd was already well versed and familiar with the guys, giving them a great response. I’m not sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I could swear I saw Snyder, their amusing vocalist, check on his cell phone towards the end of the set. I’ve never seen that done before on stage. Awesome.

After a curiously long changeover, and another barley pop later, Strong Intention, a trio from Maryland (?), began their slot. The crowd gave them a wide berth, giving the appearance that they shared my unfamiliarity with the band. I could swear that I heard SI play the first song three times over before they opened up and showed a little more diversity. Playing, at times, a seriously fast mix of hardcore, crossover, and grind, I found myself enjoying the second half of their performance a bit more than the first. The growing crowd, not as enthused as they were with WN, also became more responsive and did give them a more than polite round of applause as SI started breaking down their set.

Smoke. Drink.

Now, Anal Cunt had originally been in the evening’s lineup, and were removed a week or so before the show. I do not know the reason why, but it must have been an act of god (editor: ?), because what we witnessed for the next 40 minutes or so truly blew my mind. Another local act, Plague Bringer, took the stage and captivated the mob with a short set of heavy, riff laden industrial grind. Absorbing the two man act with Greg on guitar and Josh sticking to incredible shrieking vocals backed up by programmed drumming and droning effects, I stood aghast as my jaw hit the floor. Extremely focused on their art, PB gained our full attention and never lost it.

For their last number (“One into Parts,” a yet to be released track), Plague Bringer brought up Mark Solotroff, a prominent figure from the Chicago Industrial/Electronica music scene to assist with vocals. He carried with him a hand held synthesizer that couldn’t have been larger than an iPhone. At first, I thought that it was a camera and he was capturing his viewpoint on video, but I learned later that he was actually contributing something to their overwhelming sound with it. His initial moaning and clean vocal style was in stark contrast, but also very complimentary, to Josh’s delivery. The collaboration was nothing less than amazing. Plague Bringer could have played that one cut alone and I would still have felt the satisfaction of a complete set. As they began breaking down to a generous ovation, I must have looked like I had just seen a ghost. Speaking briefly with Greg later in the evening, I found out that they are in between labels with new material to release.

After stepping outside for yet another carcinogenic fix, we noticed that the club had posted a “Sold Out” sign at the door. The place was now jam-packed for Nachtmystium. Still getting a decent spot, we were then treated to an exceptional set by Blake Judd and company. Playing with ferocity and drive, they killed their home fans with an onslaught of selections from their repertoire. Losing the bass due to a broken string during “A Seed for Suffering”, they still pulled it off professionalism and poise. The new material went over well, although they omitted the curious “No Funeral” from their set list. I was very interested as to what the crowd reaction would have been if they had pulled that one out. Closing up with “One of These Nights/ Assassins,” Nachtmystium left the stage to a huge amount of appreciative applause. My only complaint was that they didn’t have more time.

Returning back inside after another butt, we soon realized our outdoor expedition was ill-advised this time around for there was almost literally nowhere for us to stand to see one of the main pioneers of sludge. Our backs were practically pressed up to the soundboard wall as Eyehategod took to the stage and ripped into “Depress,” kicking off their journey back in time covering “In the Name of Suffering” in its entirety. What can one say about witnessing such a grand event? I sit at the keyboard with almost still hands. Especially since I turned on to EHG later in life, and also due to alcohol poisoning and sheer ignorance, I cannot even account an accurate summation of what they played.

EHG completely saturated the multitudes with filth. Patton’s and Bower’s skull crushing riffs flattened the crowd while Williams’ unique vocal style, and humor, entertained and pumped us up. The floor in front of the stage was a sea of movement with people banging their heads, while also sustaining a pit despite the sheer density of concertgoers that should have prevented it. Head surfing and some stage diving developed, as well, as EHG moved on from their debut full length into a montage of selections from other releases.

There are no highlights, in a manner of speaking, due to the fact that EHG simply did not loosen their grip on Chicago for the entire length of the set. Due to my state of semi-inebriation at the time, I can’t even give you an estimate of the length of EHG’s set, except that it was a good long while. EHG left us tattered and shaken, but craving more. Before leaving the stage, Williams plugged the following night’s return of EHG to The Empty Bottle. Sadly, I would not be able to attend due to holiday obligations, although my mind would spend the entire day trying to unsuccessfully scheme my way around it…”

In Production: B!156 The Guilt Of...

Ten Suicides Video (Parts 1 + 2)

Here are both parts of the video, originally mentioned the other day:

Two Shows of Note (Sun/Mon)

Sunday June 27
Mortville
2106 S. Kedzie
9:00 PM
All Ages

STARE CASE (Nate Young and John Olson from Wolf Eyes)
DOG LADY
MATHS BALANCE VOLUMES
STEVE KENNEY (of Demons)
TIGER HATCHERY

Monday June 28th
Enemy
1550 N. Milwaukee Ave., 3rd Floor
Doors 8:00 PM/Show 8:30 PM
All Ages

COWARDS (Jesse Allen of Migrations in Rust, Cathode Terror Secreation and Nick Pace of Diaphragm)
PERISPIRIT (Ricardo Donoso of Ehnahre, Epicureans and Luke Moldof of Stillbirth, ex-craniopagus, Mishlinge)
DETERGE
BATTLESHIP
MAGIA NUDA