New Nightmares

The new Nightmares release, "Sub-Sonic Language Transmission," is finally in production. More news soon... 

Brainwashed on Envenomist "Bleeding Out"

Thanks to Creaig Dunton at Brainwashed for the great review!

Envenomist, "Bleeding Out"

Sunday, 19 February 2017

Creaig Dunton

David Reed's newest album as Envenomist may be a collection of six songs, but the presentation and consistency between them seems more akin to a long from composition broken into distinct pieces. His bleak analog synthesizer works have been notable as a recent member of Bloodyminded, and as part of the trio Nightmares with Mark Solotroff and Jonathan Canady, but here he is in sole control. Perhaps due to it being a fully solo excursion or his compositional intent, the arrangement is sparse but strong, and the final product is a bleak synthesizer creep that hints at film score but is an entity entirely unto itself.

Dystopian film score is almost too easy of a reference to use, but it does fit the sound of Bleeding Out exceptionally well. A distinctly vintage tinge given the synths he mans is present, but it never takes on that 1970s style cliché sound. Nor is it ever too bombastic or dramatic. Rather than being riddled with abrupt bursts or shocking moments, the sound seethes, always a bit below the surface but clearly conveying menace. In that way it is almost too subtle to be a soundtrack work, but ends up standing on its own.

The opening moments of "Mirrors" set the stage well: a tinny synth first appears from the darkness, slowly surging in volume and taking on more and more force. Reed adds additional layers of electronics to build tension, but drifts out of control in order for Reed to maintain the menacing edge. “Equinox” is similarly structured, building from a thin metallic synth noise and richer drone. It is comparably more impressive and has a clearly sinister quality to it, but one that is captivating rather than off-putting.

Reed may keep "Shockwave" an overall more skeletal structure, but he expands greatly from its grinding keyboard foundation. There is a sense of lurk throughout, as synth strings give a tension-building edge to the creepy space he creates. His small electronic accents and icy buzzing keep it from being dull dark ambient bleakness. A heavy sense of synthetic strings comes through on "Two Kings" as well, with the production giving an overall more organic sound to the electronics, which makes for an even darker proposition. Here Reed sticks to the middle and higher register sounds, and the complex layering generates tension perfectly.

Both of the side-ending pieces are more focused on low end sounds, however. A bassy lurch drives the overall hushed "Kraken Mare," staying just far enough in the distance to not overwhelm, but also to keep the tension there and not relenting. Shimmering passages and frigid moments pass through like hints of light in an otherwise overwhelming abyss. "The Thaw" is a fitting conclusion to the album both in sound and title. Again Reed keeps the low end throbbing, but the mix more open. The buzzing synth becomes the focus at times, but instead he closes the album on a surprisingly quiet note.

For most of Bleeding Out, David Reed keeps to the same primary synthesizers and largely similar patches on them, giving a clear consistency from one piece to the next. As a nod to his ability as a composer and performer, however, never do the songs too easily run together or sound too similar to one another. Instead the similarity mostly serves to unite the pieces, coming across more like a lengthy single work that captures a variety of sinister moods. That singular consistency serves to make Bleeding Out a continually fascinating album of building tension that never relents, and it is all the stronger for that fact.

Envenomist "Bleeding Out" Test Pressings

Now reviewing the Envenomist "Bleeding Out" test pressings, which sound perfect! #envenomist #bleedingout #davidreed #darkambient #analogsynthesizer #analogsynth #testpressing #bloodlust

Nightmares Revisited

http://synthnightmares.bandcamp.com

English Version of The New Noise Interview with Mark Solotroff

The original Italian version can be found here:
http://www.thenewnoise.it/bloodyminded-mark-solotroff/

You have many musical projects, you play live, you are very active. And you started this thirty years ago. I admire artists like you, because you operate constantly in the underground, and without hesitations. What makes you so strong? What gives you energy?

Thank you!  I cannot imagine a life in which I do not create music, whether it is closer to industrial culture, with BLOODYMINDED, or more in the metal or post-punk realm, as with my band Anatomy of Habit.  That said, it is not always easy to continue doing this, so deep in the underground, and sometimes it becomes quite fatiguing.  The urge to create remains very strong inside of me and I love the live performance aspect too much to walk away from this.

You’re from United States, but you have created a bridge between two continents… and there was no internet at the time. Please, tell my Italian readers something about your contacts with early industrial Italian pioneers and how they influenced you.

I started listening to industrial, experimental, noise, or what have you, towards the end of my high school years.  Then, while I was in college, I became friends with Peter Sotos.  After starting Intrinsic Action and recording our first cassette, Pete gave me a list of people to contact in various European countries and in Japan.  And yes, we all wrote letters back then.  It was many years before we had access to email.  I started corresponding with Andrea Cernotto from The Sodality, first to order Mauthausen Orchestra and other cassettes from his Aquilifer Sodality catalog.  A few years later, while spending a summer in Venice, I traveled to Milan to meet Andrea, and I also met Paolo Bandera of Sigillum S (and later Sshe Retina Stimulants).  This all set in motion making many great friends in the Milan area, and, much through Paolo’s efforts and support, me releasing music by many great Italian Artists, starting with Sigillum S, continuing to Iugula-Thor, Sshe Retina Stimulants, The Sodality, Mauthausen Orchestra, Atrax Morgue, Dead Body Love, Murder Corporation.  And nearly 30 years later, Paolo just left Chicago a week ago, after a nice visit, and I will be traveling to Rome in a few weeks to perform with The Sodality, at the Destination Morgue festival.  M.B. and Mauthausen Orchestra were among the earliest underground “power-electronics” artists I heard, along with Whitehouse, Consumer Electronics, Sutcliffe Jugend and Ramleh, and for some reason, something about the Italian style really clicked with me, even though these artists and groups represent a wide range of styles.  I love Italy so much and I have great friends there, so I have returned several times.

Bloodyminded are Xavier Laradji, James Moy, Isidro Reyes, Pieter Schoolwerth and you. It’s not unusual to see collective projects in your genre, but we also have many and many (and many) “one man bands”. How do you work on a single track? Is everyone adding his sounds? Is someone driving the whole creative process?

BLOODYMINDED is certainly a band, made up of very good friends who also really enjoy working on music together.  On some recordings and at some shows, we have been lucky enough to all be together, but as we are spread out in different US cities and with Xavier in France, being a band can be challenging.  Sometimes Xavier sends recordings from France, sometimes Pieter has been unable to travel to Chicago due to commitments with his art career, so we find ways to work around that.  Sometimes we incorporate field recordings made together, or we work with live recordings, or we share computer files.  I would say that at the beginning, I was driving and controlling the creative process, but now there is much more true collaboration, which is one of the things I appreciate most about our new album, “Within The Walls.”  

In Within The Walls you worked with Sanford Parker. I’ve listened to part of his work both as musician and as producer. He seems to me too clean and too rational for a visceral band like yours. But this is just my opinion. I would like to know what has convinced you to collaborate with him.

I have known Sanford for several years and I have a great appreciation for his production style.  We have also collaborated in the group Wrekmeister Harmonies over the last two years.  I first became aware of his work with the heavy doom of Buried At Sea, which I would definitely not characterize as “clean.”  I have numerous records that he has made and I think Sanford is great at balancing dark, dense and heavy sounds with a clear production that allows the musicians to deliver everything they want and for the listener to be able to receive everything that the musicians intended.  He had asked about recording BLOODYMINDED a few years ago and the timing was finally right.  I can say that it was a very enjoyable and easy experience.  Sanford is great to work with and I have since returned to the studio with him, for the new record by my band Anatomy of Habit.

You start your new album with an ambient track. It’s a very good track, created with the help of David Reed (Luasa Raelon). It makes this album deeper, it prepares my mind for what’s next, switching off the light, so to speak. Why is it entitled “All The Cities Are Occupied”?

David is part of the extended BLOODYMINDED family and he has played synth live with us many times.  We have toured together and have collaborated in the synth trio, Nightmares, with Jonathan Canady (Angel of Decay, Deathpile).  It is so nice to have him on this album.  The title of the opening track came from some sort of sleep-deprived hallucinatory conspiracy among the members of  BLOODYMINDED, and was initially  inspired by the very rare minimal synth artist ADN' Ckrystall.

We have also five very short tracks (Token number…). I don’t consider them as an “entr’acte”, it seems like your version of grindcore. Why did you put these tokens between the tracks?

They are exactly like our version of grindcore, so thank you for that observation.  I do not mind them being thought of as “pauses,” as they create contrast in our music, but they are considered fully realized songs.  I started playing around with that type of “blast” song towards the end of my old band, Intrinsic Action, and from the beginning of BLOODYMINDED, we have incorporated short, sharp tracks in our live shows and our recordings.  We have played with many punk and grindcore bands and I feel that aesthetic has been as much an influence on us as noise/electronics.  The “Token” titles are a reference to the offshoot band that Isidro and I started, The Fortieth Day, and this new album has a deep connection to themes that Isidro and I have been working on for several years.

I have Territories by Locrian: I remember clearly your performance in “Inverted Ruins”. It’s not easy to remember a specific vocal performance in extreme music. Why did you decide to publish your version of “Inverted Ruins” here?

Isidro and I had already started writing “Within The Walls” when I collaborated with Locrian on their “Territories” album and I sensed a strong connection between what we were writing and what Terence Hannum had written for “Inverted Ruins.”  I wanted to end this record with a song that changed the mood from the more assaultive songs to something that allowed for closure or resolve, and this seemed like the ideal way to do it.

Why do you have English and Spanish lyrics? From my European point of view, it seems to me a way to recognize how many Americans are “hispanohablantes” and a way to communicate with everyone, because the Spanish version is very close to the English version (and it helps me to understand some meanings of it)…

BLOODYMINDED is a multilingual band, with Xavier being a native French speaker and Isidro being a native Spanish speaker, as he comes from Mexico.  We first took this approach on “Gift Givers,” and since Isidro and I fully collaborated on the lyrics for “Within The Walls,” we felt this was the best approach.  I particularly enjoy how our voices all work in contrast – the different ranges that James, Isidro and I have - and how the different languages create another type of contrast.  Living in Chicago, one hears a great deal of Spanish, and I first started incorporating elements of this culture into my music with Intrinsic Action, embedding pieces of Flamenco music into our early live shows, as I was attracted to the arrogance, the romance and the darkness of that music genre.  Although I am a slow learner, the Spanish language is a big part of my life, partly due to my long and very close relationship with Isidro and his family, and now certainly due to the fact that my wife is from Mexico.

I’ve seen videos of your concerts. I noticed that often there are no barriers between Bloodyminded and the audience. This is normal if you are into power electronics/industrial/noise. And this is normal if you are into hardcore, but in the first case I feel uncomfortable. Are you at ease in these situations? And have you ever been afraid of these situations?

Yes, playing “on the floor” has been a big part of the BLOODYMINDED experience over the years.  Probably half of our shows have been WITH the audience, rather than on a stage.  The two types of performances are drastically different.  When we play at floor level, at shows with many excited intense fans who know all of our lyrics, there is an energy that simply cannot be matched.  I think that we have to work much harder when we are on stage, specifically because of that distance.  That said, “floor” shows are very unpredictable and I have suffered several broken bones because they can be so physical and violent – even though, at the same time, they can be exhilarating and joyful shows for both the band and the audience.  I think it is rare to see so many enthusiastic people smiling at noise or dark industrial shows, and that is one reason I love playing live with BLOODYMINDED.  But yes, sometimes, when we are about to start our show, I turn around towards the audience and discover they are only inches away, and I think, “Oh god, here we go…”

Finally: are you inside or outside the gate?

Chicago is suffering through an unusually cold December so right now I am comfortably within the walls.  But having finally released our new album, after many delays, I am happy to report that I have made my way outside the gate!

B!176 BLOODYMINDED "Within The Walls" CD

Webstore: http://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/b-176-bloodyminded-within-the-walls-cd
Bandcamp: http://bloodyminded.bandcamp.com/album/within-the-walls
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gw/album/within-the-walls/id725557901

BLOODYMINDED
“Within The Walls”
BloodLust! (B!176)
Compact Disc in 8-Panel Digipak



BLOODYMINDED is a heavy electronic band that was formed in New York, in 1995, after the dissolution of the early American industrial noise group Intrinsic Action, founded by Mark Solotroff in 1984. The group’s live shows are extremely energetic, characterized by layers of screeching analog synthesizer, aggressive vocals, and a copious amount of feedback. While BLOODYMINDED operate within the noise scene, their sound is broadly informed by their industrial forbearers, NYC pre-punk and noise rock, and British hardcore and grindcore. BLOODYMINDED has performed with diverse artists covering noise, power-electronics, experimental, avant-garde, death-rock, industrial, hardcore, metal and punk. Although currently based in Chicago, members also live in Brooklyn, New York, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Toulouse, France.

“Within The Walls” is the band’s fifth full-length studio recording and the first to be issued since their 2006 album, “Magnetism.” Numerous false starts led to the band entering the studio with acclaimed doom metal producer, Sanford Parker, to finally commit the new set of songs to tape (no, computer). The album is based on the concept of “love and loss in a time of great sadness,” and it follows themes established by members Isidro Reyes and Mark Solotroff in their offshoot band, The Fortieth Day. Reyes and Solotroff closely collaborated on the lyrics, working in both Spanish and English. Released on LP, CD and digital, this marks the first BLOODYMINDED full-length on vinyl. In addition to basic black, a special edition of 100 copies will be released on white vinyl, with a silk screen print based on the front cover artwork, printed by Erin Page of Kill Hatsumomo Prints.

Along with core members Xavier Laradji, James Moy, Isidro Reyes, Pieter Schoolwerth and Mark Solotroff, select guest musicians were drafted to assist with the album. Longstanding BLOODYMINDED family member, David Reed (Envenomist, Luasa Raelon), who has played live with the band on numerous occasions, was brought in to create an atmospheric opener for the album. He was aided by Blake Edwards (Vertonen), Solotroff’s ex-band mate in Anatomy of Habit and Animal Law. Edwards created a collection of metal-on-metal textures that add to the disquieting feel of “All The Cities Are Occupied.” Along with co-producing, Sanford Parker played lead synthesizer on the album closer, “Inverted Ruins,” a remake of the Locrian song – which Solotroff originally sang on – from that group’s 2010 album, “Territories.” Edwards reprised his dark metallic drones for the uncharacteristically melodic song. What happens in between those two songs is a bombastic, high-fidelity assault of electronic noise, screams, feedback and purgation.

During the long gap between albums, the members of BLOODYMINDED were hardly idle. Laradji stepped up his role as a publisher, releasing increasingly lavish editions of art and negative-culture books under the Timeless banner. Moy established his reputation as a true death-industrial force, with solo work under the charming Anal Hearse moniker. Reyes remained exceptionally busy, performing live and releasing over a dozen full-length albums with The Fortieth Day, and in 2012, he released his first solo work through the esteemed Mexican label, Ruido Horrible. Based in Brooklyn, Schoolwerth continues his successful painting career, and until early 2013, he helmed Wierd Records, releasing numerous acclaimed recordings of minimal-synth, cold wave and challenging electronic music. His weekly parties under the Wierd name brought hundreds of dark music artists to eager, debauched, late-night audiences in NYC. Solotroff worked closely with Reyes in The Fortieth Day and he recorded and toured in the synth trio Nightmares (with David Reed and Jonathan Canady), while also joining the doom band Animal Law and later co-founding the group Anatomy of Habit. He has made guest appearances, live and/or recorded, with Alma Negra, The Atlas Moth, Brutal Truth, Consumer Electronics, Indian, Locrian, Rabid Rabbit, etc. Although his solo microphone-feedback performances have become infrequent, he has also been recording and performing with Thrill Jockey artists Wrekmeister Harmonies, since late-2011. Solotroff continues to oversee the noise, synth and metal label, BloodLust!, which he founded in 1994.

Track Listing:
01. “All The Cities Are Occupied” (9:06)
02. “Within The Walls” (2:16)
03. “Night Strikes” (5:13)
04. “Token 3” (0:58)
05. “Disintegration” (6:26)
06. “Token 4” (0:34)
07. “Fatal Breath” (6:27)
08. “Token 5” (1:18)
09. “Circular Relations” (3:36)
10. “Token 6” (1:06)
11. “Token 7” (0:08)
12. “Outside The Gate” (3:03)
13. “Inverted Ruins” (6:49)

Chicago, This Monday...

Looking forward to this show on Monday... David Reed (Envenomist, Luasa Raelon, Nightmares and a frequent BLOODYMINDED contributor) will be collaborating with Andre Foisy from Locrian - and it seems like ages since Mike Connelly has played in Chicago as Failing Lights...

http://www.facebook.com/events/164538697024073/?ref=ts&fref=ts

This is still available, too: http://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/b-094-failing-lights-true-form-7-inch

Synth

With an excellent new Envenomist LP already in the works for BloodLust!, let's not forget Mr. David Reed's contribution to Nightmares:

http://synthnightmares.bandcamp.com/

Nightmares - Live - September 1, 2009 - Milwaukee, WI

Nightmares - Live - August 31, 2009 - Chicago, IL

Nightmares - Live - August 30, 2009 - Detroit, MI

Nightmares - Live - August 29, 2009 - Oberlin, OH

Nightmares - Live - August 28, 2009 - Cincinnati, OH

Nightmares - Live - August 27, 2009 - Lexington, KY

Nightmares - Live - August 26, 2009 - Saint Louis, MO

New Bandcamp page for Nightmares

http://synthnightmares.bandcamp.com/

Rare Nightmares cassette on eBay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260956655239&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

BLOODYMINDED - 02-19-11 - Photos - Part 2

Here is a really great new batch of photos from February 19, courtesy of our friend Krysta Duran:

Plague Bringer - 02-19-11 - Photos

Plague Bringer
Saturday February 19, 2011
The Abbey Pub
Chicago, IL

Plague Bringer:
Greg Ratajczak and Josh Rosenthal
With guests David Reed and Mark Solotroff

Photographs courtesy of Mariah Karson

Slideshow