886VG / Animal Machine (No Brain Prod., 2012)

Here we have two projects that i am very familiar with. We shared some gigs, appeared on few splits together. and i always love their output. I will surely be highly subjective so i will just try to give some general feeling that this split is offering. Side A - we have Animal Machine - like i expected, starting with some uncompromising noise loud from start. Only difference is that we have some porn samples in the background. I know some will say "oh i have seen it before, nothing original blah blah " but I don't care-i love it! Its loud, its fun, its straight to the point. If you look for pretentious art noise with long descriptions of albums and done on pro tapes then you are in a wrong place. This is total opposite:tape is recycled, just simple info inside the cover and sound is brutal-what else to ask.. Only thing better than Animal Machine tape is AM live so if you ever have a chance-go check it and thank me later.
So let's check out Chilean friend 886VG on a side B. Starting with some drone synth but i am pretty sure it won't drone for a long time. And yes! Screaming noise starting some half minute later. And stopping into silence just to start again a second later, now more deep sounding but very dynamic and brutal. We had very loud and harsh first side but this side is showing some real aggression! It is active non stop-few cuts here and there but you barely can catch a breath and new noise barrage is starting. By the way 886VG is coming to Europe this June, starting from Italy, through Slovenia (he will play ZNFI festival), and heading to Serbia and who knows where after. Be sure to check if he is coming nearby. And since i think he and Animal Machine are friends i wouldn't be surprised if they share some gigs together. So if you need some noise holiday this summer check 886VG tour schedule and head out there!
(I know this album is from 2012 and since it is made in 26 copies it is surely long gone, but quality of noise on it simply deserve review, even 6 years after)

Melinoe - Hand And Hand Into Extinction (Machine Tribe Recordings, 2016)

Melinoe… I am not familiar with this project so let's see what it has to offer! Album name has a depressing vibe to it so i guessed sound will follow that direction. And yes-it starts with some droney, echoing distorted humming noise. Sounds like static at a first glance, but in fact its everchanging. I love the atmosphere and i could listen to it for a long time, unfortunately its pretty short track for what it offers. Next track is called “empty and frantic” and its more on a buzzing side of sound with again tons of distortion over. It started again very slow and unchanging but after some time you realize you are in totally different place of sound spectrum with static blasts over some distorted synth drone. Again it could be longer, it was just starting to suck me fully in when it ended. Again side B will stay a secret until you get a tape or download it from bandcamp.

It's very good atmospheric album, with very simple and direct delivery, no artsy shit here, just good sound!

Take it from melinoe.bandcamp.com

Averauschen - Symbiote (Machine Tribe Recordings, 2016)

So here we have first of three Machine Tribe Recordings tapes i got in last package. Its tape from Averauschen (sleeve says that it is one off between Bonechurch and Princess Coldheart. Bandcamp and Discogs informed me that this is released originally in 2010 and that this is 2016 version(now you see how much of an effort i put in every review here).  Oh but this is a tape review and not a review of a reviewers hard work, so let's get back to work.
Tracks are titled only by their length so we start with 3:54. It is a dark ambientish track with spoken word over sounds. Speech is slowed down so i will have to use this nice speed control button on my walkman next time to see what is all about. From there on it goes in tracks that are all very dark industrial ambient sounding. Most of sounds appear slowed down and stretched with cracklings and sometimes some bell-type sounds can be heard in the distance. Very good tape for walking through empty streets but only if you are in no rush and can fully dive into these sounds. My favorite is 3rd track of side A. Side B i will let as secret that you will discover when you grab this tape (there are only six of them and since its a collab and i also own one-only three of them are up to grab!)
But luckily technology is our ally this time so go to: bonechurch bandcamp page for this album

Idee Collective ‎– Grand Gastrite (Craneal Fracture Records,2016)

This is the first time i heard of Idee Collective but in pile of tapes cover art caught my eye. It is a old school collage art - very tiny (its not covering whole cover) so its not fully visible but seemed like it will be more experimental dadaist stuff instead of pure harsh noise that i always pop in player first. Anyway i was baking cake so experimental stuff maybe will help my cake to be softer and more tasty... And yes i was right - first track is pretty minimal - it sounds like recording of a hiss - with sound of a stopping and starting the record button every few seconds, during the track various sounds appear so it becomes nice layered noise in the end. Second track is a lot of high pitched noise, not too loud - very controlled and balanced which mixes into some looped sequences (maybe its track three - i am not sure how big pauses they make between tracks) after few minutes loops of some improvised music start and fading away in echoes - very nice atmosphere here. I felt like i was approaching some post-apocalyptic concert in abandoned building with sounds coming through big abandoned hallways. Post-apocalyptic feeling was even more activated by space sounds that started to mix with music in the background. Hisses, beeps and bleeps coming and going, sounds of wind going through holes in the walls. And then suddenly we are alone with that peaceful repeating music. And then cake started to smell like burning so i will continue to listen to this in kitchen and leave the rest of album as a surprise for a listeners that decide to buy it. All in all - even if its not harsh - it brings some very good movie-like atmosphere. Certainly it is a good idea to take this tape if you need to spice up your noise collection with something different...
Get it here cranealfracturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/grand-gastrite

Délinquance Juvénile ‎– Avant-propos (Craneal Fracture Records,2016)

As soon as i got package with a lot of tapes inside i saw Délinquance Juvénile tape and just immediately dropped it in tape player. Guy behind this project is familiar to me through his great collage zines. You should really check out his tumblr page blame201.tumblr.com/
Quality of noise on this tape i never doubted - from first second we just get big pile of noise with no compromises, no fancy effects. Just as i like it - feeling like you are in some factory room with all machines plugged in in same time - just kicking the air out of you. There are some pattern audible in distance of this noise - like some synth line that repeats itself - but buried under so many layers that i don't even know if it even exists or i just imagine it... Side B is more rhythmic (not like real rhythm but some background metal beat) at least in beginning but very soon rhythm is lost in hiss and waves of noise hitting over and over and over until whole sound is flooded with insane amount of sounds.
In my opinion stuff like this should be called harsh noise wall because you have really a feeling of wall of noise coming at you. But who cares about genres and subgenres anyway - this is a must have tape for everyone who wants their noise harsh and loud!
grab it at cranealfracturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/avant-propos

Inbreeder - Errorland (Porcelain Editions, 2013)

One of my favorite projects out there in a noise part of the world, one of those i was really proud to collaborate with is Inbreeder. It's a project of a Joel Walter, a guy who not only make fine noise but great collage art as well (hopefully one day i will fulfill my dream of making a collage zine with his art). Inbreeder is a strange project - very minimal in sound - no powerful loud sound, just a lot of buzzes, hisses and synth type sounds but delivered in such a fine way that it is both noisy and musical. First side here is exactly that - lots of hiss and buzz and various sounds going all around you - while all that is followed with repeating bass synth tone in a very slow rhythm. Very dark track - in a way it reminds me of some dark church ritual, probably because of synth that repeats in a way as church bell when announcing a mass. Side B also continue this dark mass with same "bell" just now slightly more distorted and more sucked into background. Just now its not a call anymore - ritual has started - under all noises we have repetitive snare drum beating. All of that creates great suspense and leave you tense and sort of paranoid about what will happen next.
Only downside to this album is that its fairly short - total is 10 minutes, and i could listen this for hours probably (and this comes from a guy whose attention is crazy short - and get bored with anything longer than few minutes - so now you can imagine how good this one is...).
Its a pretty old release from 2013 on now defunct Porcelain Editions label , but thanks to this digital world we live in you can get your digital copy on bandcamp.
Go there and buy one INBREEDER - Errorland

Raven - Violence Begins With a Fork (Craneal Fracture Records,2016)

Here is our old friend Djordje with another brutal sound massacre. Like we are already used to, albums from this anarcho vegan harsh noise project always stand up against consumerism, capitalism, animal rights. This time titla and cover photo tells us all - very depressing photo of a pig ready for slaughter, in blood red color and sides are titled  a:Violence Begins With a Fork and b:Unleash the Cages. Raven is 99% of time loudest project out there (probably many will have different opinions, but i am not joking here guys, just take any project you think its loud and put it side by side with any Raven album and you will see what i am talking about...), and like always he stays firm in his loud aggressive position but with a twist. This album is loud and aggressive  but also depressive as hell. You have brutal layers of noise but also some deep muddy sounds in background. I can even recognize what it is - it could be screaming voices or animals suffering or anything, but you have really big feel of unease while listening to this one. Don't need much to describe here, Raven's noise is always on very high level, always real, no artsy shit... Only thing that bothers me is that Djordje slowed down his output a bit, after first few years with 100+ releases in total (and crazy long split series with almost every name from the scene on Shit Noise Records), now we have last few years with a bit less releases probably due to the fact that many noise labels started going more for aforementioned artsy noise stuff. So if any of you label owners read this - call Djordje and make some new albums (i will have to empty one more shelf to fit new wave of Raven's albums but who needs that much clothing anyway...)
So check Raven's stuff at http://www.ravennoise.co.nr/
This album at Raven - Violence Begins With a Fork
And this fine label you surely have to check - plenty of nice things there! Craneal Fracture Records