When the Hasselt (Flanders) based act Quaedt disbanded, a couple of its members, in collaboration with colleagues from Natan (also put to rest in the meantime), wanted to continue somehow. They created a handful of songs, which they gathered under the new band-name Ill (‘ill’, not the Latin number ‘3’). The purpose was to combine the blackened approach from the past with elements from Doom and Psychedelic influences.
After several digitally self-released tracks, the Australian outfit MaziKeen (an archaic Hebrew word meaning something like deleterious soul or detrimental spirit) signed to Satanath Records from St. Petersburgh in order to release their first official full-length album; it’s a cooperative happening with Iron, Blood And Death Corporation from Mexican soil.
Well, it is almost incredible to notice that new labels can still make it during these weird eras of existence. I think it is the core of ‘our’ genre(s), the essence of our beloved raison d’être, the purity of the happy few that do know what Sonic Supremacy and Aural Art are all about.
Some might recognize the name of Ryan Scott Fairfield from his activities in Terrible Old Man / Toxic Cross, but he used to be the guy behind Hallowed Butchery as well. ‘used to be’? Well, no no no, for Hallowed Butchery apparently have not faded away yet into the one true reality, death. It took a decade or so, but this project resurrected from oblivion with a new pièce d’art sonorique, called Deathsongs (From The Hymnal Of The Church Of The Final Pilgrimage).
To pass from one plane of existence to another, beyond starless space, through the infinite void…
[last year I came in touch with Jakub from Voidfire, yet due to circumstances, I did not have the time yet to write a review on the sole full-length album by his band Voidfire; with some delay, but here are my thoughts on that debut…]
The Russian outfit Ethir Anduin was formed about fifteen years ago (2006) by some Alexey Veselov aka Fenrir. He’s also in Bestial Deform and very recently he joined Atra Haeresis. Throughout the years, Ethir Anduin did release more than a handful of full-lengths, quite some EP’s and some digital singles. I have not always been the biggest ‘fan’ of this act, yet as from a couple of years, the evolution is remarkable; at least, that’s my personal opinion, for what it’s worth.
Nona Et Decima, also known as IX&X, are a duo from Italy, consisting of Manuele Frau and Nicholas Pucciarelli. Under that name, they create an eccentric mixture of Electro, Noise and Cold Wave. Recently, they joined forces with some Огни, the alter ego of musician, DJ and producer Aleksey Tsernjavski aka Apache Lifeforms (also known from To Feed A Neon Forest or Top Jugend 90, if I am not mistaken).
Bruce Moallem aka God Body Disconnect, and Cryo Chamber do have a long mutual history going on. Within this love story, The Wanderer’s Dream is like a next phase. And it is a mostly personal, almost emotional one. I come back to that impression soon again.
I am quite a ‘fan’ of Xerxes The Dark, a dark-edged Industrial-injected Dark Ambient / Drone project from Persian soil, run by Mohamad Reza aka Morego Dimmer. This guy also runs some other projects, like Blind Owl, Nyctallz or Ostanes, and he runs a label, a studio… Enfin, even though it might not be easy at all to be a musician from Iran, this guy is quite productive for sure.
