No matter how extreme the music you listen to is, there’s always something more extreme. There are fringes upon fringes of extremity in our silly little scene and there’s always a new level of rawness and depravity to discover, if you’re willing to dive deep enough. Much like the streets and society itself, there’s always an underbelly of depraved individuals, who have no qualms of provoking the utmost visceral reactions out of anyone in their reach, through the most taboo methods, covering topics like sexual violence, murder, war, rape, extreme political ideologies and a limitless plethora of other subjects, with nothing off limits. The absolute apex of said provocations, at least in my experience, comes from the brain-frying and flesh torching world of Power Electronics and Extreme Industrial. Now, I’m not here to give you a history lesson, or get into the technical aspects of what makes Noise music Noise music, or any of that mumbo jumbo; leave that for nerds like Anthony Fantano. It’s time to embark on another journey through Analog Hell and highlight some more gems from this perverse underground shithole that is Noise music and its sub-genres, like Harsh Noise, Power Electronics, Death Industrial, and only God and your neighborhood hobo know what else.
The thing that separates Noise and places it in its own corner of the spectrum of extremity, is the inherent anarchism that lies both on the thematic and sonic sides of the coin and total negation of conventional limitations, even at the expense of the listener. The simultaneous pushing of aural thresholds and thematic envelopes is what makes Noise almost second to none when it comes to true, anarchistic art, and it should have come as no surprise when it would inevitably cross over into the realm of Extreme Metal and rub shoulders with the underground’s most dangerous brutes, also tying into the Punk and Goth scene in some circles. Some of those crossovers will be listed below, just like in Part 1 of this feature. This is merely a sequel (to what I might make a trilogy) highlighting more Noise artists and the unapologetic hellscapes they create, some of which may seem familiar, while some underground gems can be found below, with Bandcamp links readily available. It’s time to experience more Sonic Anarchy. I’m not responsible for any harm that you may endure from this point on… and no, I don’t do waivers. You knew the risks.
More Harsh Noise, Power Electronics & Death Industrial picks…
Throbbing Gristle: D.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle (Industrial Records – 1978)
It’s not a Noise/Industrial list without mentioning the legendary Throbbing Gristle. Now, I know 20 Jazz Funk Greats would probably be the expected pick when it comes to TG, but this one has Hamburger Lady, so this gets the spot! D.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle is quite the fitting title, because you are indeed, pretty much dead on arrival once you’re exposed to the anxiety smut this album exudes. If you’re well-versed in what the Gristle have to offer, then it should come as no surprise when you’re hit with a 50-something car pileup of jumbled metal, glass, rubber and flesh in sonic form, as soon as IBM starts this beast off and slowly eases you in, but shows no mercy once it goes full force. D.o.A is a piercing, jarring and disturbing masterclass of controlled chaos, with clippings of rumbling feedback, glitching vocal lines, audio clips, entrancing static, cathartic shouts, and the occasional stomping techno beat (ie: Dead on Arrival), as well as some soft clean vocals thrown in, clipped together like an aural collage of zombified, scatterbrained debauchery, left for you to decipher on your own. A disturbing, but sometimes groovy and calming rollercoaster of emotion, encased within a well-oiled Industrial machine, like an iron lung. Whatever mood or vibe, Throbbing Gristle covers the entire gamut, while ripping every emotion out of you as well.
Whitehouse: Bird Seed (Susan Lawly – 2003)
Now we head into the realm of the more straightforward and jarring side of Power Electronics, courtesy of the group helmed by the man who is heralded for coining the term! Bird Seed is the 17th album by UK provocateurs, Whitehouse, and one of the most discordant and unforgiving Noise albums I’ve ever heard. From the very start, William Bennett and company grab you by the throat and throw you down a spiraling staircase, that gets steeper and more twisted the further you fall. Whitehouse is Analog Hell personified, firing off on all cylinders and assaulting all of your senses simultaneously, with a barraging maelstrom of jarring electronic sounds that jumble together and ream into you like a Frankenstein subway train, maiming your senses in the process; only made more difficult to digest with Bennett’s hateful, booming, harsh vocals, charring through the chaos with brute force, not shying away from taboo topics like sexual assault and abuse, as well as other extreme topics. It’s thrown at you without remorse or hesitation, pushing aural extremes to its furthest limits and DARING you to turn it off. A great exercise in endurance, as well as a raw and powerful shrine to human suffering, that tries its damnedest to make you suffer too.
Sutcliffe Jügend: The Deluge (4iB Records – 2020)
Sutcliffe Jügend has an extensive discography that I implore you to check out, but I decided to include their final album on this list, because it marks the final breath of the act and it’s one of the darkest PE releases I’ve heard on the more subtle side of the genre. The Deluge is a slow, burning gasp of dirt, blood and misery, woven by ringing and reaming waves of static, feedback and clipping, eclipsed by an air of haunting ambiance and ghostly vocals, ranging from harsh to baritone cleans. Post-Punk also rears its head every now and then, bringing more of a gothic flare to the already filth ridden, abyssic sound. Depressive electronics that mark the final gasp of a beast within the scene.
Blood of Chhinnamastika: The Illusion of Separated Parts (Rare Compromise Records – 2022)
Blistering occult Blackened Noise, that will rake you through the coals with deadly force. I’ve only recently become aware of this project, but it only took a couple of samples to grab me and yank me into its clutches. Sandpaper-like static pummels you throughout the ordeal, like being assaulted with a belt sander while naked, as other electronic sounds leak in like a mudslide, to raise the stakes even higher for your eardrums to fight through. Welded together with audio clips, spoken word passages and harsh vocals, spiraling out like a sandstorm of harrowing static and piercing feedback, mired in sacrificial blood and boiled in the flesh of forbidden gods. If you’re more inclined to enjoy the Blackened side of Power Electronics, like Wold, Black Sheet Servitude or Grunt, this is up your cold, dark alley.
Abuse Potential: The Mass Psychology of Misery (Cult of Osiris – 2021)
One of the more bizarre, but intriguing releases on this list, Abuse Potential takes the winding road, sonically and focuses more on its thematic elements. The Mass Psychology of Misery is based on the online writings of Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza. It’s an exploration of the decaying of the psyche and the damage certain outside stimuli can inflict on it, including the removal of one from it’s natural habitat, as heard on the track, Basement Dweller, heavily revolving around Travis the Chimp and what lead to his rampage, told through an audio clip of a radio call, played over a foreboding ambient passage. A very fascinating listen, as well as a jarring one at times, as it falls into a few different caverns sound-wise, ranging from calm and ominous, to piercing and dissonant. The themes explored do make it more easily digestible, once it settles in and you’re able to fully immerse in the substance beneath the sounds. One of the more unique releases I know under the Noise umbrella.
Crowhurst: Studies in Pessimism – The Words of Arthur Schopenhauer (Independent – 2012)
While we’re on the subject of thematic Noise, here’s one I woefully forgot to include in part 1. Out of the entire Crowhurst catalog, this is the one that I always find myself gravitating back to, whenever their name comes up in my rotation. One of the calmer Crowhurst outings, but sure as fuck one of their darkest. Spanning over two hours long, this is a slow and painful raft through black waters of disenchantment, where subtlety gives way to despondency, as gentle soundbites guide you through readings of philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, which, as the title would suggest, is riddled with nihilism and a healthy contempt for life itself. A thought provoking, but illusion-shattering journey of a listen, through harsh truths of the human condition. A truly miserable work.
Ten Thousand Miles of Arteries: Even Spilled Seeds Crawl Towards the Womb (Annihilvs – 2016)
Ten Thousand Miles of Arteries is undoubtedly the biggest stand-out on this list, because Noise is just a fraction of their genre description. While Noise is definitely the main component of this decaying machine, Ten Thousand Miles of Arteries also treads the polluted waters of Sludge Doom, implementing slow, crawling drums and maniacal howling vocals into the mix, forming a layered, but crumbling, zombified slab of droning Industrial Sludge, conjuring visions of acts like The Body or Corrections House to mind, only far more rotten and horrifying. Slow, jarring, plodding and bleeding, rotting in the murky waters of Doom’s most disheveled fringes.
The Cherry Point: Night of the Bloody Tapes (Troniks – 2005)
The closest I’ve come to Harsh Noise Wall and sticking with it was this, in which I think I finally found the missing ingredient to HNW, that acts like The Rita are missing. This fucker is ruthless and unforgiving and I defy you to try to sit through this entire piece, without wanting to rip your own face off and shove it down your throat. The Cherry Point is a continuous wall of chugging static and blood-curdling feedback, that has an oppressive and cavernous feel to it, as it encases you in a red, venomous fog of layered electronics, laced with chilling ambiance looming in the background, that mows over you endlessly and never lets up or backs off. Aside from the electronic element, the apparitions of Black Metal and even cavernous Death Metal can be felt subtly within the details, even without a single riff played. Absolutely relentless and terrifying from front to back. Not for the faint of heart.
Prurient: Black Vase (Load Records – 2005)
Just like Throbbing Gristle, I’m not covering Noise without pulling something out of Dominick Fernow’s massive and tumultuous discography, that spans a multitude of different genres across the extreme music spectrum. Prurient is the obvious choice here, but it’s also one of the most recognizable names in the entire landscape of Noise, so I’ll give it the mention, and Black Vase is one of its strongest and most challenging representations. Just getting through the continuous, high pitched ring of the opening track, Roman Shower, is the endurance test of a lifetime, as it drones on for 15 fucking straight minutes, only occasionally shifting in volume, but never letting up. The same can be said for the tracks that follow, like Silver Fleshlight, which follows a similar pattern to the opener, or the hammering, Black Metal-oriented Back Cuts. The album does have its more subtle moments though, like Sorry Robin, which tones things down just a tad, but still has an air or volatility to it, with a waning, continuous buzzing, spastic drums and Fernow’s snarling vocals, which, if you’re familiar with Ash Pool, is always a delight. A proper and discordant serving of Power Electronics, that doesn’t shy away from drilling sickening visions into your psyche and making you choke on them in the process.
Sewer Goddess: With Dirt You Are One (Black Plagve – 2005)
Sewer Goddess takes a different route with their brand of Noise, which led me to debate whether or not to include them on this list. I finally caved and decided to give them a spotlight, because their form of Noise is more along the lines of droning ambient and rhythmic soundbites, executed in a more quiet, “calm before the storm” type of manor, and while it’s not as jarring or intense as the rest of these entries, it’s still fucking menacing. Sewer Goddess is a project of a few different hats, even delving into Doom on their following album, Painlust. This album however, is a decomposing, post-apocalyptic walk through corpse-infested mud and acid rain, as a losing battle against radiation sickness ensues. A slow, dark and decomposing stream of droning, staggering Industrial, with small glimmers of rhythmic catchiness, but an overall vibe of woeful, nihilistic decay. Again, not as intense or dissonant as most of these releases, but still soul crushing nonetheless.
Anenzephalia: Ephemeral Dawn (Tesco Organisation – 1995)
Continuing on into the more woeful side of Noise, Anenzephalia also emits a quieter and more depressive type of sound, so much so, that it can easily be mistaken for Dark Ambient at times. It does tread those waters quite a bit and even takes a dip into valleys of relaxing calm at points, but it’s unmistakably a Noise album at the end of the day, that has a particular kind of baneful yearning to it. The low frequencies, faded, clipping static, audio clips and spoken word passages almost give off the vibe of listening to a war documentary or clips from certain historical recordings, that give off a banefully depressing feel, and dig deep into your soul. The best way I can describe this is like something of a Post-Punk record in Noise form. Moments of intensity are present, but Anenzephalia is a sound choice for seekers of the dreadful and downtrodden.
Hanatarash: Hanatarash 3 (RRRecords – 1989)
Capping things off on a horrific note, courtesy of the land of the rising sun! Hanatarash is one of Japan’s most obscure, but dangerous sonic exports. One dip into their catalog will demonstrate that fact with a swift and painful kick to the groin and wad of spit straight between the eyes. Hanatarash 3 in particular is a perverse indulging in mechanical violence and anarchistic rebellion of aural convention. Rife with sounds ranging from what sounds like scraps of metal being thrown into a garbage disposal, to relentlessly piercing static and feedback, flanked by harsh, dreaded vocals, exploding like a molotov cocktail through the window of a cop car during a riot. An absolutely relentless bludgeoning of total catharsis and danger, with the spirit of Punk coursing through its mechanical veins.
Also, your band isn’t dangerous until you’ve driven a fucking bulldozer through the wall of a venue.
More Crossovers:
Marvargr: Likstank (Independent – 2007)
Knelt Rote: Tresspass (Nuclear War Now! Productions – 2012)
Kapala: Termination Apex (Dunkelheit Produktionen – 2019)
Sissy Spacek: Ways of Confusion (Nuclear War Now! Productions – 2018)
Methgoat: Promo MMXVIII (Independent – 2018)
Enbilulugugal: Praise the Fukken Lard!!! (Enbilulugugal KreationsZ – 2015)
Rectal Hygienics: Even the Flies Won’t Touch You (Depravity Records – 2012)
Vegas Martyrs: The Female Mind (Troubleman Unlimited – 2007)
Other Mentions:
Pharmakon: Bestial Burden (Sacred Bones Records – 2014)
Puce Mary: The Spiral (Posh Isolation – 2016)
Con-Dom: How Welcome is Death (Tesco Organisation – 2016)
Gnaw Their Tongues: Tsutomu Miyazaki (Hell Lies in Others – 2010)
Wether: Uncertain Ritual (Crucial Blast – 2012)
Linekraft: Subhuman Principle (Tesco Organisation – 2019)
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So, how are ya? Deaf? Broken? Scorched? Flayed? All of the above? Well, I hope you enjoyed our latest trip into Analog Hell and are able to make a full recovery! I doubt it though. Either way, if you’re already familiar with this form of music, then I hope I gave you some new stuff to delve into. If you’re new to Noise entirely, then I hope I opened the door to a whole new universe for you to explore, just like my old friend did for me a few years back. Enter at your own risk.
Noise music isn’t meant to be uplifting or entertaining in any way, shape or form. It’s meant to challenge, immerse and provoke thought. To shatter illusions and remove every sense of comfort or safety, making way for danger and taboo. It’s true reality in sonic form. It tests your endurance and allows you to explore the darkest and most diseased fringes of humanity, in abstract ways, leaving you to give it your own meaning, and your listening experience can vary; it can be jarring, immersive, surreal, or it’ll send you running for the woods, never to return. The immersion will be visceral and raw no matter how your mind reacts to it. One of the most closed off genres of extreme music since 2nd wave Black Metal in its “golden era”, as in only those who revel in the pitch black dissonance of its core sound are worthy of entry, and only those who seek such will be drawn to it, and even they never come out the same.
This isn’t over…
Thy Kingdom Scvm 