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ABX 077CD
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Aurora Borealis returns once more to Belgium, with the release of Twee Lindebomen by the duo of experimental drummer/percussionist Karen Willems and avant guitarist Jean D.L. After recording their album Lyra (2017) and playing various concerts since then, Karen Willems and Jean D.L. sought to explore their duo in a different context, searching for new modes of harmony between acoustic and electric performance disciplines. The duo were able to discover this new territory with the opportunity to record in the church of Saint Nicholas in Le Roeulx, Belgium, the village where Jean grew up. Recorded live over the course of a two-day long session last summer, the mystic atmosphere of the church provides a touch point for the musical explorations on the album. Using the echo and natural reverb of the architecture gave the duo new challenges. Space forms an important part of the duo's work, as they respond to each setting and its unique architecture, both physical and acoustic. "The reverb in the church gave us an extra force and a spatial element. We were able to play with distance and movement," says Willems. "It was a different way of playing, and we thrive on that, the uniqueness of the moment." The album covers eight diverse tracks of improvisational interplay between Willem's drums, free percussion with vocalization, and D.L.'s palette of guitar work and tape manipulation. Twee Lindebomen captures the duo at the height of their flow, seamlessly working together to create a highly expressive and emotive album. Artwork by Belgian artist Alexandra Crouwers. Six-panel digifile; edition of 200.
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ABX 078CD
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Golden Ashes is the project of Mories, known for his long running extreme metal project Gnaw Their Tongues, as well as SEIROM, whose album 1972 was released on Aurora Borealis back in 2008. Golden Ashes present the debut release Gold Are The Ashes Of The Restorer on Aurora Borealis. Synth-heavy dark droning black metal. The keen eared will find all is not as it seems, elements that recall other genres entirely. There is much here for the sonic explorer to enjoy, as generic labels are defiled, incinerated, and their ashes picked over. Golden Ashes on the release: "The black chaos of despair and hopelessness calls through the mist. A dreamlike descent into the realm of death. A mystified swansong to the days of hope. A dark return of myths through dying light. Eternity admired through the eyes of the dead. A restorer of all things abandoned by light and life. CD comes in a digipack; Edition of 300.
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ABX 078LP
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LP version. Transparent, yellow vinyl; Includes download code; Edition of 300. Golden Ashes is the project of Mories, known for his long running extreme metal project Gnaw Their Tongues, as well as SEIROM, whose album 1972 was released on Aurora Borealis back in 2008. Golden Ashes present the debut release Gold Are The Ashes Of The Restorer on Aurora Borealis. Synth-heavy dark droning black metal. The keen eared will find all is not as it seems, elements that recall other genres entirely. There is much here for the sonic explorer to enjoy, as generic labels are defiled, incinerated, and their ashes picked over. Golden Ashes on the release: "The black chaos of despair and hopelessness calls through the mist. A dreamlike descent into the realm of death. A mystified swansong to the days of hope. A dark return of myths through dying light. Eternity admired through the eyes of the dead. A restorer of all things abandoned by light and life.
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ABX 046C-LP
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Released on CD by Aurora Borealis back in 2010, the label present Black Mountain Transmitter's Black Goat Of The Woods on transparent smoke vinyl. An ode to the Lovecraftian lore of Shub Niggurath, Black Goat Of The Woods was conceived as "the soundtrack from some lost low budget horror movie, rediscovered on an old and faded VHS cassette found moldering in a deserted house in the depths of the woods". The one-man project of J.R. Moore, Black Mountain Transmitter has released several albums, all to great critical acclaim, and the quality of his work speaks volumes. The original Black Goat Of The Woods CD version was the first official release, and a reissue of the long sold-out and much sought after limited CD. On describing the recording, Moore said: "The music was certainly very much influenced by that certain breed of '70s horror films. Things like the soundtrack to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Giuliano Sorgini's atmospheres in Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue (1974); Carl Zittrer's soundscapes in Deranged (1974), Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972), and Dead Of Night (1974), and of course people like Fabio Frizzi in Italian horror and the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop's electronic sounds in something like The Stone Tape and countless creepy old TV productions..." An excellent, macabre and psychedelic release that spans electronica, soundtracks, and experimental genres in its 40-minute playing time, Black Goat Of The Woods pays perfect homage to the dark denizen of the nocturnal glades, and is a true paean to backwoods horror. Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin; Cut at The Carvery, London. 140 gram, transparent smoke vinyl; reverse board heavyweight sleeve; Includes download code and printed insert; Edition of 300.
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ABX 076CD
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Aurora Borealis present Death Of The Bull by Darja Kazimira and Dagmar Gertot. Over the years, Aurora Borealis have released some truly strange and genre-defying albums. Death Of The Bull is undoubtedly their most unusual, complex, and challenging release to date. Taking pagan fertility rites as a starting point, Darja Kazimira and Dagmar Gertot have constructed a narrative that witnesses the collapse of the natural order and the end of an age. The breadth and scope of the work is mind-blowing and the results are quite unlike anything you're like to have heard before. Darja Kazimira (Latvia) and Dagmar Gertot (Russia) are engaged in experimental art practices based on the research of various funeral and initiation rituals of the peoples of the world, with emphasis on the territory of the Balkans and ancient Greece. With a solid foundation of musical and classical archaeology, religious studies, mythology, philosophy, and thanatology, they have sought to create an entirely new ritualized imaginal space. Through improvisation and glossolalia, a new mythic realm is born. They explain: "For us, music is an opportunity to articulate a myth, to make tangible imaginary space, to deform the environment through sound, shifting its stable temporal and local criteria." With a mix of various ethnic vocal traditions, extreme and academic vocal practices, and a radical approach to traditional notions of folk music in its truest sense, Death Of The Bull is undoubtedly highly demanding of the listener. While many albums can be termed immersive, the mythic-space and otherworldliness of Death Of The Bull holds the listener to it's rough hide and drags them into the underworld. Six-panel CD digifile.
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ABX 072LP
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LP version; edition of 300, 180 gram in reverse-board heavyweight sleeve with spot varnish and download code. Aurora Borealis presents the debut album from Maze & Lindholm, Where The Wolf Has Been Seen. Combining the talents of P.Maze, one half of noise/techno duo Orphan Swords, with fellow Brussels-based producer and musician Otto Lindholm, Where The Wolf Has Been Seen is a meditative and claustrophobic work for electronics and double bass. The four parts evolve and spread outwards, throbbing bass drones colliding with slowly bowed arcs of keening strings that make for a deeply immersive listening experience. Where The Wolf Has Been Seen explores the boundaries of the modern classical and electronic disciplines, with slowly shifting and expanding compositions that thrive on the tension between them. Mastered by James Plotkin and cut for vinyl at The Carvery, East London. Cover photography by Solal Israel.
A Brussels-based producer evolving between drone music and modern classical, Otto Lindholm employs an array of loop pedals and electronic effects in partnership with his double bass to produce rich and voluptuous tones. Lindholm came to light in 2016 with his debut eponymous LP; his second LP Alter (GZH 078LP, 2017), was introduced on BBC6 by Mary Anne Hobbs as an "extraordinary new LP. Deeply meditative". In 2018, he featured on the Houndstooth compilation In Death's Dream Kingdom, and he's also set to work with Black Rain's Stuart Argabright.
P.Maze is half of the duo Orphan Swords. Orphan Swords's music has been released on Aurora Borealis, Desire Records, Clan Destine and Instruments Of Discipline. The duo has collaborated with Ike Yard, Helm, SHXCXCHCXSH, Emptyset, and many more. In 2018, Orphan Swords were invited to score the Walter Van Beirendonck show at Fashion Week Paris. That meeting resulted into a techno-driven album in collaboration with the designer, with a painting of Wouter Steel. Next to the furious maximal output of Orphan Swords, P.Maze is exploring a quieter and much more minimal side. This collaboration with Lindholm represents his first official output under that moniker; a solo debut album is in the works as well.
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ABX 072CD
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Aurora Borealis presents the debut album from Maze & Lindholm, Where The Wolf Has Been Seen. Combining the talents of P.Maze, one half of noise/techno duo Orphan Swords, with fellow Brussels-based producer and musician Otto Lindholm, Where The Wolf Has Been Seen is a meditative and claustrophobic work for electronics and double bass. The four parts evolve and spread outwards, throbbing bass drones colliding with slowly bowed arcs of keening strings that make for a deeply immersive listening experience. Where The Wolf Has Been Seen explores the boundaries of the modern classical and electronic disciplines, with slowly shifting and expanding compositions that thrive on the tension between them. Mastered by James Plotkin and cut for vinyl at The Carvery, East London. Cover photography by Solal Israel.
A Brussels-based producer evolving between drone music and modern classical, Otto Lindholm employs an array of loop pedals and electronic effects in partnership with his double bass to produce rich and voluptuous tones. Lindholm came to light in 2016 with his debut eponymous LP; his second LP Alter (GZH 078LP, 2017), was introduced on BBC6 by Mary Anne Hobbs as an "extraordinary new LP. Deeply meditative". In 2018, he featured on the Houndstooth compilation In Death's Dream Kingdom, and he's also set to work with Black Rain's Stuart Argabright.
P.Maze is half of the duo Orphan Swords. Orphan Swords's music has been released on Aurora Borealis, Desire Records, Clan Destine and Instruments Of Discipline. The duo has collaborated with Ike Yard, Helm, SHXCXCHCXSH, Emptyset, and many more. In 2018, Orphan Swords were invited to score the Walter Van Beirendonck show at Fashion Week Paris. That meeting resulted into a techno-driven album in collaboration with the designer, with a painting of Wouter Steel. Next to the furious maximal output of Orphan Swords, P.Maze is exploring a quieter and much more minimal side. This collaboration with Lindholm represents his first official output under that moniker; a solo debut album is in the works as well.
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ABX 073CD
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Hailing from Manchester, UK, Primitive Knot have created a cult underground following with their prolific output and aura of arcane mystery. Primitive Knot cover a lot of musical ground, from motorik Krautrock to primitive thrashing doom metal, garage rock to the kind of industrial pop bombast associated with latter-era Sisters of Mercy. Yet at all times, the sound is pure Primitive Knot. Thee Opener Of The Way sees Primitive Knot exploring the spiritual outer realms with drone, doom and dark ambient methodology, delivering over an hour of shamanic cosmic drift. Thee Opener Of The Ways collects the sold-out tape releases of DOOM I (2017) and DOOM II (2018), combining them with the tracks "Thee Opener Of The Way" and "Devotion And Decay In Interstitial Space" to bring this material to a wider audience in a cohesive album format.
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ABX 071CS
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Aurora Borealis presents the debut album from Fermata. Titled Salvaged Space, the album is constructed entirely out of phone and handheld recordings of quiet moments, street performers, instrumental improvisations, and noise pollution. Salvaged Space is a document of the last few years that Fermata has spent experimenting with different methods of arrangement and composition. Says the artist, "I aimed to prevent myself from overthinking the musical material, instead focusing on shaping and warping sound so that it shared the same alive/imperfect nature of the recorded soundscapes each piece is inspired by." Fermata is the project of Harry Smith, and it is highly complex, accomplished and nuanced for such a young artist. Embracing the full spectrum of electronic music, field recordings and sound design, Salvaged Space is a deeply rewarding listen with a strong feel of the different geographies involved, giving a sense of linear and temporal travel.
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ABX 073CS
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Cassette version. Hailing from Manchester, UK, Primitive Knot have created a cult underground following with their prolific output and aura of arcane mystery. Primitive Knot cover a lot of musical ground, from motorik Krautrock to primitive thrashing doom metal, garage rock to the kind of industrial pop bombast associated with latter-era Sisters of Mercy. Yet at all times, the sound is pure Primitive Knot. Thee Opener Of The Way sees Primitive Knot exploring the spiritual outer realms with drone, doom and dark ambient methodology, delivering over an hour of shamanic cosmic drift. Thee Opener Of The Ways collects the sold-out tape releases of DOOM I (2017) and DOOM II (2018), combining them with the tracks "Thee Opener Of The Way" and "Devotion And Decay In Interstitial Space" to bring this material to a wider audience in a cohesive album format.
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ABX 069CD
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Memnon Sa return with Lemurian Dawn, a cosmic journey through space, time, and myth. Black ops missions witness the binary sunrise on a forgotten world. Pan dimensional spacecraft hover over ancient pyramids on worlds undreamed of. The guitar-driven doom metal sound of the acclaimed debut Citadel (2014) has been replaced here by a myriad of analog synthesizers, ancient world instruments, throat singing and strings. Lemurian Dawn channels new age meditational works, film soundtracks, and cosmic jazz from the '70s and '80s. The result could be the soundtrack to a lost 1970s European animation sci-fi film; warm analog sounds hint at cosmic foreboding and sinister forces unseen. The album was recorded over a month-and-a-half at Misha Hering's Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, London, and mixed using almost exclusively analog equipment to 1/2 inch tape. It was mastered by legendary mastering engineer Dave Cooley at Elysium Masters in LA. "The references are very fleeting and hard to pin down, which gives the feeling of never quite getting your bearings. This is a good thing. Goblin, Pharaoh Sanders, Alexandro Jodorowsky, psyche folk, even the Incredible String Band, present cosmic vibes with precision." --GoldFlakePaint.
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ABX 069LP
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LP version. Color vinyl; Reverse board heavyweight sleeve; Edition of 300. Memnon Sa return with Lemurian Dawn, a cosmic journey through space, time, and myth. Black ops missions witness the binary sunrise on a forgotten world. Pan dimensional spacecraft hover over ancient pyramids on worlds undreamed of. The guitar-driven doom metal sound of the acclaimed debut Citadel (2014) has been replaced here by a myriad of analog synthesizers, ancient world instruments, throat singing and strings. Lemurian Dawn channels new age meditational works, film soundtracks, and cosmic jazz from the '70s and '80s. The result could be the soundtrack to a lost 1970s European animation sci-fi film; warm analog sounds hint at cosmic foreboding and sinister forces unseen. The album was recorded over a month-and-a-half at Misha Hering's Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, London, and mixed using almost exclusively analog equipment to 1/2 inch tape. It was mastered by legendary mastering engineer Dave Cooley at Elysium Masters in LA. "The references are very fleeting and hard to pin down, which gives the feeling of never quite getting your bearings. This is a good thing. Goblin, Pharaoh Sanders, Alexandro Jodorowsky, psyche folk, even the Incredible String Band, present cosmic vibes with precision." --GoldFlakePaint.
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ABX 066LP
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Orphan Swords see the reissue of their License To Desire LP, originally released in 2015. The Belgian duo, formed in 2013, bring a heady, fog-shrouded sonic maelstrom to Aurora Borealis, perfect for the post-truth era. What sort of music is this? What genre do you file it under? Hard to say. There's chaos, there's unhallowed chanting, there's some fierce rhythm and there's undeniably some abuse of electronic equipment. It's best to leave the definitions up to the listener, but with titles referencing demons of Goetia and the world's oldest profession, you should let the good times roll. Their music, described as "a brutal hypnosis" by Ransom Note, has been released on Desire Records, Clan Destine and Idiosyncratics. Idiosyncratic is indeed a description that perfectly fits both their releases and live performances. Recently back from the US, they have shared bills with acts as diverse as Oathbreaker, Andy Stott, and Vatican Shadow. Their new collaborative side project Black Swords, with Stuart Argabright of Black Rain, was released on Vienna's Noiztank label (2017). Black/white label; Comes in full color folder sleeve, in heavy PVC outer sleeve; Includes download code; Edition of 200 (hand-numbered).
Resident Advisor's review of License To Desire: "The ten-minute 'Marchosias' . . . builds into a droning blur with surging drums, echoed, incomprehensible vocals and all sorts of sharp edges. 'Asmoday' conjures its own mass of screeching, cackling distortion, but adds an icy sense of melody through a few sustained synth riffs, and fixes everything to a rolling kick. 'Hooker' is the most subdued thing yet from Orphan Swords, but it's no less potent. Its steady bass thrums and light, hazy swirls of harmonized noise make for a supremely soothing comedown."
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ABX 067LP
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Aurora Borealis unleash Orphan Swords' License To Desire Remixes LP. The sonic tangle and entheogenic orgy of the demonically inspired "Asmoday" and the tranced-out "Hooker", are given workovers by Helm, Icon Template, Black Rain, Prostitutes, and Svengalisghost. This is remix as rite of destruction, the tracks being disfigured rather than beautified for commodification. Awkward, uncomfortable listening rubs shoulders with pounding bass, post-techno hiss squall prevails. And then there's the superbly dirty fever-dream lope of the Black Rain remix. Formed in 2013, Orphan Swords is a Belgian electronic duo. Their music, described as "a brutal hypnosis" by Ransom Note. Their work has been released on Desire Records, Clan Destine, and Idiosyncratics. Idiosyncratic is indeed a description that perfectly fits both their releases and live performances. Artwork by Lara Gasparotto. Black/white label; Comes in full color folder sleeve, in heavy PVC outer sleeve; Includes download code; Edition of 200 (hand-numbered).
Resident Advisor's review of License To Desire (2015): "The ten-minute 'Marchosias' . . . builds into a droning blur with surging drums, echoed, incomprehensible vocals and all sorts of sharp edges. 'Asmoday' conjures its own mass of screeching, cackling distortion, but adds an icy sense of melody through a few sustained synth riffs, and fixes everything to a rolling kick. 'Hooker' is the most subdued thing yet from Orphan Swords, but it's no less potent. Its steady bass thrums and light, hazy swirls of harmonized noise make for a supremely soothing comedown."
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ABX 065LP
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As fans since 2014, Aurora Borealis release the debut vinyl from Danish multi-disciplinary artist øjeRum. Titled When Birds Fly, The Eyes Of Heaven Can Rest, the LP features two extended tracks of ethereal, haunting, and otherworldly beauty. The cover art is a hand-cut collage, part of an ever growing body of incredible work from this talented Dane. The artwork expresses the audio perfectly - a floating, drifting haze of light, subtly shifting, organic. This is a world to lose yourself in. LP is housed in a reverse board sleeve; Pressed on clear vinyl, cut at The Carvery; Edition of 300.
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ABX 063CD
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Legend of underground music Jarboe joins forces with visionary cellist Helen Money (Alison Chesley) to create a heavy, beautiful record, with Chesley's cello looming massive and distorted over much of the proceedings, and moments of transcendent beauty from Jarboe's ethereal vocal and piano work soaring above the drones and reaching for the beyond. Jarboe is a famed vocalist, musician, and performer, who came to prominence as a vocalist and songwriter in Swans. In addition to her numerous solo albums, she has notably worked with Neurosis and Blixa Bargeld. Helen Money is the nom de guerre of cellist Alison Chesley. In addition to working with Mono, Anthrax, and Russian Circles, she has toured with Joe Lally and Shellac, among others, and released her third album Arriving Angels on respected metal label Profound Lore Records in 2013. Working together and separately on the compositions, Jarboe and Chesley have crafted a seamless whole, with moments of sparse beauty mirrored by howling squalls of intensity. This is a human, organic album; the voice of Jarboe and the many-textured strings of Chesley's cello combine with an earthy depth but reach for the stars. Mastered by Kris Force. Four-panel digipak CD.
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ABX 063LP
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LP version. Legend of underground music Jarboe joins forces with visionary cellist Helen Money (Alison Chesley) to create a heavy, beautiful record, with Chesley's cello looming massive and distorted over much of the proceedings, and moments of transcendent beauty from Jarboe's ethereal vocal and piano work soaring above the drones and reaching for the beyond. Jarboe is a famed vocalist, musician, and performer, who came to prominence as a vocalist and songwriter in Swans. In addition to her numerous solo albums, she has notably worked with Neurosis and Blixa Bargeld. Helen Money is the nom de guerre of cellist Alison Chesley. In addition to working with Mono, Anthrax, and Russian Circles, she has toured with Joe Lally and Shellac, among others, and released her third album Arriving Angels on respected metal label Profound Lore Records in 2013. Working together and separately on the compositions, Jarboe and Chesley have crafted a seamless whole, with moments of sparse beauty mirrored by howling squalls of intensity. This is a human, organic album; the voice of Jarboe and the many-textured strings of Chesley's cello combine with an earthy depth but reach for the stars. Mastered by Kris Force.
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ABX 050LP
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New 2014 repress on marbled vinyl. Long awaited deluxe double vinyl edition of the debut album from The Haxan Cloak, housed in a gatefold sleeve with printed innersleeves; on 180 gram vinyl, with download card. The Haxan Cloak's debut album is barely believable. Exploring mystic and occult audio space with cello, field recordings, violins, hand-made percussion and the human voice, this is barely conceivable as an artist's first album. The depth and quality is on a par with Ben Frost/Tim Hecker. Combining elements of modern classical, film score and electronica with modern free folk and even metal sensibilities, The Haxan Cloak is a truly diverse album. "Burning Torches of Desire" brings to mind a sedated Prurient trapped on a galleon, whereas "Fall" and "Parting Chant" have the pathos of incredibly powerful modern classical pieces, with stunning vocal performances from collaborator Mikhail Karikis. "The Growing" shows a more modern, more digital side with its nod to modern electronic and even dubstep in its processed percussion, though culminating in unexpected grindcore blast beats courtesy of noted tattoo artist and drum maestro Liam Sparkes (Trencher). Additional visceral power was gained thanks to the mastering of Kris Lapke, longtime cohort of NYC's Hospital Productions, home of Prurient, amongst others
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ABX 059CD
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A breathtaking collision of noise, black metal and post-industrial magnificence. Two immense tracks from Sutekh Hexen and two epic re-imaginings from Andrew Liles (collaborator with Nurse With Wound, Current 93 and more). Breed in Me the Darkness stands as the aural/visual apex to an era for Sutekh Hexen. The two central tracks, as dense and intricate as any of the band's previous output, were turned over to Andrew Liles to complete the vision of what these recordings meant. The incredible re-visioning of Liles takes the release to uncharted and undreamed-of dimensions. Twinned with the photography of A.E. Csaky, with design by Kevin Gan Yuen (guitars/electronics), Breed in Me the Darkness is one of the most astonishing and powerful releases on Aurora Borealis. Sutekh Hexen hail from San Francisco, USA, and have been demolishing musical boundaries in extreme music, unlearning the traditions of black metal, since 2010. They have previous releases on Handmade Birds, Magic Bullet and Holy Terror. UK-based Andrew Liles is a sonic genius and a hugely prolific artist with numerous solo releases as well as works with The Hafler Trio, Faust, Nurse With Wound, and Current 93, amongst others.
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ABX 058CD
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Aurora Borealis is very proud to announce the release of 1973, a double album from Seirom. One of the best albums the label has heard this year, Seirom has crafted a beautiful, stark, atmospheric, sometimes unsettling record on par with the likes of Tim Hecker, Fennesz, GAS, Thomas Köner, Murcof and Sunn O))). Seirom is about "beauty" and melancholy -- the more beautiful aspects of life. Seirom is about personal expression without boundaries, internal or external. Seirom is about grand, bombastic melody filtered through noise and black metal aesthetics. The marriage of wedding bells to blastbeats. Seirom is M.C. De Jong, mastermind of Gnaw Their Tongues, Aderlating and others, a stalwart of bleak and desolate music for many years. Seirom sees a different side of De Jong's musical output, an outpouring of glorious light spread across two CDs.
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ABX 050CD
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The Haxan Cloak's debut album is barely believable. Exploring mystic and occult audio space with cello, field recordings, violins, hand-made percussion and the human voice, this is barely conceivable as an artist's first album. The depth and quality is on a par with Ben Frost/Tim Hecker. Combining elements of modern classical, film score and electronica with modern free folk and even metal sensibilities, The Haxan Cloak is a truly diverse album. "Burning Torches of Desire" brings to mind a sedated Prurient trapped on a galleon, whereas "Fall" and "Parting Chant" have the pathos of incredibly powerful modern classical pieces, with stunning vocal performances from collaborator Mikhail Karikis. "The Growing" shows a more modern, more digital side with its nod to modern electronic and even dubstep in its processed percussion, though culminating in unexpected grindcore blast beats courtesy of noted tattoo artist and drum maestro Liam Sparkes (Trencher). Additional visceral power was gained thanks to the mastering of Kris Lapke, longtime cohort of NYC's Hospital Productions, home of Prurient, amongst others.
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ABX 054CD
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Scythling began with improvised sessions by Aidan Baker (Nadja, Whisper Room, Infinite Light Ltd.) and Josh Rothenberger (Bloody Panda) recorded live in-studio in Brooklyn, NY in February 2008. The resultant material was subsequently re-worked and shaped into the three tracks featured on Smokefall, including independent contributions from various guest musicians. The resultant album combines elements of both Baker's and Rothenberger's respective bands to create something new -- a mixture of heavy drones and spacious ambient, creeping darkness and eerie light. The additional textures brought to the table, such as the vocals of Rebecca Fasanello and the hammered dulcimer of Michael Tamburo, further elevate the release into transcendent realms.
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ABX 055LP
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Pyramids are a somewhat enigmatic outfit from Texas, a fluctuating band of musical adventurers who explore new territory with every release. Unconstrained by the dogma of genre, Pyramids sometimes approach musical projects in an almost curatorial way, adding and subtracting styles, sounds and guest musicians on an ad hoc basis. Magpie & Raven sees Pyramids at their most sprawling and with moments of ultimate bombast. With piano provided by Clay Ruby (Burial Hex) as an integral part, the 25-minute+ track weaves around this motif with massive guitars and a spoken-word performance that is truly epic before everything dissolves in a maelstrom of organic noise as Wraiths eviscerate the previous musical section to its very atomic particles before all comes together again and the track ends with a sense of calm conclusion. This amazing release is presented as a limited edition one-sided clear vinyl LP in a signature AB vellum-style sleeve with artwork by noted tattoo artist Simon Erl. Housed in a heavy PVC outer sleeve. Edition of 350.
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