A Closer Listen
Inner Demons Records has done it again, releasing 33 EPs and albums in a single day! This will be the last physical batch before a switch to digital, so act now to procure a copy of your favorite 3″ or 5″ CD-R! We’re going to stretch our coverage over three days to allow more time for the music to sink in, but with this many releases, fans are sure to find some favorites.
The best way to enter the batch is through the sampler. When the batch was first released, we noticed again the seeming discrepancy between the weather in Tampa, Florida and the tone of the music, dominated by drone and noise, with industrial flavors. Then Hurricane Helene slammed into the area as a Category 4 storm, flooding the streets, causing power outages and fatalities. Suddenly the music became startlingly relevant. even the name of the first artist, a.drift, seemed prescient, the shocked and stunned tone of the live drone a reflection of the local populace. Andreas David‘s “Beautiful Isolation”is forlorn and deserted, like an empty street or a family awaiting rescue. While each of these tracks is a slice of a single, 20-minute piece, Asylum Connection‘s track seems to contain the whirlwind as it rips the sheets from buildings, while the full album is an outburst of COVID-based anger: unrelenting, uncompromising noise. Belligerent Bastard and Eternal Cynic start their track with a spoken word sample about a priest who hangs himself, and in so doing, opens the gates of hell. The Eurohorror Collection is a perfect choice for Halloween, a deep dive into original horror scores, manipulated for maximum terror. Snippets of old synth scores are worked into the mix, where groans and moans meet the shuffling walk of the living dead.
Black Mirage is more in the gothic vein, the surprise being mountain dulcimer. The instrument appears early on the album but hides in the back half of the preview piece. A dark Appalachian tone is apparent, that of a bucolic dream turned into a nightmare. This being said, “Distant Sleep” is one of the most comforting tracks in the entire batch. In contrast, The Deep Bleed‘s Escape the Seventh Cycle (another 20-minute track) returns the listener to the heart of hell.
By CrAwE‘s PrimalStar, we begin the notice the tonal variety, in that the album is dedicated to Sirius, the Dog Star, and while extending the tone of drone, exudes a sense of peace. The preview track is subtitled “everything is fine.” Here we see the mutability of the genre, its ability to comfort or disturb. On the morning of September 27, the sun came out, the temperatures soared, and the full extent of the damage was revealed: two forces co-existing.
The discombobulated electronics of Disorganism are like debris scattered over a wide field, with survivors combing for heirlooms. Toward the end of “Descended,” a lone dog seems to bark. Over the course of the album, form is discovered and the timbre twists to the industrial side. Eli Wallis‘ amplified trombone is an outlier, even in a set of outliers: lonely yet creative, calling out to those who will hear. Enatych‘s “Do Not Mourn Me When I’m Gone” is a slice of a claustrophobic album, described as “noise for a distraught mind.” The description highlights the need for dark music, not just to match the season or situation, but to operate as empathy. And Eternal Cynic‘s Eat, Drink and Be Merry For Tomorrow We Snuff It is a dense meditation on mortality and the fleeting nature of existence, again taking on new meaning in the face of disaster. Sometimes music is released at the right time, in the right place, and although unintentional, this happened with Batch 2024B. Parts Two and Three of our coverage will arrive soon! (Richard Allen)
Sat Sep 28 00:01:29 GMT 2024