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Reviews

Sataray: Blood Trine Moon – Full Album Stream at Treble

February 10, 2022 by Joy Von Spain

“Blood Trine Moon is a gloomy and gothic creation, as much a piece of music as a dark ritual. Ostensibly, it’s ambient music, but it feels as much aligned with Dead Can Dance as it does with Lustmord or the most spacious of Tangerine Dream material, and featuring elements of industrial and dungeon synth throughout. Autumnal music (and pretty spooky), but perfect enough for the snow-drenched winter we’ve been having as well.” – Treble

Stream the EP and read more HERE.

Sataray - TheLake - Blood Trine Moon

SATARAY: Blood Trine Moon – Meat Mead Metal review

February 8, 2022 by Joy Von Spain
SATARAY’S ALLURING, DARK AURA GETS INSIDE YOUR BLOODSTREAM, CHILLS ON EP ‘BLOOD TRINE MOON’

“This four-track collection is immersive in a way that it acts like a ghost within your body, guiding you and helping you achieve visions you didn’t know were possible. Sataray titled this EP metaphorically to describe her creative process of bleeding and reflecting, and it impacts the music in such a haunting and gorgeous way that it is impossible not to be overcome from endless chills down your spine. It’s impossible to describe with words, but that’s why we’re here, so let’s try…”

Read the entire review HERE

Sataray - TheLake - Blood Trine Moon

Track Premiere: Sataray – “Hexenacht” at Decibel Magazine

January 20, 2022 by Joy Von Spain

 

Stream the single at DECIBEL MAGAZINE

 

It’s not too soon to be lining up your playlist for Walpurgis Night, typically celebrated at the end of April, and we have the perfect lead-off track for all of your witchy indulgences. “Hexenacht” (which literally means “witches’ night” in German) is when European revelers don their witches and demons cosplay outfits, launch fireworks/build bonfires, play loud music and generally make spring celebration merriment. It’s a concept totally foreign to most Bible-thumping Westerners, but Olympia, WA-based dark ambient solo artist, Sataray, knows what’s up.

“Hexenacht” is the fourth track on her upcoming Blood Trine Moon EP, set for release February 11, via Scry Recordings, and the eerie piece is built around a repetitive organ-inspired melody and rumbling tribal thrum, with washes of distant synth and Sataray’s rangy incantations and wails. It slowly builds in intensity, like an invocation, then simmers to a haunting close. Like the rest of the EP, there are elements of industrial grime and dungeon synth. Blood Trine Moon was recorded and mixed by Sataray, mastered by Casey Chittenden Jones (Noisepoetnobody), and features artwork by Anima Nocturna.

Here’s what Sataray had to offer regarding the origins of “Hexenacht”:

“The outline of this track was created during the eve of Hexenacht one year, and encapsulates all of that which is evoked.”

Blood Trine Moon can be ordered here.

 

The Sleeping Shaman -Review: Sataray / Zania Morgan ‘Argyropoeia’

January 23, 2021 by Joy Von Spain

“To say its ‘unique’ is a vast understatement. This is far more than just an experiment into the dark underbelly of the whole ‘dark ambient’ sub-genre, this is a trip into the supernatural, and every point in between. Argyropoeia itself, according to an Isaac Newton page on Google, describes the act as ‘the transmutation of base metals into silver’, so I guess this project is effectively taking metal, and turning into something very precious indeed….that is the real beauty of this art, it isn’t supposed to be for everyone. Maybe you need to be more enlightened to certain things to fully appreciate it, or maybe you don’t, but either way, this compelling work is truly one of a kind.”

Read the complete review HERE: https://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/s/sataray-zania-morgan-argyropoeia/

 

 

MEATMEADMETAL REVIEW: SATARAY, ZANIA MORGAN COMBINE DARK FORCES, DELIVER RITUALISTIC POWERS TO SPLIT EP ‘ARGYROPOEIA’

January 23, 2021 by Joy Von Spain

“Sataray and Zania Morgan are ideally matched on “Argyropoeia,” a collection that captured me right away, entranced me, and made me go back for more time and again. There’s something about music that’s takes you on a mental journey and forces you to reevaluate where you’re standing that can be incredibly rewarding, as this album is for me. Or, you can just take a dark journey along with both artists and let yourself touch the face of the spirit world.”

 

Read the complete review HERE:

Sataray, Zania Morgan combine dark forces, deliver ritualistic powers to split EP ‘Argyropoeia’

SATARAY: BrooklynVegan Premieres “The Flood” From Haunting Dark Ambient Project; Argyropoeia Split EP With ZANIA MORGAN Nears Release

January 23, 2021 by Joy Von Spain

Argyropoeia is the impending new split EP from SATARAY and ZANIA MORGAN. Set for release later this month via Scry Recordings, the unsettling, five-track offering is a ritual purging for nocturnal metamorphosis… their voices heralding a birthing of new form in unearthly flight.

The EP is eloquently rooted in an esoteric entanglement of two women, deeply embroiled in their life’s work through audio frequencies. Many years ago, these two women crossed paths by means of a select few whom had leanings similar in design to their own. The particular artistry and path working with Anima Nocturna was most certainly at the core of that newly found unity. From the point of that meeting on, the slow weaving of a surreal conjunction took place. This is their gift to each other and to you.

In advance of the EP’s official unveiling, today SATARAY releases “The Food,” now playing at BrooklynVegan. Notes SATARAY, “This song explores the brimming edge of inner chaos and madness, while sharpening the blade of one’s personal power.”

Stream SATARAY’s “The Flood” at BrooklynVegan HERE.

Mastered by Casey Chittenden Jones (noisepoetnobody), Argyropoeia features cover art by Anima Nocturna in collaboration with Cypher Sothis, and will be released digitally on January 29th, 2021.For preorders, visit the SATARAY Bandcamp page HERE, where previously released track “Rain” can be streamed or the ZANIA MORGAN Bandcamp page HERE, where previously release track, “Nyx Ambrosia” can be streamed.

Argyropoeia Track Listing:
SATARAY
1. Saturn
2. Rain
3. The Flood
ZANIA MORGAN
4. Crepulsculum
5. Nyx Ambrosia

SATARAY is a one-woman ambient creation. It is ceremonial in nature, using incantations, whispers, and death vocals as the blade along with layers of synth and other electronic elements, creating a raw dark terrain. She performs live rituals with her music, often in accordance with artists such as Anima Nocturna and various Butoh dancers. In the Spring of 2019, she released her first solo full-length, Nocturnum, via Scry Recordings.

ZANIA MORGAN is the solo project of Zaskia S. Morgan (also a member of Ehecatl, Madison Mandrake, and Aixela). For the last thirteen years, ZANIA MORGAN has been performing live music for ritual events/gatherings along the West Coast, immersing her audience in an evocative pulse of dark “ritualwave” and birthing from its depth an ecstatic formula of gnosis in sound. In the Autumn of 2017, French label, Falco Invernale Records (F.I.R.), released her first physical recording on vinyl entitled Shapeshifter.

http://facebook.com/sataray7
http://instagram.com/sataray7
http://sataray.bandcamp.com/music
http://www.instagram.com/zaskia_morgan
http://zaniamorgan.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.scryrecordings.com
http://www.facebook.com/scryrecordings
http://www.instagam.com/scry_recordings

 

SCRY22 Scard: Rusted Lock - DIGITAL COVER

SCARD: Ghost Cult Premieres “Impenetrable Will” -Rusted Lock Full-Length Nears Release

November 1, 2020 by Joy Von Spain

Portland-based dark ambient/industrial noise project SCARD is pleased to unveil the caustic sounds of “Impenetrable Will.” Now playing at Ghost Cult, the demoralizing track comes off the impending Rusted Lock full-length, set to drop November 6th via Scry Recordings.

SCARD – led by one J. Huston — began in 2001 in Seattle before relocating to Portland a year later. Drawing from dark ambient, power electronics, death industrial, and black noise, SCARD unites their personal origins in the forested regions of Oregon with eventual scum of city life to create a harsh, layered, and multi-faceted sound.

Notes Huston of latest psalm, “‘Impenetrable Will’ was the first song I wrote for the album. It began without any expectation, a broken reverb device, and a critical fix with aluminum foil to create an oppressive feedback loop. One of the more minimal songs in terms of instrumentation, it was augmented by several different layers of cavernous, scathing vocals that shred stagnant flesh to the bone with a methodical precision that resembles audio surgery. It fleshed itself out conceptually using the same approach to discipline that inspired ‘Fire In The Veins.’ I continued applying pressure for a sustained period, and this resulted in feeling absolutely honed for creating the rest of the album. ‘Impenetrable Will’ is a resolute show of force from within, intended to completely destroy obstruction.”

Adds Ghost Cult, “The solo project led by J. Huston (Winter In The Blood, L’Acephale’s Stahlhartes Gehäuse) finds the soundtrack-eque tomes seeping into your brain and implanting feelings of dread into your psyche. Perfectly eerie and haunted, just in time for the spooky season…”

Hear SCARD’s “Impenetrable Will” at THIS LOCATION.

Stream previously released single,  “Fire In The Veins,” at THIS LOCATION.

Rusted Lock was mixed by Fester, mastered by James Plotkin, and will see release on cassette and digital formats. For preorders, go to THIS LOCATION where “Graveyard Dirt” can be streamed.

Comments Huston of his upcoming offering, “Rusted Lock contains the most seething, and incisive work since SCARD’s inception. The project is by nature experimental and includes exploratory sounds and songs but a consistent thread of death/industrial doom and black metal virulence remains consistent throughout. This latest offering was an absolutely crucial album after a very long break from any activity. Near the end of the break, I underwent a total mental reconfiguration as well as a vast expansion of studio gear. The album evolved naturally throughout the process, utilizing a dominating force of will during a period of molting. It draws upon concepts surrounding personal strength, confrontation, obsession, and the many forms of poison, violently gripping, and tearing at its prey until cold, barren detritus is rejected and abandoned.”

Over the last nineteen years, SCARD has shared stages with the likes of Sixes, Bloodyminded, Daniel Menche, Control, To End It All, The Rita, Wolf Eyes, John Wiese, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Sleeping With The Earth, Pharmakon, Dave Phillips, Sudden Infant, Consumer Electronics, and many others. SCARD has also appeared at 2007’s Black Noise Festival in Oakland, 2009’s Northeast Noise And Power Electronics Festival in Boston, 2012’s Pure Harsh Noise Worship in Portland, 2014’s Pent Up Fest in Seattle, and many DIY venues throughout the Pacific Northwest.

In addition to his solo endeavor, Huston is the guitarist, vocalist, and producer of the atmospheric black metal band Winter In The Blood and also appears on the avant-garde black metal ensemble L’Acephale’s Stahlhartes Gehäuse and self-titled full-lengths (2009 and 2019 respectively).

“The shuddering rhythms feel grueling and soaked in viscous tension, with a decidedly angular and erratic texture to the oddly more danceable components. It’s as if more pleasant-sounding sonic ideas are getting run through a blender in real time across ‘Fire In The Veins’…” – Captured Howls on “Fire In The Veins”

http://www.hellscum.org
http://www.facebook.com/foreverloyaltomisery
http://www.instagram.com/lungscollapse/
http://www.scard.bandcamp.com
http://www.scryrecordings.com
http://www.facebook.com/scryrecordings
http://www.instagam.com/scry_recordings

SCRY22 Scard: Rusted Lock - DIGITAL COVER

CAPTURED HOWLS PREMIERES ENLIVENING NEW DARK AMBIENT/ INDUSTRIAL NOISE SINGLE FROM SCARD: “FIRE IN THE VEINS”

October 18, 2020 by Joy Von Spain

The Portland-based dark ambient/ industrial noise project Scard will be dropping their new full-length record Rusted Lock on Nov. 6 via Scry Recordings.

Get a first listen below to the project’s immersive and ferocious new single, “Fire in the Veins” — which feels quite aptly titled considering the pulsating track’s subtly incinerating tone.

The track centers on a strangely danceable and chilly yet thick-toned electronica rhythm coursing through a haze of grating and static-textured whirs. There’s both a familiarly industrialized vibe in the song and something that feels more esoteric, as if the central perspective of the track hinges on running through trash-strewn alleyways while soaked in rain and grime — and trying to flee some kind of demented and otherworldly force. The shuddering rhythms feel grueling and soaked in viscous tension, with a decidedly angular and erratic texture to the oddly more danceable components. It’s as if more pleasant-sounding sonic ideas are getting run through a blender in real time across “Fire in the Veins.”

 

The track would probably appeal to fans of The Body. “Fire in the Veins” carries a dynamic abrasion that feels reminiscent of some of the work from that duo, with a foothold of accessibility alongside a steady stream of monumental waves of industrialized chaos.

Order at this link.

READ MORE AT:

Scard Premieres Enlivening New Dark Ambient/ Industrial Noise Single — Listen Here!

Geist & The Sacred Ensembel: WANING HYMNS album cover

GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE: Decibel Magazine Premieres “Closed Eye” Video From Pacific Northwest Doom Folk Collective; Waning Hymns Full-Length Nears Release

July 30, 2020 by Joy Von Spain

“Waning Hymns offers hope and understanding amid desolate soundscapes and turbulent times…” — Decibel

Doom folk collective GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE today release their video for “Closed Eye.” Now playing at Decibel Magazine, the entrancing track comes by way of the band’s Waning Hymns full-length, set for release on July 31st via Scry Recordings.

Among the Pacific Northwest’s hidden societies, GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE forges a doom-inflected folk ritualism; dirges tinged with Eastern psychedelia and meandering meditative trances. For the last several years, the group has shown the Washington state underground a clear vision for their sound and lyrics creating a shamanistic space for the listener, placing them into a trance, then building up the excitement. The overarching theme of their lyrical work is that of an idealist, a yearning for an end to the modern human condition, for destruction of the constructs and constraints of oppression.

Writes Decibel Magazine, “GEIST and his collaborators examine Western culture’s withering empathy and booming consumerism on their upcoming Waning Hymns LP. But GEIST isn’t content to just observe and reprimand. Waning Hymns offers hope and understanding amid desolate soundscapes and turbulent times… In ‘Closed Eye,’ GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE focus on meditative instrumental ambience instead of apocalyptic poetry. Low hums and ominous tones. The flickering imperfections of film stock. The distant shrieks of woodwinds. The collective’s usual 10+ minute oaken song structure is absent, replaced with nebulous unease.”

Adds M. Sauder, “This video was made using 8mm and 16mm film footage from Iceland by filmmaker James Hollenbaugh. It is the visual narrative to an inward journey influenced by the natural world. We hope its meditative pace will lead the listener to new pathways inside their mind and spirit. This music first appeared in the short film Searching Skies by Vivian Hua which I scored, as part of the Seventh Art Stand film series. The series seeks to expose and end bigotry, specifically Islamaphobia.”

View GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE’s “Closed Eye” video, now playing at Decibel, at THIS LOCATION.

REVIEW: Grill – LIGHT (1994) grind/industrial/experimental

April 26, 2020 by Joy Von Spain

Grill: LIGHT

Release date: 1994

Label: PDCD

Country: Germany

 

An overlooked and truly obscure piece of work, Grill’s debut, titled “Light”, may be one of the rarest heavy industrial albums ever made. Grill effectively masters a particular musical domain with a stripped-down industrial and slow grindcore soaked sound akin to early Godflesh, early Pitch-Shifter, Dead World and Cable Regime among others. Consisting of two German grinders, Steph Andre on guitar and Pascal Derek playing additional guitar as well as drum machine programming, Light churns out 8 tracks of propulsive mechanical and bass heavy “Grindustrial” music. This album was there only full length, recorded at Studio XL near Worcester and Rot Germany between January 1992 and June 1993.

 

The band’s noted influences are diverse, including musicians from the industrial and rock realms as well as early hip-hop acts. Influences ranging from Godflesh, Knox and Grabage Collector to Eric B & Rakim as well as Hiphoprisy have been cited. The last section of the 8th track is repeated 22 times to drill in the album’s repetitious feel.

 

Militant, desolate and stripped down, the dueling guitars and mechanical rhythms feel like the soundtrack to a war-torn climate. More subdued and sparse at some moments like ceasefire in between active battle, and chaotic at others like being in the midst of a machine and weapon fueled collision of violence. Though it may be too avant-garde for the taste of some various “metal” genre fans, lovers of heavy industrial music owe it to themselves to acquire this rare album.

 

-A.D. Carter

you can find this release on discogs

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