Wounds of the Earth Issue 2

Read Online: [coming soon]

Download: HERE
*in order to view, unzip the .zip file to a folder. open the "woundsissue1.html". It will open a new browser window with the magazine. All the files in the .zip are required for this to work*

Download PDF: HERE

Issue 2 coming soon...

Issue 2 is almost ready! It's surprising how much easier it is once all the layout stuff already exists. Just waiting on a couple more things to come in. Planning to get it out in the next 2 weeks. Interviews with Raison d'etre, Dead When I Found Her, J. Stillings of Steel Hook Prostheses, Xiphoid Dementia and more. Reviews of tons of shit from Hymen, Ant Zen, Malignant, Cyro Chamber, Tympanik, Signifier, N5MD, CRL Studios, and more. Some very atmospheric photography in here as well.

4-11-13

Ok, Issue 2 is coming together, hopefully out at the end of this month or so...

Caul - "The Long Dust"

Artist: Caul
Album: The Long Dust
Year: 2013
Label: Malignant Records
Genre: Dark Ambient
Website: www.malignantrecords.com


 

Basics:
Caul is one of those artists of whom I’ve heard the name many times over the years, but for some reason never actually checked out the music. I think one thing that turned me off was that a bunch of his releases are 50+ minute 1 track albums, which I’m not a fan of. Anyway, this is his latest, released via Malignant, which is 12 tracks of melodic droning ambient and provides a good indication for why I have heard the name Caul so many times over the years.

Good stuff:
+ Upon turning this on, I immediately regret not having heard this project in any true capacity previously. The Long Dust is composed of exquisitely beautiful, deep atmospheres with a distinct cinematic edge.  This is the score to the wondrous mystique of untraveled lands. The album artwork is a fitting depiction of how this album “feels”. While the meat of the compositions lies in the tranquil, pulsating drones and subtle melodic plucks & strums, Caul does a fantastic job of incorporating additional elements such as percussion on “Desert Buoy”, and the brilliant eastern flavor of “The Unwept Waste”. Tracks like the aforementioned “Desert Buoy” and the title track “The Long Dust” showcase Caul’s talent for expertly utilizing many different elements to build a cohesive song which captivates the listener as it opens the gate to a new realm. All of the songs are passages to the same realm, but each is a unique exploration of that place. It’s a bit hard to easily categorize this record because while it is certainly ambient, it’s also beyond “ambient”; subdued film-score would be the most appropriate description I can come up with. To top it off, the mixing and production is absolutely grandiose.

Bad stuff:

- I really dislike the post-rock elements of “Relic” and “Anointing” but this is due to my personal aversion to guitar and acoustic drums, especially in ambient. However, if you are a fan of post-rock style music than I think you will get more out of these tracks than I.

Summary:
A must have for fans of melodic ambient. That’s all there is to it. Ambient music is all about being deep, visionary, evoking unnamable profound sentiments, etc and this nails it all.  I am going to check out his previous material as soon as I possibly can!

Overall Rating: 9/10

Various - "The Revenge of the Mighty Ant"

Artist: Various
Album: The Revenge of the Mighty Ant
Year: 2012
Label: Ant Zen
Genre: Rhythmic Noise, Technoid
Website: www.ant-zen.com


 

Basics:
The Revenge of the Mighty Ant is a compilation of live material from Bollwerk 107 in Moers, Germany which took place in Feb. 2012. There are 3 tracks each from Ant Zen stalwarts Zero Degree, Frl. Linientreu, Roger Rotor, 100blumen, and Asche. While this was recorded live, for the most part the quality is good such that you wouldn’t know it if you had not been told. This is a digital release and the format works to its advantage in some ways, especially so in that it comes with high quality live shots of each act, one for each track.

Stuff:
Zero Degree
- It looks like there are 2 unreleased tracks and 1 track from their most recent Ant Zen release. I’m not familiar with any of these tracks but I really enjoyed them all. Pretty typical Zero Degree style: extremely atmospheric, tranquil, plodding technoid with IDM sentiments. They have a penchant for composing emotive melodies and building lengthy, hypnotic passages. Definitely repetitive, though I don’t find it to be detrimental; in fact their style makes for fantastic chill out music. The two seemingly unreleased tracks are "must hears" for fans of the band. They are only act here that is not noisy or harsh.

Frl. Linientreu
- This is the only act with whom I am completely unfamiliar. After hearing these tracks I am going to check out her other work for sure. These appear to all be previously released album tracks. “Echtzeit” opens with some crowd noise; this is the first time that you are aware of this being a live recording. These songs remind me of more distorted Angina P. Wistful melodies hovering over steady, distorted beats. “Echtzeit” is reflective and chill, while “Von Schrecken…” is very upbeat with crunchier percussion. The last track “Bubble” has nostalgic Nintendo-esque melodics over an Asche style beat. Overall, quite enjoyable and very “ant zen” sounding.

Roger Rotor
- Rotor presents us with a track from his most recent album, one from his previous album, and another that I don’t recognize. His music is dark, crunchy, raw techno. I wish I was experiencing this live rather than on recording, but I suppose this does justice to his music. The track I don’t know is “Beyond Beyond” and it’s a really upbeat, crunchy, pounding affair and a perfect track for playing live to dancing fans.

100blumen
- I don’t like 100blumen, but I will say that they are a strange and distinct hybrid of noise and punk influence. These songs are experimental amalgams of power noise, punk, dubstep, digital hardcore, and related; all wrapped in a blanket of noise and bitcrushing. This is an act that I imagine would be powerful in a live performance, but doesn’t translate as well to recording.

Asche

- Asche presents 2 tracks from his recent Easter Island Phenomenon and one bside from the Stonebrain EP. “Something Evil” and “Knee Chopper” are my two favs from that album and both are driving, crunchy power noise tracks which exemplify some of the best the genre has to offer. “Home Crisis” is a crushing, oppressive noise track with a hellish atmosphere. I love it.

Summary:
Due to being a live album, the overall sound/production is a little rawer than what you’d expect on a studio album, however it was recorded well and captures these artists’ respective sounds. Unfortunately, the songs that I am familiar with sound nearly identical to the album versions, and as such I can’t really recommend this for hearing new and exciting live cuts of songs. Nevertheless, it does work as a compilation if you are unfamiliar with these artists and want to hear some new music. Ant Zen did a good job of picking some of the best tunes from each project and showcasing them in one convenient set. While not exactly a must have for fans, if you enjoy power noise/ant zen and want to discover these bands, you won’t be disappointed.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Sabled Sun - "2146"

Artist: Sabled Sun
Album: 2146
Year: 2012
Label: Cryo Chamber
Genre: Dark Ambient
Website:  cryochamber.bandcamp.com

 

 




Basics:

2146 is the sophomore follow-up to the acclaimed debut 2145 from this new project of Simon Heath (Atrium Carceri, Krusseldorf, etc etc) and continues the post-apocalyptic storyline that began in the first album. Heath is certainly a very inspired individual, as this album comes a mere 7 months after the debut, not to mention that he found the time to release 2 Atrium Carceri albums and run a label this year! For a lesser musician this would lead to a drastic reduction in output quality, however this proves no challenge for Heath as 2146 is as least as good as anything else he has put out (for reference, AC – Void was an album of the year, imo).

 
Good stuff:
+ The purpose of this album/project is to provide the soundtrack for a post-apocalyptic world. Now, it seems sort of cliché to describe dark ambient as “music for the end times” or whatever, but there is no better descriptor for this. 2146 is literally THE embodiment of a futuristic wasteland: walking through the twisted rubble of cities; the cold, endless darkness of the innards of destitute edifices; the last bit of electrical discharge from severed wires in a machine shop, etc. Overall there is a very cinematic quality to it, and 2146 should really be the soundtrack to a video game or movie. If you recall the "future" section in Chrono Trigger or perhaps the “Wrecked Ship” area in Super Metroid – this is totally the soundtrack to those places (sorry for the outdated references).
Most of the record is composed of very spacious, droning atmospheres with a plethora of subtle field samples (water, crunching, clanking) which conjures the extreme isolation of being alone after the apocalypse, though there are moments of icy pads and melodies in tracks like “Exo Suit”, “My Dying Robot” and the melancholic closer “End Me” which borders on post-rock. One thing I really liked was how the melodic elements in “My New Best Friend” sound like bleeps and hums of broken electronic devices rather than a keyboard. It is traits like this that showcase Heath’s talent for capturing the essence of a specific place. Like all of his dark ambient work, these tracks are extremely complex with tons of things happening in each, and I definitely recommend listening with headphones to fully immerse yourself in these profound soundscapes.

Bad stuff:

- No hardcopy

Summary:
This album completely does what it sets out to do. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily “better” than the previous album, but 2146 feels more focused and seems to have solidified a unique sound for the project – rather than bits of Atrium here, bits of Krusseldorf here, etc. If you like darkly vivid, engaging dark ambient and/or any past work of Simon Heath than you will want to pick this up as soon as possible. Not to be missed.

Overall: 9/10