I was unfamiliar with this artist, but the webite says “Barcelona/Soria,” so I would guess that he hails from Spain. The liner notes state that “Albert Negredo uses various disciplines such as photography, video, sculpture, installation, sound and digital art, or fashion, to perform works that revolve around 3 positions: the patient in his environment, temporary, perpetual or finite, the doctor or specialist, and the social. To do this, Negredo creates pieces linked to pathologies, discomforts, states, healings, treatments, illnesses ... to combine the visual arts, not only with the psychology and psychiatry, but also with religion and philosophy.” With that as an introduction, let’s dive into the music and see what the diagnosis is this time.

This release consists of one track, CortexM3. Evidently, Cortex M3 is a type of processor for microcontrollers, but I do not know if this is what the track is based on. This track is an interesting mix of noisy drones. There is a mix of low drone and high pitched, heavily reverbed sounds. If this is based on pathologies, as the liner notes suggest, it feels like Negredo is channeling the feeling of anxiety, because the overall work is somewhat unsettling. I mean that in a good way, of course. Overall, an engaging work. This album weighs in at just over 11 minutes.

I was unfamiliar with this artist, but they hail from Moscow, Russia and describe themselves as a "Dark techno project." The label describes the release thus: "This project is a dreamy, hazy nightmare that tells the story of the real and virtual worlds of the post-apocalyptic Soviet Union after nuclear war. It explores abandoned networks filled with sentient remnants of once-human inhabitants, introduces posthuman horrors, and leaves the listener with a hypnotic, eerie, and slightly unsettling taste." Well, let's give it a listen and see what we have here.

I am old enough to remember duck and cover drills and living with the specter of nuclear holocaust hanging over us. This release consists of one 3-minute track, "Black Key," and the music is nowhere as bleak as what I was expecting. This is some good heavy, melodic techno-industrial. If you miss the mixture of industrial and goth that Cleopatra Records used to throw down, this may scratch that itch. This makes me want to hear more from the artist, which is always a good start.

The only artist I was not familiar with was Terbeschikkingstelling, so I was interested to see how this collaboration panned out. Here are the personae dramatis: Rutger van Driel (LÄrmschutz) on trombtronics, mixing, mastering; Volker Störtebeker (Terbeschikkingstelling) on trombone, sousaphone, didgeridoo and jaw harp; Chaos V.G. on noise with scrap and other destructible objects; and Fail on electronics. The way that this went down, according to the liner notes, is that “Original tracks and material by Fail (1 and 2) and Chaos V.G. (3 and 4) and manipulated by Rutger van Driel (LÄrmschutz) and Volker Störtebeker (Terbeschikkingstelling).” Well, this sounds like a lot of cooks (and trombonists) in the kitchen, so let’s dive in and see what they cook up.

We kick it off with "Stepping Stone," which is chaotic as hell. Training video voiceover is mixed with trombone, synth, and random noise. The voiceover is then looped and processed. I like how it all disintegrates over time until we are left with just some horn. “Another Try" is a bit less cut up and more organized as a noise track. Clattering metal, analog squiggly noises, and electronic noises mesh with digeridoo and horns to provide some low end. All of this is covered in a thin layer of static. "10.000 Ways That Won't Work" opens with the sounds of someone with an arcwelder and a bad case of flatulence working in a factory. This gets noisier as the wall of noise takes over. Walls of static and electronic noises interrupted by multiple horns. The sousaphone really shines in this piece, giving it a lovely low end. And when was the last time you heard a sousaphone on a noise album? Truly the heaviest of the brass in all ways. "Give It Up" closes it off by bringing the horns to the forefront. Lots of noise and a jaunty brass tune make for an interesting combination.

If you have ever had someone say that noise is just some dude with a bunch of pedals daisy chained together, give them this release. This is one of those cases where the collaboration makes it work because of the differences in approach. The entire thing is a lot of fun and well worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 20 minutes.

I could find nothing on this artist. Discogs had nothing. Nothing on Bandcamp. No website that I could find (unless they are a shipping service). No link in the notes. Maybe related to fencepost who had “bloom & decay” on IDR? Probably, but still we are left with only the music to go on, and with a title like Doom & Betray, and the fact that it is on Inner Demons Records, I think we both have some inkling of what we are in for. But you never know.... IDR likes to throw us a curve ball every now and then. So let's see how postzone plans to betray us and bring about our doom.

We kick it off with "Doom_II," which is noisy, with the sounds of creaking doors, hammering noises, and explosive crashes of noise. We're off to a good start in uneasy listening. "Betray_IV" is every bit as intense but combines the crashing sounds with a lilting synth line that goes through the track, providing an interesting contrast. This would make an excellent addition to a soundtrack, where you want to create an ominous atmosphere that suggests that whatever you fear is right around the corner. "Doom_I" opens with what sounds like field recordings of rifle shots mixed with a sparse beat that continues throughout. Once again, the atmosphere is oppressively dense and the overall effect has a cinematic feel to it. There is a rhythm to the track that keeps it engaging, as the droning synth ebbs and flows with the pauses in gunfire. "Betray_VII" opens with some windchimes that provide an illusion of respite. However, despite the chimes and the melody that flows throughout, there is still a sinister undercurrent lurking here. Even if it is less intense than previous tracks, one gets the sense that he or she would not wish to be a protagonist in whatever this soundtrack is accompanying. At almost 24 minutes, "Betray_II" has time to develop. It starts off less bombastically than the previous tracks, which makes it that much more unsettling when listening to it straight through. This is heavy drone with just a bit of dissonance and a slight bass rumble underneath. The overall effect is like being in the middle of a very large beehive. They don't want to hurt you, though. In fact, they are generally indifferent to your presence, going on about their work. In some ways, this is an exercise in endurance, but as you listen you begin to hear subtle shifts in the drone. About 15 minutes in, there are some moments of synth melody, but this is quickly overpowered by the beehive noise. All is beehive. The beehive is all. "Doom_V" closes it out with a reprisal of shotgun blasts as rhythm and heavy sawtooth synth drone.

Overall, this is not quite noise and not quite dark ambient. It is, however, heavy and cinematic. In The Nursery had a series of discs that they called "optical music," and I like to think of some of these kinds of releases in the same way. This is a soundtrack for a film that exists only in your head, and in this case the overall feeling is not a good one. If anxiety had a soundtrack, this would be it. Really well done and well worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 59 minutes.

Nightmare Park hail from Connecticut and describe themselves as “Blackened Harsh Static and Noise Walls, sounds sourced from Horror films that I like. . . . HELL IS REAL.” The Bandcamp page also has a lot of albums based on various horror films like "The Shining," "Pet Semetary," "Psycho," "Candyman," and many others. With little to go on, let's dive in and see what Barbara is in for.

This album consists of one 20 minute track titled "They're Coming To Get You, Barbara." I don't know who Barbara is, but she had better watch out. To put this succinctly, this is extremely crunchy noise. It is pulsing and completely overdriven. There are some subtle changes in the sound and you begin to hear patterns in the way that you can start to see patterns when watching television static. If you like harsh noise wall with an emphasis on "harsh," this will be right up your alley. This album weighs in at 20 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.