CrAwE is the work of one Adam Colman, who hails from Norwich, UK and describes his music as “Solo Improv Dark Ambient Guitar Soundscape Dronez with occasional contributions, the sound of the impending apocalypse and fridge buzz.” I had reviewed two of his previous albums, one of which I had compared to Lycia, which is always a good thing, so I was interested to see what we have in this installment. The label describes this album thus: “The primal star ep is about Sirius the brightest star in the sky from Earth. Using bowed guitar & bass, synth, field recordings and the subliminal radio pulse of Sirius A itself. The Dog Star goes by many names across different cultures and was once seen as the centre of the universe, the primal star ep is a mini sonic journey, to the dog days and beyond…..or as the Dogon people say “Sewa” (“everything is fine”).” The concept is intriguing, so let’s blast off and see what CrAwE has on the flight log.

We open with “SiriusA (TheDogThatFollowsMountainSheep),” with is spacey, dark, and majestic, like a soundtrack for a sci-fi movie where you are seeing a massive ship slowly moving across the screen. Nicely done. Next up, we have “DopamineForDollars-Sewa (everything is fine),” which is heavily layered drone, reminiscent of Troum, which is one of the highest complements I can pay to someone doing drone work. Really, this is good. “HeavenleyWolf (TheDogStarThatLeads)” is a slow moving number that builds over time. Finally, we have “Sinnesloschen (ThePathOfTheSouls).” This is a bit darker, with a feel like being underwater at the bottom of the ocean where light doesn't really filter down.

The last thing I heard that referenced Sirius is Legendary Pink Dots’ song “Needles (Version Sirius)” (well, OK, there is also Sirius by Alana Parsons Project, but this is Chain DLK), so CrAwE is in good company and this disc shows that he can hold his own. This is superb droning dark ambient. There are layers on layers, and everything is dark, but peaceful. If you are a fan of Troum, you will want to pick this up. This disc is limited to 42 copies and weighs in at around 20 minutes.

I had previously reviewed INFELIX's "Abyssal Despondency" and "Eternal Hymns of Entropic Darkness" and found them to be every bit the feel good party anthems that one would expect from such titles. I also enjoyed them, so I was interested to see what this installment had in store for us. The label describes the album as "a sinister harbinger of noise grinding and fracturing with dread. A hallucinatory, menacing collision of primordial analog darkness embracing a bleak, dystopian landscape of crushed circuits, and cosmic errors. INFELIX continues to forge into bleakness and alienation." Sounds like a good time, so let's dive in.

We kick it all off with “Nocturnal Desolation,” which features heavily processed voice over a grinding industrial soundscape. This is dystopian and the echoing voices only reinforce this. It is difficult to make out what the voices are saying, but it doesn't sound cheerful at any rate. The mix of drone and machinelike static make for an interesting counterpoint. This is what is left when the world has ended. “Gutted” keeps this feeling going, and acts like a continuation of the "Nocturnal Desolation." This has a bit more feeling of things falling apart. If the previous track was the end, this is the decay. In “Sanctum Obscurum,” the machines have completely taken over, with pounding percussion that sounds like a wrecking ball hitting a building with steel siding. The oppressive drone is still present and accounted for. “Crushed on the Shores of Hope” is a bit more spectral, with distorted voices and pulsing drone, making it not quite as industrial as previous tracks. “Echoes of Agony” has a slow, plodding beat and a static sawtooth drone keeping it all together. There is a lot going on in this track, which keeps everything interesting. “Apeirophobia” takes a different approach, with the droning synth pads coming to the forefront and the static moving to the background. Apeirophobia is the phobia of infinity or eternity, so the slow moving drone works well to embody that concept. “The Dreaming Dead” is a bit less industrial and more ethereal, like listening to a chorus of screams of the damned over the sounds of a derelict factory that has long ago lost its workers. Finally, “Weltschmerz” closes it down with a cinematic piece that would work well in an old sci-fi movie soundtrack with its heavy use of analog sounds. But it is the kind of movie where the hostile aliens win, leaving a charred landscape in their wake.

Overall, if you like it dark and gritty, this will be right up your alley. This is heavy and INFELIX manages to make it ominous without trying too hard. If you are looking for something bleak, this is one to pick up. Well done. This album weighs in at around 41 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.

This is my introduction to Scrapping Young Bucks, which is the work of one K-HERRING-1. The Soundcloud profile describes this artist as "a vet of the Vancouver, B.C. area recording scene. S.Y.B. is the first solo project after many years in many other projects including.... The Shits, The Toilets, Ego, Drug Evans Experience, This Is NOT Elvis, The Wes Project, The Koz and Security." So yeah, there is not much to go on, so let's dive in.

This is way different from most of what you will find on Inner Demons, and I don't mean that in a bad way. First off, Inner Demons may seem like a haven for Harsh Noise Wall, but they have put out some unexpected stuff, like blues, so this should not be surprising. But this is a lot of analog weirdness, with a ton of old drum machine action. Imagine if someone had only an 8-bit videogame soundboard to work with and then ran it through an arpeggiator and reverb and you may get something that sounds a little like this. The exception to this is O, which is a bit more mellow, with some percussion and what sounds like synthesized oboe over pad drone and strummed guitar. But then we close it off with "Pissed Off Pussies," which is back to the bossfight with frantic percussion, theremin, and what sounds like a tape of cats fighting, all mixed together on a reused cassette that is then eaten by the tape deck.

I grew up in the 80s, so this was fantastic. I know that this is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and I'm pretty sure that Scrapping Young Bucks know that too. But if you like your experimental with a sense of humor, this will at least make you smile. This album weighs in at around 17 minutes and limited to 42 copies.

I had previously reviewed volume 1 of Negativity Positive Lullabies for the Malignant and enjoyed it, and the first volume notes that this was conceived as 3 volumes of 20 minutes each, so I was interested to hear the other ones. Well, here is volume 2. Ennaytch hails from Tucson, Arizona and describes themselves as “an industrial noise artist . . . with a diverse catalogue, exploring a wide variety of dark and experimental genres of sound.” The label describes this disc as “Noise for a distraught mind. Audio soundscapes specifically geared to make comfortable, those who are uncomfortable, so you may sleep.” So put on your nightcap, get into bed, and let’s see what lullabies Ennaytch has in store for us.

We kick it off with “I Shall Diminish Until There Is Nothing Left,” which is heavy wind drone with a pervasive static undercurrent as percussion sounds plod along like a funeral dirge. At times the we have some feedback and overpowering wind noise. If you like noisy dark ambient, this will be up your alley. Next up, we have “Pound of Meat, Rotten Flesh,” which sounds a lot like riding on a train in a tunnel. Not a bad ride. Finally, we put the album to bed with “Do Not Mourn Me When I Am Gone,” which keeps the wind tunnel noise, but adds bits of disembodied sounds to give it a dreamlike feel. But, as you can imagine, this is not a peaceful slumber, nor is this is not a nightmare either. Rather, it is the kind of dream where you wake with a sense of unease without knowing why. The noises become increasingly insistent as the track progresses, with analog tones and reverb until suddenly it's over.

Overall, this is a solid instalment in the series and makes me interested to hear the final volume. If you like noisy dark ambient, this is well worth picking up. Nicely done. This album weighs in at around 20 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.

I had not heard of this act before receiving this album. Eumourner hails from Italy and describes themselves thus: “Remember the larvae that will eat us. Reject the world as a market.” The band consists of Francesco La Cava, Gherardo Zauber Pierantoni, and Michele Venturi and they use percussion, voices, guitars, theremin, bass, field-recording, cut-ups, samples, and effects. Panspermia is the idea that microbes, such as bacteria, plant spores, etc., are caried on comets, asteroids, and space dust which inadvertently contaminates the planet and thus seeds the universe with life. Otherwise, I was going into this blind, so let’s dive in and see what the cosmic dust brings us.

This disc consists of two tracks, beginning with “Allan Hills 84001,” which is an interesting mix of drone and random noises mixed together. Nicely done. The other track is “Oumuamua,” which is spacey, with a plodding bass line, along with disembodied voices, digital noises, and short static bursts. This shifts gears almost imperceptibly until suddenly you realize that the track has gotten a lot more chaotic than you realized with a kind of insistence that you did not expect. Where the previous track was more about the unchanging, this is about fear in the face of the unknown.

The liner notes state that “Nothing essential happens in the absence of noise” and “Please Note: the matter of the enigma is the enigma of matter.” There is a lot going on in both of these tracks that keep everything interesting. Well worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 21 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.