I was not familiar with this project, but Fog Baptism is the work of one Sylvia Joyce, who hails from Sacramento, California. She describes the project as “a diary, splashing each release with different moods and soundscapes; a reflection of her headspace as the days slouch onwards. Her works span across different genres such as black metal, electronic, industrial, noise, ambient, and doom metal.” That’s quite a mix, so let’s dive in and see what we have here.

We kick it off with “Sunlight,” which opens with field recordings of ocean waves and droning synth lines. The feel is tentative, as if the chords are all standing in line, not sure who should go next. It is peaceful and unsettling at the same time. “Twilight” keeps this feeling going with a slowly evolving wall of synth drone. There are subtle shifts in the composition that keep it all interesting. “Midnight” takes a different approach with a rumbling, noisy undercurrent and warbling synth peeking though the noise. This is like listening to a synth line being played above ground as you trundle along on a train in a tunnel beneath. “Abyss” is heavily layered drones that evoke the feeling of isolation. There is a lot going on here; this is not “put a brick on a synth chord” drone, but rather well crafted drone with lots of layers. “Trench” closes it all down with a slow moving, heavy bass drone mixed with a higher pitched drone that moves through the track like a heartbeat. If you want something to settle into, this is the track.

Overall, if you like drone work with some weight to it, this is likely to be up your alley. This album weighs in at around 40 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.

I had previously reviewed Wallis’ Autumn in the House of Usher” and enjoyed it, so I was interested to see what he would lay down this time. The label describes the album thus: “Swum to Phasis began as three performances on no-input mixing board and radio, which were then arranged in reverse chronological order and responded to with amplified (and mostly muted) trombone. The rain grew from drizzle to downpour, then dissipated.” Sounds interesting, so let’s dive in and see what we have here.

“The Demented Flame” starts it all off with a whimsical track with woodwinds and analog bleeps and bloops that would be right at home in a mad scientist’s laboratory (pronounced la BOR o tory, of course). “Callistoan Flora” is a bit more disjointed, with the trombone and repetitive noises over static washes. The feel is reminiscent of The Residents in approach, if not sound. It’s hard to describe, but it’s interesting, like a kid’s synth toy malfunctioning. “Pines in the Past” closes it out and leans into the trombone, with mournful trombone blasts over droning tones and radio voices. The overall feel is melancholy in a good way.

This is an interesting disc, and one that falls firmly into the “experimental” camp. They are different in feel, but all manage to hang together because of the common element of trombone. Give this to your favorite brass player and see what they make of it. This album weighs in at around 21 minutes.

FFI Digital is one of the many monikers of label head Dan Fox, the hardest working man in noise. What sets FFI Digital apart from his other projects, mainly Loss and Fail, is that the albums from this project are “created entirely on a PC using various paid and free plugins, and lots and lots of automation.” Well, let’s dive in and see what the noise factory has on the assembly line.

We open up the disc with “180119G,” and Fox comes out swinging. This is digital noise that blasts out your speakers and manages to do so on all frequencies possible. There is heavy undercurrent of static while high pitches screeches blast through the upper register. This throws everything at you all at once, and it is wonderful. “180119H” takes a different approach, with a stripped down beat and sparse, crackling noise. Think a more minimalist Ant-Zen kind of track. A bit too minimalist for my taste, but pleasant.
Now on to the second disc. “180119ACEGRMXB” closes out the album with a 20 minute tour-de-force that brings back the harsh noise but keeps everything interesting. You can think of this track as a journey, with Fox as the demented tour guide driving you around, not quite making all of the turns, and I’m pretty sure he ran over a fire hydrant back there. But you will see things far off the beaten path. If you make it there. Either way, it is a memorable ride. Very well done.

If this is what PC plugins and automation sounds like, I suppose we will have to worry about AI taking away jobs from hard working noise musicians in the not so distant future. This is solid noise and Fox throws everything he has at the listener. Well worth checking out if you like it noisy. This album weighs in at 40 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.

Fail is one of the many monikers of Dan Fox, labelhead of Inner Demons Records, and is his harsh noise project. He describes it thus in the bio: “Fail is the longest running (20 years +) noise project of Dan Fox, the guy who runs IDR. He has a bunch of other projects too and spends most of his free time with pedals and cats. He struggles with mental health problems, and he can't wrap his head around how we got here and how the fuck we're supposed to fix it.” I think many can sympathize. So let’s see what the pedals and cats have in store for us today.

“080919” opens up with pulsing noise that sounds like a heartbeat. This then gives way to droning noise and short blasts of static and other noise. This evolves over almost 13 minutes, cascading live waves of static against a craggly shore. An ever-present hum provide a base for bits of static and analog noise. This is not in your face noise, but rather a well-crafted composition with some subtlety. Really nicely done.
“080830” picks up where the previous track left off and is almost peaceful. There is some sweeping phaser effect that gives the undercurrent an oceanlike feel. This is delicate noise, with a mournful feel, like being on a train platform at 3am. Alone. With nothing but the hum of the ventilation system and your thoughts. Occasionally, a train comes to the platform, but it isn’t going anywhere you want to be. It leaves the platform and you remain alone, wondering what train, if any, you want to board. And it’s getting colder….

I expected something a lot more harsh from Fail, but sometimes what you get greatly exceeds your expectations. This is lovely noise (yeah, how often do you get that combination) that is just on the edge of becoming noisy dark ambient. Beautifully done and highly recommended. This album weighs in at around 19 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.

I have listened to Dan Fox for many years now, and Fail is one of his many projects. He is also the driving force behind Inner Demons records. The liner notes state that this is Practice #1 for the May 2024 tour with Vasectomy Party. Based on this, if you are in the Florida area, make sure to catch Fail's next show because this is a great musical journey.

This is one track at almost 20 minutes titled "First Failure," with tons of digital noise and a lot of variety in it. Fox's judicial use of dynamics and changes in pace keep everything interesting. This is not chaotic and has the feel of a carefully composed piece of noise. If you are looking for harsh noise wall that remains generally static, this is not going to work for you, but if you like a lot of variety in your sound palette, then this will be exactly what you are looking for. This is another excellent work by Fail, and thus, as the title suggests, he has once again failed to fail to fail, and we are all the better for it. Well done.