Substak is the work of Athens (Greece) -based artist Kostas Staikos, and he has had several releases on Inner Demons at this point. The liner notes describe this as "a landscape that has been physically altered by the processing." So let's take a walk in the woods and see how things change.

This album consists of one 32 minute track, "The Mutated Woods." This is a lovely slab of constantly shifting atmospheric drone. The over feel is darkly ominous, but not in a horror film sort of way. Rather, this is a realization that you are completely alone in an uncaring forest full of other creatures who may or may not see you as food. But it's nothing personal. Substak recently put out a release called "Natura Non Constristatur," which roughly translates to "Nature is not saddened," reflecting the uncaring nature of nature. This evokes a similar feeling.

This is constantly shifting, almost imperceptibly, but enough to keep it all interesting. If you like heavy drone, this is well worth checking out and one of the best things I have heard from Substak's many releases.

If you have followed Inner Demons in even a cursory manner, you have probably come across some of Substak's work. After all, this is the 14th release from this artist, so you would have a lot to choose from. According to the notes for this album, "The Mesmeric Recording sourced from the frequencies of a metro station platform. A hypnotic, mechanical abyss from the echoes of the underground." Sounds like a good time, so have your tickets ready and let's see where the Substak Express takes us.

Substak has created a lot of atmospheric music, but I think that this is one of the best I have heard from them. If there is a word to describe this, it is "otherworldly." The core of this track is what seems to be heavily processed field recordings with a healthy serving of reverb that gives a sense of where you are. However, there are times where it shifts into pure tones. The overall feel of the track is dreamlike and disorienting (in a good way, of course).

If you like your dark ambient atmospheric, this would be a good station to depart from. Well worth picking up. This album weighs in at around 18 minutes.

The Deep Bleed is the work of one Mark Hjorthoy, who hails from Vancouver, British Columbia. I had previously enjoyed his disc, “Machines that Search for God,” so I was interested to see how this one compared. The liner notes state, “Rise Or Fall asks, in every situation in life, ‘Do you rise, or do you fall?’ Do you rise to the occasion, or do you fall and comply? That determines who you are. Simply, and truthfully. You are what you do everyday. If you don’t like that you see, change it.” So let’s get philosophical with Hjorthoy and see what rises to the top.

We start off with “The Fall of Icarus,” which is densely layered drone that builds in intensity over time. Despite the title, the feeling is calm and almost peaceful. Rather than the sudden crash suggested by the title, one can almost imagine Icarus gliding peacefully down on what remained of his wings. “The Rise of the Phoenix” is a bit more unsettled. It begins with slightly jagged drone with the same underlying hiss of the previous track but then settles into a pulsing drone that builds over time. Crackling noise reminiscent of fire crackling enters into the mix and eventually takes over as the drone continues to crescendo into a cacophony of stuttering noise and sweeping synth before fading into nothing.

I have enjoyed everything I have heard from The Deep Bleed and this release is no exception. If you like your dark ambient soothing and peaceful, the first track is what you need. If you want it noisy and unsettling, the second track will be right up your alley. Well done. This album weighs in at around 23 minutes.

This is quite the set of heavyweights on this release. Noise Hangover hails from Russia, and despite the funny name, this is some serious noise. I don’t know much about the artist, but I have yet to hear a Noise Hangover release that I did not enjoy. Fail is the work of Dan Fox, the hardest working man in noise. He also records under a host of names, including This is What I Hear When You Talk, Fail, Loss, as well as being the driving force behind Inner Demons Records. Platonoff hails from Saint Petersburg, Russia, and has also put out a steady stream of excellent noise discs on Inner Demons. With this roster, I am expecting some good noise, so let’s dive in.

Noise Hangover lays down some thick, heavy, constantly evolving drone. Layers and layers of drone. This would be in the same vein as Troum, but if Troum is a dream, this is not quite a nightmare, but rather a dream from which you awake with a sense of unease. Really solid.

Fail brings the noise with digital noise that sounds like malfunctioning kids toys thrown into a cement mixer. There is a lot going on here, and Fail keeps changing things up to keep it all interesting. This is a fun ride, as expected of Fail.

Platonoff closes it off with the machinelike noise that I have come to expect from this artist. This is a bit more chaotic than previous works I have heard, with the clanking metal combined with squiggly electronic noise. Out of the three, this feels the most harsh.

As expected, all of the artists brought their A game to the split. This would be a fantastic show to see live, and all of the artists are in top form. If you like any of the artists, or just like solid noise and drone, this is well worth picking up. This album weighs in at around 39 minutes.

Fencepest is a collaboration between fencepost and Pestzone. I had reviewed previous releases by each and enjoyed them, so I was interested to see how this would turn out, even though they seem to be the same person running both projects based on the Bandcamp page. In one review, I wrote, “If Fencepost was going for maximum creepiness, they nailed it.” In another review, I wrote, “Pestzone manages to evoke a sense of existential dread without resorting to cheap gimmicks like horror movie samples or jump scare noises.” You can understand why I thought that this would be a good combination, right? So let’s see what’s happening in the garden, shall we?

We kick it off with “bloom_II,” which is heavy cinematic ambience. This would be perfect for a suspense movie. You're in the dark, but you know that you're not alone. Waves of cascading sounds and ambient noise. Nice. “decay_XIII” keeps this cinematic feeling going, but the conflict is now on and the antagonist has revealed themselves. Pulsing bass with crashing noises surround you. “bloom_I” is spacey and dark. To keep the story going, the conflict is over, but everyone is wounded. You have survived, but at what cost? It would almost be peaceful if it were not so unsettling. With “decay_XIV,” you thought that the conflict was over, didn't you? There are still unseen forces that seek your demise hiding in the forest. You think that you can almost make out their eyes, but you're not sure if it is just your imagination. The sounds of malevolent bird songs ring in your ears. “bloom_VIII” is a bit grittier, featuring drone with just a bit of distortion. There is a lot going on here, which keeps it interesting. “decay_III” is a bit more chaotic and noisy. This is not to say that this is harsh noise, but imagine the cacophony of a high school band warming up, then run it through some reverb and you are heading in the right direction. This mellows out at times, but the overall feel is chaotic. “bloom_XI” is a bit more subdued, like the previous track has been totally fuzzed out and dissolved into a wall of sound. It's still gritty, but with a little less edge to it. “decay_XVII” is like a cow mooing (trombone or trumpet actually) with subterranean drones and other snippets of noises that sounds like heavily processed field recordings. This one went on a bit longer than it needed to though.

Somehow, they managed to attenuate the creepiness of their previous albums. But the overall result is still more than the sum of both band’s parts. Overall, if you want something that will serve as good background music to the soundtrack of your life, this is one to pick up. This album weighs in at around 70 minutes, so there is a lot to sink into.