I previously reviewed Gensai Hasegawa’s “Life and Death in the Quarantines” and enjoyed it, so I was interested to hear how he would sound in a collaboration. Hasegawa hails from Tokyo Japan, and began producing music at the age of 50 after aa long career as a systems engineer. I could not find much about Miko because my Japanese is limited to what I have learned from manga and anime. From what I could gather, she focuses on voice and piano. So with only my knowledge of Hasegawa’s work and a host of mystery guests, let’s dive in.

We open up with “The City Wears a Folk Hat,” which has more participants than a bad rap track from the 90s. The participants include: Miko, (Sebaebi), (Ripuchuwan), (Ikemen Tomozo), (Wan), (Opu), (Kabochan), (Oshin), (Kuwati), (Shachiku Baba), (Roa), (EAPAI), (Rei), (Rikuto), (Momo) and Gensai Hasegawa. We open with a guy yelling, then other random noises added into the mix. There are people making vocalizations and other noises with their voice. Add to this some stringed instruments and flutes, and you have an odd composition. Imagine a person beatboxing and then making slurping sounds and animal noises. There is some spoken word, but I know very little Japanese, so I am no help here. This is weird and not likely to be everyone's cup of tea, but it is certainly interesting. “The City's Light” closes out the album and is a complete departure from the mellowness of the prior track. This is solely the work of Gensai Hasegawa and it lays down some harsh noise wall with plenty of static, bits of analog tones, and some line noise added in for good measure. Overall, this is a nice wall.

In short, if anyone came here to get mellow, the first track may do the trick. If you came to get some heavy noise blasts, the second track will do the trick. It's weird, but interesting. If you like some of the stranger stuff on Public Eyesore Records, this is worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 17 minutes.

I’m sure that by now you are familiar with Dan Fox, the hardest working man in noise. He records under a host of names, including This is What I Hear When You Talk, Fail, and Loss, to begin with, as well as being the driving force behind Inner Demons Records. Fail is nice, harsh noise, so let’s dive in and see what this sounds like live.

This album consists of one 16 minute track, "Live at Denver Noise Fest 2026." It kicks off a bit subdued, with some slight crackling, but then kicks into a bit noisier section. This track runs like a roller coaster, alternating with soothing noise and harshness. There are moments of high pitched squeals and analog noises and other moments of low seismic rumbles. There are quiet moments where it almost feels like it is ending, only to suddenly blast the listener with harsh noise. There is a lot going on here, so if you like your noise with a lot of variety, this is definitely one to check out. This also solidifies the fact that if you ever have a chance to see any of Fox's projects live, it will be well worth your while.

I was unfamiliar with this artist before hearing this album, but hails from Potsdam, Germany, and their Bandcamp bio describes their music as "Erotic Body Horror for the Flesh and the power it holds." Evidently, this is somewhat of a concept album about radiation. The liner notes describe it thus: "Radiation is a measured escalation that refuses drama. The first is closest to background: almost musical, almost normal, almost safe. Each subsequent track tightens the world, not by spectacle but by normalization. Like fatigue under a spiral that accelerates until speed becomes a habitat. The album doesn’t narrate collapse; it records how collapse becomes routine." Sounds like a good time, so let's raise a glass to Marie Curie, get out our Geiger counters, and give it a listen,

"Reading I 2.6 mSv [ CALIBRATION SEAL ]" kicks it off with a nice industrial beat and some noisy drone. We're off to a good start. "Reading II 9 mSv [ BASELINE DRIFT ]" is more droney without the beat, with multi-layered synth drone and grinding noises. The atmosphere is dark ambient meets arc welder, and it works really well. Next up, imagine you have been eaten by a massive creature. You can hear its heartbeat with the sounds of digestion. "Reading III 32 mSv [ LATENCY MARK ]" is what you would be hearing. "Reading IV 112 mSv [ THRESHOLD RITE ]" is pulsing synth waves along with quiet percussion and just enough distortion to make it gritty. "Reading V 390 mSv [ COMPLIANCE PHASE ]" is spacier, but still with a rhythm and a bit of noise and distortion to give it a bit of an edge. "Reading VI 1370 mSv [ MARROW EVENT ]" features scraping noises and high pitched squeaking noises, making it a bit noisier than previous tracks, although not really getting completely to noise. Rather, this feels like it is done intentionally, and the synth drone works well with the noises. "Finally, "Reading VII 4800 mSv [ HANDOVER ]" closes it all out with long, static drone with some hiss and static underneath. There are incidental sounds throughout that keep it from getting too boring.

Overall, the atmosphere is industrial dystopian. If you like your dark ambient with a healthy side of noise, this is the one to check out. It is not too harsh, but rather just a bit abrasive and bleak. Nicely done, and well worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 28 minutes.

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.