The new release "I Tank U" from T.Raumschmiere, the solo project Marco Haas, screams energy. Equal parts industrial, punk, rock, hip hop and straight forward pop this release is equal parts "all over the place" and yet totally coherent. A number of guest vocalists pop in and out of the release which adds even more to the already varied textures and styles. Fans of bands like Pigface and SMP will find a lot to like here and really.. anyone seeking out a good dose of aggro infused music with a lot of great hooks, highly danceable beats and good sound design should check this out. I have no doubt this disc will be sitting in my "frequently played pile" for some time to come. Stand out tracks: "I Tank U", "Animal Territory", "111 kg DNA" and "Untilted".

Murder by Static "Exsits"

This is the fifth full length release from Murder by Static, the solo project from Chris Stephniewski. Not having heard any previous material from Murder by Static, it'll be hard to compare this to prior releases but I'd think it a safe bet that anyone into instrumental noise experimentation, glitch and ambient music would find a good deal to enjoy here. Pulsing, rhythmic and often very intense.. the best moments of this release definitely occur in the sparse yet very effective quiet moments. The release isn't without it's faults though. It's extremely tiring to listen to. At first it seems that there is a pretty broad pallet of sounds being used on the release but while listening through the whole CD it becomes there isn't a great deal of variety going on with a lot of the dominant percussive elements which in some cases get very redundant and honestly, kind of annoying. That combined with the entire mix being so "in your face", ear fatigue set in pretty quickly. This can be attributed to a few things... the sounds, the mix, the mastering... it'd be hard to place that on any one department but it does get in the way of enjoying the release as much as I normally would with something that simply wasn't physically tiring to hear. Stand out tracks: "Liris" and "Sylum Glaze".

Relentless... grinding... seizure inducing walls of noise guaranteed to clear those clogged arteries and to blow out any and all pending brain hemorrhages. Monokrom's release "tales of rabbits and hares" is far from the pleasant sounds you'd expect from the bunny-laden cover art. In fact, it's quite the opposite. While in the midst of the noise/rhythms there are quieter moments, this is all relative. Even the quiet moments are more grinding than most other releases. The CD contains 5 rather lengthy tracks and an additional video. Now this is what sets monokrom apart from a lot of other noise acts out there: identity. The packaging for "tales of rabbits and hares" is nothing short of fantastic. It's a great looking (monochrome) cardboard booklet with images of rabbits hopping all about wrapped in a silver band... not overly complicated I know, but it's minimalist presentation fits extremely well with the music. Their identity is brought out even more though, when the video is watched. The video presents the act wearing Donnie Darko-esque rabbit suits throughout what I assume to be a live performance. Saturated in video projections and dynamic lighting schemes, the video portion of the disc is totally engaging. With the exception of the video, I can only recommend this release to noise fans because there just isn't much breaching past that particular niche genre. The video is a fun watch but still might not be enough to win over the casual listener/viewer who isn't specifically interested in pounding walls of noise. Recommended tracks: "A Bunny's Life" (video).

Not knowing French or the history of this band is going to seem a little bit like wearing blinders while reviewing this release and keep me from commenting on their lyrical content entirely but that being said... This is re-release of two PTOSE recordings from the early 80's. The first, "Ignobles Limaces" was originally published by AYAA and was PTOSE's first proper studio record. The second, "Night of the Reptiles" was originally released on cassette only in 1983. The over-all tone of both of these releases is very "Residents-esque". Not knowing a lot about PTOSE's origins, I can't be sure if they were directly influenced by The Residents or if their similar tone is merely incidental. In either case, PTOSE handles their quirky melodies and arrangements with panache'. Quirky melodies, odd arrangements, heavily modulated synthesizers, guitars, out of tune leads, insane vocal styles abound in this release. There are moments wherein the vocals are in English but I can't, for the life of me, make out a single phrase. Nevertheless... this doesn't hamper the ability to enjoy the kooky nature of the tracks. Despite half of this release having been originally released on cassette, the audio quality is fantastic. Stand out tracks: "The Bogyman", "Eat Your Fish!" and "Like a Mouse".

Black Ice "Terrible Birds" has a predominantly older goth-rock/punk vibe going on with vocals reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux crossed with one Dale Bozzio (Missing Persons). On a number of tracks they try to dive into a more experimental sound with less contemporary song structures and I say try because, ultimately, I feel like the results are often a little boring and redundant. This is a frustrating release because I hear the potential for a more than competent band creating interesting songs but these songs lack any strong characteristics or hook to separate themselves from one another. Usually about a minute into each track I was ready to hit the forward button on my player. The tracks on their own are OK but when drawn together into a cohesive package, things just get sloggish. All of this is only worsened due to sub-par engineering. The CD just isn't recorded well. Most of the sounds are flat and lack luster. Again, aggravating because a good engineer and producer would have been able to get these guys and gals over the hump of mediocrity and been able to push them into a truly interesting direction. Is it bad? No. Not by any means and it's often interesting. Is it good? Well... it could have been great. As it stands, it's OK. I do look forward to the next release from Black Ice... hopefully it'll be tweaked *just* a little more than "Terrible Birds". Stand out tracks: "The Stillness" and "In Winter".